Dave Oliver, Celia Romm, ERP Systems in Universities: Rationale Advanced for their adoption, Enterprise Resource Planning: Global Opportunities and Challenges, Liaquat Hossain, Mohammad Rashid, Jon David Patrick, Idea Group Publishing, 2002
Jose Manuel Esteves, Joao Alvaro Carvalho, Aldemar A Santos, Towards an ERP Life-Cycle Costs Model, Enterprise Resource Planning Solutions and Management,
M Lynne Markus, Sheryl Axline, Dana Edberg, David Petrie, The Future of Enterprise Integration: Strategic and Technical Issues in External Systems Integration, manuscript version of a chapter to appear in Jerry Luftman (ed), Competing in the Information Age: Align in the Sand, New York: Oxford University Press
Abstract
What do IT and business executives need to do about enterprise systems in the years ahead? This paper reports the findings of an 18-month study, sponsored by the Advanced Practices Council of the Society for Information Management (SIM) International. The study addressed systems integration issues with both an internal and an external focus, but this chapter primarily addresses external systems integration. External systems integration refers to IT-mediated transactions between independent business entities, for example, between a company and its customers, suppliers, or other business partners, such as co-producers and banks, and it is important for both economic and strategic business reasons. Today external systems integration involves many technologies and business arrangements with different pros and cons, but they can be grouped in two broad categories: one -to-one or one-to-many approaches that link an individual company with its business partners and hub-and-spoke approaches that provide the possibility of many-to-many connections. One -to-one approaches are most prevalent, though hub-and-spoke approaches may offer greatest business value in terms of cost and fit with the dynamic business environment of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures and multi-party business arrangements, such as business process outsourcing and supply chain facilitation. Few companies today have a systematic strategy for dealing with external systems integration. Both business issues and technical issues should be addressed in an external systems integration strategy.
Lars Brehm, Armin Heinzl, Tailoring ERP Systems: A Spectrum of Choices and their Implications, Proceedings of 34th HICSS, 2001
Abstract
The IS literature distinguishes between custom-built and off-the-shelf software. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages are often viewed as off-the-shelf software, because adopters implement them by setting parameters (called configuration), rather than by traditional programming. Making changes to ERP software code (called modification) is usually strongly discouraged by vendors and implementation consultants. Nevertheless, field research has shown that many companies have had to modify ERP software in various ways to meet essential business needs. This suggests that ERP packages do not fit cleanly into the custom/off-the-shelf distinction. In this paper, we describe a portfolio of tailoring options between configuration and modification, with important implications for implementation risk and the difficulty of ERP system upgrades. We discuss the implications of our framework for practitioners and for further research on ERP systems.
M Lynne Markus, Sheryl Axline, David Petrie, Cornelis Tanis, Learning from Adopters' experiences with ERP: Problems encountered and Success Achieved, Enterprise Systems: ERP, Implementation and Effectiveness, (eds) Shanks, Seddon, Willocks
Abstract
ERP packages touch many aspects of a company's internal and external operations. Consequently, successful deployment and use of ERP systems are critical to organizational performance and survival. This paper presents the results of a study of problems and outcomes in ERP projects, conducted under the sponsorship of an ERP systems vendor. Two basic research questions are addressed: First, how succesful are companies at different points in time in their ERP experiences, and how are different measures of success related? (That is, can early success be followed by failure and vice versa?). Second, what problems do ERP adopters encounter as they implement and deploy ERP, and how are these problems related to outcomes? Findings show that the success of ERP systems depends on when it is measured, and success at one point in time may be only loosely related to success at another point. Companies experience problems at all phases of the ERP system life cycle, and many of the problems experienced in later phases originated earlier but remained unnoticied or uncorrected. These findings suggest that researchers and companies do well to adopt broad definitions and multiple measures of success and to pay particular attention to the early identification and correction of problems.
Joe Nandhakumar, Matti Rossi, Jari Talvinen, Planning for 'drift'?: Implementation process of ERP systems, Proceedings of HISCC'36, 2003.
Abstract
This paper reports the findings of a large-scale case study of implementing Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP) in a long-established multinational company within the telecommunication sector. The company has recently streamlined its operations through an ambitious business process redesign initiative and introduced an ERP system. The study examines the process of change enacted during the implementation of the ERP system over time. The findings indicate that much of the changes emerged as the project team sought to improvise technological features and changes to the context of use to overcome embedded constraints in the existing system, organizational context and in the ERP system itself. The team also took advantage of evolving capabilities and emerging opportunities to continuously enact changes as an ongoing process of project life. The paper argues that the process of technology-related change may be seen as a form of a drift involving a series of purposeful actions with un-planned outcomes.
Liang Zhang, Matthew Lee, Zhe Zhang, Probir Banerjee, Critical Success Factors of ERP Systems Implementation Success in China, Proceedings of HICSS'36, 2003
Abstract
ERP implementation issues have been given much attention since two decades ago due to its low implementation success. Nearly 90 percent of ERP implementations are late or over budget [16] and the success rate with ERP implementation is about 33%. In China, the success rate of implementing ERP systems is extremely low at 10% [28] which is much lower than that in West countries. This study attempts to study critical success factors affecting enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation success in China with focus on both generic and unique factors. User satisfaction and White s ABCD classification method are used to judge whether an ERP system implementation is a success or a failure. Survey methodology and structural equation modeling technique of PLS-Graph are used to collect and analyze data. Discussions on the results of data analysis are made.
Paul Hawking, Andrew Stein, E-skills: The Next hurdle for ERP implementations, Proceedings of HICSS'36, 2003
Abstract
Many large companies around the world have made considerable investment in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to support their business processes. Many of these companies are now positioning themselves to take advantage of the new internet economy. But what does this positioning entail? Is it the purchasing and implementation of the right technology? Is it the redesign of business processes? What skills are needed by these organizations? Recently there has been call in the Australian marketplace for information systems (IS) professionals to possess skills that can handle the move into E-business and E-commerce. In accordance with this we sought the views of information systems professionals working with ERP systems in the Australian and New Zealand marketplace about the skills mix necessary in the E world. The main results of this survey showed that the teamwork and deadlines dominated the business skills whilst knowledge of E-business/commerce models dominated the technical skills
Marie-Claude Boudreau, Learning to use ERP technology: a causal model, Proceedings of 36th HICSS, 2003
Abstract
The premise of this paper is that the technically successful implementation of a complex IT does not always result in its effective use. Through the analysis of case study data related to an ERP implementation within a public organization, a causal model is proposed. This model, inductively developed, reveals key factors leading to the construct of quality of use. It suggests that the inclusion of factors relating to learning allows to better understand why quality of use may vary among individual users. More specifically, factors affecting formal and informal training, and their impact on the extent of learning, are emphasized.
Jen-Her Wu, Yuh-Min Wang, ERP Experience in Taiwan: An Empirical Study and Comparative Analysis, Proceeedings of HICSS'36, 2003
Abstract
In this article, we focus on enterprise sizes and industry sectors to compare their difference on enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation development, package selection, and user satisfaction in Taiwan. A survey, using the measurement instrument, of two representative samples of large size enterprise vs. medium size enterprise and electronics & science industry vs. traditional industry is conducted to investigate different ERP implementation patterns and outcomes. A comparative analysis of ERP implementation rate, package selection, and user satisfaction based on business-related factors is performed. Some propositions based on the finding of this research are proposed for future research.
Abstract
Enterprise resource planning (ERP) maintenance and upgrade activities are receiving much attention in ERP-using organizations. Annual maintenance costs approximate 25% of initial ERP implementation costs, and upgrade costs as much as 25-33% of the initial ERP implementation. Still, the area of ERP maintenance and upgrade is relatively new and understudied as compared to ERP implementation issues. Many organizations lack experience and expertise in managing ERP maintenance and upgrade effectively. This situation is not helped by the lack of a standard ERP maintenance model that could provide practitioners with guidelines on planning, implementing and upgrading an ERP. Although software maintenance model standards exist, they have been found in a recent study to be insufficient for ERP maintenance and upgrade processes. In order to bridge this gap in literature and practice, this study proposes a preliminary ERP maintenance model, reflecting fundamental ERP maintenance and upgrade activities. A detailed case study was conducted to gather empirical data for developing such an ERP maintenance model. Data analysis identified (potential) benefits of the maintenance model to ERP-using organizations generally, and to the case firm in particular.
Marinos Themistocleous, Zahir Irani, Towards a novel framework for the assessment of ERP integration packages, Proceedings of HICSS'36, 2003
Abstract
In addressing enterprise integration problems, a diversity of technologies such as CORBA and XML were promoted, yet no single integration technology solves all integration problems. As a result, a new generation of software called Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is emerging to addresses many integration problems by combining a diversity of integration technologies (e.g. message brokers, adapters, XML). Since EAI is a new research area, there is an absence of literature discussing issues like its adoption, evaluation and implementation. This paper, examines the application of two frameworks for the evaluation of EAI packages in the practical arena. In doing so, the authors use case study strategy to investigate integration issues. Empirical data derived from the case study suggest additions to the two evaluation frameworks. Therefore, the authors revised and extend previous works by proposing a novel evaluation framework for the assessment of EAI packages. The proposed framework makes novel contribution at two levels. First, at the conceptual level, as it incorporates criteria identified separately in previous studies as evaluation criteria. The proposed framework can be used as a decision-making tool and, supports management when taking decisions regarding the adoption of EAI. Additionally, it can be used by researchers to analyse and understand the capabilities of EAI packages.
Jose Esteves, Joan Pastor, ERP systems research: An annotated bibliography, Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 7(8), August 2001.
Abstract
Despite growing interest, publications on ERP systems within the academic Information Systems community, as reflected by contributions to journals and international conferences, is only now emerging. This article provides an annotated bibliography of the ERP publications published in the main Information Systems journals and conferences and reviews the state of the ERP art. The publications surveyed are categorized through a framework that is structured in phases that correspond to the different stages of an ERP system lifecycle within an organization. We also present topics for further research in each phase.
Mark Stirling, David Petty, Leigh Travis, A methodology for developing integrated IS based on ERP packages, Business Process Management, 8(5), 2002, pp 430-446
Abstract
This paper describes a methodology for the structured development of manufacturing information systems based on a collaborative action research project. The methodology starts from the premise that a company has an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in place. It can then be used to determine the optimal method for achieving a particular business requirement. The methodology has seven decision points, each of which relates to a different outcome. The methodology is supported by a series of questions to assist users in making appropriate decisions. The paper also describes a series of structured interviews with practitioners from industry. These were undertaken in order to verify the usefulness of the methodology. These interviews show that there is a requirement for tools to assist in the ongoing development of information systems in manufacturing industry. Furthermore, the interviews suggest that the methodology is a useful tool, particularly for relatively inexperienced manufacturing information system practitioners.
M Lynne Markus, David Petrie, Sheryl Axline, Bucking the Trends: What the future may hold for ERP packages (eds) Shanks, Seddon, Willcocks, 2001, Enterprise Systems: ERP Implementation and Effectiveness
Thomas Kalling, ERP Systems and the Strategic Management Processes that Lead to Competitive Advantage, Technical Report, Lund University
Abstract
This paper describes the processes that firms and managers go through in their quests to create and sustain competitive advantages based on so-called Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. It is based on Resource- based theory, combined with the Strategy process perspective and with existing literature on information technology and ERP. The theoretic framework is extended through a detailed case study of a specific in-house ERP venture in a European multinational manufacturing company in the paper packaging industry. The emergent resource management framework describes cognitive and cultural factors that support or hamper progress, including uncertainty, knowledge gaps, knowledge transfer issues and the problems of ensuring that ERP usage is converted into competitive advantage. The framework also addresses managerial implications and potential solutions to such obstacles, throughout the process.
Kenneth Murphy, Steven Simon, Intangible benefits valuation in ERP projects Information Systems Journal, 2002, 12, pp 301-320
Abstract
The development, implementation and ownership of information systems, especially large-scale systems such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), has become progressively longer in duration and more cost intensive. As a result, IS managers are being required to justify projects financially based on their return. Historically, information systems have been difficult to quantify in monetary terms because of the intangible nature of many of the derived benefits, e.g. improved customer service. Using the case study methodology, this paper examines an attempt by a large computer manufacturer to incorporate intangibles into traditional cost–benefit analysis in an ERP project. The paper reviews the importance of intangibles, lists intangible benefits that are important in ERP projects and demonstrates the use of a scheme through which they can be incorporated into traditional evaluation techniques.
Shari Shang, Peter Seddon, Assessing and managing the benefits of enterprise systems: the business manager's perspective, Information Systems Journal, 2002, pp 271-299
Abstract
This paper focuses on the benefits that organizations may achieve from their investment in enterprise systems (ES). It proposes an ES benefit framework for summarizing benefits in the years after ES implementation. Based on an analysis of the features of enterprise systems, on the literature on information technology (IT) value, on data from 233 enterprise systems vendor-reported stories published on the Web and on interviews with managers of 34 organizations using ES, the framework provides a detailed list of benefits that have reportedly been acquired through ES implementation. This list of benefits is consolidated into five benefits dimensions: operational, managerial, strategic, IT infrastructure and organizational, and illustrated using perceived net benefit flow (PNBF) graphs. In a detailed example, the paper shows how the framework has been applied to the identification of benefits in a longitudinal case study of four organizations.
A summary is available.
Jeff Sutherland, Willem-Jan van den Heuvel, Enterprise Application Intergration and Complex Adaptive Systems, Communications of the ACM, October 2002, 45(10), pp 59-64
Abstract
The ubiquity of the Internet enables enterprises to line up into virtual alliances with loosely coupled business processes organized along the axis of the virtual value chain, resulting in competition between rather than within vertical industries. This highly challenging process has recently evolved through several levels of integration from isolated legacy silos of enterprise information to agile and cooperative information systems. Batch data transfers have traditionally been accomplished through nightly magnetic tape inputs in banking systems. These have evolved into real-time point-to-point interfaces extensively used in banking, health care, and manufacturing systems to coordinate data flow between systems. This traditional Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) is tedious, expensive, and inflexible.
David Sprott, Componentizing the Enterprise Application Packages, Communications of the ACM, April 2000, 43(4), pp 63-69
Abstract
Enterprise applications are an outstanding case study for the entire software industry. Most of them demonstrate all of the real-world problems that typical businesses have. Legacy applications that simply can’t be rewritten, monolithic code not built for easy maintenance, multiple design and execution technologies that need to be integrated, demand for new technology support and last, but by no means least, customers that won’t wait years for a solution.
Judy Scott, Iris Vessey, Managing Risks in Enterprise systems Implementation, Communications of the ACM, 45(4), April 2002, pp 74-81
Paula King, The Promise and Performance of Enterprise systems in Higher Education, EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research, October 2002
Meg Murray, George Coffin, A case study analysis of factors for success in ERP system implementations, Proceedings of the 7th AMCIS Conference, 2001, pp 1012-1018
Abstract
Enterprise Resource Planning systems are complex systems that integrate data and business processes. ERP implementations have been plagued with failure but ERP continues to be adopted and is expanding into new areas. This paper identifies frequently cited factors of success, describes them within the context of supporting evidence and compares identified factors with actual practice using two case studies. Successful ERP implementations begin with education that requires organizations to develop an understanding of their business processes and to map those processes to a fully integrated ERP system. The focus should be on improving the way an organization conducts business by exploiting the capabilities of ERP and recognizing the dynamism of an enterprise initiative that represents change.
Judy Scott, Iris Vessey, Implementing enterprise resource planning systems: The role of learning from failure, Information Systems Frontiers, 2(2), pp 213-323, 2000
Abstract
Abstract. ERP implementations remain problematic despite the fact that many of the issues are by now quite well known. In this paper, we take a different perspective from the critical success factors and risks approaches that are common in the information systems discipline to explain why ERP implementations fail. SpeciÆcally, we adapt Sitkin's theory of intelligent failure to ERP implementations resulting in a theory that we call ``learning from failure.'' We then examine from the viewpoint of this theory the details of two SAP R/3 implementations, one of which failed while the other succeeded. Although it is impossible to state, unequivocally, that the implementation that failed did so because it did not use the approach that was derived from the theory, the analysis reveals that the company that followed many of the tenets of the theory succeeded while the other did not.
Jeanne Ross, Michael Vitale, The ERP Revolution: Surviving versus Thriving, Information Systems Frontiers, 2(2), 233-241
Abstract
Abstract. This paper presents preliminary Ændings from a research project that examined how Ærms are generating business value from their investments in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The research, which was done jointly with Benchmarking Partners, describes the stages of ERP implementation, the obstacles that Ærms encountered in generating beneÆts from the systems, and some critical success factors for getting business value from the implementation of an ERP system in business.
Jannis Kallinikos, Deconstructing information packages: Organizational and behavioural implications of ERP systems, Information Technology & People, 17(1), 2004, pp 8-30
Abstract
Argues that the organizational involvement of large scale information technology packages, such as those known as enterprise resource planning (ERP), has important implications that go far beyond the acknowledged effects of keeping the organizational operations accountable and integrated across functions and production sites. Claims that ERP packages are predicated on an understanding of human agency as a procedural affair and of organizations as an extended series of functional or cross-functional transactions. Accordingly, the massive introduction of ERP packages to organizations is bound to have serious implications that precisely recount the procedural forms by which such packages instrument organizational operations and fashion organizational roles. The conception of human agency and organizational operations in procedural terms may seem reasonable yet it recounts a very speciWc and, in a sense, limited understanding of humans and organizations. The distinctive status of framing human agency and organizations in procedural terms becomes evident in its juxtaposition with other forms of human action like improvisation, exploration or playing. These latter forms of human involvement stand out against the serial fragmentation underlying procedural action. They imply acting on the world on loose premises that trade off a variety of forms of knowledge and courses of action in attempts to explore and discover alternative ways of coping with reality.
Diane Strong, Olga Volkoff, Michael Elmes, ERP systems and the paradox of control, 9th Americas Conference on Information Systems, pp 500-507
Has some good stuff about control within organisations and how computer systems influence that.
Abstract
In our longitudinal study of an ERP implementation using a grounded theory methodology we explored changes in organizational control. We observed contradictory and even paradoxical outcomes from ERP-enabled increases in visibility to organizational operations and associated increases in the control of these operations. Based on these observations, we developed a preliminary framework of the changes in control and visibility we observed. The framework contributes to theories of organizational control and is the source of recommendations for managers involved in ERP implementations.
Darshana Sedera, Guy Gable, Taizan Chan, Measuring enterprise systms success: A preliminary model, 9th AMCIS, 2003, pp 476-485
Abstract
The business value of Enterprise Systems (ES), and in general large software implementations, has been extensively debated in both the popular press and in the academic literature for over three decades. Organizations have invested heavily in Enterprise Systems (and related infrastructure), presumably expecting positive outcomes to the organization. Some studies have reported large productivity improvements and substantial benefits from Enterprise Systems, while others have reported that Enterprise Systems have not had any bottom-line improvements. This paper discusses preliminary findings from a study of evaluating ES success in 27 organizations in Queensland, Australia. Two surveys, an exploratory survey followed by a confirmatory survey, were conducted and data from four hundred and fifty four respondents was analyzed. An a priori model of ES success with five constructs and forty-two sub-constructs was tested. Validation of the model constructs through exploratory factor analysis identified four dimensions of ES success.
Les Singletary, Suzanne Pawlowski, Ed Watson, What is applications integration? Understanding the perspectives of managers, IT professionals and end users, 9th AMCIS, 2003, pp 486-493
Abstract
While organizations, collectively, spend billions of dollars to achieve “integration,” little is known about practitioners’ perceptions of integration that influence these decisions and actions. This paper describes a qualitative research study to surface practitioner interpretations (assumptions, knowledge and expectations) of applications integration. Evidence from interviews of 51 practitioners representing three stakeholder groups – managers, IT professionals, and end users – revealed 15 major themes related to practitioner perspectives of the characteristics, benefits and downsides of applications integration. The findings indicate that there is no generally accepted definition of what applications integration is or ought to be, and that there are significant differences among the stakeholder groups regarding the potential benefits and downsides of applications integration.
Diane Strong, Olga Volkoff, A roadmap for enterprise system implementation, IEEE Computer, 37(6), pp 22-29
Abstract
Enterprise systems are complex and expensive and create dramatic organizational change. The authors offer guidelines based on five years of observing ES implementations that can help managers circumvent obstacles and control the tensions during and after the project
Guy Gable, Darshana Sedera, Taizan Chan, Enterprise Systems Success: A Measurement Model, 24th ICIS, 2003, pp 576-591
Abstract
This paper presents a validated measurement model and instrument for assessing enterprise systems success from multiple perspectives. The final validated study model employs 27 measures of the four dimensions: information quality, system quality, individual impact, and organizational impact. The model is empirically tested with survey data gathered from 27 public sector organizations that implemented SAP R/3 in the late 1990s. The study consists of an exploratory inventory survey (model building) to identify the salient success dimensions and measures, followed by a confirmatory weights survey, for testing model validity (model testing). Test results demonstrate the discriminant validity of the four dimensions, as well as their convergence on a single higher-order phenomenon: enterprise systems success (ESS). Criterion validity testing further demonstrates the additivity of the four dimensions of success, and the completeness of the resultant overarching, second-order measure of ESS.
Sanjay Gosain, Enterprise information systems as objects and carriers of institutional forces: The new iron cage?, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5(4), pp 151-182
Abstract
This paper draws upon the institutional theory lens to examine enterprise ifnormation systems. We propose that those information systems engender a duality. On one hand, these systems are subject to institutional forces and institutional processes that set the rules of rationality. On the other hand, they are an important embodiment of institutional commitements and serve to preserve these rules by constraining the actions of human agents. The complexity inherent to enterprise technologies renders them as equivoque. This, when combined with the propensity toward lack of mindfulness in organisations, is likely to lead to acquiescence to institutional pressures. Entreprise information systems bind organisations to fundamental choices about how their activities should be organized; unquestioned choices that tend to appear natural. We suggest implications of this view and develop propositions examining: (1) enterprise information systems as objects of institutional forces in the "chartering" and "project" phases, (2) the resolution of institutional misalginments caused by the introduction of new systems, and (3) enterprise informatoin systems as carriers of institutional logices in the "shakeout" and "onward & upward" phases.
Ole Hanseth, Claudio Ciborra, Kristin Braa, The control devolution: ERP and the side effects of globalization, The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, 32(4), pp 34-46
A summary is available.
Abstract
When looking at the implementation of ERP systems in large organizations, the typical business concerns are attaining the goals of the application, usually globalization and efficiency, securing the organization's acceptance, avoiding rigidity, and so on. By now, the literature is full of both normative models on how to implement ERPs successfully and cautioning tales of how the road to success is paved by traps, slowdowns, and even disillusion. This paper does not take sides in this emerging literature, simply because it submits that there is a need to look at the broader context of ERP implementations.
There is a need to discover new meanings before turning to consulting or critique. Such meanings stem from reconsidering the managerial concepts that accompany ERP implementatiori, especially the issues of "what is an ERP," how to achieve strategic alignment, and what globalization really entails. The authors frame the study of ERP in organizations within the broader context of an analysis of the consequences of modernity. The new vocabulary sheds a different light on what organizations are doing with ERP: these systems are open, pasted-up, uncontrollable expanding infrastructures; strategic alignment flounders in never- ending tactics and compromises; globalization generates side effects. Harnessed to enhance control over complex, global organizations, ERPs enshrine the consequences of modernity in a nutshell: they accelerate organizational drift and runaway. The case of the introduction of SAP in a large Norwegian company illustrates a range of drifting processes and side effects.
Timothy Kayworth, V. Sambamurthy, Facilitating localized exploitation and enterprise-wide integration in the use of IT infrastructures: The role of PC/LAN infrastructure standards, The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, 31(4), 2000, pp 54-80
Joseph Graham, Constructing a student data warehouse, Proceedings of SIGUCCS'02, November 20-23, 2002, Providence, Rhode Island
Abstract
The University of Pittsburgh currently employs a student system established more than a decade ago using SCT ISIS, which has been highly customized over the years. This mainframe legacy system lacks the flexibility to provide ad hoc reporting or webenabling of queries and reports. Many University schools, departments, and programs require customized reports and frequently maintain their own shadow systems in order to be able to flexibly query data and produce ad hoc reports. The number of queries and reports that are maintained both centrally and in shadow systems, coupled with the frequency in which changes are needed clearly signals the need for a stable and reliable ad hoc query and reporting system.
Attempts to develop a student data warehouse over the past five years have been largely unsuccessful for three reasons: the inability to reach consensus on a security model, a data model, and the difficulty in identifying an appropriate query tool. These problems were overcome through the implementation of a cooperative strategy between developers and stakeholders in which business requirements and functional specifications were clearly developed prior to the completion of a design specification document.
The assessment process underlined the need for a system in which all available data elements from the current student system are available for query and that the system is sufficiently flexible to allow for general “canned” queries and reports and to permit users to employ a data query tool to design their own queries and reports. Skilled users will have the ability to employ other data mining tools, such as SAS or even Microsoft Access to query and analyze data via SQL query processes.
This presentation will describe the development process in detail and examine the results of the current development efforts, still ongoing at the time of this writing.
Neil Pollock, The Virtual University as 'timely and accurate' information
Abstract
This article investigates the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning System in a redbrick university in the UK. The first part is concerned with the way in which the Implementation Project Team has come to conceptualise its task or mission and represent it both to itself and to the rest of the University. On one hand, the discussion is about the rolling-out of a rather mundane information system, purchased simply as a replacement for an out of date system called 'MAC'. On the other, for some people, the system amounts to a large, and complex – almost mythical - model of the University, a kind of ‘Virtual University’. Specifically, the article is interested in one particular phrase, script, or mantra that appears over and over as the accepted rationale, mission and justification for the project: the ‘provision of timely and accurate information’. It is argued that the phrase helps to mediate the boundary between how the Project Team and others understand the University as a whole, and the ways in which it is, could be, and should be changing. The second part of the article is focused on the way in which those implementing the new system are attempting to move the University from an old (seemingly ‘chaotic’) model to a new (supposedly ‘ordered’) ‘informational model’.
Patrick Besson, Frantz Rowe, ERP Project Dynamics and enacted dialogue: perceived understanding, perceived leeway, and the nature of task-related conflicts, The DATA BASE for Advances in Information Systems, 32(4), 47-66
Abstract
Different views on change and IT- related outcomes have been proposed in the literature. Most privilege the technological deterministic and organizational imperative positions. This article introduces two types of process views on change arising from designers' inability to forecast the impacts of ERP on work and governance:
- a dialectical process due to the lack of perceived leeway by the actors, and
- a teleological process view, where actors feel they have more leeway and where they try to take advantage of technological effects that they feel they can control
Building on the concept of enactment and on the nature of conflicts, this work demonstrates the necessity to articulate these views in a theoretical framework describing the dynamics of ERP projects.
This framework is employed to interpret problems arising from ERP choice and implementation in the French context. During the "chartering phase," the deterministic vision dominates the perceptions of designers. During the "project phase," the designers come closer to the organizational imperative view when they customize the system and make integration/differentiation choices. During the "shakedown" and subsequent phases, organizational outcomes are often not realized because of job and governance conflicts with end users.
Rudy Hirschheim, The effect of a priori views on the social implications of computing: The case of office automation, Computing Surveys, 18(2), June 1986, pp165-195
Abstract
Office automation impact has received considerable attention in the literature recently. Unfortunately, that which has appeared is diverse and contradictory. The relevant literature is reviewed, summarized, and placed in a framework containing three positions on office automation impact: optimism, pessimism, and relativism. The basic assumptions and empirical support for each position are noted and analyzed. It is proposed that these positions are based on a number of a priori views which guide the reporting and beliefs about technological impact.
Helmut Klaus, Michael Roseman, Guy Gable, What is ERP?, Information Systems Frontiers, 2(2), 141-162, 2000
Abstract
Abstract. Though enterprise resource planning (ERP) has gained some prominence in the information systems (IS) literature over the past few years and is a signi®cant phenomenon in practice, through (a) historical analysis, (b) meta-analysis of representative IS literature, and (c) a survey of academic experts, we reveal dissenting views on the phenomenon. Given this diversity of perspectives, it is unlikely that at this stage a broadly agreed de®nition of ERP can be achieved. We thus seek to increase awareness of the issues and stimulate further discussion, with the ultimate aim being to: (1) aid communication amongst researchers and between researchers and practitioners; (2) inform development of teaching materials on ERP and related concepts in university curricula and in commercial education and training; and (3) aid communication amongst clients, consultants and vendors. Increased transparency of the ERP-concept within IS may also bene®t other aligned ®elds of knowledge.
Mary Jones, R. Leon Price, Organisational knowledge sharing in ERP implementation: A multiple case study analysis, ICIS'2001
Abstract
This study examines how firms are able to effectively share knowledge across diverse functions and perspectives during enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems implementation. The primary objective of the study is to provide a theoretically grounded assessment of factors that enable firms to articulate and integrate the diversity of knowledge required for effective use of ERP. This includes factors that impact how existing knowledge is shared and how new knowledge is absorbed and transferred to become part of the firm’s core knowledge competency.
Bongsug Chae, Technology adaptation: The case of large-scale information systems, ICIS'2001
Abstract
The deployment of large-scale information systems is a major trend in the corporate world today due to a number of driving forces such as the Internet, globalization, and the use of IT for distributed knowledge. However, the adaptation process of such new technologies is not yet well understood. With its theoretical basis on structuration theory and actor network theory (ANT), this study employs a case study methodology with organizations implementing ERP systems and investigates how the technological adaptation of large-scale IS, specifically ERP systems, differs from that of traditional (standalone) IS. Our findings are expected to have both theoretical and practical implications for the design as well as implementation of large-scale IS.
Shan Pan, Sue newell, Jimmy Huang, Alvin Wan Kok Cheung, Knowledge integration as a key problem in an ERP implementation, ICIS'2001
Abstract
While previous studies have focused mainly on the potential benefits and critical success factors associated with ERP implementation, very few have explored the important issues of impediments encountered, especially from a knowledge integration perspective. We have adopted a knowledge integration view that focuses not on the distribution and adoption of particular technological artifacts (ERP systems), but on the knowledge integration processes involved in implementation. The focus of this case study is to understand the nature, structure and process of knowledge integration that occurs during ERP implementation. The paper has identified the integration of knowledge as a key problem in ERP implementation. We discovered four reasons: (1) knowledge is embedded in complex organizational processes; (2) knowledge is embedded in legacy systems; (3) knowledge is embedded in externally based processes; and (4) knowledge is embedded in the ERP system. Based on our analysis, we further suggest that to overcome these impediments to knowledge integration requires the development of interpersonal relations (one-to-one based) and community relations (group-based).
Marlei Pozzebon, Demystifying the rhetorical closure of ERP packages, ICIS'2001
Abstract
Understanding how information technology (IT) transforms individual, organizational, and societal ways of being is becoming increasingly complex and discourses on IT present opportunity and risk as two inseparable sides of the same phenomenon. Among the themes that extend throughout practitioner literature, and have emerged gradually in the academic literature as well, ERP projects are illustrative of the opportunities and risks IT presents. In this essay, I propose a discussion centered on the ERP phenomenon as an exemplary illustration of a major question: why does rhetorical closure dominate some discourses about IT when, in fact, all technologies are social constructions, always open to change? Dealing with ideas borrowed from structurational and social constructivist streams of thinking, I identify occasions of ERP package negotiation and change at three levels - segment, organization and individual - demystifying the rhetorical closure that seems to dominate public debate.
richard Baskerville, Suzanna Pawlowski, Ephraim McLean, Enterprise resource planning and organiziational knowledge: patterns of convergence and divergence, ??
Abstract
This paper describes a qualitative research project involving a case study that was analyzed using grounded theory and cognitive mapping. It contributes to a theory that describes the impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) on organizational knowledge. ERP systems produce effects that make business knowledge become more focused or “convergent” from the perspective of the organization and more wide-ranging or “divergent” from the perspective of the individual. Other important effects include changes to the organization’s core competencies and changes in the risk profile regarding the loss of organizational knowledge.
Kimberly Furumo, J Michael Pearson, A case study of ERP Implementation at two public universities: Why was one a success and the other a failure, 10th AMCIS, 2004, 99-102
Abstract
While enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have the potential to offer benefits beyond traditional legacy systems, many organizations report that these systems have been less successful than originally anticipated. Previous studies have identified a number of critical success factors (CSF) that influence ERP success. Identification and use of critical success factors is beneficial but to fully understand problems related to ERP implementation, researchers need to use a dynamic theory to study how organizations adjust to the social changes that are required to bring about a successful implementation. In this case study, Adaptive Structuration Theory provides a framework within which critical success factors can be studied. The organizations under study are universities of similar size and mission in the same geographic area implementing a human resource module of the same ERP system. The ERP implementation projects at both universities will be analyzed to determine why one failed and one was successful.
Judy Scott, Tekcal's ERP implementation challenge: Climate, fit and effectiveness, 10th AMCIS, 2004, pp 113-120
Abstract
Tekcal had a problematic ERP implementation. Data from face-to-face interviews are mapped to a theoretical model adapted from the innovation literature to explain how Tekcal’s climate for ERP implementation and ERP-values fit affected its ERP implementation effectiveness. Dimensions of climate include employees’ ERP skills, incentives, obstacles and information sharing. Dimensions of ERP-values fit include organizational commitment and alignment of non-homogeneous groups. This research has implications for both practitioners and researchers who are developing theoretical explanations for ERP implementation challenges.
Shari Shang, Tim Su, Managing user resistance in enterprise systems implementation, 10th AMCIS Conference, 2004, pp 149-153
Abstract
Enterprise systems (ES) impose changes on users in many areas: job content, interpersonal relationships, decision-making approaches, and work status. Change management is critical to successful ES implementation. Top management support, business involvement, communication and training are important factors in managing these changes. However, such high level initiatives do not necessarily enable project managers to address specific reasons for resistance and to plan particular strategies to increase acceptance. By interviewing 12 project managers of more than 40 ES projects, this study tries to delve into the reasons for user resistance, to recognize related user behaviors and actions, and to identify effective strategies to manage these changes involving two types of major users of Enterprise Systems. It is hoped the result will give clear and detailed information on the types of user responses to change and their management.