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Assessing the
Assessing the learning learning
experience in a business process experience
re-engineering (BPR) course at
47
the University of Bahrain
Minwir Al-Shammari
Department of Management and Marketing, College of Business
Administration, University of Bahrain, Sakhir, Kingdom of Bahrain
Abstract
Purpose – The main purpose of the study was to assess students’ perceptions of cognitive, affective,
and interactive benefits in a business process re-engineering (BPR) course using five adopted teaching
tools: role-playing, case studies, group assignments, electronic collaboration, and invited lecture.
Design/methodology/approach – A list of 18 closed-ended questions and one open-ended question
was distributed to a sample of 46 undergraduate students at the University of Bahrain’s College of
Business Administration who participated in the study.
Findings – Descriptive statistics (mean scores) revealed that role-playing was the most useful
technique in the improvement of students’ cognitive, affective, and interactive skills, followed by
group assignments, case method, invited lecture, and electronic collaboration respectively (except for
the improvement of cognitive skills where the invited lecture prevailed over the case method). ANOVA
results revealed that there were no significant differences in perceptions of cognitive benefits between
most teaching tools. The only significant variations detected were between the web-based tool on the
one side and the rest of tools on the other. Significant differences were also found in perceptions of
affective and interactive benefits for almost all teaching tools.
Originality/value – The best practices resulting from the adopted teaching process are expected to
form a blueprint for benchmarking design of a BPR course or a course in other business subject areas.
Keywords Business process re-engineering, Learning, Case studies, Lectures, Process management,
Bahrain
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Keeping in pace with the tough competition and immense technological developments
in nowadays business world, business organisations and educational institutions need
to work hand-in-hand to meet these challenges. Although deregulation and
globalisation play an important role in the business transformational process, most
of the triggers and enablers of change can be located in information technology (IT)
(Evans and Wurster, 1999). The transformation in the financial sector, for example, has
been enabled by the development of the personal digital assistants (PDAs) that allow
customer multi-channel access to financial services any time and any where, by the
usage of new standardised software packages, automatic clearing and settlement
mechanisms, and powerful data mining solutions (Winter, 2002). The emergence of Business Process Management
electronic service intermediaries has also been enabled by common access to the web Journal
Vol. 11 No. 1, 2005
technologies and by a growing independence of services from location-based pp. 47-62
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
distribution channels (Hagel and Singer, 1999). Business networking and value chain 1463-7154
integration was enabled by the integration of business-to-business (B2B) and DOI 10.1108/14637150510578728
BPMJ business-to-consumer (B2C) trade transactions that occur over the web using new
11,1 standardised software package such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) (Porter,
2001).
The management discipline faces massive challenges. Entirely new business
models are enabled, while many traditional business models become obsolete. Most
undergraduate and graduate business administration programs focus on traditional,
48 disciplinary knowledge (e.g. marketing, accounting/finance, human resources,
production management, etc.), although complex transformations require
cross-disciplinary skills (Winter, 2002). Moreover, integration across functions and
automation require a radical redesign of internal processes (Davenport, 1993).
Educational programs need to be able to meet the challenges of accelerating change
and complexity in today’s business and technology environments by graduating
students who are well-equipped with holistic business management and IT skills that
meet the market needs and the expectations of their employers. Traditional educational
programs in business management as well as in IT will no longer be able to continue to
help organisations meet the challenges of competition and deliver value to their
customers. Non-traditional courses that holistically integrates business management
and IT skills shall be introduced in order to meet business and technology challenges
and satisfy the market needs.
The paper starts with describing the author’s experience in designing, developing,
implementing, and assessing an advanced IT-enabled business transformation course
(business process re-engineering (BPR)) at the University of Bahrain’s Business
Administration College. The next section describes the BPR course. Next, the teaching
methods adopted in the course are presented. The research methodology and results
are covered in the fourth and fifth sections respectively. The paper is concluded with
discussion and recommendations in the sixth section.

The BPR course

BPR was offered as a senior elective course for business information systems (BIS)
students at the University of Bahrain’s Business Administration College. It was offered
as a capstone course to leverage on students’ integrated skills in business management
and IT. The course was not only required but also felt that it was central to successful
preparation of BIS graduates for their future role in the workplace as well as for
pursuing advanced degrees. Unlike traditional business courses, the BPR course
emphasises business processes rather than business functions.
The functional approach in teaching business courses emphasises individual
business functions such as finance, marketing, and production in total isolation view
from other functions. However, a process approach is cross-functional in nature and
views the whole business as one unit composed of many interdependent activities. The
process approach emphasises a systemic view of business and helps business
organisations deliver value to their customers and meet the changing market
conditions.
Business (re-)engineering integrates methods from the following fields (Winter,
2002):
.
technology and innovation management;
.
strategic planning;
 .
systems engineering; Assessing the
.
total quality management; and learning
.
organisational design. experience
The methodology adopted in teaching and in conducting BPR was based on
Scott-Morton and Allen’s (1994) framework for organisational and societal impacts of
information technology. It is composed of three major pillars: process, people, and 49
technology. These three elements must be aligned to the needs of the market and the
customers within it, and with each other.
The following topics were covered in directed class lecturing (Peppard and
Rowland, 1995):
.
the meaning of the term BPR;
.
the imperative to re-engineer business processes;
.
product and service delivery processes;
.
organising people in teams;
.
exploiting information technology;
.
redesigning processes;
.
managing culture and change; and
.
guidelines for success and pitfalls to avoid.

The adopted teaching methods

The adopted teaching tools in the BPR course were web-based collaboration, case
studies analyses, role-playing, in-class group assignments, and invited lecture. Other
business subjects taught at the college of business administration commonly adopt one
or more of a combination of such tools as case studies, group assignments, and invited
lecture in addition to regular in-class lecturing.
While the BPR course was in its early development stage, several approaches to
teaching the course have been used in an attempt to achieve the required outcome, and
no particular strategy regarding the selection of teaching tools was used. However, the
only underlying principle in the selection of methods was their prospective potential
for facilitating experiential learning, and methods would only be considered for use
again if proved to be useful. According to Gordon (1999), we learn:
.
10 per cent of what we read;
.
20 per cent of what we hear;
.
30 per cent of what we see;
.
50 per cent of what we see and hear;
.
60 per cent of what we write;
. 70 per cent of what is discussed; and
.
80 per cent of what we experience.
Apart from directed lecturing (know-what) that aims at introducing and reinforcing
fundamental principles of BPR, a combination of teaching tools that emphasise the
experiential classroom learning to a diverse set of business related situations
BPMJ (know-how and know-why), has been applied to facilitate class learning and enable
11,1 students learn how to manage organisational re-engineering projects.

A. Web-based collaboration
Electronic communication facilities provide a platform for distributed learning
environment. A Yahoo-based electronic group under the name “BIS443” has been
50 formed and incorporated into the course. The main purpose of forming the electronic
group was to facilitate asynchronous learner-instructor, instructor-learner,
learner-learner, and learner-content interactions in a virtual world in support of the
course delivery.
A dedicated mailing list has been created for the students in the course. The mailing
list is intended both for announcements and as a discussion forum for students during
and after the course. Students can use the list to discuss, ask questions, and
communicate with others. It also allows the instructor to distribute detailed lecture
notes on the required chapters in the course, assignment questions, announcements,
and the like; and allows students to submit work group assignments, post thoughts,
comments, or questions and check back periodically for responses.

B. Case studies
Case analysis was conducted in teams inside the class. Each case team was
decomposed into four members: leader, recorder, timekeeper, and facilitator. The leader
would oversee the process of finding answers to case questions. The minutes-taker
would record answers for case questions and present them on behalf of the team to the
whole class. The timekeeper would observe the time used/left for understanding,
analysing, and synthesising the case to come up with recommended solutions. At the
conclusion of each case discussion, the facilitator (moderator) would summarise the
key points made, the case lessons, and the principles applied. The instructor would
serve here as a discussion guide.
Numerous BPR case studies have been adopted from a variety of sources. The cases
were re-engineering accounts payable processes at Ford (Hammer and Champy, 1993),
re-engineering stationery ordering process (Peppard and Rowland, 1995), customer’s
reengineering bank fragmented systems, and Boston Chicken’s re-engineering using
IT (Wilson, 1994).

C. Role-playing
Role-playing can be a highly effective strategy for encouraging both discussion and the
acquisition of specific subject-based knowledge. It can also be a lot of fun! A side
benefit of role-playing is that shy, quiet students often feel more comfortable
participating when they have adopted a different character.
In order to simulate a real-world business situation, students in the course
performed a role-playing exercise. The role-playing exercise was based on a real-life
furniture company, which was faced with a number of complex implementation
decisions on the adoption of an MRPII production control system (Scarbrough and
Swan, 1996). The original role-playing exercise was subject to a slight modification and
customisation to fit the course.
The exercise used role-playing and cognitive mapping techniques to develop skills
and understanding in the cognitive and behavioural domain of implementing
re-engineering through technological innovation. The students made verbal Assessing the
presentation of roles and cognitive maps using PowerPoint slides. The exercise also
highlighted the need for organisational transformation necessary to complement the
learning
technological change, the resulting cross-disciplinary dilemmas in role-playing, and experience
explores the issue of perceptions and attitudes.

D. Group assignments 51
The goal of team assignments is to improve students’ ability to analyse specific
business challenges/issues, make them actively engaged in classroom discussion with
their colleagues, and to improve their ability to build consensus and play a meaningful
role in joint efforts. By undertaking assignments, it was hoped that students would be
able to develop their problem discovery, analysis, development, reporting, and
presentation skills. Presentation skills take two forms, formal and informal. Formal
oral presentations take place through the in-class presentation of reports, whereas
informal oral presentation through class discussions among different teams or
students in teams.
Students were given the opportunity to work in a team setting consisting of two to
three students to develop a meaningful business analysis and process re-engineering
term paper on a “yogurt company” or a “New Zealand MIS department.” In addition,
students were asked to write a short critical assessment report on electronic date
interchange (EDI) and ERP systems and their role in organisational transformation.

E. Invited lecture
As per invitation from the course instructor, a consultant of IT at the Bahraini Ministry
of Health delivered a lecture based on her “real world” experiences. The lecture was on
the management of IT-based organisational transformation in the health sector.
Afterwards, the guest speaker conducted a short in-class group exercise where each
group selects a spokesman to present their answers to the class. The guest speaker also
repeated the same lecture and exercise to students in the other section of the course.

Research methodology
Research objectives
The main purpose of the study was to assess students’ learning experience in a BPR
course using the five adopted teaching tools. More specifically, it sought to:
.
assess the significance of variations in students’ perceptions of the cognitive
benefits between the adopted teaching tools;
.
assess the significance of variations in students’ perceptions of the affective
benefits between the adopted teaching tools;
.
assess the significance of variations in students’ perceptions of the interactive
benefits between the adopted teaching tools;
.
investigate the direction of changes in students’ perceptions of cognitive benefits
according to the adopted teaching tools;
.
investigate the direction of changes in students’ perceptions of affective benefits
according to the adopted teaching tools;
.
investigate the direction of changes in students’ perceptions of interactive
benefits according to the adopted teaching tools;
BPMJ .
investigate the students’ overall view of the teaching tools in a free-format style;
11,1 and
.
provide valuable insights into what comprise a successful and effective “best
practices” in teaching a BPR course.

52 Subjects
The sample of the study consisted of 46 students-split up into two sections-out of a
total of 50 students (92 per cent), taking the undergraduate optional course BIS 443
“Special Topics in BIS” in the first semester 2000/2001. The subjects replied to the
questions in one of the last class sessions of the course.

Instrument
The research instrument used in this study was a questionnaire composed of 18 items
assessed on a scale ranging from 1 “very low” to 5 “very high”. The questionnaire was
distributed to students enrolled in two sections of the BPR course at their last days of
the semester. The instrument intended to measure the extent to which the adopted
course activities helped students to acquire three skills: cognitive, affective, and
interactive. The instrument consisted of a list of 18 closed-ended questions (six
questions on each skill) using a rating that starts from 1 “somewhat useful” to 5
“extremely useful”, and one open-ended general assessment question.
The learning skills assessed in the instrument were influenced by the work of
Davies (1976), Bloom (1982), Boehrer and Linsky (1990), Krathwohl et al. (1991), and
Fratantuono (1995). The assessed learning skills were:
.
cognitive skills (assessed by items 1 through 6): concerned with knowledge and
understanding of the basic topics of the subject field, viz. BPR;
.
affective skills (assessed by items 7 through 12): concerned with personal
development of students in terms of their feelings, beliefs, and values; and
.
interactive skills (assessed by items 13 through 18): concerned with improvement
of group collaboration and teamwork dynamics among students in the class.

Research findings
The students’ responses to the 18 questions were processed individually as well as for
each group of items (items 1 through 6, 7 through 12, and 13 through 18). One-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted in order to test as to whether there are
significant variations (at a ¼ 0:05) in mean scores of students’ perceptions of
cognitive, affective, and interactive benefits between two or more groups of the
adopted teaching methods. ANOVA If p-value is less than a level (0.05), we can
conclude that there are significant differences in the perceptions of the aforementioned
benefits between teaching tools, so the null hypothesis (Ho) would be rejected whereas
the alternative hypothesis (Ha) would be accepted. But if p-value is more than a level,
we conclude that there are no significant differences in the perceptions of the
aforementioned benefits between teaching tools, so Ho would be accepted whereas Ha
would be rejected. Additionally, the calculated F-value must be larger than the critical
F-value (F Crit) in order to reject the null hypothesis (Ho), and must be smaller than F
Crit in order to accept the null hypothesis.
 In order to learn about the directions of changes in students’ perceptions according Assessing the
to teaching methods, descriptive statistics were calculated for individual items related learning
to each of the cognitive, affective, and interactive benefits (means) as well as for the
overall category of items (mean and standard deviation). experience

Perceived cognitive benefits 53

Cognitive abilities are required to integrate knowledge across functional areas, develop
students who are inquisitive and open to new ideas, and meet the changes in business
demands and technology. ANOVA statistics for differences in students’ perceptions of
cognitive benefits between teaching methods are documented in Table I. The only
significant variations detected were between the web-based teaching tool (A) on the
one side and each of the rest of tools on the other (B, C, D, and E).
In order to identify the direction of differences in perceptions of cognitive benefits
between teaching tools, the students’ responses (questions 1 through 6) were
documented in Table II, which lists the ratings for each statement on the one hand and
for each tool on the other.
Students’ responses (mean scores), given in Table II, identified the direction of
differences in perceptions between teaching tools. Role-playing (C), group assignments
(D), case studies (B), and invited lecture (E) were relatively the most useful methods for
developing their cognitive skills whereas web collaboration (A) was the least. As
shown in the F-test values of Table I, there were no significant differences between
these tools as their means were very close to each other (B ¼ 3:7, C ¼ 4:0, D ¼ 3:8,
E ¼ 3:7), with the exception of A which had a relatively low mean score (3.1) and the
highest standard deviation (0.25).
Table II also revealed students’ perceptions of cognitive skills acquired from each
teaching method, other than role-playing, as follows:
.
Absorbing abstract materials and understanding new concepts were best
achieved by guest lecture and group assignments respectively.

Source of variation SS DF MS F p-value F Crit Significant

Between A and B 8.320048 1 8.320048 12.86141 0.000545 3.946866 Yes

Between A and C 18.27174 1 18.27174 27.46566 1.05E-06 3.946866 Yes
Between A and D 10.78533 1 10.78533 16.82889 8.96E-05 3.946866 Yes
Between A and E 10.11141 1 10.11141 17.41699 6.91E-05 3.946866 Yes
Between B and C 1.932367 1 1.932367 3.485248 0.065174 3.946866 No
Between B and D 0.159722 1 0.159722 0.301325 0.584412 3.946866 No
Between B and E 0.087258 1 0.087258 0.185762 0.667498 3.946866 No
Between C and D 0.980978 1 0.980978 1.788725 0.184452 3.946866 No
Between C and E 1.19837 1 1.19837 2.45522 0.120644 3.946866 No
Between D and E 0.01087 1 0.01087 0.02344 0.878661 3.946866 No
Notes: SS: Sum of squares of deviations of group means from grand mean; DF: Degrees of freedom; Table I.
MS: Mean squares; p-value (Pillai’s value): the area to the right of the calculated F-value; F-value ANOVA for differences
(Fisher value): ratio of the mean square between groups to the mean square within groups; F Crit: in perceptions of
Critical value that separates all possible F-values into two areas: those leading to rejection of the cognitive benefits
alternative hypothesis Ha (to the left of F Crit) and those leading to rejection of the null hypothesis Ho between teaching
(to the right of F Crit); a: Significance level methods
BPMJ A B C D E
11,1 Web- Case- Role Group Invited
No. I. Cognitive skills based based play assign. lecture

1. Absorbing abstract material Mean 3.24 3.57 3.89 3.76 3.98

2. Understanding new concepts Mean 3.33 3.67 4.04 3.83 3.91
3. Using course material to solve Mean 2.83 3.74 4.04 3.87 3.72
54 business problems
4. Learning the cross-functionality Mean 2.67 3.78 4.22 3.57 3.54
of business
5. Making connections from one Mean 3.22 3.72 3.85 3.78 3.74
part of the course to another
Table II. 6. Sorting relevant from irrelevant Mean 3.22 3.63 3.80 3.80 3.59
Perceived cognitive material
benefits according to Overall Mean 3.1 3.7 4.0 3.8 3.7
teaching methods Std. 0.25 0.08 0.15 0.1 0.19

.
Using course material to solve business problems, making connections from one
part of the course to another, and sorting relevant from irrelevant material were
best achieved through group assignments and case analysis/guest lecture
respectively.
.
Learning the cross-functionality of business was best achieved by case analysis
and group assignments respectively.

Perceived affective benefits

The affective and personal development skills help to create student’s interest in the
course, stimulate discussion, and prevent boredom. ANOVA output for differences in
students’ perceptions of affective benefits between groups of teaching methods are
documented in Table III. Significant differences in perceptions of affective benefits
were found between every teaching tool and the other, with the exception of differences
between A (web-based) and E (invited lecture) on one side, and B (case-based) and E
(invited lecture) on the other.
The overall students’ responses, documented in Table IV, rated role-playing as
relatively the most favourable method for achieving affective and personal
development objectives, whereas web collaboration was the least. Next to
role-playing, students rated group assignments and case analysis quite, and invited
lecture quite favourably with mean scores of 3.98, 3.58, and 3.28 respectively. Table IV
also lists the ratings for each affective statement on the one hand and for each tool on
the other.
However, it was found out that web collaboration was most useful for easing the
learning of course material-possibly due to the distribution of detailed notes on the
required topics, case analysis for assuming greater responsibility for personal learning,
role-playing for enjoying the learning of the course material as well as increasing
self-confidence, group assignments for achieving a sense of accomplishment in
learning, and the invited lecture for easing the learning of the course material.
The students’ perceptions also revealed that five out of six affective skills could best
be achieved by the following methods (other than role-playing): group assignments,
case analysis, and the invited lecture respectively. The only exception was the second
Source of variation SS DF MS F P-value F Crit Significant

Between A and B 6.88436 1 6.88436 11.76212 0.000914 3.946866 Yes

Between A and C 44.98671 1 44.98671 77.58412 8.63E-14 3.946866 Yes
Between A and D 21.36353 1 21.36353 37.64151 2.24E-08 3.946866 Yes
Between A and E 1.608998 1 1.608998 2.397355 0.12505 3.946866 No
Between B and C 16.67421 1 16.67421 28.72678 6.37E-07 3.946866 Yes
Between B and D 3.993056 1 3.993056 7.028178 0.00948 3.946866 Yes
Between B and E 1.836957 1 1.836957 2.734573 0.101682 3.946866 No
Between C and D 4.347826 1 4.347826 7.726796 0.006624 3.946866 Yes
Between C and E 29.58001 1 29.58001 44.39459 2.08E-09 3.946866 Yes
Between D and E 11.24668 1 11.24668 17.19661 7.62E-05 3.946866 Yes
experience

ANOVA for differences

learning

benefits between teaching

in perceptions of affective

methods
Assessing the

Table III.
55
BPMJ A B C D E
11,1 Web- Case- Role Group Invited
No. II. Affective skills based based play assign. lecture

7 Enjoying the learning of the course Mean 3.17 3.67 4.63 3.98 3.33
material
8 Easing the learning of the course Mean 3.50 3.37 4.13 3.85 3.74
56 material
9 Getting emotionally engaged in Mean 2.80 3.48 4.48 3.96 3.37
learning
10 Increasing self-confidence Mean 2.46 3.52 4.61 4.04 3.17
11 Assuming greater responsibility Mean 3.24 3.78 4.37 4.00 3.00
for personal learning
Table IV. 12 Achieving a sense of Mean 2.96 3.59 4.30 4.09 3.11
Perceived affective accomplishment in learning
benefits according to Overall Mean 3.03 3.58 4.42 3.98 3.28
teaching methods Std. 0.35 0.15 0.19 0.10 0.25

skill “easing the learning of the course material” wherein the invited lecture was found
to be the second best method, after group assignments, followed by case analysis.

Perceived interactive benefits

Interactive skills seek to develop students’ ability to engage in discussion without
definite answers such as participation in class discussion, case study discussion, group
assignments, and discussion with guest speaker. The aim is to acquire the skills
required to develop effective group working, report writing, listening, and presentation
skills.
ANOVA output for differences in perceptions of interactive benefits between
teaching methods are documented in Table V. Significant differences in perceptions of
interactive benefits were found between teaching tools, with the exception of
differences between C (role-play) and D (group assignments). However, no more
information can be concluded from Table V as to which tool is relatively more
beneficial than others.
From Table VI, one can conclude that role-playing (mean ¼ 4:6) was the most
useful method in developing all six interactive skills, followed by group assignments
(mean ¼ 4:3), case analysis (mean ¼ 3:5), and the invited lecture (mean ¼ 2:9)

Source of variation SS DF MS F p-value F Crit Significant

Between A and B 48.06793 1 48.06793 49.5876 3.66E-10 3.946866 Yes

Between A and C 146.892 1 146.892 193.7033 3.68E-24 3.946866 Yes
Between A and D 119.6468 1 119.6468 154.2972 3.2E-21 3.946866 Yes
Between A and E 16.32133 1 16.32133 17.81171 5.81E-05 3.946866 Yes
Table V. Between B and C 26.90285 1 26.90285 36.95749 2.86E-08 3.946866 Yes
ANOVA for differences Between B and D 16.04174 1 16.04174 21.53148 1.18E-05 3.946866 Yes
in perceptions of Between B and E 8.370245 1 8.370245 9.447958 0.002798 3.946866 Yes
interactive benefits Between C and D 1.396135 1 1.396135 2.614399 0.109398 3.946866 No
between teaching Between C and E 65.28533 1 65.28533 96.7315 6.28E-16 3.946866 Yes
methods Between D and E 47.58726 1 47.58726 68.76683 1.01E-12 3.946866 Yes
 A B C D E Assessing the
Web- Case- Role Group Invited learning
No. III. Interactive skills based based play assign. lecture
experience
13 Improving team-building and Mean 2.14 3.38 4.67 4.26 2.8
interpersonal skills
14 Enhancing the development Mean 2.26 3.59 4.54 4.39 3.1
of ideas among colleagues 57
15 Listening carefully to the Mean 1.96 3.52 4.52 4.33 3.00
statements of colleagues
16 Arriving at decisions based Mean 1.91 3.48 4.46 4.24 3.10
on the majority of views
17 Sharing ideas with colleagues Mean 2.20 3.70 4.78 4.50 3.00
18 Enhancing interactions with Mean 1.91 3.39 4.57 4.35 2.3 Table VI.
other colleagues Perceived interactive
Overall Mean 2.1 3.5 4.6 4.3 2.9 benefits according to
Std. 0.16 0.12 0.13 0.10 0.31 teaching methods

respectively, whereas web collaboration (mean ¼ 2:1) was the least perceived useful
method. The results of Table VI re-confirm those of Table V, as mean scores of A, B,
and E were noticeably different (A ¼ 2:1, B ¼ 3:5, and E ¼ 2:9), whereas those of C
and D were noticeably close to each other (C ¼ 4:6, D ¼ 4:3).
The general pattern of students’ responses on the contribution of teaching methods
to the development of the third category of skills, viz. interactive skills, did not differ
from that of the cognitive skills explained previously.
However, it was found out that web collaboration was most useful for enhancing the
development of ideas among colleagues, whereas each of case analysis, role-playing, as
well as group assignments were found most useful for sharing ideas among colleagues.
It was also found out that students’ perceptions of the relative usefulness of the
teaching methods in improving their interactive skills did not differ at the individual
level (per interactive skill) than the overall level as it did in cognitive and interactive
skills.

Open-ended comments
In addition to the previously reported closed-ended replies, students were asked to
express their comments and qualitative judgment of the course in a free-format style.
Their views were grouped later according to the adopted teaching methods.

A. Web-based collaboration
Favourable points:
.
Web method was very convenient and time saving to collaborate and transfer
notes.
.
The web was an effective, interesting, interactive, and easy to use tool.
. Electronic learning must be established as a support source for learning in the
university.
.
Electronic community must be established for every single course at the
University where students can exchange ideas, information, etc.
BPMJ Weaknesses/suggestions:
11,1 .
It would be better if electronic collaboration were encouraged among students by
educating them about its benefits.
.
Web techniques were impersonal and did not involve as much thinking as other
tools, so they did not add much to students’ learning experience.
58 .
Surfing the net was very easy and I think it did not add too much value to the
student rather than copy and paste from the net.

B. Case analysis
Favourable points:
.
Case studies showed me how to solve real world problems and the obstacles we
had to overcome.
.
Case analysis discussed in groups inside the class helped me to know different
ideas of all students.
. The case study was very useful in making us explore additional information and
understand the concepts more clearly.
Weaknesses/suggestions:

.
Cases gave a flavour of international environments, but students need more local
“Bahraini” and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) related cases.
.
In order to enhance student’s ability to think strategically, it is recommended to
let the students assess the cases’ strong and weak points.
.
It would be better if more cases were presented and discussed in the class to
ensure that theoretical concepts were well understood.

C. Role-playing
Favourable points:
.
Role-playing applied during the course was a new teaching method for us as
students.
.
Role-playing was really very beneficial and very effective.
. Role-playing helped us to learn from other colleagues and other sources.
.
Role-playing was very effective; it would be better to use it as a main subject in
this course as well as other courses.
.
Role-playing was really of a great help to us.
.
The most helpful method to achieve the objectives of the course was role-playing.
.
Role-playing has been a great experience as it helped us to understand how
things we learned in textbooks were applied to real world situations.
. It was recommended to have more role-playing exercises, where one can learn
more.
 .
Role-playing was a new, interesting, and helpful method in improving personal Assessing the
confidence and building skills in team working and giving opinions and learning
comments about different issues.
.
Students need more role-playing.
experience
.
Role-playing is a very good idea, and if other courses adopt this method it will be
very nice and very helpful for us in understanding the concepts.
59
.
Role-playing was my favourite activity, and we should have more of it.
.
Role-playing helped me in gaining knowledge about what the course was about.
.
Role-playing was the best not only in understanding theoretical material but also
in encouraging students’ personal development.
.
Role-playing was so interesting and an excellent activity in increasing our
awareness of ideas and brainstorming of alternative solutions.
.
The role-playing method was great and really added value to our knowledge in
the field of BPR.
.
The role-playing was very useful in making us explore additional information
and understand the concepts more clearly.
.
Role-playing was an indirect way to understand the material and make it clearer.
.
Role-playing presented different way of learning.
.
As a new idea, role-playing provided us with a new way for learning.
Weaknesses/suggestions:
.
Not available.

D. Group assignments
Favourable points:
.
Group assignment helped us interact with one another and view other students’
points of view and learn to arrive at decisions in a team-based way.
.
Group assignment must be focused on a specific part of the material in the
course.
.
We want to increase the assignments more than the cases because they made us
to think more.
.
We learned from group assignments how to be responsible and how to work
together.

E. Guest lecture
Favourable points:
.
The invited lecture was very helpful to see real-life implementation not just
theoretical material.
. It is recommended to have lectures from the outside to ensure that what is being
taught is interesting and interactive.
.
The invited lecture enabled us to learn from people in the field how to prepare
ourselves for the future.
BPMJ .
The invited lecture was a fun and educating experience.
11,1 .
The invited lecture was a new way for understanding theoretical material and for
linking what was studied with real-world work practices.
. More guest speakers should be invited in other courses.
.
The invited lecture was excellent when it discussed current issues from the local
60 environment rather than having outside cases from other countries.
.
Getting guests from the field to talk about their own experience with BPR made
the lecture more interactive and realistic.
.
It changed the daily teaching routines and gave us a good view of the real
business and IT world.
.
More invited lectures should take place.
.
The invited lecture was very interesting.
Weaknesses/suggestions:
.
Not available.

Miscellaneous comments
.
It was recommended making visits to local companies, if possible, or video
document some business cases from these companies.
.
We would like to visit a company that implements the materials of this course.
.
I truly believe that the course has enhanced my understanding of what it takes
for a company to deal with BPR.
.
The different methods have greatly contributed to my business view and what I
will be doing when I enter the market.
.
The class was very interesting compared to traditional lecturing.
.
Enhancing communication and interactivity among students allowed for the
sharing of ideas and development of better understanding.
.
This course was a success and the different teaching methods were very
interesting because the material was learned in a full way.
.
The activities that were applied in the course were perfect.

Conclusions: critical success factors

It was really interesting and exciting to develop a syllabus for the BPR course. It was a
lot of work but interesting to the instructor as well as to the students. The overall
students’ reactions to the course were positive. The students’ evaluation showed that in
general the students were quite positive and satisfied about their learning experience.
The survey results confirmed that role-playing was a successful teaching approach
for a BPR course, and possibly other business courses, at the undergraduate level. The
students found the learning approach interesting, and claimed that it has contributed
to a greater knowledge in the field of BPR than with traditional lecturing. Students got
a more comprehensive view of BPR and were able to see more relations between the
different subjects in their study program. However, role-playing is really
time-consuming and demanding on staff effort.
 In addition to role-playing, students’ replies to the closed-ended as well as Assessing the
open-ended questions suggested that the learning process was better to be relied more learning
on case study analyses, collaborative assignments, and invited lectures than on
traditional lecturing. Students also recommended that case studies be derived from experience
local rather than international contexts.
The research results have provided useful feedback on some successful aspects of
the tools used that may be beneficial when used again by designers of a BPR course or 61
of many or most of business courses. Role-playing, in particular, appeared to be a very
successful teaching tool for a BPR course at the undergraduate level. Therefore, in
order to accomplish cognitive, affective, and interactive objectives of teaching BPR, one
could conclude that the teaching process, apart from traditional lecturing, is better to
be relied more on role-playing in addition to group assignments, case study analyses,
invited lectures, and web collaborative respectively.
Although the adopted teaching tools disseminate the best practice of undergraduate
teaching to innovate the process of delivering BPR content to would be practitioners of
BPR, it is mistakenly to believe that these techniques can be successfully adopted
without due regard to the material and audience. The critical success factors (CSFs) for
effective adoption of teaching tools make demands on the abilities, experiences, prior
expectations, skills, motivation, and personality of students as well as teaching faculty.
It remains to be a challenge and an opportunity at the same time to find a suitable
mechanism to match supply to demand.
As per students, unless course designers blessed with very favourable
faculty-student ratios and senior standing students (fourth year level), with sound
academic preparation, there often exists an acute problem for teaching management.
To balance mismatched skills in domains that stretch from business process concepts,
techniques, and technologies is a significant challenge. Furthermore, the adopted tools
encourage inquisitive and self-motivated mode of learning, and therefore, absence of
motivation would invalidate many of the teaching tools.
As per teaching faculty, the critical issue is changing faculty habits in their attitude
to new delivery techniques. Altering and managing the practice of teaching faculty is
well known to be difficult and painful. Therefore, in order to ensure that success in
BPR delivery would lead the way to improved teaching in other business areas, there is
a need for more recognition of innovative effort, encouragement of continued
innovation, encouragement of others to become more inventive in their own teaching
arenas, and engagement of faculty in continuing and customised development
programs.

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