The Social Construction Of Systems Applications Products (SAP) R/3 By Employees Of A South African Chemical Industries Company

Arnold Beyleveld,Willem Schurink

doi:10.4102/sajhrm.v3i1.59

Abstract

Many companies that have implemented an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system do not reap the intended benefits of the potential inherent in these systems despite their exorbitant implementation cost. The reasons for this are numerous. This study is aimed at understanding the social impact a Systems Applications Products (SAP) R/3 implementation had on the end users of a South African Company in the Chemical Industry. A qualitative process evaluation study was undertaken to obtain a clearer understanding of the underlying organisational cultural factors that emerged from such an implementation. The objective was to provide a framework for companies considering such an implementation to ensure better system productivity and to assist companies already using an ERP solution with continuous improvement.

Highlights

Background to Information Technologies and BusinessInformation Technology (IT) has been a powerful force in the far-reaching changes that have taken place in the way people accomplish their work in the 21st century
The issue of returns on vast IT expenditure received attention by Taylor (1995) who states that modern organizations are critically dependent on IT for their daily operations and that it is crucial when designing information system solutions that business engineering efforts are focused on improving business process as well as productivity
The data represented (i) views and experiences solicited from end users interviewed, (ii) statements and descriptions found in human documents both unsolicited and solicited ones

Summary

Introduction

Background to Information Technologies and BusinessInformation Technology (IT) has been a powerful force in the far-reaching changes that have taken place in the way people accomplish their work in the 21st century. The issue of returns on vast IT expenditure received attention by Taylor (1995) who states that modern organizations are critically dependent on IT for their daily operations and that it is crucial when designing information system solutions that business engineering efforts are focused on improving business process as well as productivity. He comments that while American companies spent in excess of a trillion dollars on information technology during the 1980’s their overall office productivity increased by only one percentage point. He concludes: “Given the obvious advantages of automating routine business processes, there is clearly something wrong with this picture" (Taylor, 1995, p. 188)

Objectives

Methods

Results