Critical success factors in ERP implementation: A review

ERP systems have become vital strategic tools in today’s competitive business environment. This ongoing research study presents a review of recent research work in ERP systems. It attempts to identify the main benefits of ERP systems, the drawbacks and the critical success factors for implementation discussed in the relevant literature. The findings revealed that despite some organizations have faced challenges undertaking ERP implementations, many others have enjoyed the benefits that the systems have brought to the organizations. ERP system facilitates the smooth flow of common functional information and practices across the entire organization. In addition, it improves the performance of the supply chain and reduces the cycle times. However, without top management support, having appropriate business plan and vision, re-engineering business process, effective project management, user involvement and education and training, organizations can not embrace the full benefits of such complex system and the risk of failure might be at high level

Towards a Dynamic Resource-Based View Insights from Austrian Capital and Entrepreneurship Theory

Over the last two decades the resource-based view (“RBV”) has become dominant in the strategic management field. It has often been observed that the RBV is lacking in the dynamic dimension. For example, processes of building competitive advantages by means of combining existing complementary resources in novel ways are not inquired into. We argue that the RBV may profitably draw on insights in entrepreneurship and capital theory, drawn from Austrian economists as well as Frank Knight, in order to strengthen its dynamic dimension. We link the RBV and Austrian ideas in the context of the theory of complex systems pioneered by Herbert Simon. We draw a number of implications for strategic management from this synthesis, notably into resource value and sustainability of competitive advantage.Resource-based view, Austrian capital theory, complexity theory, entrepreneurs competitive advantage

The use of UML activity diagrams and the i* language in the modeling of the balanced scorecard implantation process

Business management is a complex task that can be facilitated using different methodologies and models. One of their most relevant purposes is to align the organization strategy with the daily functioning of the organization. One of these models is the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). In this paper, we propose a modeling strategy for the BSC implantation process. We will model it using UML Activity Diagrams and Strategy Dependency models of the language i*. The Activity Diagrams allow determining the order in which involved activities must be performed, and at the same time, to identify which people has the responsability to carry them out. The Strategic Dependency model allows showing the intentional aspects of the actors involved in the most strategic activities of this process. Finally, relationships among the actors and the people involved in the BSC implantation process are modelled using again the language i*. Although this paper only considers the case study of the BSC implantation, our proposal can be generalized to other implantation processes of systems with a high strategic impact on the organization, like ERP or CRM systems.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

A Management Maturity Model (MMM) for project-based organisational performance assessment

Common sense suggests that organisations are more likely to deliver successful projects if they have systems in place that reflect a mature project environment based on a culture of continuous improvement. This paper develops and discusses a Management Maturity Model (MMM) to assess the maturity of project management organisations through a customisable, systematic, strategic and practical methodology inspired from the seminal work of Darwin, Deming, Drucker and Daniel. The model presented is relevant to organisations, such as construction and engineering companies, that prefer to use the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK™ Guide) published by the Project Management Institute (PMI), but without the disadvantages of excessive time and cost commitments and a ‘one size fits all’ approach linked to rigid increments of maturity. It offers a game-changing advance in the application of project-based organisational performance assessment compared to existing market solutions that are unnecessarily complex. The feasibility of MMM is field-tested using a medium-sized data centre infrastructure firm in Tehran

Factors Influencing Strategic Information Systems Implementation In Government Parastatals: A Case Of Kenya Forest Service, Mau Forest Conservancy

The operations of parastatals could be greatly enhanced by the wellfocused application of information systems to support improvements in productivity, management effectiveness and ultimately, the quality of services offered to citizens. Assessing the strategies of information systems (ISs) implementation has been identified as one of the most critical issues in IS field. However, studies relating to this issue within the context of kenyan parastatals are few and lack the ability to propose a major set of factors influencing the strategic IS implementation. The study sought to determine the influence of top management support, expertise, infrastructure and enduser training on strategic information systems implementation at Kenya Forest Service. The study adopted descriptive research design using a sample of 262 drawn from a population of 831 staff of the Kenya Forest Service, Head of Conservancy Mau selected using stratified and simple random sampling technique. Data was collected by questionnaires and analysed by descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The findings revealed that the relationship of top management support, expertise, end-user training and infrastructure explain a strong change in strategic information systems implementation. The study concluded that to ensure strategy is implemented as intended, senior executives must endevour to persuade the employees of their ideas and that IT professionals' technical backgrounds is critical both during the selection and acquisition of complex IT system and for the implementation of information system into adopting organizations

The effectiveness of strategic management in the public service : a case study on the Department of Local Government and Housing in Limpopo Provincial Administration .

Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2009.Strategic management is regarded as one of the highest forms of management activities in the South African government. Consequently it is mandatory for Heads of government departments to develop strategic plans for their departments. Despite compliance to the strategic management framework as prescribed through the Public service regulations and the Treasury regulations, service delivery targets as set out in these plans are often not achieved. This also results in the underspending of monies budgeted for the delivery of basic government services. This paper presents the findings of the study undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of strategic management in the public service. The study employed a qualitative approach in the form of a case study research method targeting the Department of Local Government and Housing in Limpopo provincial administration. It is evident from the findings that the department is comprised of a number of elements or organizations within its environment that it is dependent on for it to achieve its objectives, and that some of these organizations are in turn dependent on the department to achieve theirs. This makes the department and organizations within its environment typical complex adaptive systems in that for them to achieve their goals, they need to adapt to one another. Failure to meet strategic plan targets in the department is attributed to (1) the government prescribed strategic choice and linear approach to strategic management that does not take into account the complexity and uncertainty of the department’s environment and the views of stakeholders; (2) the capability of management to perform the strategic management function which is questionable, (3) lack of a systems thinking approach in the department, and (4) ineffective strategic control. The study recommends a strategic management model for the Public service that will encourage management to see the department as a system that is influenced by and also influences other systems within its environment to achieve its objectives. This will facilitate the interactions between the department and its stakeholders during the formulation of strategies and the implementation thereof. Key Words: Strategic management, strategic plan, strategic formulation, strategic implementation, strategic control, complexity, complex adaptive systems, organization, strategy, systems thinking, environment, public service, resources and uncertainty

Intelligent Energy Systems As a Modern Basis For Improving Energy Efficiency

This work presents data on the share of energy costs in the cost structure for different countries. The information is provided on reducing the use of energy resources by means of introducing the intelligent control systems in the industrial enterprises. The structure and the use of such intelligent systems in the energy industry are under our consideration. It is shown that the constructing an intelligent system should be the strategic direction for the development of the distribution grid complex implying the four main areas for improvement: intellectualization of the equipment, management, communication and automation

Intelligent Energy Systems As a Modern Basis For Improving Energy Efficiency

This work presents data on the share of energy costs in the cost structure for different countries. The information is provided on reducing the use of energy resources by means of introducing the intelligent control systems in the industrial enterprises. The structure and the use of such intelligent systems in the energy industry are under our consideration. It is shown that the constructing an intelligent system should be the strategic direction for the development of the distribution grid complex implying the four main areas for improvement: intellectualization of the equipment, management, communication and automation

CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS FOR INTEGRATING A CIRCULAR INTERACTION MODEL FOR SECURITY PROCESSES IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

A circularity of Information and Communication Systems (ICT) implies a sustainable design of associated management systems to comply with Cyber Security (CS), Information Security (IS) and Data Privacy (DP). Due to the rapidly changing of IT infrastructure and the variety of software systems, changes to the workflow processes in activities are becoming more complex in terms of content. At the same time, global and local threats to electronic information and data processing systems are increasing. An effective protection of the information to be protected for the business processes and business practices is of decisive importance for the success of the organization. Against this background, the strategic potential for a sustainable management of global and local risks in combination with a flexibly designed exchange of information within the management systems is largely unexplored. This paper proposes increasing the efficiency of the Risk Management Process (RMP) by adapting the management activities for IS, CS and DP. Through adapted risk management activities, the assessment of potential consequences or opportunities of risks can be quantified towards the application and management of measures. This includes the combination and expansion of implementing strategic elements for the categorization and group consolidation of management systems as well as the prioritization of secure and sustainable measures. Their dependencies are examined to show that the IS, in combination with the other management systems, plays a central role in the model-based standardization of the information elements. In addition, industry-independent and sustainable security disciplines are proposed in order to model the specific security processes or individual security-relevant process steps within existing company processes