DEVELOPMENT OF ERP AND OTHER LARGE BUSINESS SYSTEMS IN THE CONTEXT OF NEW TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES

This paper presents an overview of terms, concepts, trends and technologies that are relevant to today\u27s business. It describes the basics of data and information integration and flow in a company through a central ERP system with concepts of CRM and SCM. The emergence of big data as a tributary of a huge number of often unstructured data from different sources can become a central problem or opportunity for advancement and achievement of competitive advantages of a company. Ignorance of key figures and/or the non-acceptance of new business conditions, new technologies and possible deployment solutions are the main reasons for non-productivity and poor business performance. To demonstrate the dynamics of appearance and popularity of terms, concepts, trends and technologies this paper offers a tabular overview of the frequencies based on the data from 3 global databases. Meta analysis shows the expected future development of analytical trends and technologies. This paper is intended for those who lead, run and participate in projects of implementation of large software systems, dealing with quality management of business, or want to understand the complexity of this area and the future directions of development

A decision-making framework for aligning business analytics with business objectives

Throughout this thesis, we discuss the impact of Business Analytics on the organizational decision-making process with the objective of designing a framework that provides the organization with extra-knowledge on how to implement and sustain their analytics. First, we develop the concept of capability using the resource-based view and the IT literature to define what is a Business Analytics capability. We then define the key capabilities that provide the organization with a competitive advantage. Moreover, we investigate the role of governance and alignment as well as the impact of the concepts on the decision making effectiveness. To provide an insight on the adjustment to be made in order to increase the organization Business Analytics performance, we emphasise the role of alignment between Information Technology governance, corporate governance, data governance and Business Analytics governance. Thereafter we create the framework based on academic and empirical research and apply this framework throughout a case study. Based on this case study we provide an academic recommendation to the investigated organization. This thesis highlights the importance of the creation of a Business Analytics governance. Also, the research provides a framework linking Business Analytics with decision making successfulness

Ketterän liiketoimintatiedon hallinnan mahdollistajat - Case SAP

One of the key requirements for achieving competitive advantage is to utilize gathered information more effectively than before with the help of emergent technology innovations and enhanced information management. In order to remain competitive and compete with the help of data, organizations and researchers have paid attention to a new wave of business intelligence, referred to as agile business intelligence. Agile business intelligence enables faster decision-making in faster pace than traditional business intelligence due to the emergence of new technology directions. Hence, the technology has evolved in a way that agile business intelligence can bring more value to the organizations simplifying the business intelligence architecture and enhancing data processing by utilizing operational data more effectively. The primary objective of the thesis was to identify the key factors that enable agile business intelligence. The secondary objective was related to the benefits that agile business intelligence provides to the organizations compared with the traditional business intelligence solutions and platforms. The thesis consisted of two different parts: the first part was related to investigate agile business intelligence from the academic point of view using a systematic literature review as a research method. In this part, the definition of agile business intelligence was formalized and the different enablers and benefits were discovered based on the literature. The second part was related to investigate agile BI enablers, which were founded in internal training materials regarding the SAP landscape. Findings from the latter part were reflected on the findings from the first part drawing a synthesis between the enablers and benefit from the different parts. The key findings of agile BI were divided into two main categories: agile methodologies and agile technologies. The first ones were related to the different agile development methods of business intelligence such as Scrum in order to organizations are able to react faster pace to the changing requirements in the business environment. The key enablers of the latter category were in-memory BI, mobile BI, cloud BI, operational BI and self-service BI. The main benefits of these enablers were related to the reduced query processing providing real-time data on decision-making, the increased flexibility of the systems and easier access to the data which facilitate more accurate and punctual decision-making. These benefits reflected on SAP BI landscape which provided the same benefits but also simplification was in a central role in SAP BI landscape which reduces the need for extract and load data from the different source systems

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

Cloud-Based Architecture for Production Information Exchange in European Micro-Factory Context

In a constantly changing world, information stands as one of the most valuable assets for a manufacturing site. However, exchanging information is not a straightforward process among factories, and concerns regarding the trustability and validation of transactions between various stakeholders have emerged within the context of micro-factories. This work presents an architecture designed to enable information exchange among heterogeneous stakeholders, taking advantage of the cloud infrastructure. It was designed to enable the use of several tools, connected through a middleware system deployed on the cloud. To demonstrate the potential of this architecture, a platform was instantiated, and two use cases—designed to accurately represent real manufacturing sites—were implemented.© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Framework Management to Minimize Risk in Protecting Enterprise Systems: Systematic Literature Review

Purpose: This study aims to determine the efforts to minimize the occurrence of risks in enterprise systems and how far the framework is applied to an organization, as well as what steps must be applied in anticipation of it.Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a systematic review research method of literature published by international journals in the period 2016 to 2021 which is subscribed to by Diponegoro University.Findings/result: Most of the selected journals stated that in an effort to secure enterprise systems in an organization, they really consider several aspects in it, especially in terms of cost which is one of the biggest considerations in it, besides that support from policy makers must be needed to make guidelines in implementing framework (framework) regarding the limitations of Authentication access and interaction on a system.Originality/value/state of the art: the method applied will focus on discussing the realm of enterprise systems, specifically discussing framework management in an effort to minimize risks to enterprise systems.

The impact of enterprise information management capability on sustainable competitive advantage

In today’s economic environment, intense competition in the corporate world has prompted organizations to focus on creating and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of enterprise information management capability (EIMC) on SCA. This study focuses on EIMC as An essential organizational dynamic capability and empirically examines the relationship between EIMC and SCA, both directly and indirectly, via two mediators: knowledge management (KM) and total quality management (TQM). This study used the theory of dynamic capability (DC) as the theoretical framework. Four constructs (EIMC, KM, TQM, and SCA) were developed and nine research hypotheses were examined. A mixed methods research design was used to collect primary data. The data was collected from twelve (12) semi-structured interviews with twelve (12) decision-makers from different organizations in the UAE. In addition, an online cross-sectional survey produced 144 responses from middle-level managers in UAE organizations. The survey data was analyzed using a partial least squares (PLS) approach to structural equation modeling. The results of the PLS measurement model suggest that the items used to measure the constructs were valid and reliable, and the results of the structural equation model supported every one of the research hypotheses. Moreover, the qualitative interviews’ data also supported every one of the research hypotheses. Therefore, the study results suggest that EIMC impacts positively on organizations’ SCA, both directly and indirectly. The indirect relationship is mediated through KM and TQM, and is serially mediated via both KM and TQM. These findings are generally consistent with the extant literature and support the notion of direct and indirect relationships between EIMC and SCA. However, the literature to date has paid little attention to these relationships. This research contributes to the knowledge concerning EIMC, TQM, and KM by providing empirical evidence of their ability to create and sustain a competitive advantage. In short, if EIMC is properly developed, it helps organizations to achieve KM, TQM and thus gain and sustain competitive advantage. Understanding the direct and indirect impacts of EIMC on SCA can positively affect organizations’ performance. Further research has been recommended to further critique an investigate the proposed model, especially in non-UAE contexts, and to extend the model by examining other mediators between EIMC and SCA

Supply chain management in small and medium sized companies : opportunity or obstacle?

The purpose of this thesis is to establish how supply chain management expertise can be developed and embedded in a small and medium sized enterprise that will both enhance the efficiency of the existing business and create an additional business opportunity. In order to achieve this, the following aims have been set. A review of the latest academic literature concerning supply chain management and implementation of supply chain management in small and medium sized enterprises and the development of a framework of critical aspects for supply chain management implementation. In addition a case study of a two year knowledge transfer partnership between a company and a university has been conducted. From the case study it has been derived how supply chain management expertise can be developed and embedded in SMEs.For the methodology the action research and the case study approach have been chosen. The findings of the thesis confirm the characteristics and issues described in previous SME literature. Furthermore this two year study contributes to existing literature through in-depth understanding of the development process of supply chain management implementation in small and medium sized enterprises. In addition a holistic framework for supply chain management implementation in small and medium sized enterprises is provided, which also considers the importance of change and project management. In addition it is suggested that the solution should be tailored to the needs of a small and medium sized enterprise in order to correspond to time and resource constraints in small firms. Furthermore the thesis describes continuous improvement as a means for change management as well as for the embedment of collaboration in a small firm. Moreover it has been reconfirmed that also in small companies internal integration needs to be established before external integration and collaboration can take place.The value of this thesis lies in its attempt to establish how supply chain management in small and medium enterprises can be established through a knowledge transfer partnership with an external body (a university) and the development of a framework for implementation

Framework for Sales and Operations Planning in Engineer-to-Order Environment

In recent years, sales and operations planning (S&OP) has become an integral part of the supply chain functions in many organizations. S&OP is seen as a way to create organizational alignment with the operating strategy and as a result improve revenue, decrease inventory levels and reduce costs. Thus, its positive effect on company’s performance has clearly been noticed. Despite the growing practical interest towards the implementation and execution of S&OP, the research around the topic has focused on consumer goods or pharmaceutical industry and on Make-to-Stock (MTS) environment. This master’s thesis studies the execution and best practices related to S&OP in industrial manufacturing in Engineer-to-Order (ETO) environment. The goal of the research is to develop a framework for the execution of S&OP for companies operating in ETO context. In addition, a deeper understanding is sought on the factors that create the need to customize S&OP based on the requirements of ETO environment. These objectives were addressed by first developing a framework related to S&OP execution in MTS environment based on the current academic literature. Through an empirical study, the assumptions of the framework were tested by interviewing S&OP process stakeholders within an organization operating in ETO environment. This provided a chance to gain understanding on how S&OP is carried out in the context of ETO and what are the similarities and differences compared to S&OP in MTS environment. Based on these findings, the initial framework was modified to the needs and requirements of ETO context. As a result, an execution framework for S&OP in ETO environment was created. The framework constructed passed the weak market test carried out in this research and is being implemented in the case company. The findings of this study imply that there are differences in the execution of S&OP between MTS and ETO environment and, hence, the processes should be managed differently. It was evident that S&OP should be customized according to the requirements of the business environment. The found factors with the greatest impact on the need to customize S&OP in ETO context are fluctuating demand, difficulty to forecast and wide and complex product portfolio. Due to the existence of these factors, there is a need to place high emphasis on demand planning, scenario analysis and strategy and risk analysis as part of the S&OP in ETO environment. In addition, finance should be integrated as part of the process and the transparency of the process and decision-making should be secured. The framework constructed in this study provides opportunities for organizations operating in ETO environment to enhance their S&OP practices and, hence, ensure continuous competitiveness