REDEFINITION OF “SUCCESS” WHEN IMPLEMENTING INFORMATION SYSTEMS – FOCUS ON ERP SYSTEMS IN KOSOVO

Abstract

We live in the Information Age, where traditional industry is rapidly shifting to an economy based on Information Technology, known also as Digital Revolution. Said that, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are the best example of a technology which has become a necessity and a must for every organization which aims growth, be that a small, medium or large enterprise. Both, the theory and practice, intensively promote that implementing an ERP system will bring the organization to the skies, which indeed is true, but only if the ERP implementation is successful. A partially implemented or failed ERP implementation can only bring debts and headaches. For more, this technology is not cheap, so before spending thousands and millions it is very important to clarify few concepts. Especially because, nonetheless high diffusion, the successful implementation rate of ERP systems is low and many firms do not achieve intended goals [1].The main objective of this paper is to assess and evaluate successfulness concept of ERP implementations aiming to identify a specific and concrete definition on ERP Success. Case Study Methodology was distinguished as most appropriate for complex and real-life projects investigation, and Mixed methods approach was selected in order to enrich the research from both perspectives, quantitative and qualitative. To ensure the triangulation data was retrieved from different evidence sources like interviews, author’s audit trail as the direct observer and action/intervention activities, and different documents and archival records. To construct credibility of the analysis in this research, the Author had a prolonged engagement with participants since the very first project initiation activities, and even after the Go-live phase when the project was accomplished and the Final Acceptance was issued by the client. To give it a final touch for the Analysis Credibility, we study the negative case. Furthermore, the Reliability and Conformability were constructed by careful examination of the detailed audit trail constructed by the author as active observer in this research.The results from the secondary research, the systematic literature review, show that none of the carefully examined researches on key success factors for ERP implementations has ever provided any kind of definition on what the success indeed means. Indirectly they tend to weight the ERP success in terms of time and cost, and sometimes also in terms of the goals achieved, but without explicitly explaining the measure for evaluation at any moment. On the other hand, the results from the primary research, case studies, dement the big trio: 1. Time, 2. Cost and 3. Objectives as the only or main evaluation factors of success. Successful project management doesn’t necessarily mean successful project, and the notion of success goes beyond all that when ERP implementations are in question. Projects may finish on time and within budget, but if the implemented ERP system is not used to its 100% for what it was aimed, then there is no success to celebrate. Furthermore, what a successful project is to the Project Manager is not necessarily also to the Business Manager. The secondary research results helped in developing two hypothesis, which were then tested through the primary, case study research. The results from the primary research dement the hypothesis 1, that says that If the ERP implementation project is finished on time, within budget and fulfils all its objectives, the project can be considered as successfully completed. An ERP implementation project success goes far beyond this definition. On the other hand the hypothesis 2 reveals to be true, what a successful project is to a project manager, is not to the business manager. The project success needs to be defined while considering all the involved parties or stakeholders.