Motives and Barriers to Cloud ERP Selection for SMEs: A Survey of Value Added Resellers (VAR) Perspectives

Small to Mid-size Enterprises (SMEs) typically are slow/late to adopt new technologies due to a conservative bias, cost factors and possible lack of knowledge. Implementation of a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a major, costly undertaking for a company of any size, especially SMEs, but there is the potential for huge paybacks touted by advantages afforded by the cloud. Cloud based ERP technology for SMEs is relatively new and poses a potential large risk-reward payoff. Given that these SMEs are currently functioning with their existing systems, why would they want to risk switching to Bleeding Edge Cloud ERP technology? Prior ERP research has focused primarily on an ERP’s implementation success and the relevant critical success factors (CSFs) important throughout the various stages of an ERP’s lifecycle. The focus of these studies has been on post-selection variables and the success or failure of the ERP’s adoption or implementation. Inherent in these studies are firms who already selected ERP technology which provides no insight into any potential barriers that prevent selection. ERP research in the area of SME cloud/SaaS ERP systems is nascent. This paper adds methodological, empirical and theoretical contributions to this existing stream of research about the motives and barriers in the selection of cloud ERP systems for SME’s. In particular, this research paper proposes to help bridge these gaps by operationalizing and testing Saeed, Juell-Skielse, and Uppström (2012)’s Unified Framework (UF) of the motives and barriers to the selection of cloud ERP systems. This current study uses Value Added Resellers (VARs) as subjects. They are arguably the most knowledgeable and in the best position to assess both the motives and more importantly barriers since there are in direct contact with the cloud ERP prospective purchasers

An analysis of barriers to supply chain management performance in Saudi Arabia

Supply Chain Management is relatively new to Saudi Arabia. The application of its processes and practices requires setting the right foundations on which managers can run a successful supply chain. Recently, Saudi Arabia started a series of improvements in infrastructure and economy which should massively help Supply Chain Management. However, not knowing the challenges developers may miss improving issues in relation to the Supply Chain cycle. This study is concerned with the assessment of Supply Chain Management barriers in Saudi Arabia. The approach of this research is a mixed method that applies a survey and semistructured-interviews. The primary method is the survey where respondents were asked to rate the influence of a set of previously identified barriers which were extracted from literature. The interviews were structured to support collected data from the survey and they were conducted at a consecutive stage. Usable survey responses included in this study are 181. To support the survey data 15 interviews were conducted. The survey data was quantitatively analysed utilising factor analysis, regressions and mediation analysis. The interview data was qualitatively analysed using thematic analysis method. The study specifically investigates the effects of culture, organisational structure, information sharing, connectedness and purchase & supply practices on Supply Chain performance. Findings from the survey data confirmed most proposed assumptions about the barriers. In addition to confirming the influence of barriers the interview data resulted in the identification of additional themes like policies and regulations as being challenges to effective Supply Chain Management. The identification of additional themes indicates that they can be more of current concern as compared to the survey issues which may be more of traditional barriers

The appraisal of Facebook online community: An exposition of mobile commerce in social media reviews

Peer reviewe

A method for developing Reference Enterprise Architectures

Industrial change forces enterprises to constantly adjust their organizational structures in order to stay competitive. In this regard, research acknowledges the potential of Reference Enterprise Architectures (REA). This thesis proposes REAM - a method for developing REAs. After contrasting organizations' needs with approaches available in the current knowledge base, this work identifies the absence of method support for REA development. Proposing REAM, the author aims to close this research gap and evaluates the method's utility by applying REAM in different naturalistic settings

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY IN ROMANIA

The purpose of this paper is to identify the main opportunities and limitations of corporate social responsibility (CSR). The survey was defined with the aim to involve the highest possible number of relevant CSR topics and give the issue a more wholesome perspective. It provides a basis for further comprehension and deeper analyses of specific CSR areas. The conditions determining the success of CSR in Romania have been defined in the paper on the basis of the previously cumulative knowledge as well as the results of various researches. This paper provides knowledge which may be useful in the programs promoting CSR.Corporate social responsibility, Supportive policies, Romania

An investigation of the partnering strategies in application service provision: A vendor perspective

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This research aims to investigate the partnering strategies in Application Service Provision (ASP) from a vendor's perspective. Although some attention was recently given to the ASP model, the main focus of the published academic work was essentially on the customer's side. This research focuses on ASP vendors, and aims at studying the partnering strategies used by these in order to source the different ASP model components. From the studied literature, it was found that the ASP model relies on 4 main infrastructural layers for delivering services: the data storage layer, the server layer, the network layer, and the application layer. Due to the different nature of each of these layers in terms of the required technology, it was concluded that ASP is a complex service, for which the required resources and capabilities are unlikely to be owned by one single company, thus the importance of studying the partnering strategies needed for ASP vendors. Through the use of Transaction Cost Economics (TCE) and the Resource-based View (RBV), predictions were made about the expected sourcing modes (market, integration, or strategic alliance) for each of the ASP layers. The next phase was to study six ASP cases, in which the partnering strategies of each firm for each ASP layer were studied. The main result from this analysis was that the actual outcomes from the case studies did not fully match the predictions that were initially made. A cross-case analysis was then undertaken by reapplying TCE and RBV to the studied cases. In this phase, for each ASP layer in each case study TCE and RBV attributes were investigated, and the drawn conclusions were two fold. First, the initial assumption that the software layer is the core layer of the model, based on which the predictions were made, was rather flawed; it was found that although many ASP vendors draw value from the application layer, several others rely on other ASP layers. Secondly, it was concluded that the two used theories - TCE and R-BV - did not, independently, explain all the actual sourcing modes of the studied ASP vendors, though RBV showed more explanatory power than TCE. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the combination of TCE and RBV, in the context of this study, offers more explanatory power than if the two theories were used independently. Although this is an important finding in the context of ASP, the implications on IS research is tremendous, where multiple-theory applications are increasingly called for

Digitale Transformation aus unternehmensübergreifender Perspektive: Management der Koevolution von Plattformbesitzern und Komplementoren in Plattformökosystemen

Digital platforms have the potential to transform how organizations are doing business in their respective ecosystems. Motivated by this transformation, the purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding of digital transformation from an inter-organizational perspective. Therefore, this thesis clarifies the phenomenon of digital transformation, and models and analyzes multiple digital platform ecosystems. Building upon that, this dissertation reflects on multiple case studies on how platform owners can manage the co-evolution of their complementors in digital transformations in digital platform ecosystems.Digitale Plattformen haben das Potential, die Art und Weise, wie Unternehmen in ihren jeweiligen Ökosystemen Geschäfte machen, zu verändern. Motiviert durch diese Transformation, ist das Ziel dieser Arbeit, das Verständnis von digitaler Transformation aus einer inter-organisatorischen Perspektive zu erhöhen. Daher erläutert diese Arbeit das Phänomen der digitalen Transformation, und modelliert und analysiert mehrere digitale Plattformökosysteme. Darauf aufbauend reflektiert diese Dissertation in mehreren Fallstudien darüber, wie Plattformbesitzer die Koevolution ihrer Komplementoren in digitalen Transformationen in digitalen Plattformökosystemen steuern können

Metodología de implantación de modelos de gestión de la información dentro de los sistemas de planificación de recursos empresariales. Aplicación en la pequeña y mediana empresa

La Siguiente Generación de Sistemas de Fabricación (SGSF) trata de dar respuesta a los requerimientos de los nuevos modelos de empresas, en contextos de inteligencia, agilidad y adaptabilidad en un entono global y virtual. La Planificación de Recursos Empresariales (ERP) con soportes de gestión del producto (PDM) y el ciclo de vida del producto (PLM) proporciona soluciones de gestión empresarial sobre la base de un uso coherente de tecnologías de la información para la implantación en sistemas CIM (Computer-Integrated Manufacturing), con un alto grado de adaptabilidad a la estnictura organizativa deseada. En general, esta implementación se lleva desarrollando hace tiempo en grandes empresas, siendo menor (casi nula) su extensión a PYMEs. La presente Tesis Doctoral, define y desarrolla una nueva metodología de implementación pan la generación automática de la información en los procesos de negocio que se verifican en empresas con requerimientos adaptados a las necesidades de la SGSF, dentro de los sistemas de gestión de los recursos empresariales (ERP), atendiendo a la influencia del factor humano. La validez del modelo teórico de la metodología mencionada se ha comprobado al implementarlo en una empresa del tipo PYME, del sector de Ingeniería. Para el establecimiento del Estado del Arte de este tema se ha diseñado y aplicado una metodología específica basada en el ciclo de mejora continua de Shewhart/Deming, aplicando las herramientas de búsqueda y análisis bibliográfico disponibles en la red con acceso a las correspondientes bases de datos

Algebraic structures of neutrosophic triplets, neutrosophic duplets, or neutrosophic multisets. Volume II

The topics approached in this collection of papers are: neutrosophic sets; neutrosophic logic; generalized neutrosophic set; neutrosophic rough set; multigranulation neutrosophic rough set (MNRS); neutrosophic cubic sets; triangular fuzzy neutrosophic sets (TFNSs); probabilistic single-valued (interval) neutrosophic hesitant fuzzy set; neutro-homomorphism; neutrosophic computation; quantum computation; neutrosophic association rule; data mining; big data; oracle Turing machines; recursive enumerability; oracle computation; interval number; dependent degree; possibility degree; power aggregation operators; multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM); expert set; soft sets; LA-semihypergroups; single valued trapezoidal neutrosophic number; inclusion relation; Q-linguistic neutrosophic variable set; vector similarity measure; fundamental neutro-homomorphism theorem; neutro-isomorphism theorem; quasi neutrosophic triplet loop; quasi neutrosophic triplet group; BE-algebra; cloud model; fuzzy measure; clustering algorithm; and many more