Does ERP Provide a Cross-Functional View of the Firm? Challenging Conventional Wisdom for SMEs and Large French Firms

This paper defines cross-functionality as the awareness that organizational actors have of the coupled and integrated nature of processes across various business units, which allows employees to deliver products and services to customers. That the implementation of enterprise systems (ES) provides a more complete cross- functional view of the firm has been taken for granted by managers and researchers alike. The cross-functional potential of enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a widely-held assumption and is one approaching conven- tional wisdom: “Because ERPs tear down walls within organizations, they help everyone to understand their impact on an entire operation. Ultimately, companies find their staff adopting an increasingly broad enterprise perspective rather than a departmental one” (McKeen and Smith 2003, p. 143). This paper challenges this conventional wisdom that equates technical integration and socio-cognitive integration. The “impacts” of ERP systems depend on organizational context and implementation process. We show that flexibility, the primary goal of ERP adoption, as well as implementation strategy factors (organizational vision, speed, and core modules) exert a positive impact on cross-functionality in small and medium enterprises but not in large firms. These findings are obtained through a study of 100 French firms, then further illustrated and built upon by investigating two medium-size firms as opposed to two large firms. The findings suggest that large firms might have fewer problems than SMEs in bringing different business functions to be integrated into the project. Further, they also might have a larger inter-organizational scope of integration, but their ERP systems do not foster cross-functionality. There is also a need for social interaction to coordinate activities effectively. In SMEs, cross-functionality may be easier to reach with adequate implementation strategy

ERP systems in SMEs: A literature review

Published version of a chapter in Proceedings of the 44th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences. Also available from the publisher: http://doi.dx.org/10.1109/HICSS.2011.191This review summarizes research on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Due to the close-to-saturation of ERP adoptions in large enterprises (LEs), ERP vendors now focus more on SMEs. Moreover, because of globalization, partnerships, value networks, and the huge information flow across and within SMEs nowadays, more and more SMEs are adopting ERP systems. Risks of adoption rely on the fact that SMEs have limited resources and specific characteristics that make their case different from LEs. The main focus of this article is to shed the light on the areas that lack sufficient research within the ERP in SMEs domain, suggest future research avenues, as well as, present the current research findings that could aid practitioners, suppliers, and SMEs when embarking on ERP projects

An Updated ERP Systems Annotated Bibliography: 2001-2005

The goal of this study is to provide an updated annotated bibliography of ERP publications published in the main IS conferences and journals during the period 2001-2005, categorizing them through an ERP lifecycle based framework that is structured in phases. The first version of this bibliography was published in 2001 (Esteves and Pastor, 2001c). However, so far, we have extended the bibliography with a significant number of new publications in all the categories used in this paper. We also reviewed the categories and some incongruities were eliminated. Furthermore, we present topics for further research in each phase

An Updated ERP Systems Annotated Bibliography: 2001-2005

This study provides an updated annotated bibliography of ERP publications published in the main IS conferences and journals during the period 2001-2005, categorizing them through an ERP lifecycle-based framework that is structured in phases. The first version of this bibliography was published in 2001 (Esteves and Pastor, 2001c). However, so far, we have extended the bibliography with a significant number of new publications in all the categories used in this paper. We also reviewed the categories and some incongruities were eliminated.ERP

Academic group and forum on Facebook : social, serious studies or synergy?

An academic group and discussion forum were established on Facebook for a cohort of postgraduate students studying the concepts and principles of eLearning. The Forum had a constructivist, student-centric ethos, in which students initiated topics for discussion, while the course leader and administrator facilitated. Previous research has been conducted, involving content analysis of the topics and academic discourse, but the present study focuses on social aspects, investigating social- and study-related pursuits and determining whether synergy can exist between them. A literature review shows how social networking by students, initially social, began to overlap with academia, leading to the use of groups for academic purposes and forums for subject-related discussions. In the present study, data was triangulated and two methods of data analysis were used. Qualitative analysis was done on free-text data from students’ reflective essays to extract socially-related themes. Heuristic evaluation was conducted by expert evaluators, who investigated forum discourse in line with contemporary learning theory and who considered the social culture of participation. Findings of the qualitative analysis of students’ perceptions and results of the heuristic evaluation of forum participation confirmed each other, indicating a warm social climate and a conducive, well-facilitated environment that supported individual participation styles. It fostered inter-personal relationships between distance learners, as well as study-related relationships due to peer teaching and insights acquired from social negotiation. The environment supported student-initiative, but was moderated by facilitators. The mixed-methods research approach of evaluating students’ essays and conducting expert analysis of forum discussions showed the advent of a virtual community with a synergy between social aspects and academia. Most participants experienced a sound balance of social- and study-related benefits, but with a stronger focus on academic matters.Computin

A holistic supply chain integration theoretical framework within the Maltese manufacturing SMEs

Purpose: The thesis focus is to generate a theory on supply chain integration (SCI) within the Maltese manufacturing SMEs. Due to the current literature gaps there is lack of scholarly work associated with the theory of how to achieve SCI across the supply chain (SC) (Zhao et al., 2008; Flynn et al., 2010) and on holistic SCI frameworks (Holmberg, 2000; Mentzer et al., 2001; Flynn et al., 2010; Garetti & Taisch, 2012). The thesis seeks to address these gaps by trying to establish two main objectives: the SCI substantive theory; and the SCI holistic conceptual framework, needed to be adopted both within focal firm and beyond the dyad relationships across the SC. Method: The Straussian Grounded Theory methodology (GTM) was used to inductively derive the SCI theory. The research data collection and analysis was performed on 22 in-depth interviews from 17 firms within various manufacturing sector, using both primary and secondary data. The grounded theory data analysis was based on both Computer Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) and storyline narrative approaches to serve as data analytic triangulation tools so as to validate the emerged theory. Analytic intricacies and iterative sense-making was pivotal in all theorising stages to arrive at the final substantive theory with its conceptual framework. Findings: The research findings inductively established that the substantive theory is based on a cross-disciplinary approach mainly consisting of the following disciplines: management, leadership, business, manufacturing and SC strategies respectively and technology, both within information systems and manufacturing automated processes. The research established a substantive theory for SMEs to achieve SCI, which revolves around the integrative management and leadership approach (IMLA). The IMLA is considered to be an original conceptual term within the SCI theory, and it is defined to be both a driver and a binding force of all SC actors, based on the integration of a dual concept of management and leadership. The management approach maintains all the necessary quality standards and sustainable measures in place and at the same time streamline and optimise all activities to meet competitively all operational and business targets. The leadership approach focuses ideally on a shared leadership style, to promote a decentralised management approach based on teamwork initiatives, but it is not excluded that firms may adopt an individual leadership style, based on a centralised management approach. The research also established a set of propositions to contribute to the discipline scholarly work, which may also be tested by quantitative future research to increase the research robustness. Limitations: The findings are based on a relatively small sample of 17 firms involved in various positions within the SC. Practical & Methodological implications: The conceptual model with its underpinning theory and the recommended road map are to serve as a guide for all managers across the command chain in various SC positions to deploy the right IMLA, as the core theme within the conceptual model, to achieve outstanding competitive performance. This research also extends the applicability of GTM within the management discipline. Originality: This research outlines an original concept within SCI literature, which is a core driver, represented by the term IMLA. Such an IMLA is able to achieve a holistic SCI management approach beyond the SC dyadic relationship by adopting four leadership traits, situated within the strategic perspective of the firm based on the business, manufacturing and SC strategies with the role of technology as an enabler and even a driver to achieve competitive capabilities

Determinants of accounting information technology usage in Nigerian banking sector

Banks in Nigeria have increased their investment in the Information System (IS) as a fundamental e-banking tool, capable of yielding significant contributions to their financial income especially in cost efficiency. However, investment in Accounting Information Technology (AIT) is less effective due to many users complain of persistent systems failures, technical issues, lack of system stability, fraud and security challenges. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of AIT usage in the Nigerian banking sector. Specifically, the study examines the influence of system quality, information quality, service quality, internal control quality, training and top management support on AIT usage. It also investigates the moderating effect of an external consultant involvement on the relationship between the system quality and usage of AIT. A cross-sectional survey was employed for data collection. A questionnaire was distributed to 571 samples, and 257 valid responses were obtained from regional or branch managers, and account managers of the banks. Partial Least Square path modeling was used in analyzing the relationship between the determinants and AIT usage as well as the moderating effect of an external consultant involvement between system quality and AIT usage. The findings from the direct relationship reveals that system quality, information quality, and internal control quality has a significant positive relationship with AIT usage, but service quality, training, and top management support has insignificant negative relationship. Furthermore, the result of the moderating effect reveals that the external consultant involvement significantly moderates the relationship of the system quality, information quality, and service quality with AIT usage. The outcomes of this study provides another insight to the banks’ management with specific factors that they can leverage to improve the usage of the AIT thereby realizing the expected benefit of their investment

ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks: a literature review

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation is a complex and vibrant process, one that involves a combination of technological and organizational interactions. Often an ERP implementation project is the single largest IT project that an organization has ever launched and requires a mutual fit of system and organization. Also the concept of an ERP implementation supporting business processes across many different departments is not a generic, rigid and uniform concept and depends on variety of factors. As a result, the issues addressing the ERP implementation process have been one of the major concerns in industry. Therefore ERP implementation receives attention from practitioners and scholars and both, business as well as academic literature is abundant and not always very conclusive or coherent. However, research on ERP systems so far has been mainly focused on diffusion, use and impact issues. Less attention has been given to the methods used during the configuration and the implementation of ERP systems, even though they are commonly used in practice, they still remain largely unexplored and undocumented in Information Systems research. So, the academic relevance of this research is the contribution to the existing body of scientific knowledge. An annotated brief literature review is done in order to evaluate the current state of the existing academic literature. The purpose is to present a systematic overview of relevant ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks as a desire for achieving a better taxonomy of ERP implementation methodologies. This paper is useful to researchers who are interested in ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Results will serve as an input for a classification of the existing ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks. Also, this paper aims also at the professional ERP community involved in the process of ERP implementation by promoting a better understanding of ERP implementation methodologies and frameworks, its variety and history

Exploring the Interplay between Floss Adoption and Organisational Innovation

Growing research on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) has addressed a variety of questions focussing on aspects ranging from open source development processes and developer motivation, to economic and policy-making implications. Nevertheless, a few authors have examined the adoption of FLOSS and its impact on organisational change and innovation. Adoption studies represent a particularly promising area for information system researchers to investigate the relationship between the specific properties of FLOSS and the processes of implementation and use. The goal of this paper is to contribute to this field of research by discussing a former multi-targeted research agenda and by defining an empirically grounded framework for studying FLOSS adoption, drawing on the outcomes of an exploratory multiple case study involving 16 Italian public administrations.Growing research on Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) has addressed a variety of questions focussing on aspects ranging from open source development processes and developer motivation, to economic and policy-making implications. Nevertheless, a few authors have examined the adoption of FLOSS and its impact on organisational change and innovation. Adoption studies represent a particularly promising area for information system researchers to investigate the relationship between the specific properties of FLOSS and the processes of implementation and use. The goal of this paper is to contribute to this field of research by discussing a former multi-targeted research agenda and by defining an empirically grounded framework for studying FLOSS adoption, drawing on the outcomes of an exploratory multiple case study involving 16 Italian public administrations.Articles published in or submitted to a Journal without IF refereed / of international relevanc