209 research outputs found

    Surfacing ERP exploitation risks through a risk ontology

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    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

    Investigating information systems with mixed-methods research

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    Mixed-methods research, which comprises both quantitative and qualitative components, is widely perceived as a means to resolve the inherent limitations of traditional single method designs and is thus expected to yield richer and more holistic findings. Despite such distinctive benefits and continuous advocacy from Information Systems (IS) researchers, the use of mixed-methods approach in the IS field has not been high. This paper discusses some of the key reasons that led to this low application rate of mixed-methods design in the IS field, ranging from misunderstanding the term with multiple-methods research to practical difficulties for design and implementation. Two previous IS studies are used as examples to illustrate the discussion. The paper concludes by recommending that in order to apply mixed-methods design successfully, IS researchers need to plan and consider thoroughly how the quantitative and qualitative components (i.e. from data collection to data analysis to reporting of findings) can be genuinely integrated together and supplement one another, in relation to the predefined research questions and the specific research contexts

    Interrelated Barriers and Risks Affecting ERP Post-Implementation in China

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    The research reported in this paper aimed to identify and explore potential barriers and risks that can affect successful exploitation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in Chinese companies. A barrier and risk ontology was established from a critical literature review process. In order to examine this theoretical model, the study employed a deductive research design based on a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The survey received 84 responses from 42 Chinese firms. The findings identified that organizational barriers are often the main triggers of other ERP barriers and risks, including the system ones. The study thus concluded and suggested that Chinese companies need to pay substantial attention to the organizational barriers identified, since properly managing this type of obstacle may potentially help them to mitigate and remove other ERP challenges and risks and thus ensuring long-term success in ERP post-adoption

    Exploring critical risks associated with enterprise cloud computing

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    While cloud computing has become an increasingly hot topic in the industry, risks associated with the adoption of cloud services have also received growing attention from researchers and practitioners. This paper reports the results of a study that aimed to identify and explore potential risks that organisations may encounter when adopting cloud computing, as well as to assess and prioritise the identified risks. The study adopted a deductive research method based on a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was distributed to a group of 295 carefully selected and highly experienced IT professionals, of which 39 (13.2 %) responses were collected and analysed. The research findings identified a set of 39 cloud computing risks, which concentrated around diverse operational, organisational, technical, and legal areas. It was identified that the most critical risks were caused by current legal and technical complexity and deficiencies associated with cloud computing, as well as by a lack of preparation and planning of user companies

    Cloud ERP: a new dilemma to modern organisations?

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    For almost two decades, on-premise ERP has been adopted very prevalently in the industry. Accompanied with the emergence of cloud computing technologies in the late 2000s, there is an increasing trend for companies to migrate their hitherto internal ERP applications and databases into the cloud. Such ERP resources re-migration, which can offer a range of opportunities to user companies, is also associated with new challenges. The study reported in this paper aimed to explore potential benefits and barriers associated with the adoption of cloud ERPs. A set of in-depth interviews were conducted with 16 ERP and cloud consultants. The findings, derived from a thematic analysis, identified that whilst the economic and technical benefits promised by cloud vendors are attractive, the success of cloud ERP adoption can be affected by critical challenges related to diverse organisational factors as well as with current legal and technical complexity in the cloud environment

    Towards ERP success in SMEs through business process review prior to implementation

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    Purpose – ERP systems are not the exclusive concern of large companies anymore. More and more small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are now engaging with the implementation and exploitation of this type of system. However, reports of ERP failure are numerous and frequent. Very often, this failure results from technical and implementation problems. But even more frequently, it is due to lack of preparation, by the companies themselves, for the implementation process. The purpose of the study reported in this paper was to identify and explore ways in which SMEs may need to prepare themselves before implementing ERP systems. Design/methodology/approach – The research took a Cypriot SME as a case study and adopted an inductive approach supported by in-depth interviews as the main method of data collection. The qualitative data collected were analysed by using a thematic analysis approach. Subsequently, a rich picture and concept maps were used to represent the findings generated. Findings – The study identified that business deficiencies and problems, which can impact potential ERP adoption and usage in SMEs, can be localised across business processes boundaries, such as sales order processing, stock control, and bill of materials management, etc. These business problems were found to be attributed to a variety of organisational, technical and human-related reasons. Therefore, this study established that in order to implement ERPs successfully, organisations may require changes in people's work practices and understanding of technology, ownership and control of business processes, as well as organisational wide policies. Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to the knowledge of ERP preparation and business process improvement in SMEs. Practical implications – The findings of the paper provide useful insights for both academic and practitioners who are thinking of implementing ERP systems. The paper contributes to the body of literature on issues that SMEs may need to reflect upon before embarking in a costly and resource intensive process of ERP implementation. Originality/value – Business process improvement is traditionally considered as the result of an ERP project phase. This is how the large majority of the academic literature and the totality of marketing information by ERP vendors portray it. In fact, the reality of practice shows a different scenario with frequent reports of failure and inadequate ERP implementation. This paper aims at breaking with this myth, by proposing that ERPs cannot resolve the large variety of deficient business processes and internal problems that may exist in SMEs. Therefore, this study argues that SMEs need to prepare in advance by engaging in business process reviews prior to the ERP implementation that is engaging in a pre-implementation or preparation phase

    Risks in enterprise cloud computing: the perspective of IT experts

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    Cloud computing has become an increasingly prevalent topic in recent years. However, migrating hitherto internal IT data and applications to the cloud is associated with a wide range of risks and challenges. The study reported in this paper aims to explore potential risks that organisations may encounter during cloud computing adoption, as well as to assess and prioritise these risks, from the perspective of IT practitioners and consultants. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to a group of 295 highly experienced IT professionals involved in developing and implementing cloud based solutions, of which 39 (13.2%) responses were collected and analysed. The findings identified a set of 39 cloud computing risks, which concentrated around diverse operational, organisational, technical, and legal areas. The most critical top 10 risks perceived by IT experts were found to be caused by current legal and technical complexity and deficiencies associated with cloud computing, as well as by a lack of preparation and planning of user companies

    DEVELOPING AN ONTOLOGICAL VIEW OF OUTSOURCING

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    An understanding of information technology outsourcing risks, risk categories and their relationships, has been developed over the years from multiple research and theoretical perspectives. These perspectives are not well integrated, however, and do little to develop a common and shared understanding of sourcing risks for organisations. This means that IT sourcing decisions are not well supported by a coherent and well-understood body of knowledge. To start to address the shortcoming, we have conducted three workshops with skilled practitioners and academics to supplement our current understanding of sourcing risk, risk categories and their relationships. From these workshops we have developed an integrated ontological view of sourcing risk which defines the relationships between sixteen risk categories and over hundred and fifty risks, and maps the relationships between them. To facilitate this integrated ontological view we have applied the commonly using OWL and the Protégé-tool to our workshop data.

    Exploring Cultural Impact on Long-Term Utilization of Enterprise Systems

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    Culture has been increasingly recognized as a key determinant of IS and ERP success. By drawing on theoretical antecedents in previous IS and culture studies, this paper examines and analyzes cultural impact on ERP utilization in China. The study involved 25 semi-structured interviews in two Chinese companies. The findings identified that China's cultural features of high power distance, low uncertainty avoidance and collectivism, can originate a set of crucial ERP barriers and problems, which are located in diverse management and organizational areas in Chinese companies. The study suggested that, in order to address these cultural obstacles and thus ensure long-term ERP success, Chinese enterprises need to substantially change their traditional business procedures, staff attitudes, and management behaviour. Given that many cultural factors are not unique to a country, the findings of this study should have applicability beyond China
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