Exploring the Path to ERP Implementation Success: In Retrospect after Rollout

Whereas numerous studies have examined critical success factors (CSFs) for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation, little work has investigated the underlying causal links in the form of conceptual models. This study develops a casual model for ERP implementation success, using a two-stage approach. In Stage one, 27 online publications on ERP implementation in China were collected, and analyzed based on the grounded theory approach, to identify critical events and activities in the process of ERP implementation. In Stage two, a focus group study was conducted to create paths to ERP implementation success in the form of a conceptual model. The 48 critical factors identified in Stage one were mapped onto goals of ERP implementation, following the soft systems methodology (SSM). The result is a model including five high-order concepts: organizational impact, data quality, Normalization of processes, continuous improvement, and fit between business process and ERP systems

The Adoption of ERP Applications in China

The adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications started in the early 1990s in the US and Europe. Although many researchers have studied the critical success factors (CSFs) or developed implementation framework to guide the deployment of the complex IT projects, there have been many failed implementations. The implementation of ERP systems in China began in the late 1990s but has resulted in a disappointing success rate of about 10 percent. This paper will investigate which issues facilitate or hinder the adoption of ERP applications in China in the light of previous research reported on Western firms. The research methodology is secondary data collection and case narratives. Twenty small case studies about the implementation of ERP systems in Chinese organisations will be discussed. Since the data has been collected and presented by other practitioners for certain purposes, the limitations of this research are also considered

An Investigation of Critical Success Factors for the Implementation of Enterprises Resource Planning System in Chinese Small and Medium Enterprises

Enterprise resource planning system (ERP) has become one of the most important application information technologies for enterprise. However, the implementation of ERP system in Chinese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is not very successful. The basic purpose of this paper is to find and verify the critical success factors (CSFs) of ERP implementation in Chinese enterprises under the specific context in China. Based on an extensive literature review, four CSFs are defined, namely top management support, business process re-engineering, change management and external professional support. This paper investigates 53 enterprises that have implemented the ERP system in the form of email questionnaire. The questionnaire is based on the previous mature scale to measure CSF, ERP system success and situational factors. Data is analysed by using SPSS and statistical tests are conducted using multiple regression methods. The results confirm that the change management, business process re-engineering, and top management support are the main CSFs for the implementation of ERP system in Chinese SMEs, among which the role of change management is the most prominent, and Chinese cultural characteristics make it the most critical factor. In addition, the support of consulting company is confirmed to have no significant impact on ERP system implementation of Chinese SMEs. Reengineering the business process before ERP implementation is conducive to increasing the reorganization process and the success of ERP systems. Based on the empirical research, this paper puts forward some suggestions to Chinese SMEs on how to cultivate the capability of ERP implementation, whether to hire ERP consulting companies, how to select ERP system implementation strategies and how to handle management practice issues

Enterprises Resource Planning (Erp) Implementation Factors: A Comparative Study: India and China

In today’s dynamic business world, efficiency is considered to be one of the most important factors to gain competitive advantage. As every business face contention they should not only challenge to produce a better and more reliable product but also should provide a better customer focused delivery mechanism. In the mean time, they are enforced to minimize their production costs as well as their overhead costs and bring efficiency in all their operations. These can be achieved through developing a superior information system which is through a highly reliable infrastructure and a more efficient management system. ERP Systems are born to bring efficiencies in the bottleneck of business’s information system and to provide an integrated system which capable to handle far more complex transactions and yet providing a highly dependable system. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are incorporated; enterprise-wide systems that offer automated support for standard business processes within organizations and improve their business processes. It has been effectively applied by number of firms throughout world especially in developed countries. However, in recent years there has been a growing increase in the usage of ERP systems in developing countries such as India and China. These ERP systems are the most integrated information systems that cut across a variety of organizations and functional areas in Indian and Chinese organisation. It has been experienced that the majority of ERP systems proved to be a failure either in the design or its implementation. A number of reasons contribute in the success or failure of ERP systems. The main purpose of this research is to examine and establish the factors that facilitate or inhibit the success of ERP implementation in India and China and recognize what are the hardships and complications in implementing ERP in Indian and Chinese business atmosphere. A brief research has been conducted to compare the implementation practices of ERP in India vs. China. This research is preceded with combined methods of qualitative and quantitative data. Most of the Primary data are mainly collected through questionnaire surveys via e-mail, interviews, face-to3 face and telephone. Secondary data are collected from second-hand sources, such as websites, journals, books, etc. In this paper, ten (10) commonly accepted Critical Success Factors (CSFs) are identified based on the relevant literature. With better understanding of the comprehensive identification of CSFs and criticality ranking each factor, the respondents were asked to answer important degree of ERP critical success factors in their firms using a Likert-scale ranging from 1 to 10 (1: most important, 10: least important). The main aspects were top management support, Project management, Business process reengineering, Change management, Business plan and vision, training and education, Effective communication, Users involvement, Culture factors, Consultant and vendor support. I believe that the understanding of these factors will expand the perception of ERP implementations and will help evade implementation mistakes, thereby improving the rate of success in both countries

Critical success factors in ERP implementation: A review

ERP systems have become vital strategic tools in today’s competitive business environment. This ongoing research study presents a review of recent research work in ERP systems. It attempts to identify the main benefits of ERP systems, the drawbacks and the critical success factors for implementation discussed in the relevant literature. The findings revealed that despite some organizations have faced challenges undertaking ERP implementations, many others have enjoyed the benefits that the systems have brought to the organizations. ERP system facilitates the smooth flow of common functional information and practices across the entire organization. In addition, it improves the performance of the supply chain and reduces the cycle times. However, without top management support, having appropriate business plan and vision, re-engineering business process, effective project management, user involvement and education and training, organizations can not embrace the full benefits of such complex system and the risk of failure might be at high level

A framework for the successful implementation of food traceability systems in China

Implementation of food traceability systems in China faces many challenges due to the scale, diversity and complexity of China’s food supply chains. This study aims to identify critical success factors specific to the implementation of traceability systems in China. Twenty-seven critical success factors were identified in the literature. Interviews with managers at four food enterprises in a pre-study helped identify success criteria and five additional critical success factors. These critical success factors were tested through a survey of managers in eighty-three food companies. This study identifies six dimensions for critical success factors: laws, regulations and standards; government support; consumer knowledge and support; effective management and communication; top management and vendor support; and information and system quality

Identifying critical success factors of ERP systems at the higher education sector

In response to a range of contextual drivers, the worldwide adoption of ERP Systems in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has increased substantially over the past decade. Though the difficulties and high failure rate in implementing ERP systems at university environments have been cited in the literature, research on critical success factors (CSFs) for ERP implementations in this context is rare and fragmented. This paper is part of a larger research effort that aims to contribute to understanding the phenomenon of ERP implementations and evaluations in HEIs in the Australasian region; it identifies, previously reported, critical success factors (CSFs) in relation to ERP system implementations and discusses the importance of these factors

Multi-Stakeholder Assessment of Critical Success Factors: Insights from the World's Fastest SAP R/3 Implementation

Organizations invest substantial resources in Enterprise Systems (ES) expecting positive outcomes for the organization and its functions. Implementing an ES is a lengthy and costly undertaking, with general upheaval for many of the organizations. Many organizations therefore are seriously considering rapid ES-implementations to reduce cost and other related resources. This paper presents findings of a study conducted to understand critical success factors of rapid ES-implementations gathering data from the world’s fastest SAP implementation, completed in a record time of three weeks. Using a two-phased case study design, gathering data from four distinct stakeholders, this study recognized the relevance of critical success factors identified through the literature to the context of rapid ES-implementations. Moreover, the study identified three new critical success factors that are specific to rapid ES-implementations. The study also demonstrated differentiating views of multiple stakeholders on each of the critical success factors

Critical Factors and Multisite Implementation of ERP: A Case Study in the UAE

Despite extensive studies in the ERP literature, little empirical understanding has been reached in relation to ERP implementation experiences in developing markets, particularly in the UAE context. Derived from the notions of critical successful factors and multisite implementation, two of widely researched areas in ERP studies, this paper thus seeks to provide practical insights about organizations’ ERP implementation experiences in the UAE setting. More specifically, it describes and contrasts critical factors and multisite implementation experiences in two case organizations situated in the UAE. These case organizations, one being categorized as a global company and the other local, provide interesting comparison of ERP implementation because of their complementary organizational structure and business strategies. In contrast to traditional ERP frameworks’ suggestions, these case organizations’ experiences reveal that contemporary ERP implementations might be more complex than previously expected since none of these case organizations’ ERP experiences follows suggestions made by frameworks based. Further discussion about how to better understand and examine maturing ERP technology in an increasingly globalized business environment such as the UAE is provided

Surfacing ERP exploitation risks through a risk ontology

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a risk identification checklist for facilitating user companies to surface, organise and manage potential risks associated with the post-adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Design/methodology/approach – A desktop study, based on the process of a critical literature review, was conducted by the researchers. The critical review focused on IS and business research papers, books, case studies and theoretical articles, etc. Findings – By systematically and critically analysing and synthesising the literature reviewed, the researchers identified and proposed a total of 40 ERP post-implementation risks related to diverse operational, analytical, organisation-wide and technical aspects. A risk ontology was subsequently established to highlight these ERP risks, as well as to present their potential causal relationships. Research limitations/implications – For researchers, the established ERP risk ontology represents a starting point for further research, and provides early insights into a research field that will become increasingly important as more and more companies progress from implementation to exploitation of ERPs. Practical implications – For practitioners, the risk ontology is an important tool and checklist to support risk identification, prevention, management and control, as well as to facilitate strategic planning and decision making. Originality/value – There is a scarcity of studies focusing on ERP post-implementation in contrast with an over abundance of studies focusing on system implementation and project management aspects. This paper aims to fill this significant research gap by presenting a risk ontology of ERP post-adoption. It represents a first attempt in producing a comprehensive model in its area. No other such models could be found from the literature reviewed