IMPLEMENTING AN ENTERPRISE INFORMATION SYSTEM TO REENGINEER AND STREAMLINE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES IN A DISTANCE LEARNING UNIT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v13i2.1664Keywords:
Distance Learning, Enterprise Information Systems, Systems Integration, Business Process Reengineering (BPR)Abstract
During the past three years, we have developed and implemented an enterprise information system (EIS) to reengineer and facilitate the administrative process for preparing and teaching distance learning courses in a midsized-to-large university (with 23,000 students). The outcome of the implementation has been a streamlined and efficient process which has delivered higher faculty satisfaction at a substantial cost reduction. In this paper, we propose a new conceptual and operational framework for process reengineering (PR) in higher education institutions. We also share our practical experience gained while designing, developing, and integrating three subsystems into an EIS. We hope that our experience,
delineated in this paper, will help other universities’ distance learning efforts and will encourage them to implement enterprise information systems to effectively manage their administrative processes.
References
Shang, S. and P. Seddon. Assessing and Managing the Benefits of Enterprise Systems: The Business Manager's Perspective. Information Systems Journal 12(4): 271–299, 2002.
Alvarez, R. Examining Technology, Structure and Identity during an Enterprise System Implementation. Information Systems Journal 18(2): 203–224, 2008.
Pairat, R. and C. Jungthirapanich. A Chronological Review of ERP Research: An Analysis of ERP Inception, Evolution, and Direction. Proceedings of Engineering Management Conference, IEEE 2005, 2005.
King, P., R. Kvavik and J. Voloudakis. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Higher Education. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research Bulletin (22): 2002. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERB0222.pdf.
Goldstein, P. and R. Katz. Academic Analytics: The Uses of Management Information and Technology in Higher Education. EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research (8): 2005. http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ers0508/rs/ers0508w.pdf.
Campbell, J., P. DeBlois and D. Oblinger. Academic Analytics: A New Tool for a New Era. EDUCAUSE Review 42(4): 40–57, 2007. http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/AcademicAnalyticsANewTool/44594.
Norris, D., L. Baer, J. Leonard, L. Pugliese and P. Lefrere. Action Analytics: Measuring and Improving Performance that Matters in Higher Education. EDUCAUSE Review 43(1): 42–67, 2008. http://connect.educause.edu/Library/EDUCAUSE+Review/ActionAnalyticsMeasuringa/45825.
Villano, M. Student Lifecycle Management: CRM Meets the Campus. Campus Technology, 2007. http://campustechnology.com/articles/45191/.
Abdous, M. and W. He. Streamlining Forms Management Process in a Distance Learning Unit. Journal of Distance Learning Administration 10(2): 2007. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer102/abdous102.htm.
Allen, I. E. and J. Seaman. Online Nation: Five Years of Growth in Online Learning. The Sloan Consortium, 2007. http://www.sloan-c.org/publications/survey/pdf/online_nation.pdf.
Maguire, L. Literature Review – Faculty Participation in Online Distance Education: Barriers and Motivators. Journal of Distance Learning Administration 8(1): 2005. http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/spring81/maguire81.htm.
Hammer, M. and J. Champy. Re-Engineering the Corporation, a Manifesto for Business Revolution. New York: Harper Collins, 1993.
Penrod, J. and M. Dolence. Reengineering: A Process for Transforming Higher Education. Professional Paper Series (9): 1992. http://www.educause.edu/Resources/ReengineeringAProcessforTransf/160403.
O’Neill, P. and A. Sohal. Business Process Reengineering a Review of Recent Literature. Technovation 19(9): 571–581, 1999.
Davenport, H. and E. Short. The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business Process Redesign. MIT Sloan Management Review 31(4): 11–27, Summer 1990.
Macintosh, R. BPR: Alive and Well in the Public Sector. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 23(3): 327–344, 2003.
Ahmad, H., A. Francis and M. Zairi. Business Process Reengineering: Critical Success Factors in Higher Education. Business Process Management Journal 13(3): 451–469, 2007.
Abdous, M. and W. He. A Framework for Process Reengineering in Higher Education: A Case Study of Distance Learning Exam Scheduling and Distribution. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning 9(3): 2008. http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/535/1138.
den Hengst, M. and G. de Vreede. Collaborative Business Engineering: A Decade of Lessons from the Field. Journal of Management Information Systems 20(4): 85–114, 2004.
Greenwood, R. and R. Hinings. Understanding Radical Organizational Change: Bringing Together the Old and the New Institutionalism. Academy of Management Review 21(4): 1022–1054, 1996.
Kohli, R. and E. Hoadley. Towards Developing a Framework for Measuring Organizational Impact of IT-Enabled BPR: Case Studies of Three Firms. SIGMIS Database 37(1): 40–58, 2006. http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1120501.1120505.
Robinson, R. Radical Systems Development: An Introduction to Rapid Application Development. Chapel Hill, NC: Professional Press, 1995.
Hartman, J., C. Dziuban and P. Moskal. Faculty Satisfaction in ALNs: A Dependent or Independent Variable? Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 4(3): 2000. http://www.sloanconsortium.org/publications/jaln/v4n3/v4n3_hartman.asp.
Shea, P., A. Pickett, and W. Pelz. A Follow-Up Investigation of “Teaching Presence” in the SUNY Learning Network. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 7(2): 61–80, 2003. http://www.sloanconsortium.org/publications/jaln/v7n2/v7n2_shea.asp.
Grant, M. Learning to Teach with the Web: Factors Influencing Teacher Education Faculty. Internet and Higher Education 7(44): 329–341, 2004.
Moore, J. A Synthesis of Sloan-C Effective Practices. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 9(3): 55–73, 2005. http://www.sloanconsortium.org/publications/books/v9n3_moore.pdf.
Abdous, M. and W. He. Streamlining the Online Course Development Process by Using Project Management Tools. Quarterly Review of Distance Education 9(2): 181–188, 2008.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
As a condition of publication, the author agrees to apply the Creative Commons – Attribution International 4.0 (CC-BY) License to OLJ articles. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
This licence allows anyone to reproduce OLJ articles at no cost and without further permission as long as they attribute the author and the journal. This permission includes printing, sharing and other forms of distribution.
Author(s) hold copyright in their work, and retain publishing rights without restrictions
