Richard Stockton College of New Jersey

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

ACCT 5405-091
Spring Semester 2015
Instructor:
Robert L. Kachur, CPA
Office:

C-126

Office Phone:

(609)-652-4471

E-Mail:

[email protected] or
[email protected]

Office hours:

MW 1:00 3:30

Classroom:
This course meets as on line course through Blackboard, with access from the Stockton
Website Portal, or directly via Stockton skimmer.
Since this is an online class, it is imperative that each participant has a current USERID and
knows their current password to the system. If you do not know/remember this information,
you must contact the Student Records area to reestablish your account and have your
password reset. You can then change the password when you access the system.
I have given you two external email system addresses for contacting me. However, it is
probably best to maintain all communications through the Blackboard email system. This
keeps the course communication within the course and easier to administer. I usually have
the Blackboard system open continuously and check at least once per day and generally
more frequently.
Please use proper protocol and decorum within the course. Be careful of phraseology and
terminology that may be interpreted multiple ways and be potentially offensive to some
students. Above all, treat each other and the instructor with the courtesy and respect each
has earned. It is expected that there well may be some disagreements throughout the
course, especially in the discussion posts. This is healthy and a great learning experience.
Remember to not take any criticism or questioning personally and enjoy it as an intellectual
challenge. It is expected that all posts and emails will reflect the utmost in professionalism
and respect to all members of the course and the college in general. Also, please construct
your submissions in a word processor, and spell/grammar check them before pasting into
the course. It is also usually a good idea to save these as files in your word processor,
especially if there is some system failure and you would be required to repost a submission.
An orientation to the course will be available in Black Board. This will be a MP4 recording
and will discuss the objectives of the course and how the course will operate. Included are
the requirements of the course including evaluations of performance, submissions on line
for weekly discussion questions and Access assignments, and format of exams, papers and
presentations.
There is a spring term break, and some other holiday observances and advising that will
eliminate some traditional class sessions. However, this is an online course, so there really
is no impact. I will not expect work to be done during the term break, but certainly feel free
to work ahead and post where appropriate.
Yes, this is a very technical area, but I do not expect MIS development experts in the
course. You are all trying to earn an MBA degree. This presumes that each of you will be a
business owner, executive, manager, etc. during your careers. This course is designed to
help you understand critical elements of your information systems and how to manage
issues in your organization related to ERP and AIS. The Access work is designed to help you
get a rudimentary working knowledge of DBMS and a flavor for their complexities. The

DBMS used in ERP and AIS systems are far superior and much more complex and feature
rich compared to Access. The course is from the manager perspective, and not the systems
programmer perspective. Additionally, we will do some minor work the NetSuite ERP
system to give you some practical knowledge/experience with an ERPbut you will not
become experts.
Textbooks:
Enterprise Systems For Management, 2E
Motiwalla & Thompson
ISBN: 9780132145763
Pearson, Prentice-Hall.
Microsoft Office Access 2013: Comprehensive Concepts and Techniques
ISBN-10 1439079021, ISBN-13 9781439079027
Cengage Learning
Copyright year: 2013 Pages: 888
Course Description:
Accounting Information Systems (AIS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems are
interrelated in the world of management information systems. AIS are typically a subset or
component of ERP. This has been particularly true during the past 10 years, as ERP
systems have become widespread. ERP systems are very complex and fully integrate an
organizations information and processes. ERP is based on a series of industry standard
business processes.
ERP systems as previously stated, have become a de facto standard in most organizations
globally, however, the systems have been subject to extensive system implementation
failures and lack of meeting established goals. In this course, we will look at some of the
strengths and weaknesses of the systems and their implementations. Further we will
examine success and failure factors related to the current research.
All of these systems operationally are based on database systems (DBMS) and accordingly,
we will examine in detail MS ACCESS which is a relational database. This effort will expose
the student to typical database activities such as the creation and maintenance of a DBMS,
ad hoc Queries, reports, forms, menuing systems, etc. The purpose here is to have the
student understand basic functions to fully appreciate the complexity of ERP systems.
Understand that the DBMS systems used in ERP systems, e.g. SAPs R/3 and Oracles Oracle
DB have nth times more processing power and sophistication. ACCESS is being used as an
example of capabilities. To many of you, this will be a new learning experience and possibly
a bit intimidating. Generally, most students have not had this exposure prior to the class
and therefore novice to the concepts. We are simply trying to expose you to concepts you
may experience in your professional careers and NOT make you computer programmers.
There are other areas to be examined in the course including but not limited to: Systems
Development Life Cycle (SDLC), XBRL, backup and recovery systems, disaster plans, supply
chain management (SCM), customer relationship management (CRM), impact of SarbanesOxley (SOX) legislation, specifically Section 404 compliance and issues of internal control,
implementation efforts, classic success and failure companies, the 3 rd Wave of ERP, etc.
Additionally, the accounting profession and accounting programs at U.S. colleges and
universities have been widely criticized as not adequately preparing students for careers in
accounting, with a focus on information systems; we will explore some of these issues.
Do not expect to be an expert or even a functional professional in ERP systems as a result
of this class. This is a global overview of capabilities and exposure to widespread usage of

state of the art systems. The perspective is that of a manager, owner, executive, financial
executive (CFO/controller), entrepreneur wishing to gain a managerial level of knowledge.
This is not intended to be very technical in nature. This is not intended to make you a
systems expert or professional.

AACSB MBA Program Learning Goals:

Learning objective #1 Management Specific Knowledge & its Application Goal- Graduates
will understand, be able to apply, and will work toward integrating and evaluating:

Basic knowledge of management, marketing, Information technology, finance,

business operations, accounting, business law, and strategic management

The unique contributions made by diversity in organizations

Perspectives and techniques of strategic thinking for management in organizations

Learning objective #2 Critical Thinking Goal: Graduates will:

Evaluate, integrate and synthesize management information

Frame organizational problems from a variety of functional and stakeholder

perspectives in an integrative and interdisciplinary manner

Evaluate and select appropriate models, methodologies and technologies for

effective problem solving under all conditions

Think strategically about the organization in a global, economic, environmental,

political, ethical, legal and/or regulatory context

Learning objective #3 Professional Conduct Goal: Graduates will be able to:

Deliver professional individual and/or team oral and written reports utilizing state of
the art technology

Understand the importance of life-long professional learning and development

Disabilities:
Please consider bringing any physical or learning disabilities to the attention of the
instructor (in private). This is totally optional from your perspective. I suggest this action
so that I may assist you to perform the requirements/exams of the course to the best of
your ability. This is particularly important if more time is required for exam due to learning
disabilities. I have no problems allowing students needing this extra time to take exams in
the testing center. Please ask my permission before recording (tape or video) any class
lectures etc.
Grading and Evaluation Standards:
Grades will be based on exams and discussion participation and any papers and projects.
Students will earn points towards the final total for the course. The final grade points will
not be subjected to a curve to determine final letter grades for the course. There may be
+/- extensions to grades. Be aware that grade inflation exists in many courses supporting
strong standards of performance applied to the grading process.
There is no extra work to add points to your grades.
There will be absolutely no make-up exams given without strong and compelling
extenuating circumstances including illness, accident, and deaths. You receive a "0" for all
exams missed. Prior approval by the instructor is the only possible way you can receive a

make-up exam. I apply a reasonability standard to this factor. Obviously, business travel,
illness, family situations can be mitigating factors and should be communicated.
Exam

1 at 100 points each

100 points

Paper

2 at 100 points each

200 points

Online discussion
posts

12 at 20 points each

240 points

Access DB
submissions

10 at 20 points each

200 points

3 at 20 points each

60 points

NetSuite assignments
Total course

800 points

The exams, papers, presentations will generate scores that will be evaluated on a points
basis. The total course is worth 800 points. There are no points awarded for attendance.
The scores on the exams and other requirements will be added together and will constitute
your final score for the term. Grades will then be awarded depending on your final course
score. There are no extra credit assignments available to augment your grade.
The points will be constituted in the following manner:
1) There will be one exam related to the course material, which may require some research
on the part of the student, and will be done in a midterm/final format. This will NOT be
regurgitated learning, but some requirement by the student to indicate comprehension of
the material and the ability to research through various sources to complete an answer.
All exam results will be posted promptly to the Blackboard course shell, i.e. prior to the next
class meeting.
Exams will reflect the body of work covered and may also reflect research questions. These
questions will have it foundation in the developed body of academic and professional
presentations and articles, preferably peer-reviewed. All work of this nature is expected
to be submitted using APA format with proper references. The minimum number of
references will be established for each submission. It is expected that your work
submissions will be subject to a spell checker and grammar checker prior to submission.
Exams will be based on thought provoking questions faced by managers in all types of
organizations daily. This is not a regurgitation exercise of responding with stock answers
from the reading materials. It will necessitate your analysis and research. There may be
more than one reasonable and acceptable answer. The approach is to make you think and
analyze like managers and present plausible recommendations. If the exam is based on
Access development, then the student will be expected to demonstrate a relatively low
level of expertise in the software. Again the purpose is one of exposure to the system to
understand low they function, and not a detailed project to create a wide-ranging operative
system.
2) There will be two papers due at various points of the course. These will be a 10-20 page
documents done in APA style and compliance. References will be listed on the last page
and these do not contribute to the page length requirement. The topic will be related to the
current implementation status of XBRL in the United States. Your individual approach can
be independent of others in the class. This paper will examine the purpose, status,
implementation issues, costs & benefits, etc. of the adoption of XBRL as a reporting
standard by the SEC, the banking industry, etc. There are many peer-reviewed papers in
existence on the topic, easily located through EBSCO HOST document searches, Google,
AICPA and XBRL websites. The second paper will be related to Cloud ERP vs. traditional ERP
systems. This will examine the Cloud and discuss strengths and weaknesses, objectives,
implementation differences, etc.
3) There will be twelve discussion posts, approximately 1 per week, related to the various
readings from the Enterprise Systems for Management and the Second Wave Enterprise

Resource Planning Systems texts. You will be expected to report and synthesize your
concepts and formulate them into Discussion Posts.
A minimum acceptable DP is 100-200 words, but more is acceptable and encouraged. You
will be expected to respond to at least 1 other DP during the week, with elements of
clarification, disagreement, additional information, encouragement, etc. Just remember
that we are all friends here and nothing should be personal or vicious, yet they should be
formulated with critical thinking elements. It is essential to remember that you are training
to become business managers and the HR elements of those positions should be kept in
context in your responses.
4) There will be ten database submissions, one after each DB assignments. You will
complete the assignment, working with a clean and correct database that I will provide
each week. The assignments are the continuation of a specific company through the
various projects.
Your submission will be judged on the correctness of the development work and the
processing of data according to the requirements of the exercises. These are done after
working through the self-tutorials in the book. They are not difficult, but could take a little
time to complete. Remember that you are creating an additional skill set for yourself,
includable on your resume and invaluable in your professional career.
5) The total course is worth 800 points as distributed above. Grades are awarded on the
total points accumulated throughout the semester and done in accordance the grading
matrix in the syllabus below. Most students in the course will earn an A or B, if history
repeats itself in this course. However, I have given grades below this level including
failures. Please, if you have any grade issues, contact me immediately for resolution.

Grade

Grade Range Floor

Grade Range Ceiling

737

800

A-

713

736

B+

689

712

657

688

B-

633

656

C+

609

632

577

608

C-

553

576

D+

529

552

473

528

472

Discussion posts:
There will be weekly discussion posts, i.e. questions, statements, etc. As students, you will
be expected to answer these questions with a minimum of 100-200 word (or more if so
motivated) responses. Likewise, you will be expected to respond to at least two other
submissions during the week from your peers. In these responses, you will be expected to
critique then agree, disagree, state your reasons, etc. These posts are created to help you
act as a learning community and maintain an active interface with the instructor and fellow
students.
I will monitor all of these and step in where necessary and provide a weekly summary and
further discussion of problem points etc. You will earn points for these (notice that the
course is worth 800 points and discussions comprise 240 of these). Generally you will earn

14-20 points for each assuming they are done professionally and with a high degree of
academic excellence as expected in any MBA program.
Normally the questions will be based on the reading materials, i.e. Enterprise Systems for
Management texts. Many of these are considered classic article submissions and are cited
extensively in the literature. XBRL is not really ERP specific, but a reporting initiative that
has gained significant ground globally. You will not be expected to create XBRL related
taxonomies, but questioned on the concepts and impact to organizations in their financial
reporting, value chains, supply chain management, etc.
Some/many/all of the discussion posts will require some research on your part, but this
should be relatively easy and all the materials should be available on the library website.
Any submissions should be done in APA style with citations as appropriate.
Attendance:
Attendance is mandatory; roll will be taken and recorded electronically. Blackboard
monitors your activities online indicating when, how long, etc. you are logged in and what
work you are doing: discussions, emails, reading documents, etc. Every student is
encouraged to regularly attend class to maximize the learning curve. Regular interface
with the instructor is a learning experience, which should not be minimized or ignored. You
are responsible for the material discussed in class and any announcements, assignments,
supplemental materials, and syllabus changes discussed or distributed in hardcopy during
class.
Academic Honesty:
Students are expected to complete their own homework, papers and projects unless
otherwise indicated as a group activity. Be sure to credit any quoted sources when
completing your papers, including quotations taken from company annual reports and
management discussions. It is expected that papers will be written individually and
evidence of plagiarism will be treated as a serious infraction of Stocktons Academic
Honesty policy.
Please understand that academic dishonesty of any type, cheating on exams; submitting
others' work as your own, etc. will absolutely not be tolerated. You will receive a "0" for any
cheating on exams, projects, papers! Unless otherwise noted in a particular assignment,
the RSC Academic Honesty policies will be followed in the course. These policies have been
recently updated to eliminate some previous issues and inconsistencies
.
Student's Responsibility During the Semester:
Students are expected to do the following during the semester:
1. Read and highlight the chapter assigned for the week before the first class of the
week
1. Attempt all assignments, preferably complete them
2. Understand the theories and the methodologies in each chapter
3. Make lists of concepts or methods which are not understood, work for clarification
with either the instructor, course tutor, or group members
4. Ask questions in the class relative to the lists above or other issues; actively
participate
5. Maintain an organized file binder of all homework assignments and solutions
6. Contact the instructor on any issues, assignments, or major problems not
understood
7. Obtain solutions and handouts for any classes missed
8. Continually assess if you are in accord with learning objectives for the chapters

The instructor strongly recommends that students form study groups to assist in
mastering the course materials. These groups can meet in person, via email, instant
messaging capabilities, or phone conferences. Groups should be formed with an element
of convenience to all parties and self-governed. Group study has shown to be a positive
factor for improved earned grades.
Students should attempt to get any help they need from tutors, etc. at the earliest point of
problems. Absolutely do not wait to get help. Every information concept builds on prior
concepts learned. You cannot get behind; it is nearly impossible to catch up. You cannot
effectively cram for exams. You must do all work on an organized basis throughout the
course.
Communications:
I will use email addresses to communicate with you as necessary. Please be certain that
your Stockton accounts are current and any forwarding of emails is established in your
individual profiles. The use of email is an industry standard that all students should have
and be familiar with. Communication and dissemination of information and files will greatly
enhance the class.
Assignment Schedule:
The schedule on the last page of this syllabus is a general guideline as to the chapters and
assignments due on various dates. This is subject to change depending on many factors,
but is a model of the course elements, their sequence, and approximate time parameters of
the assignments. The dates listed are not absolute, and will be modified to meet the needs
and time constraints of the instructor and class. The date listed is the start of a week when
assignments will be due. This is a guideline as to the start of an assignment. Greater
details will be communicated in the orientation session and via email within the course.
Blackboard:
There will be a link to a Stockton Blackboard shell for the course. The course shell
generally may include for all chapters: syllabus and assignments, all of the PowerPoint slide
presentations, solutions to assignments, course notes, and links to various video and audio
presentations, and various file downloads. It also has an email and calendar capability.
Access the shell by going to the Stockton website and choosing Blackboard. You will be
required to enter your username and password for access.
I also expect to utilize COLLABORATE in the course to provide archived lectures, discussion
of points, etc. This will be an adjunct to the course to help you understand issues.
NetSuite - ERP:
NetSuite is a cloud SaaS ERP system that will be utilized within the context of the course.
We will utilize the Accounting Information System elements of this system for experience in
working with a state of the art accounting system, within an integrated ERP.
An ERP is an Enterprise Resource Planning System that virtually all large scale
organizations throughout the globe have implemented. The midrange of organizations
often referred to as the SME organizations are also widely adopting this technology.
Cloud systems are those that are resident on an off-site location operated by a third party,
and as users, you will access via the internet, at any computer in the world that has internet
capabilities. This will be at no cost to you. We will explore its usage at various times in the
course.
ERP systems typically include as many as 30 integrated modules with the following
examples: AIS, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Customer Relationship Management
(CRM), Materials Requirements Planning (MRP I & II), Human Resource Management,
Inventory Management, and a number of others, depending on software developer.

I reserve the right to modify, change, add or exclude material and projects
throughout the term. The homework assignment list below will be submitted as
assignments.

RICHARD STOCKTON COLLEGE OF NJ

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
ACCT 5405 - 091
SPRING SEMESTER 2015
WEEK

DATE

CHAPTER

1/21

1/26

2/2

2/9

2/16

2/23

3/2

(M & T) Systems Integration

(P & L) - Maintaining a Database

(M & T) Enterprise Systems Architecture

(P & L) Creating Reports and Forms

(M & T) Development Life Cycle

(P & L) Multiple Table Forms

(M & T) Implementation Strategies

(P & L) Advanced Report Techniques
(M & T) Software and Vendor Selection
Mid-term exam no other work due!

3/8

Dartt Offsite Services

(M & T) Introduction to Enterprise Systems for

Management
(P & L) - Querying a Database

6
7

(P & L) Database and Database Objects: An Introduction

5
6

ASSIGNMENTS

Orientation MP4 Recording

1
2

DESCRIPTION

Spring Term Break

TBA
Dartt Offsite Services
TBA
Dartt Offsite Services
TBA
Backup Services
TBA
Backup Services
TBA
Backup Services
TBA

10

11

3/16

3/23

3/30

(P & L) Advanced Form Techniques

(M & T) Operations and Post Implementation

(P & L) Macros, Navigation Forms, and Control Layouts

(M & T) Program and Project Management

TBA

(P & L) Administering a Database System

Technology Services

9
12

4/6

10
10

(M & T) Organizational Change and Business Process

Reengineering
(P & L) Using SQL
(M & T) Global, Ethics and Security Management

Backup Services
TBA
Technology Services

TBA
Technology Services
TBA

First Paper Due

13

4/13

11
11

14

4/20

12

(M & T) Supply Chain Management

NetSuite Assignment 1
(M & T) Customer Relationship Management
NetSuite Assignment 2

15

4/27

NetSuite Assignment 3

4/29

Final Paper Due

TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA
TBA

The schedule is approximate relative to dates material will be covered. The schedule is shown to approximate when chapters will be covered
and the probable sequence. Some material may take longer than anticipated to adequately cover, forcing the delay of scheduled material
and exams.
Due to above conditions and unforeseen events it is possible that all chapters listed will not be covered. In that event, the number of
chapters per each exam will be adjusted. Exams may be in-class, take-home, or computer-based. Generally exams will be given for the
entire class period. The structure of the exams will generally be problems. There may also be true/false, multiple choice, excel-based (you

will not have to create anything), or essay. Disclaimer: I reserve the right to modify, change, add or exclude material and projects
throughout the term. The homework assignment list below will be submitted as assignments.