ERP Implementation Issues in Advanced and Developing Countries

There is an increasing need to implement a total business solution which supports major functionalities of a business. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) software is designed to meet this need, and has been widely adopted by organizations in developed countries. Meanwhile, ERP is beginning to appear in many organizations of developing countries. Little research has been conducted to compare the implementation practices of ERP in developed vs developing countries. Our research shows that ERP technology faces additional challenges in developing countries related to economic, cultural, and basic infrastructure issues. This article identifies a range of issues concerning ERP implementation by making a comparison of advanced and developing countries

Competing in the Digital Economy?: The Dynamics and Impacts of B2B E-commerce on the South African Manufacturing Sector

ICTs, B2B e-commerce, manufacturing sector, South Africa

Management consulting.

Including a lengthy, comprehensive introduction, this important collection brings together some of the most influential papers that have contributed to our understanding of management consultancy work. The two-volume set encompasses the breadth of conceptual and empirical perspectives and explores those key ideas that have helped to advance our knowledge of this intriguing area. The volumes are divided into a series of thematic sections, affording the reader easy access to a great resource of information. Professors Clark and Avakian have written an original introduction which provides a comprehensive overview of the literature

Aggregation and the Role of Trusted Third Parties in SME E-Business Engagement: A Regional Policy Issue

YesIt is against the background of low engagement by SMEs in e-business that this paper seeks to highlight the potential importance of aggregation and of the role of trusted third parties in facilitating higher levels of involvement. The paper is based on an ongoing SME e-business research programme and reports on some recent research on SMEs that were using high complexity e-business applications and explores the extent to which the research findings could address the core concern of low engagement. This qualitative case study based research includes analysis of data collected from 13 community intermediaries, acting as trusted third parties. It concludes that the role of community intermediaries appears to be central to the adoption of critical e-aggregation applications provided by service providers. For policymakers, this important role of critical e-aggregation applications in facilitating e-business engagement by SMEs has emerged as part of this research but there is limited evidence of policy initiatives that reflect this

Re-reengineering the dream: agility as competitive adaptability

Organizational adaptation and transformative change management in technology-based organizations is explored in the context of collaborative alliances. A Re-reengineering approach is outlined in which a new Competitive Adaptability Five-Influences Analysis approach under conditions of collaborative alliance, is described as an alternative to Porter’s Five-Forces Competitive Rivalry Analysis model. Whilst continuous change in technology and the associated effects of technology shock (Dedola & Neri, 2006; Christiano, Eichenbaum & Vigfusson, 2003) are not new constructs, the reality of the industrial age was and is a continuing reduction in timeline for relevance and lifetime for a specific technology and the related skills and expertise base required for its effective implementation. This, combined with increasing pressures for innovation (Tidd & Bessant, 2013) and at times severe impacts from both local and global economic environments (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson, 2011) raises serious challenges for contemporary management teams seeking to strategically position a company and its technology base advantageously, relative to its suppliers, competitors and customers, as well as in predictive readiness for future technological change and opportunistic adaptation. In effect, the life-cycle of a technology has become typically one of disruptive change and rapid adjustment, followed by a plateau as a particular technology or process captures and holds its position against minor challenges, eventually to be displaced by yet another alternative (Bower & Christensen, 1995)

Exploring the links between business process re-engineering and small and medium-sized enterprises

Despite a growing literature on business process re-engineering (BPR) principles and prospects, there is little empirical research evaluating the success or failure of BPR initiatives. This is especially so in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) where the potential for BPR benefit may differ significantly from that in their larger counterparts. An examination of the literature on process re-engineering reveals that BPR guidelines derived from the experiences in large organisations are inadequate for SMEs given the different characteristics of SMEs in terms of size, structure, culture, resources and technology. The objective of this research is to develop an appropriate basis of BPR guidelines for SMEs. A pluralistic research method is used due to the exploratory nature of the study and the absence of existing rigorous research in the area. This consists of a questionnaire survey of 116 Taiwan-based SMEs, followed by case studies of eight chosen organisations. The findings from the survey enable the researcher to modify the proposed framework of BPR implementing for SMEs, and the case studies explore the factors that facilitate/inhibit BPR success in SMEs in greater detail. The study reveals an opportunity for SMEs to benefit from BPR efforts, although their BPR initiatives are mainly inter-functional. Re-engineering in SMEs is often a response to positive trends, and is largely dependent upon the owner-manager's perceived benefits and risk-taking attitudes. A strategic vision as well as sound external relations may leverage SMEs' re-engineering efforts to higher business integration, while a lack of financial support and non-standardised IS infrastructure may restrict SMEs' BPR initiatives to functional areas. Employee empowerment, dedication to R&D, and innovative use of IT are intertwined and significantly related to BPR success. The study concludes by outlining the principles of BPR guidelines for SMEs based on a modified framework detailing the BPR environment in SMEs. These include a holistic and strategic view towards BPR, the roles of owner-managers and employees, change issues, and implementing BPR as a process change project

The Potential of Critical E-Applications for Engaging SMEs in E Business: A Provider Perspective

YesAgainst a background of the low engagement of SMEs in e-business this paper investigates the emergence of, and potential for, critical e-applications defined as `an e-business application, promoted by a trusted third party, which engages a significant number of SMEs by addressing an important shared business concern within an aggregation.¿ By a review of secondary data and empirical investigation with service providers and other intermediaries the research shows that such applications can facilitate the e-business engagement of SMEs. There are three key findings, namely: the emergence of aggregation specific e-business applications; the emergence of collaboratively based `one to many¿ business models; and the importance of trusted third parties in the adoption of higher complexity e-business applications by SMEs. Significantly this work takes a deliberately provider perspective and complements the already considerable literature on SME IT adoption from a user and network perspective. In terms of future research the importance of a better conceptual understanding of the impact of complexity on the adoption of IT by SMEs is highlighted

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