Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/153529

Title

Introducing a small and medium enterprises syllabi design: an enterprise systems hands-on approach

Author(s)

Tan, Felix Ter Chian;  Sedera, Darshana

Abstract

There is increasing attention to the importance of Enterprise Systems (ES) and Information Systems (IS) for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The same attention must be addressed in IS graduate curriculum. Studies reveal that despite healthy demand from the industry for IS management expertise, most IS graduates are ill-equipped to meet the challenges of modern organizations. The majority of contemporary firms, represented by SMEs, seek employees with a balance of business process knowledge and ES software skills. This article describes a curriculum that teaches Information Technology (IT) and IS management concepts in a SMEs context. The curriculum conceptualises a ‘learn-by-doing’ approach, to provide business process and ES software specific knowledge for its students. The approach recommends coverage of traditional content related to SMEs’’ operations, strategies, IT investment and management issues while providing an increased focus on strategic use of enterprise IT. The study addresses to an extent, the perennial challenge of updating IS curriculum, given the rapid pace of technological change.

Publication type

Conference paper

Research centre

Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Information and Communication Technologies

Source

Proceedings of 'Information Systems: Defining and Establishing a High Impact Discipline', 21st International Conference on Information Systems (ACIS 2010), Brisbane, Australia, 01-03 December 2010, paper no. 9

Publication year

2010

FOR Code(s)

080609 Information Systems Management

Keyword(s)

Enterprise systems;  Higher education;  Small and medium enterprises

Publisher

Association of Information Systems Electronic Library

Publisher URL

http://aisel.aisnet.org/acis2010/9

Copyright

Copyright © 2010 Felix Ter Chian Tan and Darshana Sedera. The authors assign to ACIS and educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a non-exclusive licence to ACIS to publish this document in full in the Conference Papers and Proceedings. Those documents may be published on the World Wide Web, CD-ROM, in printed form, and on mirror sites on the World Wide Web. Any other usage is prohibited without the express permission of the authors.

Peer reviewed