Evaluating students' satisfaction using two SAP ERP user interfaces

Abstract

Companies worldwide use Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to effectively manage business processes across organizational departments and information among global subsidiaries. Colleges have incorporated ERP systems into their business curricula to provide students with a better understanding of business process theory and information sharing concepts. In this paper, we discuss students' satisfaction with using two end-user interfaces for SAP's ERP software in an online/distance education classroom. The first interface was a front-end graphical user interface (GUI) with a client/server architecture using online transaction processing (OLTP) and an Oracle database management system. The second interface was completely simulated using a JAVA-based program running in a browser. From a computer science viewpoint, we were interested in better understanding the human-computer interaction of students with the two different interfaces. Specifically, we wanted to determine which interface best secured students' satisfaction as users, while learning business process theory and information sharing concepts. Reasons for students' dissatisfaction with using SAP's GUI, and benefits from using a completely simulated environment, are discussed. Other colleges considering implementing SAP's ERP software into their online/distance education curricula may benefit from lessons learned from this human-computer interaction experience.