Abstract

The radical restructuring in enterprises caused by both global competition and technological innovation has created a new class of problems requiring a synthesis of organizational and technological skills. This class of problems is of central importance to all enterprises today and is critical to Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In this paper we explore our hypothesis that these problems exist and can be meaningfully identified and attacked by both university researchers and managers within enterprises. We further hypothesize that it is possible to design a program of training that prepares individuals to tackle these problems in real world situations by teaching both organizational and technology skills within a single program. We present case history data from four separate training programs that we have conducted along these lines in order to evaluate our hypotheses. Our data include the course structure, evaluations from students, professors, and industry partners as well as evaluations of the experiences of our students while applying their new skills in solving problems at a participating enterprises site.

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