Teaching operations management in an integrated format: Student perception and faculty experience Raktim Pal à , Michael E. Busing 1 College of Business, James Madison University, Showker Hall, MSC 0202, Harrisonburg, VA 22807, USA article info Article history: Received 4 July 2007 Accepted 19 July 2008 Available online 25 July 2008 Keywords: Analysis of instruction effectiveness Teaching method Integrated approach Operations management abstract Understanding the role of the operations function is an important part of any business student’s training. Here we present and analyze our experience of teaching operations management by integrating it with other business disciplines. A survey instrument was developed and students were asked to complete the online survey at the beginning and at end of the semester. Statistical analysis was performed on the responses received. Using factor analysis and structural equation model we assessed student perceptions. We found that students perceive learning operations management in an integrated format quite useful. Students are well trained to understand the interrelationship of operations management with other business functions. The experience and viewpoints of faculty members developing and delivering the integrated course over a significant period are presented as well. & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Through the years, most business schools have deliv- ered core courses in a silo approach—especially manage- ment, finance, marketing, and operations management. As a result, business schools have traditionally turned out narrowly focused graduates who are often unaware of how decision making by one functional area affects or is constrained by decisions made by other functional areas. For example, many graduates fail to see how finished goods inventory, while desirable by marketing in order to meet demand from available stock, may prevent opera- tions personnel from producing goods and services that can be competitive in terms of features or pricing. They also fail to see how this inventory can show up on the income statement as something that directly affects bottom-line profitability. This, of course, is just one example of how the silo approach to teaching can lead graduates to miss the big picture of business manage- ment. In order to address the above problem, faculty at our institution developed a course that focuses on ‘business’ instead of ‘discipline’. The integrated course is over a decade old and is constantly evolving based on student feedback as well as feedback from recruiters and other external constituents. The course is regarded as a competitive advantage by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business as well as by Business Week in its 2006 ranking of comprehensive undergraduate business schools. Business Week singled out our program for its course in which student groups prepare business plans (Lavelle et al., 2006). We use the business plan development exercise as a tool to foster student learning of the interdisciplinary nature of real-world business and were glad to receive acclaims from external entities for doing so. Nonetheless, we felt that an objective review of the current offering would be useful. We, the operations management faculty, particularly focused on our discipline in the context of the integrated learning environment. The purpose of this research is to assess student percept- ion of teaching operations management by integrating it Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe Int. J. Production Economics ARTICLE IN PRESS 0925-5273/$ - see front matter & 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2008.07.005 à Corresponding author. Tel.: +1540 568 7094; fax: +1540 568 3273. E-mail addresses: palrx@jmu.edu (R. Pal), busingme@jmu.edu (M.E. Busing). 1 Tel.: +540 568 3058. Int. J. Production Economics 115 (2008) 594–610