Integrating Sap R/3 Applications Into a Total Quality Management Course (Manuscripts‪)‬

ABSTRACT Recent trends in business school curricula have focused on incorporating technology and integrating subject matter across functional areas. With the advent of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as SAP R/3, and the willingness of vendors to partner with universities as in SAP R/3's American University Alliance, a means for facilitating the achievement of these curricular objectives has emerged. In this paper we explore how such software can be used in the teaching of Total Quality Management (TQM). We first discuss how enterprise resource planning systems allow an organization to integrate quality with other business processes such as purchasing, production, sales and accounting. We then make some suggestions on how SAP R/3 can be used in a TQM course for MBA students.