Factors affecting ERP projects from a project management perspective: a literature review

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors affecting ERP projects and to classify them based on their project management knowledge areas. Previous studies were reviewed in order to identify the factors affecting ERP project performance. Next, the factors were categorised based on their project management knowledge areas. Finally, the knowledge areas were ranked according to their occurrence in literature. The results showed that, the four knowledge areas that affect ERP project performance the most are communication, human resource, time management and risk management. Understanding the factors that affect ERP projects has been a subject of considerable interest to many academics. Despite the many studies providing clear evidence on factors affecting ERP projects, vast majority of the literature has tended to approach the topic in a general manner while ignoring the issue of categorisation of such factors. In this paper, we seek close such gap.