اتخاذ سیستم های برنامه ریزی منابع سازمانی (ERP) : مطالعه اکتشافی عوامل سازمانی و اثرات موفقیت ERP

We examined the relationships between the success of ERP system adoption, extent of business process improvement (BPI), and organizational performance and investigated the associations between the outcomes of these initiatives and such organizational factors as strategic intent, senior management support, and the status of the IT function within a company. A correlation analysis of 96 firms was made to test our hypothesis that the strategic intent to use ERP was closely related to the success of BPI, ERP, and organizational performance. The results also demonstrated that CEO-IT distance may have little direct bearing on the outcomes of ERP and BPI initiatives. A closer CEO-IT reporting relationship, however, was found to be associated with higher levels of senior management support for both types of enterprise projects. This empirical evidence reinforced the long-held assumption that organization-level benefits, BPI, and ERP success were closely related; and that these relationships were subject to the influence of the organizational variables.

Enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems allow seamless integration of information flows [6] and business processes [30] across functional areas within a company. They support information sharing along a company value chain and help to achieve operating efficiency. ERP packages offer a workflow engine to generate automated workflows according to business rules and approval matrices so that information and documents can be routed to operational users for transaction handling, and to managers and directors for review and approval [23]. Although ERP systems have been recognized as useful to many businesses while touted by vendors and consultants as systems that incorporate good business practice, ERP systems have often been found to fail to be effective [45]. One of the widely discussed issues is the need for an ERP-process fit involving some need for business and process changes. The relationship between business process change and successful ERP adoption is symbiotic: the benefit of ERP adoption often results in business change [31]. However, its outcomes are likely to be influenced by the organizational and cultural antecedents that facilitate or inhibit effective management of organizational changes [2], [25] and [40]. The literature insists that it is necessary for the CEO and senior leaders to encourage the adoption of the technology and change [44]. Consequently, we decided to concentrate in this study on factors at the strategic management level: strategic intent to adopt ERP, the status of the IT leader, and management support of IT and business process improvement (BPI) initiatives. While the critical success factors for the implementation and use of ERP systems and their effects on organizational performance have been discussed and analysed, there have been many inconsistent and inconclusive findings [46]. We decided that it would be useful to search for empirical evidence to support the claims. Therefore, the primary objectives of this study were to explore the relationships among the extent of BPI, ERP success, and organizational performance; and also the possible impacts of the organizational variables on these constructs.

This study confirmed relationships that exist among ERP success, BPI and organization performance, and gathered some empirical evidence on the effect of organizational variables, such as the relationships between senior management support and the extent of business process improvement, and between CEO-IT distance and senior management support for IT initiatives. It also demonstrated that system-level and organizational outcomes were subject to the influence of the firm's strategic intent and objectives when adopting ERP systems. In summary, it contributed to research by producing empirical support for long-espoused theories and principles. The findings imply that adopters of ERP must devote sufficient attention and effort in the planning, deployment, and management of ERP systems.