روشی برای تجزیه و تحلیل غیر متجانس برنامه ریزی منابع سازمانی (ERP)

Commercial off-the-shelf ERP systems have been adopted by many large companies to support their inter- and intra-business processes. Midsize market firms are now also investing their use. However, research has indicated that about three quarters of attempted ERP projects are unsuccessful: a common problem encountered in adopting ERP software has been the issue of fit or alignment. This paper presents an ERP selection methodology, grounded in task-technology fits theory, for measuring, at a high-level, the misfit between ERP candidates and the enterprise's requirements ex-ante implementation. With this approach, organizations can more easily and systematically determine the locations of possible misfit and their degree of importance, thereby understanding the risk in their implementing an ERP. Our research thus contributes practical solutions to the problem of misfit analysis and ERP package selection.

Today, companies are seeking competitive advantages through the use of COTS systems, such as ERP, rather than building systems in-house in an attempt to reduce operating costs, increase productivity, and improve customer services [26] and [46]. According to Gartner research, new license revenue for ERP will reach a compound annual growth rate of 6.3% by 2009 [7]. An ERP package is a large COTS configurable system that integrates several business functions. A typical ERP package may combine inventory data with financial, sales and human resource data, allowing organizations to price products, produce financial statements, and manage human, material and financial resources [27] and [43]. ERP software costs millions of dollars, several times as much to implement, and often requires disruptive organizational changes to implement [39] and [48]. ERP system implementation is complex, involving technology innovation and change management and it has been estimated that about three quarters are unsuccessful [16] and [30]. A common problem results from misfits: the gaps between the functions offered by ERP and the adopting organization's requirements [15], [22] and [31]. The misfit types can be clustered into four categories: goal, functional, data and output. Better understanding of these provides insight into ERP selection decisions and thus reduces the risk of project failure [17]. While few authors have investigated the nature of ERP misalignment [40] and [47], there are even fewer that have provided empirically grounded heuristics and insights into ERP selection. Therefore, the aim of our research was to present an ERP selection methodology that addressed goal, functional, data, and output misfits for use in an organizational environment. The validity and value of the proposed method were demonstrated using a case study.

The paper has presented an approach for identifying goal (enterprise level), functional (scenario level), data, and output misfits (activity level) in ERP selection. A case study has also been implemented to demonstrate the feasibility of the method. Although selecting an ERP is complex, our approach helps in selecting a suitable ERP system and shows advantages. The contribution of the paper is threefold. First, it provides a systematic method that reduces the difficulty and complexity in identifying goals, functional, data, and output misfits. It integrates several concepts and models into the process to facilitate misfit identification. Second, the method with modeling tools (e.g., UML, drawing) provides a conceptual link between the enterprise requirement and subsequence system design and allows a form's IT professionals and users and its consultants discuss on the requirement at different levels of details. This also provides a way to its convenient use with an output that can be reused in the subsequent implementation phase.