Adopting SAP at Siemens Power Corporation

Students will 1. be introduced to a particular ERP (enterprise resource package) software, SAP R/3, to learn about the pros and cons of ERP packages in general, and R/31 in particular. 2. learn how an organization’s reengineering efforts may drive the adoption of an ERP system and later influence the implementation of the system: Students will identify what problems (outdated legacy systems, Y2K, lack of customer responsiveness) lead to the implementation of a package. Furthermore, they will be sensitized to the type of implications reengineering-related decisions may have (e.g., downsizing) on the feasibility of the implementation project. 3. be exposed to different aspects of the decision making process related to an ERP implementation: choice of package, hardware, consultants, implementation approach. They should (1) gain an improved understanding of the issues involved in implementing an enterprise package (as opposed to conventional IS development) and (2) be sensitized to potential implications of their decision-making for later project stages such as implementation and maintenance

A comprehensive review of the enterprise systems research

(WP 12/04 Clave pdf) Enterprise systems (ES) can be considered as a novel phenomenon for the information system research and other academic fields (e.g. operations and supply chain), which has opened an immense potential and opportunities for research. Although the interest of the scholars on ES is recent, the number of publications is continuously growing since 2000. The aim of this paper is to review a sample of important contributions of the ES works published to date. To do this, the selected works have been classified in four key topics: business implications, technical issues, managerial issues, and implementation issues.Enterprise systems, Research

Reasons behind ERP package adoption: a diffusion of innovations perspective

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) packages have been widely adopted and it is becoming clear that this is driven by multiple rationales that may be simultaneously at odds and complimentary. In this paper, we aim to develop a greater understanding of these rationales by taking ERP packages to be innovations and analysing their adoption with reference to the theory of diffusion of innovations. In particular, we consider the attributes of ERP packages that may affect their adoption such as relative advantage, compatibility, complexiblity, trialability and observability. We argue that users’ perceptions of these attributes are not always accurate and these ’misconceptions’ can further explain reasons for ERP adoption or rejection. Although our analysis aims to provide rich insights into the adoption of ERP packages, the results of the study are arguably of further interest to the more general study of packaged software and the more established literature on custom development

A Model for Enterprise Systems Implementation: Top Management Influences on Implementation Effectiveness

How to minimize risks involved in enterprise systems (ES) implementation while maximizing benefits has become a challenge for top management. This article proposes a conceptual model exploring impacts of top management on ES implementation effectiveness. This paper takes a perspective of innovation implementation because of the fact that ES, per se, is an IT innovation. This paper addresses ES implementation issues through its focus on two research questions: 1) what influences does top management exercises on the ES implementation? and 2) what top management contributes to a successful ES implementation under different implementation modes? Based on Klein and Sorra’s (1996) model, this paper develops a research model and identifies three top management influences to explore these research questions. The paper concludes with potential contributions to IS researchers and business practitioners

MEASURING SUSTAINED MANAGEMENT SUPPORT IN ERP IMPLEMENTATION PROJECTS: A GQM APPROACH

Some researchers have studied the critical success factors in ERP implementations, out of which sustained management support is cited as the most one. Up to this moment, there is not enough research on the management and operationalization of critical success factors within ERP implementation projects. This paper presents a proposal for monitoring sustained management support in ERP implementations. In order to develop a set of metrics for such a monitoring task, we have used the goals/questions/metrics approach. As a result, we propose a GQM preliminary plan with different metrics to monitor and control sustained management support while implementing an ERP system

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems Research: An Annotated Bibliography

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

Conceptual Challenges in Contemporary IS Research

This paper, originally prepared as a keynote address for the 1999 Australasian Conference on Information Systems, critically examines some common assumptions underlying much IS research. The assumptions concern the scope and risks of IT projects, the rationales for and uses of IT, and the role of history and time in systems-related outcomes. Making different assumptions about these issues suggests the need for new approaches to IS research