6
Educational Resource Planning – A Framework for Educational Institutions Mrs Aarthi Mudaliar Dr V D Garde Dr D P Sharma Asst Prof in Computer Dept. Retd Gen Manager, P & D Former Vice-Chancellor Sri Sathya Sai College, Bhopal Bhoj Open University, Bhopal Bhoj Open University, Bhopal [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Abstract It is proved that universities form one of the oldest established institutions and despite frequent changes in function, they retain policies of their medieval period. These legendary universities are similar to today’s organizations in management perspective. Both universities and business organizations face common problems of co-ordinating resources, controlling cost, and facilitating enterprise among staff, etc., There is a common solution to build a standard structure and use the Information Technology (IT) tools like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). In India, there are universities that lay down norms and/ regulations and communicate to its affiliated institutions, be it technical or non-technical, where each institution can setup those norms as basis and implement them. This paper aims to identify important educational resources in a planned organized manner and also device plan, policy and procedure for efficient & effective delivery. With this end in view, the paper studies the structure of an organization, different activities at different levels of organization. 1. Introduction It is a truism that universities form one of the oldest established institutions in the western world, and despite changes in form, function and fashion, the very latest universities retain some links, however tenuous, with their medieval forebears. Equally, while bodies bearing the title university vary dramatically in terms of their structure, function and form, the very fact that they choose to label themselves as universities rather than any one of a number of other alternatives, suggests at least a desire to capture and share in the year old tradition. There are many similarities between universities and other organizations. As Geoffrey Lockwood has put it, ‘universities as organisations face many problems common to most modern organisations’, including, for instance, the problems of co-ordinating resources, controlling costs, of stimulating and facilitating enterprise among staff, and so on. Thus, it might be argued, that since universities have problems common to a wide range of organizations, then the standard tools of contemporary organizational analysis, its hierarchical structure and institutional management – including computer systems used by large corporations around the world, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems - can be similarly applied in universities. Enterprise has been continually applied to new contexts (i.e., production units, financial services, public sector, healthcare and, now, higher education). In so doing, it has been expanded to include an ever-increasing range of organizational characteristics and functions. These characteristics are embodied in the system as modules and ready-made business process templates are seen as being applicable to a wide variety of user organizations. Such systems are fundamentally based on the notion that organizations contain common elements and through combining the various modules, an organization can create its own ‘unique solution’, yet still have a fully supported computer system. 2. Structure of an Organization Based on the activities handled in it, an organization is categorized into three views: Management Level, Information Level and System Support. Fig.1 shows the typical structure of an organization. The Management Level is the outline view of an organization depicting the hierarchy of responsibilities of the people working in the corresponding level. There are three levels of Management: Top Level Management, Middle level Management and Low Level Management. The Top Level Management manages the business policies, forming the norms and other major planning to be implemented in the organization. The Middle Level management is responsible for executing the instructions given by the Top Level Management. The Low Level Management is the area where the activities are actually implemented in practice. The Information Level depicts the type of activity performed in each level. In the Top Level, the type of work is the Strategy Planning of the organizational Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Technology, ICETET-09 978-0-7695-3884-6/09 $26.00 © 2009 IEEE 488

[IEEE 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology - Nagpur, India (2009.12.16-2009.12.18)] 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging

  • Upload
    d-p

  • View
    216

  • Download
    1

Embed Size (px)

Citation preview

Page 1: [IEEE 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology - Nagpur, India (2009.12.16-2009.12.18)] 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging

Educational Resource Planning – A Framework for Educational Institutions

Mrs Aarthi Mudaliar Dr V D Garde Dr D P Sharma Asst Prof in Computer Dept. Retd Gen Manager, P & D Former Vice-Chancellor

Sri Sathya Sai College, Bhopal Bhoj Open University, Bhopal Bhoj Open University, Bhopal [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Abstract It is proved that universities form one of the oldest

established institutions and despite frequent changes in function, they retain policies of their medieval period. These legendary universities are similar to today’s organizations in management perspective. Both universities and business organizations face common problems of co-ordinating resources, controlling cost, and facilitating enterprise among staff, etc., There is a common solution to build a standard structure and use the Information Technology (IT) tools like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). In India, there are universities that lay down norms and/ regulations and communicate to its affiliated institutions, be it technical or non-technical, where each institution can setup those norms as basis and implement them.

This paper aims to identify important educational resources in a planned organized manner and also device plan, policy and procedure for efficient & effective delivery. With this end in view, the paper studies the structure of an organization, different activities at different levels of organization. 1. Introduction

It is a truism that universities form one of the oldest established institutions in the western world, and despite changes in form, function and fashion, the very latest universities retain some links, however tenuous, with their medieval forebears. Equally, while bodies bearing the title university vary dramatically in terms of their structure, function and form, the very fact that they choose to label themselves as universities rather than any one of a number of other alternatives, suggests at least a desire to capture and share in the year old tradition. There are many similarities between universities and other organizations. As Geoffrey Lockwood has put it, ‘universities as organisations face many problems common to most modern organisations’, including, for instance, the problems of co-ordinating resources, controlling costs, of stimulating and facilitating enterprise among staff, and so on. Thus, it might be argued, that since universities have

problems common to a wide range of organizations, then the standard tools of contemporary organizational analysis, its hierarchical structure and institutional management – including computer systems used by large corporations around the world, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems - can be similarly applied in universities. Enterprise has been continually applied to new contexts (i.e., production units, financial services, public sector, healthcare and, now, higher education). In so doing, it has been expanded to include an ever-increasing range of organizational characteristics and functions. These characteristics are embodied in the system as modules and ready-made business process templates are seen as being applicable to a wide variety of user organizations. Such systems are fundamentally based on the notion that organizations contain common elements and through combining the various modules, an organization can create its own ‘unique solution’, yet still have a fully supported computer system. 2. Structure of an Organization

Based on the activities handled in it, an organization is categorized into three views: Management Level, Information Level and System Support. Fig.1 shows the typical structure of an organization.

The Management Level is the outline view of an organization depicting the hierarchy of responsibilities of the people working in the corresponding level.

There are three levels of Management: Top Level Management, Middle level Management and Low Level Management. The Top Level Management manages the business policies, forming the norms and other major planning to be implemented in the organization. The Middle Level management is responsible for executing the instructions given by the Top Level Management. The Low Level Management is the area where the activities are actually implemented in practice.

The Information Level depicts the type of activity performed in each level. In the Top Level, the type of work is the Strategy Planning of the organizational

Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Technology, ICETET-09

978-0-7695-3884-6/09 $26.00 © 2009 IEEE 488

Page 2: [IEEE 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology - Nagpur, India (2009.12.16-2009.12.18)] 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging

Figure 1. Structure of an Organization activities which is properly designed and framed to force them into practice. The people involved in this planning are the Heads of the organization like Chairman, Executive Director, Vice-Chairman, Managing Director, Principal, etc., In the Middle Level, the instructions given by the top level are analyzed and properly assigned to the Managers, Head of Departments, Supervisors, Team Managers, etc., In the Lower Level, the activities are executed by the employees, contractors and the facility.

The System Support depicts the tools of Information Technology (IT) used in different levels so as to enable proper functioning of the organization. The Top Level uses Decision Support System (DSS) that gives an integrated analytical report of each departmental activity. This enables the decision maker to study the overall growth in the organization and take necessary actions. The Middle Level uses Management Information System (MIS) that collects individual departmental reports and sends them to the Top Level for decision-making process. The Lower Level uses Data Processing System (DPS) where the data is computerized. The data of the entire organization is stored in the lower level of management.

Each level in the Organization hierarchy has been assigned specific activities that are carried out by the people, as mentioned in Figure 2.

Figure.2. Organizational Activities in various

management levels

A similar view can be applied to the university-institution activities as given in Figure 3. In organization perspective, a University can be viewed as Top Level Management, where policies and standards are set up. All the affiliated institutions of the University can be viewed as Middle Level Management where each institution follows the procedures/standards as laid down by the university. In the Low Level Management, the students and staff of each affiliated institution carry on the procedures and implement them. In this way, a university can be viewed as an organization with similar functionalities, common problems faced by inmates and execution of various activities.

Figure 3. Activities in Educational Institutions

3. Basic concept of ERP

In the ever-growing business environment, the following demands are placed on the industry:

Aggressive Cost control initiatives Need to analyze costs / revenues on customer basis Flexibility to respond to changing business needs More informed management decision making Changes in ways of doing business

Few Factors have been identified as the hurdles in the growth of any business namely:

Difficulty in getting accurate data Timely information Improper interface of inter-linked business functions.

Time and again depending upon the velocity of the growing business needs, one or the other applications and planning systems have been introduced into the business world to overcome these hurdles and achieve the required growth. They are: o Management Information Systems (MIS) o Material Resource Planning (MRP) o Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II) o Customer Relationship Management (CRM) o Supply Chain Management (SCM) o and many other business related systems

489

Page 3: [IEEE 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology - Nagpur, India (2009.12.16-2009.12.18)] 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging

One or more of these applications are integrated with the ERP system to achieve the business specific goal as per its requirements, termed as Customized/Tailored ERP system.

Traditional stand-alone applications were designed for specific customers, with limited functionality, and isolated from other applications. On the contrary, ERP is a business tool that integrates all the applications required by an organization as a whole, and connects the organization to other enterprises in a network form.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is described as an "information system package that integrates information and information based processes within and across functional areas in an organization". It is usually comprised of several modules as mentioned in Figure 4.

Common modules such as Financial module, Distribution module, Human Resource module and Manufacturing/Production module are used for business activities to streamline the process run. As with more developments, ERP has added new functions such as Supply Chain management, Electronic Commerce and Warehouse management. Thus, ERP opens a window of opportunity for businesses to compete globally, respond to competitive pressures, and increase revenue.

The major advantages of using ERP in higher education are:

access to accurate and timely information. improve workflow and efficiency improve controls and program alerts individuals involved often carry away a new work ethic that spreads to the surrounding workplace.

Figure 4. Information Integration through ERP

System

Table 1: Document Benefits of ERP Implementation in Higher Education

Table 1 shows some of the documented benefits of ERP

implementation in higher education.

4. Restructuring the university The main concept is to visualize each individual

institution as an Organization. Most of the Organizations incorporate the IT trend to achieve a systematic approach to its process. One of such IT tool that is effectively used is ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning). Generic software packages, such as ERP systems, cover the fullest range of organizational activities and processes and are adopted with the aim of achieving substantial cost savings as well as improved access to ‘tried and tested’ solutions, new releases, and an opportunity to update procedures and align them with best practices.

As compared with the University activities, it holds all the norms & regulations that are imposed on all the students enrolled through one of its affiliated institutions. A student gets all these information through his/her institution. Any change in the policies from the university has to be informed to all the concerned institutions at the right time. Practically, there may be delay in reaching the information at the proper time & place. In order to avoid such situation, a Web-enabled Information Technology can be implemented to achieve the smooth functioning of the university and thereby, achieving their objective of right information, reaching the right place at the right time.

There are many hurdles to pass through while trying to restructure the university. Common problems are

• Staff recruitment process does not consider their IT skills and the ability to use IT in the work environment.

• Inadequate and required facilities are available to commute and/or coordinate among staff and between university and colleges.

490

Page 4: [IEEE 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology - Nagpur, India (2009.12.16-2009.12.18)] 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging

• Proper infrastructure and trained staff are sometimes not available.

To overcome these hurdles, there is a necessity for the management of university and institutions to educate their staff accordingly. 5. The Identity of the University

There is enough potential of ERP for reshaping organizational aspects, but do not present empirical evidence to illustrate or substantiate such claims. There has been studies revealing a detailed study of the use of software packages but conclude that such industry standard systems are inappropriate as universities as organizations are unique, particularly in terms of their decision-making processes.

Unlike any organization, universities value themselves according to various functionalities, the resultant of which is achieved every academic year. Based on the outcome of the result, it is the decision of the university to design proper academic regularity, keeping in mind, the future of the students.

Figure 5 details on the primary activities observed in any University. The periodic annual activities begin with the students’ admission, followed by its curriculum design, impart education and provide placement to the students. The entire routine is monitored by administration of university.

It would seem that universities are fundamentally different from business organizations in their decision-making processes. Consequently the standard IT development strategies developed for business may not be appropriate in institutions of higher education.

While necessarily not disagreeing with this view, it may be suggested that the significance of these systems would be better appreciated and understood if we were to resist viewing universities (or, for that matter, computer systems) as stable entities or as having characteristics that are ‘given in the order of things’.

Figure 5. Primary Activities of University

Considering some of the processes that might generate these characteristics – i.e., the identity of the university, its

decision-making processes and its procedures, a comparison is made with similar business processes. 6. Comparison of organization with

educational institution The primary modules of ERP system, in a business

environment, are Human Resource, Administration, Finance, Production Planning, Sales and Marketing, Inventory and Strategy Management. These modules are interlinked and when integrated, provide the required information used widely for decision-making process. Figure 6 shows the modules integrated in ERP system.

Considering the university as an ERP system, its primary modules can be compared with the common functionalities as observed in the university environment. Figure 7 shows its respective activities turned as modules in ERP setup.

In an Organization where ERP system is implemented, the Beneficiary is the ‘Customer’, whereas in the virtual University, the Beneficiary is the ‘Student’. Therefore, the primary concern for the students’ future career would be well shaped and in course of time, further enhancements and value-added features may be incorporated into the Web-centric Educational Resource Planning.

Figure 6. Primary Modules of ERP

Figure 7. Primary Modules of University

Comparing with the basic functionality of an ERP system, primary modules are mapped as shown in Table 2.

491

Page 5: [IEEE 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology - Nagpur, India (2009.12.16-2009.12.18)] 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging

Table 2: Comparison of Modules

Subject of Comparison

ERP Univ./Institution

Beneficiary Customers Students & Staff

Workers Employee Staff & Administration

Modules

HR Administration Sales & Marketing

University Correspondence

Inventory Library Costing Academic Schedule Manufacturing Curriculum Sales & Distribution

On-Campus & Off-Campus

Finance Finance 7. Methodology

A Systematic Approach has to be designed and framed for the university. The approach requires an Intranet-centric framework. This research focuses on how the entire process of the university can be centralized and used by various affiliated institutions.

The University is also very much concerned with mundane projects such as administration (finance, personnel, purchasing; estates, etc.); student recruitment and alumni management, library systems, etc., and because of the way it extends across every aspect of institutions, this has important implications for the very nature of the university. In broad terms, it is a transformation from the ‘cultural’ to the ‘technological’ university.

Figure 8. Intranet-Internet Design for User Access

The concept of ‘Virtual University’ is widely accepted in the university regulations and imparts virtual environment for the student-teacher interaction. This, being a time-bound approach, is effective as such teaching is appreciated by most of the universities to enable Global IT methodology.

To enable similar setup for the management of the university, a LAN enabled Intranet would be designed wherein the ERP system would be implemented in the university campus with the core modules necessary for the management. The university would then setup an Intranet framework in which each of its affiliated institution would be provided with a user login-password to access their correspondence with the university.

The university will have a proper LAN connectivity to communicate within its ERP related modules implemented in the respective faculty buildings, which would deliver integrated reports to the Top Level management for any strategic planning.

Along with the LAN model and intra-networking, Internet facility is also provided to enable the management carry out proper decision-making process. 8. Requirements of this framework

To enable such a setup, there are minimum requirements to be considered in both the University and the affiliated colleges.

• A proper setup required for the Intranet facility need to be installed at the University campus, where the data transfer to & from each individual college is achieved at the right place.

• A knowledgeable person has to handle the system and periodically access the account information to know if any issues are received from the University

• To make this framework more effective, the top level management of the colleges should be aware of the functionalities of this network and improve the electronic correspondence with the University.

Henceforth, the aim of the paper is to create global awareness to the educational institutions, on the features of implementing ERP structure in the management of higher education. The ERP system is more powerful and while knowing its features, the students who wanted to enroll in any university can be benefited with quick time stationary. 9. Benefits of this methodology

By setting up this web-centric framework in the University, there are various hurdles that can be overcome in course of time and would be well appreciated.

• Conveyance problem is avoided, in-turn, Time saving by all means

• Delay in process of communication avoided • Right Information arrives at the right time at the

right place • University has access to all its affiliated colleges

and at anytime can view the status of individual college

• Any data transport between the colleges and the University is achieved

492

Page 6: [IEEE 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering & Technology - Nagpur, India (2009.12.16-2009.12.18)] 2009 Second International Conference on Emerging

When a proper setup is made, it is easy for the University to trace out any malfunctions occurring in the colleges and mend to rectify them and smoothen the process.

On a long run, the administration of the colleges and the university would be streamlined and there may be no room for any illegal process from either side.

References [1] Cornford, J. & Pollock N. (2003). Putting The

University Online: Information, Technology, & Organisational Change, Open University Press.

[2] Neil Pollock. ERP Systems and the University as a ‘Unique’ Organisation, Published in Information Technology & People.

[3] James Cornford (2000). The Virtual University is (paradoxically) the University Made Concrete, (Draft paper prepared for the joint Annenberg and iCS conference on New Media and Higher Education, University of Southern California, October 27-30)

[4] Neil Pollock, Robin Williams & Rob Procter (2003), Fitting Standard Software Packages to Non-standard Organizations: The " Biography' of an Enterprise-wide System, Published in Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Volume 15, Issue 3 September 2003.

[5] Helge Kahler(2001), More Than WORDs: Collaborative Tailoring of a Word Processor Journal of Universal Computer Science, vol. 7, no. 9 (2001), 826-847 submitted: 4/4/01, accepted: 1/3/01, appeared: 28/9/01 ⎡ Springer Pub. Co.

493