International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management

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Vol. 3 No. 2 (2012)
Original Research Article

An Analysis of Knowledge Areas in Industrial Engineering and Management Curriculum

Rui M. Lima
Department of Production and Systems, School of Engineering of the University of Minho
Bio
Diana Mesquita
Institute of Education of the University of Minho
Bio
Marlene Amorim
GOVCOPP – Governance Competitiveness and Public Policies, Department of Economics Management and Industrial Engineering, University of Aveiro
Bio
Gerald Jonker
Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, University of Groningen
Bio
Maria Assunção Flores
Institute of Education of the University of Minho
Bio

Published 2012-06-30

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Keywords

  • Industrial Engineering and Management,
  • Knowledge Areas,
  • Curriculum Analysis

How to Cite

Lima, R. M., Mesquita, D., Amorim, M., Jonker, G., & Flores, M. A. (2012). An Analysis of Knowledge Areas in Industrial Engineering and Management Curriculum. International Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, 3(2), 75–82. https://doi.org/10.24867/IJIEM-2012-2-110

Abstract

Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) is a continuous, flexible and dynamic area of engineering. Its intervention relates not only in manufacturing industry, but also in hospitals, education systems, transport systems, financial institutions, etc. Thus, there is the need to prepare students to the extended scope of IEM and the curriculum has to provide this broad vision. This range of IEM is evident in curriculum rationale. Graduates have to be ready for a wide range of jobs in the labour market. This is a challenging demand to cope with when designing and developing the curriculum. Thus, a selection of a special focus is the basis for the curriculum design process and for that reason the curriculum programs have different emphasis. The aim of this study is to analyse four IEM curriculum programs in Europe based on a classification of courses by areas of knowledge. Furthermore, the relative weight of areas was computed based on courses’ credits. Two interrelated group of areas were used, one aggregated and another one for IEM specific areas. This framework revealed to be useful for curriculum analysis and the results show that the four program curricula have a comparable weight of specialization area of IEM and that Production Management is the specific area with the larger weight in all programs. The results show that one of the characteristics of IEM curriculum programs is diversity in the knowledge areas related to IEM specialization. This study also emphasizes the importance of a structured framework for characterization of IEM programs, enabling benchmarking exercises, and facilitating the dialogue between academia and the profession of IEM.

 

Article history: Received (17 April 2012); Revised (11 May 2012); Accepted (17 May 2012)  

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