Teaching Process Improvement and Hitting All Key Criteria for a Modern University Course
Dag Naslund
Coggin College of Business, University of North Florida, USA, and Department of Industrial Management and Logistics, Lund University, Sweden
Murat Tiryakioglu
School of Engineering, University of North Florida, USA
Volume 13: 2019, pp. 191-212; ABSTRACT
While process improvement is an increasingly important topic for organizations, academic institutions find it hard to teach the topic in a cross functional real world project manner. This paper describes a unique course which is theoretically sound, academically rigorous, multi-disciplinary, and practically relevant while providing the students with a transformational learning opportunity. The course is designed to increase collaboration between academia and business, prepare the college students for their careers in demanding organizations, provide networking opportunities and help improve their resumes. In this business and engineering course, students conduct real process improvement projects in non-profit organizations while being mentored by process improvement experts. The results have been very positive for all involved stakeholders. In addition to helping the non-profit organizations improve efficiency and/or effectiveness, it is a unique course for the students who receive a yellow belt in six sigma. The mentors as well as the University are enthusiastic.
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