A Case on Measuring Enterprise Resource Planning Success

The implementation of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is considerably highly complex, and the cost is relatively expensive and risky. As such, not all enterprises have successful ERP implementation. While success or failure of an ERP implementation from project management perspective is straight forward, for example by measuring the project’s time, cost, scope or number of user requirements achieved attributes, the success of the delivered system in the post-implementation phase is more difficult to measure. We are interested in how the success (i.e. continuance use) of the system changes over time and what factors influence the ERP system success. This study uses the “IS Success Model” proposed by DeLone and McLean to measure the ERP post-implementation success (from system user’s perspective) using six fundamental items – success quality, information quality, information use, user satisfaction, individual impact and organizational impact. Adopting the case study approach, a well-known “System Integrator” from the e-industry was investigated. The case-organization implements and uses the Oracle ERP. Two round of survey using the same survey questions were carried out on the same pool of 100 respondents at two different point of time, one after six-month of using the system and the other after another extended four-month of usage. Our results show that, in overall, after an extended four months the same sample of respondents evaluates higher rank on each item on their ERP system quality, the impact of the ERP system on their organization, and information use from the ERP system. This could be due to improvement in users’ experience and familiarization with the system. However, for information quality of the ERP system the same sample of respondents gives a lower rank after an extended four months of use. As the use of the system increases, the information needs for the system also increase and new information (previously unknown or not used) may also be discovered over a longer period of use. In general, the three success dimensions (system quality, information quality and organizational impact) are on average slightly higher than “4” or neutral and we can say that the ERP system success is marginal. However, the organizational impact dimension is below “4”. With this, we argue that this dimension of benefits indeed requires a longer period of time in order to observe to its outcomes or the benefits potentially bring about by an ERP system. In analyzing the impact of each factor in predicting enterprise system (ES) success, simple regression considering a single factor at a time is run. It is found that “quality” factor alone successfully explains 62.1% of the total variance in the sample; “net benefit” explains 50.6% of the total variance; and “information use” explains 7% of the total variance. Thus, in comparison, both “quality” and “net benefit” are salient dimensions in predicting ESS but not “information use”. This pretty much confirms the study by Sedera and Gable (2004). Based on these results, we can say that among the three factors, “quality” is the best predictor of ES success in this sample

An Exploratory Study of the Emergent Theory for Enterprise Resource Planning Upgrade Decision

This study finds that ERP upgrade decision is highly related to the type of incentives expected to be derived (or the type of business problems expected to be resolved by) from an ERP upgrade project. The incentives expected to be realized from an ERP upgrade appears to be a strong factor influencing ERP upgrade decision. Likewise, our empirical results here also suggest that the similarity between a firm and an ERP system business process has a strong impact on an ERP upgrade decision. However, symbols attached to an ERP system do not seem to be a strong differentiating- or salient-factor for an ERP upgrade decision. This is also the case for top management supports, which fail to prove to be a strong factor influencing ERP upgrade decision. However, we can argue that top management supports are necessary but not a sufficient factor to justify for an ERP upgrade

A Resource-Based Perspective on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Capabilities and Upgrade Decision

The complexities in making an enterprise resource planning (ERP) upgrade decision have been widely cited in the trade press. As a consequence, a significant percentage of ERP clients deferring the upgrade decision is resulted. Yet, to date we observe paucity of research with which to conceptualize and explain the important factors influencing ERP upgrade decision. This study attempts to explain the rationales behind the upgrade decision (regardless for short- or long-term) using the resource-based view (RBV). The hypotheses derived from the theoretical perspective are proposed and the research method is discussed

Examining An ERP Customization System: Implications To System Fit, Acceptance And Maintenance Costs

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a complete and complex information system that consists of firms’ business best practices. However, the business best practices provided by the supplier do not always suitable and/or sufficient for all organizations. Misfit happens when differences exist between what the ERP system can provide and what a company actually requires and expects from the system. This study examines an ERP add-on/bolt-on system of a medium-sized computer memory producer that has global business units around the world. This study aims to provide the implications of the customized system from the perspectives of (i) system fit, (ii) user acceptance, and (iii) subsequent maintenance and upgrade costs. We adopt the survey method to collect data on system fit (using the IS Balanced Scorecard and the well-established task-technology fit questions), user acceptance on the system (using the popular technology acceptance survey instrument), and conduct cost and benefit analysis of subsequent maintenance and upgrade costs on the add-on/bolt-on system. The results of the study show that from the overall organizational point of view the system fit, acceptance and performance of the add-on/bolt-on is only marginal. There are a lot of improvements for the add-on/bolt-on system. Although in developing the add-on system the case organization follows the best practices of obtain full support and involvement of top management, utilize reasonable work flow as a focus direction, provide tutorial and employee training to each level at different stages and conduct regular performance review and feedbacks, these are not sufficient. The empirical data indicates that IS personnel needs to understand more of the user’s business needs and monitors the users daily business operation before developing an add-on/bolt-on system for the ERP system so that the users will use the customized system to assist their daily job. Also, IS department need to provide more training to improve ease of use of the system and users’ attitude towards the add-on system and IS department. Based on cross-tabulation, we find that job title and the degree of automation/computerization in a module (or system) may affect the system users’ rating for system fit and user acceptance. From the cost-benefit analysis, the additional maintenance costs for the add-on do not necessarily cost more, when the opportunity costs of not having the custom system are taken into consideration. Instead, the benefits of having an idiosyncrasy system may actually bring a lot of benefits to the company

The Obstacles in Social Media Engagement: the Need for an Overarching Management Process

The use of social media for marketing has become a common practice across all industries. However, practitioners are struggling to manage related social media activities, in particular, fan engagement. To address this, case study research method, involving seven case companies from a retail group, was conducted to understand practitioners’ difficulties in managing their social media campaigns. This study finds that, besides ROI and fan engagement, the nature of an industry, lack of well-defined standard procedures and insufficient financial resources present the fundamental obstacles in brand page engagement management. Based on the best practices from the case companies and together with professional literature, this paper (1) proposes a basic social media management process to guide businesses to unify their social media fan engagement management and performance evaluations; and (2) integrates various social media marketing tools, readily available in the market, to assist in social media performance monitoring and data analysis

Factors Affecting the Business Performance of Firms Utilizing Social Media

A company can experience various benefits and effects on business performance from advertising on a social networking site, including an increase in its number of fans and advertisement views and/or an increase in sales and return on investment (ROI). While some companies find Facebook an effective platform for social networking advertisements, others deem it ineffective. These mixed results of the impact of social networking services on business performance, in addition to the fact that many companies are expected to be influenced by social media in this social economy due to its growth and popularity among consumers, have motivated this research in progress. This study aims to address and understand the reasons for such differing results on business performance and identify the factors affecting the outcomes of organizations’ social media projects. A multiple case study is adopted to meet these aims. First, a thorough review of literature and content analysis of several prior and publicly available case studies on firms that were either successful or unsuccessful with social media advertising are conducted. These steps are done to identify the underlying factors that contribute to the impact of social media on business performance. Next, the multiple case study method is adopted to identify and explain the behaviors of the contextual factors that cause differing impacts of social media on business performance. To understand the varying effects of social media on business performance, institutional theory, transaction costs theory and symbolic interactionism are applied in this study. The expected outcomes from this study include: (1) proposing a conceptual model of factors affecting the performance of businesses utilizing social media, and (2) producing a better understanding of the issues and factors impacting the performance of businesses utilizing social media

Best Practices in Managing Social Media for Business

The mixed results of social media impacting on businesses have motivated this research to understand the best practices affecting the brand equity of a company utilizing the social media in business. Literature review of relevant theories is conducted. The industry publications of companies doing well in social media are analyzed to distill the best practices implemented in their social media strategies. Multiple case studies are proposed to determine how these best practices explain the desired business outcome in brand equity. The social media strategy concepts, media richness theory and Hagel III and Armstrong’s framework of virtual member development are suggested in guiding our data collection, analysis and interpretation. This research in progress is expected to contribute to the existing knowledge by providing a prescriptive framework of best practices in utilizing Facebook social network, and integrating and extending existing theories to explain the use of social media for developing brand equity

Impact of Social Media Management Styles on Willingness to Be a Fan: A Transaction Cost Economics Perspective

This study investigates the impacts of different styles of social media management on user’s willingness to be a fan. Six companies’ brand-pages on a social media site are examined. Data are collected using survey and interview with a group of social media users. Qualitative data analyses are conducted based on 30 observation reports and 60 open-ended surveys, with follow-up interviews. Grounded on the theoretical lens of transaction cost economics, we find that companies successful in attracting more fans adopt the bilateral governance structure (with frequent updates and mixed asset specificity) in their social media transactions. They are relatively more dedicated and allocate more amounts of resources in their social media interactions. Practicing the right governance structure is demonstrated to be more preferable to the fans, able to attract more engagement and generate organic media in the long run. This is because it is helpful for creating positive perceptions of a brand-page, and fans find it useful in reducing their efforts in information searching and product procurement and social networking costs; and this in turn shows to positively impact one’s willingness to be a fan of the page, which can possibly create the opportunities to be a potential customer, leading to future purchases from the brand. This study also identifies the key concepts or sub-constructs of (user’s) willingness to be a fan of a brand-page in the context of social media. They are brand-page management style (dedicated, caring, responsive), contents (quality, usefulness, diversity) and product (uniqueness, variety, popularity). Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/pajais/vol11/iss2/2