شبیه سازی مبتنی بر برنامه ریزی منابع سازمانی (ERP) به عنوان یک محیط آموزشی برای کسب و کار بنگاه های کوچک و متوسط (SME)

Small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) lack an adequately skilled workforce and managers, since university education generally focuses on large enterprises and their needs. Complementary skills needed by SMEs have been of lesser interest even though several approaches, methods and environments could be utilized. For example, enterprise resource planning systems, business simulation games and practice enterprise models all support the learning of complementary and practical skills the SMEs desperately need. Yet all these learning environments are problematic as they approach business phenomena from narrow viewpoints. In this paper, we present a learning environment that merges these three environments so that they complement each other, allowing the learning of the daily management of SMEs. In this way future employees are better equipped when they enter the labour market, being ready to contribute to the business of SMEs.

Management educators have also brought up the need for cross-functional integration in the business school curriculum (Crittenden and Wilson, 2006 and Seethamraju, 2007). Yet it is argued that higher education institutions are not equipping their graduates with adequate skills that companies, specifically SMEs, require from their managers (Holden, Jameson, & Walmsley, 2007; Martin & Chapman, 2006). According to Grabinger and Dunlab (1995), effective learning requires rich knowledge structures with many contextual links to help learners address and solve complex problems. They argue that it is not easy to transfer learning between people. Instead, learning is more likely to be transferred in rich, complex learning situations where learners take an active role in forming new understandings. Their learning is a collaborative process into which the learners bring their own needs and experiences. Skills and knowledge are thus best acquired within realistic contexts where the learners can rehearse and learn the outcomes that are expected of them under realistic conditions. A learning environment is a combination of physical surroundings, psychological or emotional conditions, and social or cultural influences affecting the learner in an educational enterprise (Hiemstra, 1991). Grabinger and Dunlab (1995) define “rich environments for active learning” as comprehensive instructional systems that promote study and investigation within authentic contexts and cultivate an atmosphere of knowledge building learning communities. Such environments utilize dynamic, interdisciplinary learning activities that promote high level thinking processes through realistic tasks and performances.

The SME business sector lacks an adequately skilled workforce. University education provides knowledge only of large enterprises. Operating a small company requires specific, more generic skills. This kind of practical part of business has been of lesser interest in universities. Enterprise resource planning systems, business simulation games and the practice enterprise model have all been used as experiential learning environments to address this issue. However, they each have challenges, as they approach business phenomena from a specific, limited perspective. In this paper, we have presented a conceptual learning environment that merges these three environments. They complement each other, giving learners a rich environment for actively learning to manage SME operations. This equips students with practical skills that add value to their theoretical knowledge. When employed by SME companies, they will be able to contribute to the business from day one.