The Road to ERP Success: Understanding End-User Perceptions

Even though there is a growing body of literature that focuses on improving the success rate of enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects, there is a lack of research aimed at understanding end- users perceptions of ERP systems. Given that employee expectations and attitudes play an important role in the success of ERP projects, the purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of end-user perceptions of ERP systems. In order to achieve this objective, we provide empirical evidence from two companies that have recently implemented ERP systems. We also offer strategies that could be utilized by managers, project leaders, and vendor companies to enhance user satisfaction with ERP systems

The Role of Gender in Students’ Decisions to Major in Information Systems

In order to understand the reasons for women’s underrepresentation in IS, we extended the IS Major Choice Goals Model, which identifies the major factors that influence students’ pursuit of IS majors and careers. There were significant differences between female and male students in terms of self-efficacy, interests, and choice goals. Significant gender differences were also found in the relationships among the key determinants of the model meaning that females and males differed with respect to how they developed aspirations to major in IS. The relationship between self-efficacy and interest was stronger in females than in males, as well as the relationship between self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Self-efficacy influenced choice goals more strongly for males than it influenced females. The relationship between outcome expectations and interest was stronger in males than in females. Interest influenced choice goals more strongly for female students than it influenced male students

Quality Assurance Practices by Indian Manufacturing Organizations: A Conceptual Framework and an Empirical Investigation

The purpose of this study is three-fold. First, based on the synthesis of literature on quality concepts, critical factors that must be practiced to achieve effective quality management in an organization were identified. A framework to be used by organizations to evaluate their quality assurance practices were developed. Second, a field survey was conducted to identify the degree to which quality assurance is being practiced in Indian Manufacturing organizations and to locate the organizational areas where better management control can make the quality assurance system more effective. Finally, an attempt was made to develop models that could be used to forecast the level of quality achieved

Piloting Service Oriented Architecture—A Case Study in the Oil Industry

The Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) paradigm introduced a few years back has already become the driving force behind enterprise systems. It is also a force behind most cutting edge technologies today. Although much is written about SOA, empirical studies on its implementation are next to none. This exploratory case study examines a pilot implementation at an oil-drilling equipment manufacturing company to understand the process and issues involved in SOA adoption. The study depicts the implementation methodology and the roadmap adopted by this organization to help connect its disparate systems using enterprise SOA. This paper can help researcher better understand SOA implementation and help them further explore the managerial issues involved in implementing this new technology

User perceptions of the benefits of implementing an ERP system: A case study

Given the large time and fitiancial commitment that an ERP project requires and the potential benefits it can offer if successfidly implemented, it is important to understand the factors that facilitate and inhibit the success ofEP,P implementation. By means of a case study of a global energy company, we first examine the factors that facilitate and inhibit the success of their ERP implementation. We draw on the theory of business process change when analyzing the implementation process. Next, we examine the perceptions non-management professional users of the ERP system (who were not members of the ERP implementation team) have of the ERP system. The data for this part of the study was collected through a survey of nonmanagement professional users of an ERP system, 6 months after implementation

Understanding Adoption of Internet Technologies Among SMEs

The Internet has been viewed as a powerful tool enabling small firms to "level the playing field" when competing with larger firms. Yet, the benefits of e-business are accruing to larger, rather than smaller, firms. While numerous studies have been conducted in other countries to examine the use of the Internet by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), similar studies focused on U.S. small firms have not yet emerged. Using the Commission of the European Communities' stringent definition of SMEs, this paper identifies significantly different patterns in e-business usage among 395 micro, small, and medium-sized firms. While using the Internet to find information and to enhance the company/image brand is important for all firms, the smallest of firms attach greater importance to using the Internet for research purposes and lesser for communication reasons (i.e., e-mail). This pattern is reversed for larger (i.e., small and medium sized) firms

Meeting the cultural and service needs of Arabic international students by using QFD

Quality has become an important factor in global competition for many reasons. Intensive global competition and the demand for better quality by customers has led organizations to realize the benefits of providing quality products and services in order to successfully compete and survive. Higher education institutions are one example of these organisations. Higher education institutions work in an intensive competitive environment worldwide driven by increasing demands for learning by local and international students. As a result, the managers of these sectors have realized that improving the quality of services is important for achieving customer satisfaction which can help survival in an internationally competitive market. To do this, it is necessary for organizations to know their customers and identify their requirements. To this end, many higher education institutions have adopted principles of total quality management (TQM) to improve their education quality which leads to better performance through involvement of every department to achieve excellence in business. This chapter considers the importance of measuring quality in order to assist universities to proactively manage the design and improvement of the social and academic experiences of postgraduate international students, and plan management decision-making processes to deliver high-quality services in a globalized business of provision of higher education. Higher education institutions must operate effectively and efficiently and be able to deliver quality programs, by seeking to better understand the needs of their customers to be competitive in this market space