Implementation and unification of the ERP system in a global company as a strategic decision for sustainable entrepreneurship

This article considered factors connected with the implementation and unification of an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, and their influence on the sustainable development of global companies. It showed a cognitive model on such impact and gave an example in the form of a case study of a global company listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. The basic strategic objectives of each organization include long-term growth and sustainability. In a growing competitive environment, it is essential to manage the company effectively. This can be achieved provided that the company's organizational structure and operations are properly set from the point of view of the ERP system. The research results were aimed at creating the generalized process of the ERP system's gradual implementation, to make the development of an organization progressive. The paper was focused on describing the implementation and unification of the Enterprise Resource Planning System, in a global company listed on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange. The aim of the paper was to monitor and evaluate, the links between Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management. This process is time consuming and costly. To achieve the aim, the case study was carried out in the form of an expert survey aimed at assessing the impact of the unification and implementation of the ERP system in a global company. The study included methods of systemic analysis, methods of sociological expert survey, a method of qualitative peer review, and a method for a cognitive model. It leads not only to effective management of global companies but enables the monitoring and comparison of Key Performance Indicators and the Net Promoter Score in each country, using the same parameters. The implementation of a unified Enterprise Resource Planning system leads to a significant cost reduction and has a positive impact on the financial indicators reported on the stock exchange. This study highlighted the importance of the implementation of an effective ERP system, to make the development of organizations sustainable.Web of Science108art. no. 291

Cloud Migration: A Case Study of Migrating an Enterprise IT System to IaaS

This case study illustrates the potential benefits and risks associated with the migration of an IT system in the oil & gas industry from an in-house data center to Amazon EC2 from a broad variety of stakeholder perspectives across the enterprise, thus transcending the typical, yet narrow, financial and technical analysis offered by providers. Our results show that the system infrastructure in the case study would have cost 37% less over 5 years on EC2, and using cloud computing could have potentially eliminated 21% of the support calls for this system. These findings seem significant enough to call for a migration of the system to the cloud but our stakeholder impact analysis revealed that there are significant risks associated with this. Whilst the benefits of using the cloud are attractive, we argue that it is important that enterprise decision-makers consider the overall organizational implications of the changes brought about with cloud computing to avoid implementing local optimizations at the cost of organization-wide performance.Comment: Submitted to IEEE CLOUD 201

Online revenue model adoption in the media sector: in-depth results from an exploratory study in the Netherlands

Especially for companies in the media sector such as publishers, the Internet has created new strategic and commercial opportunities. However, many companies in the media sector are struggling with how to adapt their business and revenue model for doing profitable business online. This exploratory study goes into the success factors and the level of adoption of online revenue models by media sector companies. We use Chaffey (2002) in determining online revenue models in which we included Osterwalder’s (2001) four ‘pillars’ of business models. These four pillars cover the twelve critical success factors for e-businesses as identified by Sung (2004). This theoretical framework was used for in-depth interviews with 20 senior managers within the media sector in the Netherlands. From this, it appeared that advertising is the most used online revenue model, with targeting advertising, lead generation and a combination of content and customer profiles as most promising. Ease of use is distinguished by all senior managers as success factor. Still, in order to be successful, all factors should be applied, and this appears not to be the case. Organizations in the media sector need to invest in technical and organizational expertise by hiring the right employees with the right knowledge. Emphasis on target advertising and lead generation are most promising. A combination of content and customer profiles is a focus-point for the near future

An Empirical Analysis of Internal Marketing on Organizational Commitment:a Study of Banks in Lagos-Nigeria

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effects of aspects of internal marketing on organizational commitment of employees. The research was conducted among managers of Nigerian banks situated in the major commercial city in Lagos, Nigeria. Internal marketing is growing recognition of both scholars and professionals with the increasing commoditization of products and services and the continuing failure of technology driven customer relationship management. The main criteria of internal marketing were derived from the literature; provided the backbone for our internal marketing dimensions. Data was gathered from a survey among 128 managers who rated self completion questions on the basis of their perception. In order to achieve the purpose, five hypotheses have been formulated that link the dimensions of internal marketing including motivation, job satisfaction, training,” understanding and differentiation”, “inter-functional coordination and integration” “to organizational commitment. Data analysis indicated that “inter-functional coordination and integration”, training and motivation have positive effects on the organizational commitment of employees among Nigerian banks. Therefore if the banks want to ultimately provide a better service experience for their customers, it is recommended that more attention be directed toward enhancing organizational commitment among personnel, with a focus on the effective aspects of internal marketing

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

Public sector reforms, privatisation and regimes of control in a Chinese enterprise

The Chinese economic reform has recently become a major focus of attention around the world. The underlying rationale for the Chinese government's privatisation and public sector reforms is the view that reformed state enterprises and privately managed firms will demonstrate superior management control and better performance, and hence encourage economic growth and employment. There are very few intensive case studies published in English journals studying whether firms privatised in China have reversed previous losses and introduced better management controls, leading to increased investment, productivity, and overall organizational effectiveness and efficiency. The researchers do not seek to deny the control problems of Chinese SOEs, but question the consequences of the new controls installed during the post-privatisation period. The paper also reveals a declining tendency in employment; altered distributions of wealth ? especially to the state ? and labour, and a lack of improvements in the accountability of privatised companies. Overall, the paper argues, the aims of reform policies in China, including better control, increased profitability and an improved working life for Chinese people, have not materialized. The paper calls for more research on the above issues in the Chinese context

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Goodbye to Projects? ¿ A livelihoods-grounded audit of the Magu District Livelihoods and Food Security Project (MDLFSP) in Tanzania

Approaches to projects and development have undergone considerable change in the last decade with significant policy shifts on governance, gender, poverty eradication, and environmental issues. Most recently this has led to the adoption and promotion of the sustainable livelihood (SL) approach. The adoption of the SL approach presents challenges to development interventions including: the future of projects and programmes, and sector wide approaches (SWAPs) and direct budgetary support. This paper `A livelihoods-grounded audit of the Magu District Livelihoods and Food Security Project¿ is the ninth in the series of project working papers.Department for International Developmen

Further Thoughts on CRM

Skepticism and disappointment have replaced the initialenthusiasm about CRM. The disappointing results ofCRM-projects are often related to difficulties thatmanagers encounter in embedding CRM in their strategyand organization structure. In this article we presenta classification scheme on how CRM can be strategicallyembedded in organizations using the value disciplinesof Treacy and Wiersema. We use the findings from threecase studies to illustrate our classification. Based onthese case studies and interviews with managers wedistinguish between strategic and tactical CRM, andderive important issues that managers should considerbefore successfully implementing CRM.customer relationship management;marketing strategy;marketing performance