Enterprise Systems (ES) integration into academic curriculum across multiple campuses of a leading Academic Institution in the UAE

Enterprise Systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) can be regarded as the most innovative developments in modern day information systems. Leading Enterprise systems such as SAP, Oracle, Sage, Microsoft etc. With high adoption of these Enterprise systems, it is no longer sufficient for a new graduate to have knowledge of an academic subject as increasingly it is necessary for students to gain those skills which will enhance their prospects of employment. In order to bridge this gap, Universities and Technical Institutes to incorporate training on enterprise systems technology with curriculum of related courses. A leading Academic Institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has established an initiative to ensure that each of its students engages with hands-on skills and has embedded this within the academic curriculum for all disciplines under its “Learning By Doing (LBD)” strategy. The integration project was conceptualized after thorough Literature Review, followed by meticulous planning, implementation and validation phases. The objective of the paper is to illustrate a successful model of experiential learning through design of a curriculum that is enriched through the hands-on experience gained by students working on a leading Enterprise System (ES) system - SAP.