Introduction to
Enterprise Systems
(Enterprise
Resource Planning)
Spring 2009 Course
Outline
Welcome to Enterprise Systems! An Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) system integrates data across the enterprise and provides
real-time information and comprehensive support for all major functions of the
organization. In this course, you will learn integration and ERP implementation
concepts and work with software from the leading vendor of such systems, SAP. If
you are a student enrolled in this course, please fill out this online
information form.
Course number:
Course Format (in brief):
This is a completely asynchronous Web-based
online course. High-speed reliable Internet access is necessary. This
course will be taught and facilitated online with D2L and can be taken from
any place at any time using a compatible Web browser with appropriate plugins.
Moreover, Stillwater and Tulsa campus students will be required to take
one
test at a pre-scheduled time.
Taking courses online works well for many students, but to successfully adapt to
this format requires some prior planning and greater engagement, at least until one is comfortable with the new environment.
Course Platform: D2L
Instructor:
Dr. Nik Dalal
Professor of Management Information Systems
219 Spears
School of Business
Oklahoma
State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
Email: nik@okstate.edu
Phone: 405-744-8618
Fax:
405-744-5180
http://fp.okstate.edu/nik/
Office hours:
MW 1.30 - 3.00p or by prior appointment
Important Introductory Tasks: To be done before or
during the first week of class.
1
.
Go to http://oc.okstate.edu/. Login
using the password and id given to you through OSU - (Yes, the password may be the
strange looking one with upper and lower case letters mixed in.). If you are
unable to login, contact OSU IT help desk at helpdesk@okstate.edu or call
405-744-HELP (4357) or toll-free 1-877-951-4836.
2. Check out
this D2L Getting Started manual.
About the course
Enterprise integration remains the “holy grail” sought by
organizations to resolve the enduring challenges of dealing with islands of
automation and the resulting fragmentation of information and processes.
In recent years, enterprise systems or Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) software from vendors such as SAP and Oracle among others,
have brought dramatic benefits to organizations by providing a single
technology-driven business solution to integrate enterprise-wide information and
to support enterprise processes. Nearly all Fortune 1000 firms have ERP systems
in place and many other large and mid-sized companies have either implemented or
have plans to implement such systems. The emerging new-generation enterprise
systems (also called ERP II systems) focus on extending the boundaries of the
enterprise to include supply chain management and other relationships with
trading partners outside the enterprise.
This course introduces students to enterprise systems and
provides an overview of the managerial and technical issues in planning,
designing, implementing, and extending enterprise systems and technologies.
The focus of the course is managerial with some technical content and
several hands-on exercises involving enterprise software from the
industry-leader SAP.
Because of the wide prevalence of enterprise systems and their
focus on end-to-end integrative business processes that cut across traditional
business functions, this course will be of interest to students of information
systems, accounting, industrial engineering, technology management and related
disciplines as well as managers and practitioners who need an understanding of
the use and impact of modern technologies on business organizations.
This course is an instructor-facilitated, asynchronous
(any time-any place), learner-oriented Web-based course consisting of multimedia
presentations and lectures, readings, active learning exercises (or ALEs),
case discussions, assignments, quizzes, project and test. The learning
platform on which this course is delivered is D2L (http://www.D2L.com/). There will be deadlines
for submitting assignments, quizzes, and participating in discussion forums. Because this
course is designed to support multimodal learning, please be aware that it may
require greater effort, motivation, and study than a typical traditional course.
Students will be expected to logon to D2L at least four days a week at their
own time of choice.
This class is Web-based and asynchronous. However, in the
event of any exceptional scheduling need beyond our control,
physical presence of students may become necessary. In addition, OSU
Stillwater campus students will be taking a cumulative test at
a fixed time to be provided.
Learning Outcomes
1. To understand and appreciate the
challenges of integration
2. To understand the issues faced
by a manager when dealing with enterprise solutions.
3. To gain an appreciation of
related concepts, technologies, and trends in ERP and forward, backward, and
upward integration of the enterprise using supply chain management,
collaborative commerce, data warehousing, customer relationship management.
4. To gain exposure to enterprise
software (OSU recently entered
into an alliance with SAP, the industry leader of enterprise software, by means
of which you will gain hands-on exposure and access to SAP
ERP.)
Prerequisites:
 |
Graduate or senior
undergraduate student in good academic standing.
|
|
Exposure to database management
concepts or practice is desirable.
|
|
High-speed reliable Internet
access.
|
Textbook:
Required:
Enterprise Integration, Sandoe, Corbitt, and Boykin, John Wiley, 2001,
ISBN 0-471-35993-9
Recommended for discussion of business processes based
on SAP: Concepts in Enterprise
Resource Planning, second edition, Ellen Monk and Bret Wagner, Thomson
Course Technology, 2006, ISBN 0-619-21663-8
Course
Policies
Any of the following course
policies may change. Changes will be announced
in D2L.
Questions/Feedback/Help wanted
Email is usually the best way to communicate with me.
I will be checking my D2L email at least once every week day and will respond
at my earliest within 24 to 48 hours on weekdays.
Grading
|
Assignments |
100 |
|
Group case discussion and Individual
case analysis |
70 |
| Test |
100 |
| Mini-quizzes |
50 |
| SAP project |
100 |
| General
participation |
30 |
| Total |
450 |
The final grade will be determined using a standard scale
based upon the total possible points as follows:
90% = A, 80% = B, 70% =
C, 60% = D, <60 = F. A decision to curve (if at all needed) will be taken
only at the end of the semester after all the scores are in.
Assignments:
Assignments will mostly involve working with SAP. (It is possible that greater
or lower than 100 total points are assigned to assignments in which case, the
scores will be scaled down or up to a max. of 100 points in the same proportion.)
Group case
discussion and individual case analysis:
Online discussion and
collaboration via D2L is an important component of this course as it prepares
you for real-world online cooperation. You will be assigned to an online
discussion group, which will discuss a case. Following the group discussion, you
will submit your own analysis of the case based upon case questions assigned to
you.
What makes up a quality online discussion?
|
Input that creates
awareness of
issues |
|
Input that
maintains the continuity and focus of the discussion at
hand. |
|
Input that raises
intelligent, critically-though out even controversial issues
|
|
Input that
challenges the status-quo with well-reasoned arguments |
|
Input that provides
an example from your own observations or experience of the current
topic |
|
Input that is
original - not a copy and paste from somewhere
else |
Test: The test will be largely multiple-choice
but may include short-answer thinking
questions, matching questions, and fill-in-the-blank questions as well. The tests is closed-book and closed-notes. The material for the
test will include all the other course components - online materials, the book,
mini-quizzes, homework assignments, and labs if any.
Mini-quizzes: Simple mini-quizzes will
help you assess your learning so that you can do better on tests. For about 10
weeks in the semester, a short weekly on-line quiz will be available on D2L,
that will be worth five points. Although you may take the quiz as an open book/
open notes quiz, you should be aware that the quizzes are timed and you will not
necessarily have time to look-up quiz answers. Therefore, you should study for
the quiz before you take it. If you miss the
deadline, you will not be able to take the quiz later. There are no makeups but
the lowest quiz score will be dropped. After taking the quiz, you are on an
honor system and you should not discuss the quiz items with other class members.
Assistance in answering the quizzes from another person or discussing quiz items
with other students in the class prior to the quiz deadline will not only
not help you really learn but will also be considered
cheating.
1. Before you start a miniquiz, be sure to start and finish a
sample quiz to ensure that your Internet connection and the D2L quiz feature
works correctly on your browser/machine.
2. For your convenience, each miniquiz may be taken up to two
times, and many of the questions may be different the second time. If you
decide to take it twice, the average of the two scores will be used as your
final score. (Obviously, if you score a full 5 points, you do not have to take
the miniquiz a second time!)
3. Be sure you save every answer before you go to the next
question.
4. Do not exceed the miniquiz time limit. If you exceed the
time limit by more than a few seconds, your score will be reduced to zero and
additional penalties may be considered.
SAP project: Each student will work on a SAP
project. The purpose of the project is to enable you to explore one or more
modules of SAP of interest to you. Stay tuned for project guidelines on D2L.
Participation: In an
online course, regularly accessing and studying your online materials and
participation in threaded discussions and chatrooms is the equivalent of class
attendance. Regular virtual attendance
and class participation/discussion is extremely critical to your success in this course.
This issue cannot be overemphasized. Although you have the convenience of
when and where to log on, do not treat this course as self-paced and self-timed.
There are weekly study items and deliverables, and it is important not to fall
behind. With D2L, it is not difficult for me to assess your level of
participation.
Academic
dishonesty
Cheating on a quiz or exam, dissemination of test questions,
or other forms of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of F and a required
report to university officials. You are expected to work independently on the
individual assignments. (On hands-on SAP assignments, it is acceptable and may
even be helpful to work in a pair but then the exercise is done twice, once for
each login id, with each person getting a chance to use the mouse/keyboard to
interact with the software.) Consultations and interchange of ideas on assignments is
OK but ultimately, your response to an assignment must be your own and must be
seen to be your own. Any deviation from this will be considered as academic
dishonesty and may result in an F grade.
Special needs
"According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, each
student with a disability is responsible for notifying the University of his or
her disability and to request accommodations. If any member of a class thinks
that he/she has a qualified disability and needs special accommodations, he/she
should notify the instructor and request verification of eligibility for
accommodations from the Office of Student Disability Services, 315 Student
Union. Please advise the instructor of such disability as soon as possible,
and contact Student Disability Services,
to ensure timely implementation of appropriate accommodations. Faculty have an
obligation to respond when they receive official notice of a disability but are
under no obligation to provide retroactive
accommodations."
Courtesy
code
Please be aware of
Netiquette (See http://www.albion.com/netiquette/)
For details, see the following.
Tentative Schedule: See the
schedule for this course for this semester
Syllabus
Attachment: Get information on important dates for all courses for the
current semester.