How "critical" are the critical success factors (CSFs)? Examining the role of CSFs for ERP

PURPOSE – The authors aim to examine the literature on enterprise resource planning (ERP) to establish whether the critical success factors (CSFs) for achieving stages of an ERP project have been empirically shown to be “critical”. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH – The authors used a systematic approach to review 627 refereed papers published between 1998 and 2010 on ERP, from which 236 papers related to CSFs on ERP were selected for analysis. The authors employed procedures from qualitative and interpretive research methods, to analyse and interpret the material using five-step procedure of gathering, categorising, coding, analysing and comparing the data. FINDINGS – Prior studies have identified a large number of CSFs for ERP implementation success or improved performance outcomes. The authors have shown that a limited number of CSFs have been empirically investigated for their role in, and effect on, implementation success or post-implementation performance outcomes. While reporting the factors that have some evidence to support them, the authors question the utility of the general concept of CSFs. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS – The authors' findings question the validity of many of the claimed CSFs and the utility of the general body of literature on CSFs. The authors caution researchers who may plan to use claimed CSFs for ERP in their research to carefully examine the veracity of the claim before proceeding. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS – The findings can help managers to focus their attention, priorities, resources and leadership on managing the CSFs that have been established to be critical for achieving ERP project implementation and/or performance outcomes. ORIGINALITY/VALUE – The results provide new insights into the usefulness of CSFs and indicate that merely identifying possible CSFs is not sufficient to help with ERP success. Further investigation is required to establish the criticalness of the proposed CSFs before managerial time is devoted to them.Jiwat Ram, David Corkindal

The taxing problems of land value capture, planning obligations and viability tests: some reasonable models?

Given their increasing importance in the formation and implementation of planning policies in the UK, this paper focuses on the use of development viability tests to determine how land value uplifts actuated by planning consent could be distributed between developers, landowners and the community. Following a discussion of way in which planning obligations act as a quasi-betterment tax that can both capture and create land values, alternative approaches to operationalising Benchmark Land Value (BLV) are evaluated. The effects of different approaches to BLV on potential land value capture are simulated for a number of hypothetical development sites in order to identify and compare implied betterment tax rates and to estimate viable affordable housing proportions. It is concluded that large geographical variations in property prices produce large variations in the potential for land value capture. Different approaches to BLV have a range of strengths and weaknesses. In addition, given that viability models are susceptible to significant levels of error and potential bias, using such models to make and implement planning policies renders such processes vulnerable to opportunistic behaviour and prone to miscalculation

Change in the political economy of land value capture in England

Variations in the character, performance and impact of policies and practices to capture land value for the community are usually examined by analysing experience in different countries. Such international comparative research is cross-sectional and does not cover the evolving relations between systems of land value capture and the economies, polities and societies within which they are set. This paper examines the relations in England between the extant political economy and supporting ideologies, and the distinctive forms of land value capture that they produced. It traces the shift from a top-down, strategic approach in an era of corporatist government before 1979 to the subsequent extension and consolidation of bottom-up practice set within the context of neo-liberalism. The analysis highlights the evolution of the idea of land value capture and the policies and practices associated with it, especially the contestation that informed such changes

Career dynamics Tailoring individual and organisational needs; a study of the application of professional development approaches to post experience career development in further education

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:DXN037165 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Land development in the United Kingdom: private property rights and public policy objectives

The system of land-use planning in the United Kingdom has remained essentially unchanged since the introduction of the 1947 Town and Country Planning Acts. There has been rather little progress since then in the economic evaluation of this system or in the development of more market-based approaches to land-use planning. The author discusses some of the reasons for the lack of economic evaluation, develops decision criteria for conducting such economic evaluation, and goes on to indicate the kind of role market-based instruments might play in future.

ERP adoption and the value creation: Examining the contributions of antecedents

There has been considerable debate about the role of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in driving competitive advantage. However, little is established empirically on the antecedent factors that could facilitate achievement of such an advantage of adopting ERP. Therefore, this study examines the role of antecedent factors in the organisational adoption of ERP projects for the achievement of competitive advantage. We draw on information system success and information system implementation theories to build a conceptual model to examine the role of antecedent factors in influencing the achievement of competitive advantage. We use the structural equation modelling (SEM) technique to analyse the survey data of 217 Australian companies and test the model. We find that organisations that understand the importance of certain antecedent factors and manage them appropriately can achieve competitive advantage with ERP projects. These factors include consideration of the system quality and organisational readiness at the planning stage for an ERP project. We have extended knowledge on the role of antecedent factors to successful organisational adoption of ERP by providing evidence that they are also significant predictors for the achievement of competitive advantage. Our study's findings indicate that establishing a clear understanding of necessary system attributes in the organisational context at the adoption stage of ERP is important for helping organisations achieve subsequent competitive advantage. Their understanding of potential system quality attributes, the business environment within which their organisation may operate, the internal organisational capabilities and desired strategic benefits, can help managers and ERP system developers implement strategies, leadership, resources, and commitment to achieve their desired benefits from ERP projects. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.Jiwat Rama, David Corkindale, Ming-Lu W

Examining the role of system quality in ERP projects

PURPOSE: The aim of this paper is to examine the role of perceived system quality (PSQ) as an antecedent to the implementation success (IMP) of ERP projects, and its interrelationships with other antecedents that influence the outcome of organizational adoption process. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: The authors derive a model containing the relationships between PSQ and IMP and between PSQ and some antecedents of organizational adoption. The relationships were analysed with data from a survey of 217 Australian companies, using structural equation modelling. FINDINGS: PSQ is an important antecedent to implementation success of ERP projects. It also has a positive influence on other antecedents of organizational adoption, namely: perceived information quality, organizational readiness and perceived strategic value of adoption. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Prior findings have shown that PSQ is a significant antecedent to the adoption of ERP by individuals and organizations and the paper extends this by providing evidence that PSQ is also a significant antecedent to implementation success. The authors have empirically established the role of interrelationships among antecedent factors at the adoption stage of ERP systems. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: Establishing a proposed ERP system’s system quality, when considering whether to adopt a particular system is important, as it influences the other important antecedents and beliefs on the potential benefits from an ERP project. Understanding of system quality attributes can help managers put in place strategies to avoid potential pitfalls at the project implementation stage. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Empirical evidence of the importance of PSQ for success in ERP adoption, implementation and explanation of how and why this has positive effects on other antecedents.Jiwat Ram, David Corkindale and Ming-Lu W