تفسیر یک پروژه پیاده سازی برنامه ریزی منابع سازمانی (ERP) از دیدگاه ذینفعان

ERP-systems are software packages that enable the integration of transactions oriented data and business processes throughout an organisation. ERP-implementation projects can be viewed as processes of organisational change: many problems related to ERP-implementation are related to a misfit of the system with the characteristics of the organisation. This article uses the evidence of a case study to uncover some important dimensions of the organisational change issues related to ERP-projects. The study shows how ERP-implementation can impact the interests of stakeholders of the ERP-system and how these groups may react by influencing the course of events, for example by altering the design and implementation in ways that are more consistent with their interests. Understanding the possible impact of ERP on particular interests of stakeholders may help project managers and others to manage ERP-implementations more effectively.

ERP-systems are commercial software packages that enable the integration of transactions oriented data and business processes throughout an organisation [1]. From a base in manufacturing and financial systems, ERP-systems may eventually allow for integration of inter-organisational supply chains [2] and [3]. Because these systems affect so many aspects of a company’s internal and external operations, their successful deployment and use are critical to organisational performance and survival. In the case of ERP successful implementation is urgent, since the costs and risks of these technology investments rival their potential pay-offs. Failures of ERP-system implementation projects may lead to bankruptcy [3], [4], [5] and [6]. A study of 100 projects by Sirkin and Dikel [32] found that their sponsors considered them successful in only one-third of the cases and that tangible financial impact was achieved in only 37% of cases. A study of Markus et al. [2] shows that many problems related to ERP-implementation are related to a misfit of the system with the characteristics of the organisation. This is consistent with the finding of Davenport [4], who argues that ERP ‘tends to impose its own logic on a company’s strategy, culture, and organisation’ which may or may not fit with the existing organisational arrangements. This means that ERP-project can be viewed as an organisational change project, rather than as the replacement of a piece of technology. This article aims to uncover some important dimensions of the organisational change issues around ERP-implementation projects by focusing on how ERP-implementation can impact the interests of stakeholders around the ERP-system and how these groups may react by trying to influence the course of events and to alter the design in ways that are more consistent with their interests. Understanding the possible impact of ERP on particular interests of stakeholders may help project managers and others to manage ERP-implementations more effectively [7]. The paper draws mainly on a two-year study of an organisation that tried to implement an ERP-system in three of its business units.

The case history clearly illustrates that different stakeholders can interpret ERP-systems in different ways, given their own histories, interests, self-images, prospects and views. Some groups perceive the system as a means to realise certain new company wide objectives, while others see the system as a way to regain lost power or as a threat to legitimate local interests. The case study shows how these different interpretations may easily lead to differences about priorities and ways of implementation. These differences are not all clear at the start and are not all expressed and discussed during formal meetings. They are more latent and develop and change over time. The technology is shaped and socially constructed during the process, given all these different perceptions and positions [15]. Finally, some form of closure is achieved in the sense that, for the time being, stakeholders agree on some form of implementation, given the interplay of main stakeholders over time. This closure is not the best solution from the perspective of one the stakeholders, but much more a form of agreement, given the current positions of the main players. ERP-systems are build according certain business models, with an own logic of businesses should operate. They are based on the assumption of integration, control, generic processes and centralisation. This paradigm can fit or misfit with an organisations or with organisational units which may lead to either organisational validity (fit) or organisational invalidity (misfit). Invalidities may lead to a range of problems in the field of business strategy, business processes, people, culture and so forth.