The importance of ERP (enterprise resource planning)
systems as a major system for organisational
change and transformation has been one of the main
reasons they have created
such excitement within
the educational arena. This pap
er examines the use of an ERP simulation game to prepare university
graduates to meet the challenge of a global supply
chain environment. It describes the novel approach
taken to adapt the HEC Montreal ERP simulation
game into a one day online inter-institutional
competition. The competition involved teams
of university students and lecturers from four
Melbourne-based universities who, with the help of
industry mentors, put their business skills to the
test for an intensive simulation game by using a
real world ERP system: SAP. The teams ran the full
business cycle of a small manufacturing company, while interacting with suppliers and customers by
sending and receiving orders, delivering the product and
completing the entire cash-to-cash cycle. To
develop a range of business and ‘soft’ skills, participants adopted individual business roles and made
life-like decisions around the product they were selling:
muesli bars. In general, participants felt that
although their general knowledge of ERP systems
was low, the game fully demonstrated the
interaction of the supply chain.
Additionally the game exceeded their expectations as they worked
alongside an industry mentor in a team
environment to achieve a common goal.     --PACIS 2011 held: Brisbane, 7-11 July, 2011