A Comprehensive, Competency-Based Education Framework Using Medium-Sized ERP Systems

Graduates with industry-relevant ERP competencies are highly sought after. This requirement is due to a dominance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and the positive affect which good quality ERP specialists have on the success rate of ERP system implementation projects. Universities are therefore increasingly pressurised to supply graduates with the appropriate competencies and as a result have adopted a hands-on approach to teaching ERP systems in Information Systems (IS) degree programmes. Whilst several frameworks for ERP education have been proposed, they are not comprehensive and do not link the competencies required for ERP specialists with an appropriate approach to ERP adoption in the IS curriculum. A comprehensive, competency-based education framework for ERP education is proposed and implemented at a South African university. Analysis of the results reveals that the students enjoyed the hands-on use of the ERP system and that there was a positive improvement in self-efficacy and the competencies of the students

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การประยุกต์ใช้ระบบการวางแผนทรัพยากรองค์กรเพื่อการบริหารงานของสถาบันอุดมศึกษานวรัตน์ วิทยาคม ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 2

Role Of Industry Technologies in Information Systems Education

Determining the appropriate industry technology or software products1 to use for practical teaching or demonstration purposes is a well-known challenge in technology-related education. As industry technologies continue to evolve and considering the vast number of existing proprietary as well as extant open source technologies, the task of selecting the best one for a particular competence, lesson, or course is also becoming more complicated. This research explores the selection and implementation of industry technologies in an Information Systems educational context. Data was collected through interviews with lecturers and students as well as analysis of course documents in an Information Systems Department at a South African university. The findings point to alignment with industry needs, affordability, availability of supplementary resources, and software functionality as some of the important criteria used by educators when selecting software products

THE BPM SKILLS LEARNING GAP - A COMPARISON OF INDUSTRY REQUIREMENTS AND SKILLS ACQUISITION

To address the gap between Business Process Management skills required by industry and the skills acquired by higher education students, requires understanding both the skills required and the level of acquisition of these skills. This study investigated skills taught at two levels in university courses relative to industry requirements, and the level to which the skills are transferred to the students as measured by assessed grades. The investigated courses were taught to undergraduate and postgraduate students. The findings show that the courses addressed skills adequately, however, differences were observed between the undergraduate students and postgraduate students, specifically in respect of Governance and Business Process Improvement. In addition, students were observed to have difficulty in taking a holistic view and seeing the bigger picture in respect of business processes. Implications of the findings are discussed, and future research proposed

An optimised competency framework to prepare students for employment

The language of competency is heavily utilised by employers when considering staff selection, appraisal, continued professional development, technical training and personal development. However, students and new graduates are not proficient in this language and therefore face challenges when entering the employment market. Competency frameworks exist in virtually all professional and employment sectors, but are particularly prolific in science, medicine, engineering, computing and IT, where they are often aligned to continuing professional development and certification. In this paper, we present a competency framework developed by adapting a number of existing professional competency frameworks used within the IT industry. Our competency framework is designed to be used by and for students on a degree programme with an embedded work-related learning course. The framework has two specific aims: firstly, that it must be usable by students for self-evaluation and self-regulation purposes, and secondly, that it must allow for the support and dispensing of developmental feedback. We also present the results of a study conducted to test the competency framework with 125 students on a Computing-related degree. Understanding, through cluster and correlation analysis, the way in which students perceive their own competencies has led us to optimise our framework to include the twelve most significant competencies within the Academic, Workplace and Personal Effectiveness categories. In our study, it is the Personal Effectiveness competencies such as ‘self-management’ ‘adaptability’ and ‘integrity’ that feature prominently and it is this category of competencies that students find the most challenging to refine

Design and Delivery of a New Course of Information Technology for Small Busines

Many university or college business programs offer majors or concentrations of small business management, but few of them offer a course of information technology (IT) for small business, despite the fact that IT plays an important role in the management of innovative small businesses. While introductory information systems (IS) courses emphasize the general issues of IT/IS, IT solution services specifically applicable to small business are virtually missing in the curriculum of small business management. This paper applies the pedagogical design methodology, discusses advanced IT topics specifically for small business, provides a pedagogical outline of a new course of IT for small business, and presents an approach to delivering the course. The authors’ preliminary experience indicates the usefulness of the new course for business majors

Proyecto de implantación de SAP University Alliances en la Universitat Politècnica de València

[ES] SAP University Alliances (SAP UA) es un programa cooperativo dirigido a universidades y escuelas superiores cuyo objetivo es facilitar la integración del Sistema de Gestión Empresarial SAP en la enseñanza oficial. El Proyecto de implantación de SAP UA en la Universitat Politècnica de València (SAP UA UPV) ha sido impulsado por el Vicerrectorado de Tecnologías de la Información y de las Comunicaciones. Actualmente el Proyecto SAP UA UPV integra a 34 profesores de cinco Departamentos: Proyectos de Ingeniería, Organización de empresa, Economía y Ciencias sociales, Comunicaciones, Sistemas Informáticos y Computación. Como consecuencia lógica del marco inter-departamental y multi-disciplinar del proyecto SAP UA UPV, se establece una relación transversal entre Escuelas y Titulaciones. Con el objetivo de dotar al Proyecto SAP UA UPV de un marco docente formal y estructurado, se ha creado un grupo de trabajo inter-departamental colaborativo y coordinado. El objetivo del grupo es la puesta en marcha de experiencias docentes basadas en SAP, así como minimizar potenciales problemas de concurrencia sobre la información en el sistema SAP. El presente artículo describe el Proyecto SAP UA UPV desde la perspectiva de la coordinación, los resultados obtenidos en e[Otros] SAP University Alliances (SAP UA) is a cooperative program to help SAP Enterprise Resourcing Planning incorporation in formal education. The implementation of SAP UA Project at the Universitat Politècnica de València (SAP UA UPV) has been carried out the Vice-rectorate for the Development of ITC Technologies. Currently, SAP UA UPV Project involves 34 lecturers from five Departments: Engineering Projects, Business Organization, Economics and Social Sciences, Communications, IT and Computer Systems. As a logical consequence of the inter-departmental and multi-disciplinary framework of SAP UA UPV Project, a cross relationship between Schools and Degrees has been established. In order to provide SAP UA UPV with a formal and structured educational framework an inter-departmental collaborative and coordinated working group has been created. The group's aim is SAP-based learning experiences support and prevents potential concurrency data problems on UPV SAP system. This article describes the SAP UA UPV project from its coordination point of view. Likewise, results obtained in the first year of its implementation, and future lines of work are presented.Asensio-Cuesta, S. (2014). Proyecto de implantación de SAP University Alliances en la Universitat Politècnica de València. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 1-13. http://hdl.handle.net/10251/167119S11

The State of Information Systems Education Research in Africa

Africa is well known as the continent with the largest youth population. Digitisation of the continent is an essential part of making sure that its youths can actively participate in the digital economy. Efforts to digitise various sectors of the economy have encountered several challenges including that of skills shortages. The Information Systems (IS) discipline, as one of the computing disciplines, has a role to play in addressing the skills shortage. However, there’s limited research that provides macro analysis of the state of IS education research in the continent. To address this gap, we conduct a systematic literature analysis of publications focusing on IS education. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 25 publications were analysed. The findings highlight some interesting discussions on issues such as context, model curricula, skills, stakeholders, geographical focus, theoretical lens, pedagogy, role of IS and education level

Enhancing ERP Learning Outcomes through Microsoft Dynamics

Enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) are the most essential and critical information systems that are widely used to build all the functions of a business into a unified and efficient enterprise system. Although the essence of ERP systems are easy to understand, students, especially those who do not have technical experience, have difficulty appreciating how different components of these systems interrelate and work together to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes. This paper illustrates how an MIS course that incorporates Microsoft Dynamics ERP into the curriculum is designed. We demonstrate how technical aspects of ERP systems can be incorporated into ERP courses to help business students recognize the importance of technical knowledge in today’s marketplace and develop technical skills in their learning process. We focus on Microsoft Dynamics AX as a unified ERP system along with its associated products and technologies (i.e., SQL, Power BI, Visual Studio, etc.) to ensure the highest level of competency. Examples of the course description, hands-on labs, exercises, and resources are provided. Results of student assessments are included, which support that hands-on learning on Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system can lead to improved learning outcomes, both functionally and technically