Exploring the diversity of ERP systems - An empirical insight into system usage in academia

Because of the increasing importance of ERP systems and their educational value, as well as the rapidly changing ERP market, many universities use or want to use ERP systems for their courses. The aim of these courses is to teach and demonstrate different ERP related concepts and processes. To support these courses, some ERP manufacturers co-operate closely with universities and offer their systems and resources for academic teaching. However, there are hardly any empirical insights on system usage in academia. As an initial survey, we developed a questionnaire to determine the current status of ERP system usage and integration in courses at IS chairs of German-speaking research-oriented universities. Among 92 responding university chairs, 59 are teaching ERP topics. Of these 59 chairs, only 38 are teaching ERP systems practically. Almost every university chair (35 out of 38) that is providing practical courses for students is using SAP.