Janos Fustos

Enhancing Functional Fit with Continuous Training During the ERP Post-Implementation Phase

Enterprise Resource Planning ERP systems, such as SAP, feature a rich set of integrated business applications. However, to maximize the long term benefits from ERP implementations, organizations need to careful manage the post-implementation phase and focus on supporting end users to achieve better fit between their business processes and the ERP system features. This study develops a research model based on the resource-based view RBV of the firm and finds support for a positive and complementary relationship between continuous training resources, functional fit capability and business process success. An increase in continuous training resources increases the functional fit capability for the organization and is seen to improve business process success. The results support the need to focus on continuous end user training throughout the post implementation phase as a key contributor to ERP systems success for any organization.

Weaving a Web Development Curriculum

Faculty in the Computer Information Systems department at the authors’ institution is in the process of developing a new Computer Information Systems degree with several areas of emphasis. One of the proposed areas of emphasis will be to prepare students for a career as a web developer. As part of the curriculum development process, the authors collected data regarding the current demand for web developers, the education level requested, salaries, and the specific skills employers are demanding. The research process included reading and recording the education level, experience, and specific skills employers are requesting for hundreds of jobs that have been posted on the Internet within the last few months. Additionally, data was gathered from other sources including courses and programs offered at other institutions of higher education. Using this data, a model curriculum for a degree leading to a career in the field of web development is proposed.

Do Students Get Enough Information Systems Education in the Business Core

Information Systems/Technology is a key component in today’s business infrastructures with a myriad of ever-increasing and innovative applications fuelling the drive for competitive advantage. Therefore information systems education should be a critical element in business schools programs today to appropriately prepare students to be competitive. As our university was seeking AACSB accreditation we wanted to investigate what other programs were doing for the information systems area in the business core. Therefore data was acquired from 61 peer institutions, 89% of which are AACSB-accredited. Data about the components of the business core were collected from the university websites and analysed to determine the amount of the business core curriculum devoted to information systems. Analysis indicates that 85% of the peer institutions had one information systems course and only three percent had two information systems courses.

Employee characteristics for IT workers in a transition job market

The bursting of the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s resulted in a tightening of the belt in most sectors but especially in Information Technology. Two key issues faced by employees and would-be employees were: (1) how to get a job in this tight market? and (2) just as significant, how to keep a job in this market? This paper seeks to determine what set of characteristics is important in hiring new employees, what set of characteristics is important in retaining current employees and how the two sets of characteristics compare.

Hybrid Delivery of Computer Literacy Requirements for Undergraduate Business Schools: A New Model

The paper presents a revised model for handling the computer literacy and information systems requirements for undergraduates. The model was proposed for School of Business students at the Metropolitan State College of Denver. Through a combination of entrance screenings, self-paced Web Based Training courses on the campus network, and traditional classroom Introduction to Computers courses, a more efficient model for computer literacy was established. Then a hybrid model to deliver the introductory information systems class was proposed – to save scarce faculty and campus resources, yet preserve the traditional classroom instruction that some students need. The proposed hybrid model takes into consideration the higher level of computer literacy of many modern students, and takes advantage of the newest methods of interactive Web based training that make self-paced courses a practical means of learning.