Incorporating business processes and functions: Addressing the missing element in information systems education

This paper reviews a gap in information systems education today, the lack of education and training in business functions and processes. A number of researchers published in both the popular press and the peer-reviewed journals have noted the need for understanding of business processes by information technology professionals. But little work has been done on the incorporation of these needed skills into the curriculum. Specifically, the IS 2002 model curriculum makes little mention of the skills. The author describes a tested approach to imparting these needed skills into a portion of a general Information and Organization course. Included are detailed examples of frameworks and exercises to incorporate business process education into an information technology course.