Microsoft 2006 Pinnacle Awards Excellence in Education

Transcription

1 Microsoft 2006 Pinnacle Awards Excellence in Education The Excellence in Education Award recognizes a special group of customers that, through their role in higher education, have greatly enhanced their students learning experience by integrating Microsoft products into their curricula. Completed nomination forms should be submitted to mbs-evnt@microsoft.com by 5 p.m. CST on Friday, January 27 th, Nominator Information Name: Company Name: Phone Number: Address: Company Being Nominated Company: University of Piraeus Contact Name: Lecturer Aristomenis Macris Authorized Phone: (+30) Address: arism@unipi.gr Business Address: 80, Karaoli & Dimitriou Str. City: Piraeus State/Province: Country: Greece Postal Code: General Customer Information Number of Employees: 400 Estimated Annual Revenue: Non-profit Public University Industry: Education Number of North American Sites: None Number of International Sites: None Microsoft Partner (VAR): Νο International Program License Agreement for Microsoft Dynamics NAV MSDN Academic Alliance (6 Departments) Company Web Site: Microsoft Solution(s): Is someone representing the company attending Convergence: Yes _X No I don t know Microsoft occasionally produces case studies used within marketing and sales opportunities that evangelize customer success stories. Is this customer willing to be profiled: Yes _X No Company Description Please describe the company: what it does, what products and/or services it provides, the company's mission or vision statement, company history, etc.:

2 The University of Piraeus was founded in 1938 under the title of the School for Industrial Studies, by the Industrialists and Tradesmen Association. In 1945 it was renamed to Higher School for Industrial Studies and its aim was defined to be the systematic, theoretical and practical training of managerial executives. In 1958, the Higher School for Industrial Studies was again renamed to Graduate School of Industrial Studies, with its headquarters in Piraeus. Starting from 1966, the University operated in the form of a public legal entity. In 1989, the Graduate School of Industrial Studies was renamed to University of Piraeus. Today, the following nine Departments are run by the University of Piraeus: 1. Economics 2. Business Administration 3. Statistics and Insurance Science 4. Financial Management and Banking 5. Industrial Management 6. Maritime Studies 7. Informatics 8. Technology Education and Digital Systems 9. International and European Studies These Departments award degrees and doctorates in the corresponding scientific fields. As from September 1995, the following postgraduate programs are run by the Department of Business Administration: a. Masters in Business Administration (MBA) b. European Masters Program in Business Administration - Total Quality Management (MBA- TQM). c. Masters (M.Sc.) program in Tourism Management. d. Masters in Business Administration for Executives (Executive MBA) The Department of Banking and Financial Management offers two Masters programs in: a) Banking and Financial Management and b) Financial Management for Executives

3 The Department of Industrial Management offers a Masters program in Industrial Management with two specializations: a) Logistics and b) Energy Management and Environmental Protection Systems The Department of Statistics and Insurance Science offers a Masters program in Statistics and Insurance Science. The Department of Maritime Studies offers a Masters program in Shipping. The Department of Economics offers two Masters program in: a) Financial and Enterprise Strategy and b) Health Management. The Department of Technology Education and Digital Systems offers a Masters program in Technology Education and Digital Systems. The Department of Informatics offers a Masters program in Advanced Computer Systems. The Department of International and European Studies offers a Masters program in International and European Studies. The Department of Informatics is a member of the MSDN Academic Alliance for many years now and has included Microsoft Technologies in its curriculum especially in courses regarding Internet technologies and software engineering. Recently, another five departments joined the MSDN Academic Alliance programs as Microsoft Technologies are extensively used for research work in the University. System Description Please describe the business management solution: current modules implemented, number of users, hardware configuration, customizations, integrated solutions, future plans, etc.: 1. Describe the course(s) in which Microsoft business management products are a part of the curriculum; year of student (Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, Senior, post-grad); number of students; curriculum (Business, Accounting, MIS); course syllabus including how students are tested for competency; textbooks or other publications that are used. Microsoft Dynamic NAV is taught in four courses, two under-graduate and two graduate. The two under-graduate courses are: a. Accounting Applications with Computer Systems. Is an elective course for 3 rd and 4 th year students of the Department of Business Administration (total years of studies: 4).

4 The average number of students is about 100 per year. The course introduces to the students the fundamental business departments from the accounting point of view, the functions per department and the data flows between the departments as they are captured by an ERP system. In order to get acquainted with ERP systems the students are organized in groups of up to 4 students and each group must create a new commercial virtual company in Microsoft Dynamics NAV from scratch, parameterize the general ledger subsystem (chart of accounts, VAT, posting groups, Journals, etc) and the Purchases and the Sales subsystems (suppliers, customers, posting groups, Journals, interfaces with general ledger accounts, etc). Then each group must create accounting transactions and enter them into the appropriate subsystem, while they continuously test whether the data they enter flow as expected between the subsystems by checking the various balances, journals and entries per subsystem (suppliers, customers, VAT and general ledger). At the end of the accounting period each group of students performs year end transactions and produces the Income Statement and the Balance Sheet for their company, using the Account Schedule capability of Microsoft Dynamics NAV (Analysis and Reporting) and performs all year end transactions. Three sets of handouts are given to students: (i) The theoretical background, (ii) a detailed case study in Microsoft Dynamics NAV (tutorial) with all the steps necessary to perform the above case and (iii) a Knowledge Network based on MS Visio showing all the basic entities found in the case study and the relations between them. The students are tested on Microsoft Dynamics NAV using parts of the case study with emphasis on data flows between subsystems, system parameterization and error tracking (searching in journals, trial balances, parameterization etc). b. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. Is an elective course for 3 rd and 4 th year students of the Department of Business Administration (total years of studies: 4). The average number of students is about 30 per year. The course introduces to the students the fundamental value chain business functions with emphasis on manufacturing, and the data flows between the departments of a manufacturing organization as they are captured by an ERP system. In order to get acquainted with ERP systems the students are organized in groups of up to 3 students and each group must create a new manufacturing virtual company in Microsoft Dynamics NAV from scratch, parameterize: (i) the Inventory subsystem (items groups, price/profit calculation, planning etc) with all finished and

5 semi-finished products and raw materials, (ii) the Capacities subsystem (Machine and Work centers, work shifts, shop calendars, working days etc), (iii) Bills of Resources (BOR) and Bills of Materials (BOM) and (iv) the accounting subsystems (General Ledger, Purchases - Suppliers and Sales - Customers). Then the standard cost for all products is calculated and various production planning scenarios are calculated based on different production forecasts and BOR-BOM setups, so that the students can understand the effect on production planning of changing various system parameters. Each group must enter into the system an annual production forecast, notice the workload on each machine and work center and correct overloads by adding extra shifts to the appropriate centers. The materials requisitions produced by the production planning automatically generate orders to suppliers which are posted and based on the raw materials availability customer orders are posted so that the students are acquainted with the production execution stage as well. All transactions generate automatically entries to all subsystems including the General Ledger, according to the system setup. Finally the students access the data generated by Microsoft Dynamics NAV through Microsoft Excel (using the ODBC) in order to understand the integration with the office environment and the concept of end-user reporting. Three sets of handouts are given to students: (i) The theoretical background, (ii) a detailed case study in Microsoft Dynamics NAV (tutorial) with all the steps necessary to perform the above case and (iii) a Knowledge Network based on MS Visio showing all the basic entities found in the case study and the relations between them. The students are tested on Microsoft Dynamics NAV using parts of the case study with emphasis on the effect of varying Microsoft Dynamics NAV parameters on production planning. The two post-graduate courses are: a. Computer applications for quality systems. Is a compulsory course for the European Masters Program in Business Administration - Total Quality Management (MBA-TQM). The average number of students is about 70 per year. The course emphasizes to the students the importance of an ERP system in order to achieve quality of operations in a manufacturing organization, and how this is realized through procedure and data flow automation, by means of an ERP system implementation, in various value chain business functions. Students are introduced to the basic setup procedures of Microsoft Dynamics NAV involving the Warehouse, the Manufacturing and the Financial Management modules and how this setup guarantees standardization of procedures and automatic distribution of information across

6 the entire organization. Then the students take the role of a production manager who must plan organization s resources in order to satisfy next year sales forecast, by manipulating parameters in the production planning and capacity management subsystems. Finally they realize the advantages of the automations inherent into an ERP system in terms of (i) process flows, as the materials requisitions produced by the production planning automatically generate orders to suppliers, which when received automatically generate production orders, which when completed automatically generate invoices to customers based on sales orders and (ii) data flows, as all these transactions generate automatically entries to all subsystems including the General Ledger, based on system setup. Finally the students access the data generated by Microsoft Dynamics NAV through Microsoft Excel (using the ODBC) and reports and pivot tables are generated, in order to understand the integration with the office environment and the concepts of end-user reporting and multidimensional analysis. Three sets of handouts are given to students: (i) The theoretical background, (ii) a detailed case study in Microsoft Dynamics NAV (tutorial) with all the steps necessary to perform the above case and (iii) a Knowledge Network based on MS Visio showing all the basic entities found in the case study and the relations between them. The students are asked to design a simple manufacturing operation and the basic setups needed using Microsoft Dynamics NAV in order to produce specific production planning results, based on production requirements. b. Enterprise Resource Planning Systems. Is an elective course for the Masters in Business Administration for Executives (Executive MBA). The average number of students is about 30 per year. The students have an option to choose one of the two scenarios, either the accounting (described in the Accounting Applications with Computer Systems under-graduate course above) or the manufacturing scenario (described in the Enterprise Resource Planning Systems under-graduate course above). Emphasis is put on procedure standardization and data distribution automation achieved when using an ERP system. Although the basic setup steps are explained to students, they are not asked to enter any setup data, which are provided to them, but they only enter into the system operational data and watch the results in terms of process and data flows. Finally the students access the data generated by Microsoft Dynamics NAV through Microsoft Excel (using

7 the ODBC) and reports and pivot tables are generated, in order to understand the integration with the office environment and the concepts of end-user reporting and multidimensional analysis. Three sets of handouts are given to students: (i) The theoretical background, (ii) a detailed case study in Microsoft Dynamics NAV (tutorial) with all the steps necessary to perform the above case and (iii) a Knowledge Network based on MS Visio showing all the basic entities found in the case study and the relations between them. Depending on the scenario chosen, the students are tested on Microsoft Dynamics NAV using parts of the case study with emphasis on either (i) data flows between subsystems and error tracking (searching in journals, trial balances, parameterization etc) for the accounting scenario, or (ii) on the effect of varying Microsoft Dynamics NAV parameters on production planning for the manufacturing scenario. 2. What are some innovative ways this Education Alliance Network customer has enhanced their students' learning experience? Student learning experience is enhanced in the following ways: a. ERP literature emphasizes that two levels of ERP training are required if a user must take full advantage of the capabilities of an ERP package: (a) ERP parameterisation (setup) training and (b) end-user training. Through the implementation of the fully featured business cases, students have a chance to experience in practice both the setup procedure and the solution of real life ERP problems using Microsoft Dynamics NAV, one of the leading ERP environments in Greece. Therefore they enhance their knowledge and experiences through an in depth understanding of the business concepts they have studied in various courses, by applying them to real-life business cases using ERP systems. Additionally, through the practical cases, students are exposed to the entire customization activity, which is vital to the compliance of the ERP system to business internal processes, as they realize that modification of parameters results in different behavior of the ERP system. Therefore they get a good knowledge of the available options per parameter and the possible interactions between parameters, a necessary precondition for a successful ERP customization in order to satisfy business specific needs. b. The deployment of the training material is based on a novel approach using practical scenarios for accounting, manufacturing and ERP courses and hierarchical entry levels per scenario are designed, for various degrees of functionality exposure and course requirements. Hence, depending on the audience, the material delivery can vary in students involvement. So the student of an ERP course can be involved in the setup process in order to get an in-depth understanding of the

8 parameterization requirements, whereas the student of an Executive MBA course can realize the advantages in procedure standardization and data distribution automation achieved when using an ERP system from the management s point of view. c. On top of the step by step tutorial provided to the students, the training material is also presented as an ontology-based knowledge network training aid, developed in Microsoft Visio tools, that restructures the training material (multimedia objects) provided to the students by: (i) externalizing the basic concepts found in each scenario and the relations amongst them and (ii) linking each concept and/or relation to supportive multimedia objects. That way: (i) the knowledge structures found in the modules of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, as they appear in each scenario, are captured and fully reusable and (ii) knowledge transfer to students is significantly enhanced as they can now navigate into the knowledge structures and when necessary link to the supportive multimedia material per structure in a graphical user interface. 3. How has the institution supported promoting this program (e.g. encouraging faculty to become involved with professional organizations; conducting research; writing publications; networking; sharing curriculum; attending Microsoft events)? One of the top priorities of the Careers Office of the University of Piraeus is to formulate very close relationships with the business organizations and professional institutions in order to support transfer of knowledge and experiences between the academic and the business world. On the other hand the Research Center of the University of Piraeus ensures the funding of all research activities through participation of the University researchers in European Union and Greek Government or Private Sector Research Projects. Concerning the relationship with Microsoft Hellas, the University has a very close alliance with Microsoft as six departments are members of the MSDN Academic Alliance program and the University has signed an International Program License Agreement with Microsoft for Microsoft Dynamics NAV. One of the proposals of the University, that Microsoft Hellas has adopted, is the deployment of training material using practical scenarios for accounting, manufacturing and ERP courses, that is based on a novel approach with hierarchical entry levels per scenario, for various degrees of functionality exposure and course requirements. These business cases have been already used by members of staff at the University of Piraeus and are in the process to be adopted by many educational institutions in Greece. Microsoft Hellas will organize events and educational programs for the Educational sector of the Greek market, with the cooperation and support of the University of Piraeus, to further promote this initiative and collect feedback for future actions.

9 4. How has the institution supported the exposure of students to the business world outside the classroom, including interactions with Microsoft partners and customers? Through the participation in the MSDN Academic Alliance program the students of six departments of the University of Piraeus, i.e. more than 2,000 per year, will have the opportunity to explore the capabilities of MS software and through the International Program License Agreement for Microsoft Dynamics NAV and the business cases developed in cooperation with Microsoft Hellas more than 200 students (130 under-graduate and 100 graduate) every year have the opportunity to enhance their knowledge and experiences on solving real-life business problems in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. All these students are excellent candidates for MS partners and customers because of their exposure on MS technologies. On the other hand the Careers Office of the University of Piraeus, established in 1997 with the funding of the European Union and the Ministry of Education, actively supports the promotion of University students to the business world, through consulting, training and career events. The Careers Office has established a very close relationship with professional institutions and major employers and holds all relevant material about career and company profiles in the Greek market, job openings, market characteristics and developments, methodologies of personnel selection, CV preparation, interviewing etc. Finally the newly established Entrepreneurial Service of the Careers Office promotes students self-employment by providing all relevant material and guidance to students in order to develop their personal skills and business initiatives through seminars, events, workshops and personal consulting. 5. Provide details about the institution that enabled development of this curriculum, including, but not limited to; infrastructure; staff; technology; dollars; support of professional organizations that have alliances with the school; other commitments. The University of Piraeus provides both inter-departmental and departmental labs (for department specific requirements) for practical training of its students on CIT. The labs operate on various client/server modes of operation, depending on training and staff requirements. The thin-client and terminal modes used extensively, enabled by MS Terminal Services technology, in a 2 or 3-Tier architectures, allow for a very flexible method of training delivery, as the access to the specific training material (e.g. the case study developed by a student) can be enabled from any client as long as there is a connection with the internet and access permission. This virtual lab or augmented lab setup augments local client capabilities as it can run any software installed on any University server.

10 Therefore the same training setup can be used, without needs for additional setup, from any computer lab inside or outside the University, from professors offices, from home etc. A considerable advantage of Microsoft Dynamics NAV, its ease of installation, has been also used extensively, as students can install the S/W at home and perform training sessions where, when and for as long as they need. Recently the University started a reorganization effort of the inter-departmental labs in order to collect all training scenarios developed by various members of the staff and create collections of case studies. These case studies will be made available to all educational staff in an effort to create generic case studies that when developed will be used by as many courses as possible. A first effort that started showing results is the business cases developed in cooperation with MS Hellas, where, depending on the audience, the same material can be delivered to satisfy various degrees of functionality exposure and course requirements. 6. Have any students benefited by internships, co-ops, or other interactions with outside businesses as a result of education through this program? The Careers Office organizes students participation in practical training sessions with selected employers as part of their studies. Through this interaction and the efforts of the Careers Office there are many incidents reported where students have found jobs because of their exposure with an ERP system. 7. Submit a statement from the Professor most involved with this program, and their Dean, that explains how the integration of Microsoft business management software into their curriculum helped improve their students learning experiences. Lecturer Aristomenis Macris, Professor most involved with this program stated: We have established an excellent cooperation with Mr. Tasos Vidalakis and Mr. Fotis Draganidis, Microsoft representatives for the activities of Microsoft Dynamics Academic Alliance program. Through this cooperation and dedicated support, our staff has received specialized training for educators on Microsoft Dynamics NAV and we have managed to include successfully the ERP software in courses involving business cases with ERP technologies. Microsoft Dynamics NAV is an excellent ERP system for educational purposes as it is easy to install in any client/server implementation (e.g. stand alone, fat client, thin client, terminal), with the file system of ones choice (i.e. Navision or SQL server), robust and reliable, rich in functionality and easy to use. Additionally the case studies developed in cooperation with MS Hellas have given us a wide choice of possible training setups as we can now choose either the accounting or the manufacturing

11 business cases and, depending on the audience, we can decide about the degree of functionality exposure in order to satisfy specific course requirements. Therefore we can use the same material with different setups in order to satisfy accounting, manufacturing and ERP courses for both undergraduate and post-graduate programs. Our students now have many choices in participating to the training sessions (i.e. in the computer labs, from home either through the Internet on our dedicated server or stand alone) and the excellent step-by-step handouts guide them to the business cases with minimum support requirements. On the other hand, through these case studies and the excellent setup, our students have a chance to get deeply involved with the solution of reallife business problems using an ERP system and understand the entire life-cycle of an ERP system implementation. Associate Professor Dimitrios Despotis, Vice Rector of Academic Affairs and Personnel stated: University of Piraeus is a dynamic educational institution that is constantly expanding its operations, through new departments, under-graduate, graduate and post-graduate programs, courses, staff, buildings, educational aids and resources in order to achieve our main objective that is to provide our students with all the knowledge, the resources and the experiences that will help them excel in the business arena. We are convinced, through our exposure to the business world, that Enterprise Resource Planning systems is one of the most important business technologies up to date, incorporating Information and Communication Technologies with business best practices, aiming to give strategic advantages to the organizations adopting it. For that purpose we have included to our staff experienced professionals, like Dr. Macris, and to our curriculum and courses new technologies, including Microsoft Dynamics NAV, as training aids, in an effort to maximize our students exposure to business best practices and technologies. We are closely watching the positive effects of Enterprise Resource Planning practical training on our students overall understanding on business and technology issues and we are convinced that we must further expand this offering to other related courses in the near future. Microsoft requests the privilege of using the information contained in this nomination form for future marketing and/or promotional purposes. Submitting your nomination constitutes consent to do so.