Enterprise System Implementation Research Articles

How User Requirements Affect the Success of an Enterprise System Implementation Project?

The paper examines the collection, preparation, and improvement of user requirements for a complex ERP case study implementation in an international organisation. The study presents a case study of the ERP system implementation project. We address the user requirements and their quality with regard to the scope of the case study on the ERP implementation project and wider as an integral aspect of successful project management within an organisational context. In the discussion, we address and support the notions that: 1.) the choice of the type of solution and the software company; 2.) strong leadership and control from the investor side; 3.) the activities prior to the start of the ERP implementation project and a clearly defined scope at the time of contract conclusion; 4.) the quality of system requirements based on well-specified user requirements; and 5.) the alignment of the scope definition and user requirements within the organisation contribute to the success of the enterprise system implementation project.

How do technology-driven stressors influence workarounds? Moderating roles of support structures and trait resilience

Despite recognizing the prominent effects of enterprise system (ES) use on organizations and individuals, employees frequently resort to workarounds that run counter to the intention of ES implementation. Building upon the job demands-resources (JD-R) model, we expand the challenge-hindrance stressor framework to encompass technology-driven stressors (TDS) as distinct job demands influencing employees’ workarounds. Additionally, we regard support structures as job resources and trait resilience as personal resources and then examine how the interplay between resources and demands affects workarounds. Our research is underpinned by a comprehensive two-study design. Specifically, Study 1 entailed a longitudinal survey with data gathered from 326 users within a Chinese company. The results show that technology-driven challenge stressors decrease workarounds, whereas technology-driven hindrance stressors increase it. Moreover, job and personal resources play different roles in mitigating the impact of specific TDS on workarounds. In addition, Study 2 utilized qualitative interviews to validate and supplement the findings from the Study 1. This research contributes to both theoretical and practical implications in ES research by extending the JD-R model to explore the influence of various job demands and resources on workarounds.

We can work it out: A multilevel examination of relationships among group and individual technology workarounds, and performance

AbstractDespite the operational nature of enterprise system (ES) implementation and use, individual employees or work groups may deploy technology workarounds to circumvent inflexibility in or obstacles to using the ES. However, our understanding of the multilevel nature of technology workarounds and their performance implications remains limited. Drawing upon the multilevel theory of system usage and adaptive structuration theory, the current study examines the conditions under which group technology workarounds affect group performance, individual technology workarounds, and individual performance. Based on two studies with different research designs, we find that group technology workarounds have distinctive effects on short‐ and on long‐term group performance. Specifically, while the impact of group technology workarounds on group performance is significantly positive in the short term, such effect diminishes over time. System failure and competition intensity strengthen the positive effect of group technology workarounds on short‐term performance, whereas system failure and task nonroutineness lessen the negative effect of group technology workarounds on long‐term performance. Our study further confirms the multilevel nature of technology workarounds, finding that group technology workarounds can influence individual technology workarounds and thereby individual performance. Our results support the view that technology workarounds as a group action should be considered alongside individual technology workarounds, as well as their positive and negative effects on both group and individual performance, in both the short‐ and long‐term.

Enterprise system implementation and cash flow volatility

AbstractThis study investigates the financial and operational implications of enterprise systems (ESs) in corporate risk management. Using matched difference‐in‐differences analyses based on ES implementation events, we document a significant reduction in the volatility of operating cash flows following ES implementations. We further show that ES implementers have better post‐implementation operational efficiency than matched non‐ES firms and better manage sales, costs of sales, working capital, and operating expenses to reduce operating cash flow volatility. Consistent with the benefits of lower cash flow volatility documented in prior literature, we find ES implementers demonstrate higher investment efficiency, lower reliance on external financing, and higher debt capacity post‐ES‐implementation than the matched non‐ES firms. Our study sheds light on the economic benefits of utilizing ESs in corporate risk management and in so doing responds to the paucity of empirical research in this area.

Shared mental models in multi-team systems: improving enterprise system implementation

PurposeAn enterprise system (ES) implementation proceeds as a multi-team system (MTS), with multiple project teams spanning time and business functions to meet organization-wide goals. Thus, the focus shifts from the output of a single project team to the outcomes of all ES project teams as part of the larger MTS. This study extends concepts of shared mental models (SMMs) in aspects of goals and plans in both MTS level and project team level and further examines SMMs' interactive impact on the MTS-based project performance.Design/methodology/approachThis study tests the model with survey data from 140 MTS-based ES implementations in China. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS SEM) served to test the hypothesized relationships.FindingsSMMs of project team-level goals and plans contribute to the cooperation and coordination in the ES implementation and thereby improve final implementation efficiency either directly or in combination. However, SMMs of MTS-level goal and plans contribute integration only when considered with achievements at the project level.Originality/valuePrior literature suggests a critical role of integration among ES project teams but finds challenges in achieving such integration. By leveraging shared mental model theory, the authors' results show that both common goal and plan understandings in the integration team critically influence integration in ES implementation and, thus, the final ES implementation efficiency, though not in a strictly linear relationship.

Enterprise Systems in the Public Sector: Driving Forces and a Conceptual Framework

ABSTRACT This paper provides an understanding of the driving forces in enterprise systems (ES) implementation in the public sector. The data in this multi-case study were collected in semi-structured interviews of City Hall employees in Poland, representing diverse levels of experience and authority. Based on these data, we identify six key concepts in ES public sector implementations and propose a conceptual framework to serve as guidance for implementation projects and provide a foundation for further research.

Towards an agent-based model using a hybrid conceptual modelling approach: A case study of relationship conflict within large enterprise system implementations

ABSTRACT An often-overlooked activity within the design and development of computational models for socio-technical systems, is the development of a comprehensive conceptual model defining the scope of the model with respect to actors, technical resources, environment and abstraction level. With specific reference to modelling large IT and IS implementations, this incurs the added challenges of dealing with qualitative information relating to project scope and implementation processes, along with quantitative and qualitative information regarding the social network of the project resources and emergent behaviours that result from interactions between them. Our approach involves a Multi-Paradigm Hybrid Study to develop a Cross-Disciplinary Hybrid Model of relationship conflict within an enterprise system implementation. We identify that Soft Systems Methodology, Social Network Analysis, Unified Modelling Language are complementary approaches from Operational Research, Social Sciences and Software Engineering, that provide a powerful combination of techniques to develop hybrid conceptual models of complex socio-technical systems.

Impact of an Enterprise System Implementation on Job Outcomes: Challenging the Linearity Assumption

ABSTRACT Organizations usually have difficulty adjusting to technology-enabled changes. Recent research has examined the interaction between technology and the key job outcomes of employees. But this research stream has done so using a linear lens even though this interplay has been recognized to be dynamic and complex. We challenge here this linearity assumption. We theorized that enterprise system (ES) use influences post-implementation job scope, and the change from pre- to post-implementation job scope perceptions will have a complex effect on job outcomes that are best captured by a polynomial model. Drawing on the anchoring-and-adjustment perspective in decision-making research, our polynomial model highlights the dynamic nature of employee reactions to changes in job scope brought about by an ES implementation that cannot be captured by traditional linear models. We found support for our model using data collected in a longitudinal field study from 2,794 employees at a telecommunications firm over a period of 12 months. Our findings highlight the key role an ES implementation can have in changing the nature of jobs and how those changes can, in turn, drive job performance and job satisfaction. This research also extends classical job characteristics research by arguing for a more complex relationship between the scope and outcomes of technology-supported jobs.

Ambiguity and Knowledge Asymmetry in Knowledge-Intensive Projects— The Case of Enterprise System Implementations

Background: This research aimed to examine the interrelations between ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry in Enterprise System implementation projects and determine how ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry affect the management of such projects. Enterprise System projects are a subgroup of knowledge-intensive business service projects. Literature regarding knowledge-intensive business service firms acknowledges ambiguity and knowledge asymmetry between the supplier and the client as essential characteristics of their relationship. However, insufficient empirically grounded research has been made to date to determine the interrelations between the two phenomena and their impact on the project management of knowledge-intensive projects. Method: The research was based on a multiple case study method. Five cases of Enterprise System implementation projects were selected using literal replication until theoretical saturation was achieved. Data collection methods involved participant observation and analysis of documentation. Results: Knowledge asymmetry was identified as a factor significantly increasing ambiguity in the projects subject to this study. As the project parties had different knowledge bases, the information transmitted by the sending party could not be appropriately interpreted by the receiving party. Co-production, i.e., joint synchronous work of the client and the consultant, was the means to overcome knowledge asymmetry and ambiguity. The phenomenon of problem-solution entanglement was also observed: the proposed solutions impacted the definition of the problems and vice-versa, which led to a revision and revisiting of problems considered to be already solved. Conclusion: This research showed that knowledge asymmetry and resulting ambiguity had consequences for project definition, contracting, planning, and execution. Due to different knowledge bases, project parties could not interpret the information they received correctly. Therefore, synchronous work, resulting in an incremental reduction of knowledge asymmetry and ambiguity as well as constant reconciliation, revision and revisiting of problems and solutions, were necessary during the whole project life-cycle.

Do Enterprise Systems Necessarily Lead to Innovation? Identifying the Missing Links with A Moderated Mediation Model

Background: Despite widely implemented, enterprise systems remain an unsettled role in organizational innovation. This study purposes to address the effects of enterprise systems (ES) on firm innovation by adopting resource-based theory and capability building theory to focus on ES-enabled competence, rather than ES investment or implementation. ES-enabled competence is proposed to mediate the effect of ES integration on innovation performance. We further propose that continuous improvement moderates (1) the relationship between ES integration and ES-enabled competence, and (2) the relationship between ES-enabled competence and innovation performance. By examining these effects, we aim to discover how ES enables innovation at operational and strategic levels separately. Method: A survey method is conducted to explore the relationship between enterprise systems (ES) and innovation. Data are collected from manufacturing companies in 10 countries of three regions, i.e., Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the USA, and analyzed by using structural equation modeling technique. Results: We confirm the roles of enterprise systems as a resource and a capability and the effects of these roles on innovation—including the operational outcome, new product development performance, and the strategic one, innovation uniqueness. We demonstrate that continuous improvement moderates the mediation paths, namely “ES integration – ES-enabled competence – innovation performance”. The moderated mediation effect exists among continuous improvement, ES integration, ES-enabled competence, and innovation uniqueness. Conclusion: This study contributes to the ES and innovation research by uncovering the micro-foundation underlying ES-enabled innovation from a capability-based framework and elaborating the moderating role of continuous improvement in enhancing innovation.

Knowledge-Intensive Business Service Projects – Characteristics and Implications for Project Management – a Preliminary Study

This research examines the characteristics of knowledge-intensive business service projects based on two cases of Enterprise System implementations. The study results confirm that knowledge asymmetry, ambiguity, opaque quality and co-production are present in both cases. The results indicate knowledge asymmetry between the client and the consultant as the main implication, leading to ambiguity and opaque quality. Co-production is confirmed to reduce knowledge asymmetry, ambiguity and opaque quality.

Enterprise resource planning systems and implementation experiences for selected public Universities in Kenya

Implementation of enterprise systems has found widespread usage in large and mid-sized institutionsworldwide. As espoused by many scholars, there has been a rapid increase in implementation of thesesystems in management and administration of institutions of higher learning. In view of this, universitieshave taken up deployment of enterprise systems to replace existing management and administrationusing computer systems, but there is low uptake on the implementation of enterprise resource planningsystems. To realize this end, a study was carried out on evaluation of implemented integrated enterpriseresource planning systems in selected public universities in Kenya. The study sought to investigateimplementation of enterprise resource planning systems in public university, analysis of existingopportunities through use of these integrated information technology systems in management andchallenges to ease of use of these systems in administration and management of public universities havebeen reviewed and recommendations drawn on probable ways of utilizing the enterprise systems. Thestudy adopted the Diffusion of Innovations Theory and the Information Systems Success Model. Thefindings of the study showed that most of the implementation projects had been abandoned or stalledaltogether. Challenges associated with institutional connectivity and limited skilled expertise to drivethe implementation processes were highlighted as leading influencers of implementation processes inrespective public universities. The study recommends increased investments towards improvement ininstitutional connectivity, blending of internal and external skilled expertise to drive implementationinitiatives and regular contribution of implementation experiences in internal and external seminarsfor future studies and contribution to the body of knowledge.

Examining Post-Adoptive Change of Enterprise System Implementations: A Socio-Technical Perspective

The implementation of a new enterprise system is a major change event for end-users. Since organisations need to modify their processes and structures to align with the enterprise system, users must learn and understand the new system as well as engage with it in their work practices. Past research has largely focused on the initial organisational adoption of an enterprise system. However, there has been little research concerning the change process in the post-adoption stage. This research addresses this gap by drawing on the punctuated socio-technical information system change (PSIC) model to explain the change through critical events, gaps between socio-technical components, responses to gaps, and outcomes. The research question is: How do socio-technical changes unfold in an enterprise system implementation? The study employs a qualitative interpretive case study method. The results reveal that changes in the structure of work following enterprise system implementation affect organisational performance, the social system, and individual work practices. This research contributes to a better understanding of technical and social changes and their impacts in the post-adoption of enterprise system implementation. The findings may assist organisations in providing appropriate resources and support for successful enterprise system implementation.

The Influence of ES-CSF Profile Configurations and Human Capital on Organizational Performance

Abstract Critical Success Factors (CSF) for a successful enterprise system (ES) implementation have been widely studied at the level of individual firms. However, firms may (unintendedly) end up forming groups (clusters) whose members look alike in terms of the CSF that they emphasize during the ES implementation. The objective of this study is to identify such clusters, analyze the differences in organizational performance and ES benefits among them, and explore whether human capital amplifies the effects of the CSF-based cluster membership. Data were collected from a sample of 125 Mexican firms that have implemented ES. The data analysis indicates the presence of three distinct clusters that differ in organizational performance and ES benefits, with performance indicators being greater for high-human-capital-level firms across the clusters. The findings suggest that ES deployments are complex phenomena subject to institutional forces that shape the CSF configurations that firms emphasize. Different CSF configurations, in turn, determine whether firms profit (or not) from their ES investments.

How does an enterprise system implementation change interpersonal relationships in organizations

PurposeAlthough research has suggested that enterprise system (ES) implementations have major impacts on employee job characteristics and outcomes, there has been limited research that has examined the impacts of ES implementations on interpersonal relationships over time. Building on and extending recent studies that have examined changes in employee job characteristics and outcomes during an ES implementation, this research examined the nature, extent, determinants and outcomes of changes in an important interpersonal relationship construct—coworker exchange (CWX)—following an ES implementation. CWX is considered a critical aspect of employees' job and an important determinant of their success in the workplace. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), the authors theorize that employees will perceive a change in CWX following an ES implementation.Design/methodology/approachA longitudinal field study over a period of 6 months among 249 employees was conducted. Latent growth modeling was used to analyze the data.FindingsThe authors found that employees' work process characteristics, namely perceived process complexity, perceived process rigidity and perceived process radicalness, significantly explained change, i.e. decline in our case, in CWX during the shakedown phase of an ES implementation. The decreasing trajectory of change in CWX led to declining job performance and job satisfaction.Originality/valueThe role of CWX and its importance in the context of ES implementations is a key novel element of this work.

Goal Equivocality and Joint Account of Meaning Creation in an Enterprise System Program

ABSTRACT Enterprise systems (ES) integrate global goals for the organization and local goals for functional subunits. An organization must arrive at a goal set that directs ES implementation. Constructive controversy theory provides direction for methods that arrive at an integrated system solution when original goals may be equivocal. Data from 142 organizations confirm such approaches are effective. The results contribute to our understanding of how ES implementations face goal equivocality and derive a resolution process.

Deep Learning for Enterprise Systems Implementation Lifecycle Challenges: Research Directions

Transforming the state-of-the-art definition and anatomy of enterprise systems (ESs) seems to some academics and practitioners as an unavoidable destiny. Value depletion lead by early retirement and/or replacement of ESs solutions has been a constant throughout the past decade. That did drive an enormous amount of research that works on addressing the problems leading to the resource drain. The resource waste had persisted throughout the ESs implementation lifecycle phases and dimensions especially post-live phases; leading to depleting the value of the social and technical dimensions of the lifecycle. Parallel to this research stream, the momentum gained by deep learning (DL) algorithms and platforms has been exponentially growing to fuel the advancements toward artificial intelligence and automated augmentation. Correspondingly, this paper is set out to present five key research directions through which DL would take part as a contributor towards the transformation of the ESs state-of-the-art. The paper reviews the ESs implementation lifecycle challenges and the intersection with DL research conducted on ESs by analyzing and synthesizing key basket journals (list of the Association of Information Systems). The paper also presents results from several experiments showcasing the effectiveness of DL in adding a level of augmentation to ESs by analyzing a large set of data extracted from the Atlassian Jira Software Issue Tracking System across different ecosystems. The paper then concludes by presenting the research directions and discussing socio-technical research courses that work on key frontiers identified within this scholarly work.

Enterprise System Implementation and Employee Job Outcomes: Understanding the Role of Formal and Informal Support Structures Using the Job Strain Model

Understanding how support structures influence job outcomes in the context of enterprise system (ES) implementations is important if we are to advance the rate of success of such implementations. This paper examines how support structures—conceptualized as formal support structures (FSS) and informal support structures (ISS)—affect job outcomes in the shakedown phase of an ES implementation by drawing on the job strain model. Prior research on the job strain model suggests job characteristics (i.e., job control and job demand) and social support together affect job outcomes. A model of these effects on three post-implementation job outcomes (i.e., job stress, job satisfaction, and job performance) is developed. Data were obtained from 152 employees in a longitudinal field study at a large multinational firm. Results show that FSS do not have a direct influence on job outcomes, but interact with job demand to influence all three job outcomes. ISS have direct and interaction effects on all three employee job outcomes. The effect of FSS and ISS on employee job outcomes is mediated by job demand and job characteristics partially mediate the effect of ISS and FSS on employee job outcomes.

RETROSPECTIVE OF WEB TECHNOLOGIES EVOLUTION IN DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERPRISE INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The first mentions of enterprise information systems refer to the 1960s. These systems developed over time, becoming more complex and allowing to solve a wide range of problems. The 1990s mark the beginning of the active development of web technologies. Naturally, they found way into the development of enterprise information systems used for various purposes. The purpose of the study was to describe the main stages in the development of web technologies, from the appearance of the hypertext markup language to modern single-page web applications, as well as the impact they had on approaches to the development of enterprise information systems. The author meant to identify promising trends in web-based solutions that can be successfully used in the development of enterprise information systems. Materials and methods. The paper discusses modern web tech-no¬logies, their development from the dawn to the present day, as well as some tools recognized as obsolete, and the reasons why it is impossible to develop them further. Results. The paper gives the history of the emergence of various technologies, describes their impact on approaches to the im-plementation of enterprise systems, and a way to move from a desktop version of the system to an online one. Some predictions are made concerning the prospects of certain technological areas that have good chances to successfully develop in the future. The author assesses the growing complexity of web applica-tions, the way they merge with the server side development approaches and tools. The demand of software engineers who can develop both the server and client side of an application is rationalized.

The Evolving Nature of Information Systems Controls in Healthcare Organisations

Information Systems (IS) projects are found to be complex, unpredictable, and prone to time and cost overruns. Perhaps that is why organisations put a strong focus on IS controls during the planning and execution of such projects.IS control literature in the past has focussed on dyadic control relationships during an outsourced IS development project and relatively little is known about such controls during a complex enterprise systems project. Existing studies usually take a static view of IS controls and do not investigate how controls evolve during different phases of the system lifecycle, as well as across projects. This study presents a processual view of IS controls in the enterprise systems lifecycle in a national blood processing organisation. Traditional research in a blood banking context has focussed on optimising the process of blood collection, inventory management, and distribution with relatively limited attention to the implementation of the supporting information systems. This research focusses on the evolution of control based on a study of three enterprise system implementation projects in the case organisation. The study demonstrates that while all five control modes (input, outcome, behaviour, clan, and self-control) are applied across the phases of enterprise systems projects, the nature and extent of control mechanisms changes across the phases of the enterprise system lifecycle. The findings also suggest a teleological evolution of a project’s control portfolio in which the portfolio evolves based on adaptive learning processes from earlier projects. Finally, by exhibiting the influence of institutional and market context, this study also underlines the multi-stakeholder and contextual nature of enterprise systems implementation and associated controls in health service organisations.