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ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEMS: A STUDY OF THE
USAGE AND CHALLENGES OF IMPLEMENTING ERP SOFTWARE
INTO UNIVERSITY CURRICULUMS
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Purpose of the Research
The purpose of this research is to investigate which ERP applications are implemented and taught as part of university business curricula and what challenges are faced throughout such implementation.
Introduction
The integration of information technologies into the business school curricula in the past concentrated on imparting IT skills to students and/or using it as a technology-based aid for improving the teaching and learning effectiveness and efficiencies (Seethamraju, 2007).
The academic literature discusses that using ERP systems to teach cross-functional integration is well founded. Additionally, the importance of ERP education has been recognized by many researchers, including Watson and Schneider (1999), Joseph and George (2002), and Selen (2001). The methodology to teach ERP to undergraduate students has also been investigated by researchers, such as Becerra-Fernandez, Murphy, and Simon (2000) and Guthrie and Guthrie (2000).
This paper will address which ERP software is used for teaching concepts of business process integration, which applications are most frequently taught, and which issues were most challenging for the instructors teaching these classes.
ERP Software Taught in Universities
The trend towards ERP systems in large and mid-sized businesses has a significant impact on Information Systems career paths. Consequently, more and more universities are beginning to implement some type of ERP software into specific business degree plans. Two of the main ERP software vendors, SAP R/3 and Oracle, have developed university alliance programs to help universities incorporate ERP software into their curricula (Rosemann and Watson, 2002). Within the last few years, Oracle has acquired PeopleSoft and JD Edwards, two other major ERP vendors (Forrester Research, 2005).
According to a 2006 study by Gartner Dataquest, Oracle was ranked the #1 database program, having 47.1% market share, with $7.5 billion in revenues (2006). Because of statistics like these, many universities have decided to integrate Oracle training and certification into certain business degree plans.
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Oracle has developed a program that helps prepare students for IT careers while providing instructors with world-class training and professional development opportunities. Oracle Academy (also known as the Oracle Academic Initiative) grants colleges and universities with software, curriculum, and certification resources needed in order to complete the Oracle certification (Academy.Oracle.com, 2006).
SAP is the world s largest business software company and the world s third-largest independent software provider over all (SAP: The World s Largest Business Software Company, 2007).
In order to train future employees who may work for businesses which have implemented SAP, the company created the SAP University Alliance Program. This program provides faculty members with the tools and resources necessary to teach students how technology can enable integrated business processes and strategic thinking (SAP.com, 2007). According to a recent publication, universities that form these alliances are establishing knowledge links, a form of strategic alliance that gives organizations access to the skills and capabilities of a partner and opportunity to create new capabilities together (Badaracco, 1991). To date, about 400 universities worldwide have incorporated SAP in their business curriculum (Hawking et. al., 2004).
Which ERP Applications Are Taught
Because most university curriculums, especially in the College of Business, are designed according to the needs of local employers, research should be conducted within the local community to determine which ERP applications should be taught. The results of a research project conducted in the summer of 2006 indicated that the petrochemical industry in Southeast Texas, the largest employer, used an extensive number of ERP applications. These applications are listed in Table 1 below (Barnes and Bandyopadhyay, 2007).
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ABSTRACT
Enterprise Resource Planning software, or ERP, doesn't live up to its acronym. Forget about planning it doesn't do that and forget about resource, a throwaway term. But remember the enterprise part. This is ERP's true ambition. It attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company onto a single computer system that can serve all those different departments' particular needs.
That is a tall order, building a single software program that serves the needs of people in finance as well as it does the people in human resources and in the warehouse. Each of those departments typically has its own computer system, each optimized for the particular ways that the department does its work. But ERP combines them all together into a single, integrated software program that runs off a single database so that the various departments can more easily share information and communicate with each other.
That integrated approach can have a tremendous payback if companies install the software correctly. Take a customer order, for example. Typically, when a customer places an order, that order begins a mostly paper-based journey from in-basket to in-basket around the company, often being keyed and re-keyed into different departments' computer systems along the way. All that lounging around in in-baskets causes delays and lost orders, and all the keying into different computer systems invites errors. Meanwhile, no one in the company truly knows what the status of the order is at any given point because there is no way for the finance department, for example, to get into the warehouse's computer system to see whether the item has been shipped.
ERP automates the tasks involved in performing a business process such as order fulfillment, which involves taking an order from a customer, shipping it and billing for it. With ERP, when a customer service representative takes an order from a customer, he or she has all the information necessary to complete the order (the customer's credit rating and order history, the company's inventory levels and the shipping dock's trucking schedule). Everyone else in the company sees the same computer screen and has access to the single database that holds the customer's new order. When one department finishes with the order it is automatically routed via the ERP system to the next department. To find out where the order is at any point, one need only log into the ERP system and track it down. With luck, the order process moves like a bolt of lightning through the organization, and customers get their orders faster and with fewer errors than before. ERP can apply that same magic
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ERP Enterprise Resource Planning
PLANNING the RESOURCES of an ENTERPRISE
ERP is a way to integrate the data and processes of an organization into one single system with modules that support core business areas such as manufacturing, distribution, financials and human resources.
ERP allows managers from most or all departments to look vertically and horizontally across the organization to see what they must see (information) to be productive in their managerial roles.
ERP captures data from historical activity and current operations . That data can be transformed into information that, along with external information, is useful in planning and controlling operations, and in developing business strategies.
ERP is evolving into a Multi-Module Application Software Package that automates inter-organizational business processes across the supply chain which involve business partners, suppliers, customers, and more.
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Enterprise Resource Planning
Taruna Kalra 0871364408 Ms lisha
What Is ERP?
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a business management system that integrates all facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales and marketing
CRM - Customer Relationship Management
Is a customer-focused business strategy designed to optimize revenue, profitability, and customer loyalty.
Gives most value to customers by tightly integrating their sales, marketing and support efforts.
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