The Enterprise System Experience— From Adoption to Success
01 Jan 2000-
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a theoretical framework for analyzing the business value of enterprise systems, both retrospectively and prospectively, and identify the key characteristics of enterprise system, discuss the reasons companies do and do not adopt them and summarize arguments about why enterprise systems are an important topic for research.
Abstract: 173 For some 20 years after John Dearden wrote these words, history proved him right. Today, however, there is a booming market for software packages claiming to provide a total, integrated solution to companies’ information-processing needs. Even companies that choose not to adopt such packages are pursuing aggressive strategies of systems integration by redeveloping custom software and adopting technologies such as data warehousing. Integrated enterprise systems deserve serious research attention because of their great potential for financial, technical, managerial, human, and strategic benefits, costs, and risks. This chapter provides a theoretical framework for analyzing, both retrospectively and prospectively, the business value of enterprise systems. We first describe the historical context in which enterprise systems emerged. Next we identify the key characteristics of enterprise systems, discuss the reasons companies do and do not adopt them, and summarize arguments about why enterprise systems are an important topic for research. We then analyze enterprise systems in terms of the concept of success. We argue that the many facets of success create difficulties for
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TL;DR: This model explains how top management mediates the impact of external institutional pressures on the degree of usage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and finds that normative pressures directly affect ERP usage.
Abstract: We develop and test a theoretical model to investigate the assimilation of enterprise systems in the post-implementation stage within organizations. Specifically, this model explains how top management mediates the impact of external institutional pressures on the degree of usage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The hypotheses were tested using survey data from companies that have already implemented ERP systems. Results from partial least squares analyses suggest that mimetic pressures positively affect top management beliefs, which then positively affects top management participation in the ERP assimilation process. In turn, top management participation is confirmed to positively affect the degree of ERP usage. Results also suggest that coercive pressures positively affect top management participation without the mediation of top management beliefs. Surprisingly, we do not find support for our hypothesis that top management participation mediates the effect of normative pressures on ERP usage, but instead we find that normative pressures directly affect ERP usage. Our findings highlight the important role of top management in mediating the effect of institutional pressures on IT assimilation. We confirm that institutional pressures, which are known to be important for IT adoption and implementation, also contribute to post-implementation assimilation when the integration processes are prolonged and outcomes are dynamic and uncertain.
3,126 citations
TL;DR: Through a comprehensive review of the literature, 11 factors were found to be critical to ERP implementation success – ERP teamwork and composition, change management program and culture, top management support, business plan and vision, and appropriate business and IT legacy systems are found.
Abstract: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have emerged as the core of successful information management and the enterprise backbone of organizations. The difficulties of ERP implementations have been widely cited in the literature but research on the critical factors for initial and ongoing ERP implementation success is rare and fragmented. Through a comprehensive review of the literature, 11 factors were found to be critical to ERP implementation success – ERP teamwork and composition; change management program and culture; top management support; business plan and vision; business process reengineering with minimum customization; project management; monitoring and evaluation of performance; effective communication; software development, testing and troubleshooting; project champion; appropriate business and IT legacy systems. The classification of these factors into the respective phases (chartering, project, shakedown, onward and upward) in Markus and Tanis’ ERP life cycle model is presented and the importance of each factor is discussed.
1,433 citations
Cites background or methods from "The Enterprise System Experience— F..."
...A process theory approach (Markus and Tanis, 2000) was used to classify the CSFs identified....
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...It identifies the CSFs in ERP implementation, categorizes them into the respective phases in the ERP life cycle model proposed by Markus and Tanis (2000), and discusses the importance of these factors in ERP implementation....
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...In this phase, the errors of prior causes can be felt, typically in the form of reduced productivity or business disruption (Markus and Tanis, 2000)....
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...Theoretical framework A process theory approach (Markus and Tanis, 2000) was used to classify the CSFs identified....
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...Markus and Tanis (2000) identified the following four phases in an ERP life cyle: (1) chartering ± decisions defining the business case and solution constraints; (2) project ± getting system and end users up and running; (3) shakedown ± stabilizing, eliminating `̀ bugs'', getting to normal…...
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TL;DR: The results from the field survey of 34 organizations show that ERP implementation success significantly depends on the organizational fit of ERP and certain implementation contingencies, which indicates that the root of such high failure rate is explored from an "organizational fit" perspective.
1,227 citations
TL;DR: An integrated theoretical model is developed that posits that knowledge transfer is influenced by knowledge-related, motivational, and communication-related factors and suggests that all three groups of factors influence knowledge transfer.
Abstract: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems and other complex information systems represent critical organizational resources. For such systems, firms typically use consultants to aid in the implementation process. Client firms expect consultants to transfer their implementation knowledge to their employees so that they can contribute to successful implementations and learn to maintain the systems independent of the consultants. This study examines the antecedents of knowledge transfer in the context of such an interfirm complex information systems implementation environment. Drawing from the knowledge transfer, information systems, and communication literatures, an integrated theoretical model is developed that posits that knowledge transfer is influenced by knowledge-related, motivational, and communication-related factors. Data were collected from consultant-and-client matched-pair samples from 96 ERP implementation projects. Unlike most prior studies, a behavioral measure of knowledge transfer that incorporates the application of knowledge was used. The analysis suggests that all three groups of factors influence knowledge transfer, and provides support for 9 of the 13 hypotheses. The analysis also confirms two mediating relationships. These results (1) adapt prior research, primarily done in non-IS contexts, to the ERP implementation context, (2) enhance prior findings by confirming the significance of an antecedent that has previously shown mixed results, and (3) incorporate new IS-related constructs and measures in developing an integrated model that should be broadly applicable to the interfirm IS implementation context and other IS situations. Managerial and research implications are discussed.
1,217 citations
Book•
04 Sep 2015
TL;DR: This paper reports on a comparative case study of 13 industrial firms that implemented an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and finds that both strong core teams and carefully managed consulting relationships addressed configuration knowledge barriers.
Abstract: This paper reports on a comparative case study of 13 industrial firms that implemented an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. It compares firms based on their dialectic learning process. All firms had to overcome knowledge barriers of two types: those associated with the configuration of the ERP package, and those associated with the assimilation of new work processes. We found that both strong core teams and carefully managed consulting relationships addressed configuration knowledge barriers. User training that included both technical and business processes, along with a phased implementation approach, helped firms to overcome assimilation knowledge barriers. However, all firms in this study experienced ongoing concerns with assimilation knowledge barriers, and we observed two different approaches to address them. In a piecemeal approach, firms concentrated on the technology first and deferred consideration of process changes. In a concerted approach, both the technology and process changes were undertaken together. Although most respondents clearly stated a preference for either piecemeal or concerted change, all firms engaged in practices that reflected a combination of these approaches.
1,086 citations