Drivers and effects of post-implementation learning on ERP usage

Many organizations adopting enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are failing to achieve their anticipated business goals, the major reason being system under-utilization. It is imperative to understand the way users learn to use ERP systems effectively. This is especially important given the integrated and complex nature of the ERP system, which forces users to continually learn new skills after implementation. This study aims to explore the role played by post-implementation learning in ERP usage. Moreover, we identify social capital and post-training self-efficacy as antecedents to post-implementation learning. A survey method was employed to collect data from 659 ERP users. This study finds that post-implementation learning contributes to ERP usage, and that social capital and post-training self-efficacy are important antecedents to post-implementation learning. Our findings provide academics and practitioners with an understanding of how post-implementation learning can be manipulated to improve ERP usage.     

Factors affecting the performance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in the post-implementation stage

Despite the widespread adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, many companies struggle to achieve the expected benefits from ERP. It has been especially observed that many companies fail to gain significant benefits from ERP in the post-implementation stage, regardless of their initial implementation success. This paper focuses on this post-implementation stage and empirically studies the factors that influence the performance of ERP in this stage. Through the review of related literature and a pilot study of Korean firms, the following six were identified as the influential factors: top management support, competency of an internal ERP team, user training, inter-department collaboration and communication, continuous process improvement and continuous systems integration/extension. The factors were used to build a comprehensive model that aims to explain how to successfully use ERP in the post-implementation stage. The model was tested with the data collected by questionnaires given to Korean companies using the partial least-square method. The results show that continuous improvement efforts and on-going organisational support have positive influence on the performance of ERP in the post-implementation stage.     

The effects of enterprise resource planning implementation strategy on cross-functionality

Abstract.  Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are characterized by specific features such as the scope of the ERP modules, interdependent relationships, single database and standard management and processing rules, all of which are capable of causing various degrees of change within the company and, potentially, encourage a more cross-functional overview of it. This paper develops a theoretical distinction between cross-functional integration and cross-functionality as it raises people's awareness of the transverse and coupled nature of work process across different organizational units. It aims to test and discuss the impact of ERP implementation strategy (organizational vision, process re-engineering, the scope of the ERP modules implemented and speed) on cross-functionality. The methodology is basically based on a survey of 100 French companies, of which the results are further discussed in five case studies. The results show that all previously mentioned factors play significant roles. These roles should be addressed in future research.     

Competitive advantage of enterprise resource planning vendors in Iran

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has become one of the competitive advantages for companies around the globe and the dynamic force driving the process of global integration through information. Governmental organizations are increasing their adoption of these systems for various benefits such as integrated real-time information, better administration, and result-based management. Reaching the standard level of being a global company, organizations are concerned about this application and invest in this project for many years and, as a result, help the company reduce the cost and increase the efficiency and effectiveness. Iranian organizations, along with multi-national companies, attempt to be a good player in the flow of this change. The primary purpose of this study is to investigate and determine the competitive environment of ERP vendors implementing their product in Iranian context. The authors investigated the activities of both international and local ERP vendors established in the country and analyzed them by their advantages and potentials.     

Knowledge sharing and ERP system usage in post-implementation stage

Many organizations have adopted enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in recent years to integrate information and information-based processes within and across functional areas. Because of the under-utilization of ERP systems, most of these organizations are disappointed in reaching the anticipated business goals. It is imperative to explore how to facilitate the usage of ERP systems for organizations. This study aims to develop an understanding of the effect of knowledge sharing on ERP system usage and the factors affecting employees’ knowledge sharing after the initial implementation of an ERP system. Selected social oriented theories were employed to develop our conceptual model. By means of a survey of 804 ERP users from 53 Taiwan companies, we confirmed our research model to some extent and found that social capital, intrinsic motivation, and self-efficacy all have significant impacts on knowledge sharing. However, contrary to common belief, we found a negative, though insignificant, effect of extrinsic motivation on knowledge sharing. The implications for research, practice, and future research directions are discussed herein.     

An empirical investigation of six levels of enterprise resource planning integration

The purpose of this research is to propose a six-level ERP integration model and to empirically investigate if each of the six levels exists. The six levels are system-specification, system–user, islands-of-technology, organizational, socio-organizational, and global integration. Empirical data were collected by using a large-scale survey of ERP professionals. We conducted various validity and reliability tests to confirm the proposed theoretical framework. Using partial least squares (PLSs) analysis, the results of the investigation confirmed the existence of the six levels of ERP integration. The results of the investigation have implications for research and practice.     

基于企业资源管理的物料供应链管理

为有效解决目前企业中物料供应存在的计划周期长、收货速度慢、准确性差等问题，对企业资源管理（Enterprise Resource Planning，ERP）进行介绍，基于一个ERP项目——企业-供应商关系管理（Electronic-Supplier Relationship Management，e-SRM）描述物料供应链管理系统解决方案的设计思想、整体采构、业务流程、关键技术和系统特点等，可解决供需双方信息沟通不畅和物料供应困难等问题。     

A fuzzy model to evaluate the suitability of installing an enterprise resource planning system

The use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) as a foundation for the integration of the complete range of business processes and functions, is clearly useful and economically profitable in most very large organizations which manage a great deal of data in their information systems. However, the decision of installing an ERP system in all the companies is not always so clear, it will depend on the size, future profits and other features of the company. Therefore, different parameters (features, aspects) will be evaluated to make a decision about the suitability of the ERP system. These parameters might have different nature or the knowledge about them could be vague or imprecise. Thus, this implies that it would be suitable that the evaluation process can manage heterogeneous information. In this paper we shall present a fuzzy evaluation model to evaluate the suitability of an ERP system based on a multi-expert decision-making (ME-DM) process that is able to deal with heterogeneous information.     

Using Fuzzy Analytic Network Process to assess the risks in enterprise resource planning system implementation

The aim of this paper was to evaluate the risk level for both intra-organizational cultures and for different industries in implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This study adopts the Fuzzy Analytic Network Process (FANP) method to assess ERP implementation risks, which were categorized into four dimensions: management and execution, software system, users, and technology planning. An empirical survey was conducted that utilized the collected survey data of 20 ERP experts in Taiwan to assess, rank, and improve the critical risks of ERP implementation via the FANP method. Based on the results of the FANP method, a follow-up survey of ERP end-users in different departments of three industries was conducted to assess how intra-organizational cultures and cross-industries affect users’ perceived risks a real world scenario. Our research results demonstrated that “lack of management support and assistance” is vital risk for a successful ERP implementation. Top management support and involvement are crucial and essential factors to the success of a firm's ERP implementation. “Ineffective communication with users” was found to be the second highest risk factor. The benefits of using the FANP method for evaluating the risk factors come from the clear priority weights between alternatives. Finally, this study provides suggestions to help enterprises decrease ERP risks, and enhance the chances of success of ERP implementations among intra-organizational cultures and across-industries.     

Blog learning: effects of users' usefulness and efficiency towards continuance intention

Web-based learning is ubiquitous. The blog is a learning channel where learners acquire useful knowledge, to use in specific situations or in dealing with issues. These benefits may stimulate learning motivation for learners. Whether each blog learner can effectively enhance continuance learning intentions is a valuable research issue. Hence, this study proposes an extended expectation–confirmation model (ECM) that explicitly incorporates experiential learning, perceived self-efficacy, and perceived usefulness to examine blog continuance learning behavioural intentions. A survey of 318 bloggers provides strong support for the extended model. Results of the study show that these variables have a strong effect on satisfaction. This study demonstrates the blog as a good learning platform, and provides implications and recommendations resulting from the study.     

The process of enterprise resource planning implementation and business process re-engineering: tales from two Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises

Abstract.  Using an innovative process model, we describe and analyse the process of introducing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in two Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises and especially their decisions concerning business process re-engineering. First we compared the results from our cases with Martinsons' earlier work (2004). One case seemed to fit most of the characteristics of a private venture (PV) whereas the other case, also a PV, had a very low degree of fit. We used the process model to offer further insights and features such as its predictive power. Second, and as predicted, we also observed the differential role of top management support in the two Chinese companies. But thirdly, and somewhat surprisingly, we found that cultural issues were only of limited importance. Finally, the ability of the project team to deal with unexpected events was seen as critical in ensuring the stability of a project. In contrast, project drift is shown to lead to a degree of chaos. We offer some suggestions as to how stakeholders can improve their chances of implementing ERP systems more successfully.     

企业合作创新学习效果的计算机仿真研究*

提出了一个企业合作创新的三因素学习效果影响模型,用数值仿真的方法研究了创新任务特征、创新知识特征和创新环境特征对学习效果的影响,得出了企业的专业化程度与创新任务的可分解性特征负相关、与创新知识的替代特性正相关,且创新环境的不确定特征会加剧企业的专业化程度等相关结论。     

Exploring sustained participation in firm-hosted communities in China: the effects of social capital and active degree

Firm-hosted online communities are user-centred, and their efficacy depends on the users’ sustained participation. This study investigated the impact of social capital on users’ continued usage intention. Specifically, since very little work has been done to explore the antecedents of social capital, we tested the role of operator-related and individual-related factors in cultivating social capital by proposing an integrated research model to fill this gap. Furthermore, to gain deeper insights into continuance intention, we postulate that active degree moderates the relationship between social capital and users’ continued usage intention. Our model is empirically examined using survey data collected from 373 members of a well-known firm-hosted online community in China. The results reveal that the firm’s reaction, offline activities, interaction support, seeking reputation and perceived enjoyment are the significant antecedents of social capital. Additionally, social tie and shared vision exert a stronger effect on continued usage intention for active users, whereas identification has a higher influence on continued usage intention for inactive users. Finally, this study discusses the theoretical and practical implications of these findings and provides possible directions for future research.     

The effect of computer self-efficacy on enterprise resource planning usage

Global competition has impelled numerous organisations to employ enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, although quite frequently without success. Studies have demonstrated that a major factor for failure is employee resistance in organisations using these systems. Exactly the factors that facilitate ERP adoption among users have seldom been identified. This study examines the usage behaviour of a sample of users of the new technology of ERP system using a technology acceptance model (TAM). Furthermore, this paper incorporates an additional behavioural construct, computer self-efficacy (CSE), to improve the predictive value of the original TAM model, named revised TAM. Additionally, the structural equation model (SEM) is used to verify the causal relationships between variables. Analytical results confirm that not only is the TAM appropriate for explaining the use of ERP, but that incorporating CSE enhances the power of the model.     

The effect of computer self-efficacy on enterprise resource planning usage

Global competition has impelled numerous organisations to employ enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, although quite frequently without success. Studies have demonstrated that a major factor for failure is employee resistance in organisations using these systems. Exactly the factors that facilitate ERP adoption among users have seldom been identified. This study examines the usage behaviour of a sample of users of the new technology of ERP system using a technology acceptance model (TAM). Furthermore, this paper incorporates an additional behavioural construct, computer self-efficacy (CSE), to improve the predictive value of the original TAM model, named revised TAM. Additionally, the structural equation model (SEM) is used to verify the causal relationships between variables. Analytical results confirm that not only is the TAM appropriate for explaining the use of ERP, but that incorporating CSE enhances the power of the model.     

Behavioral aspects of enterprise systems adoption: An empirical study on cultural factors

Recently, behavioral aspects of enterprise systems have been called to investigate further in the information systems (IS) community. The purpose of this paper is to apply individual-level measurement of cultural orientation, such as power distance and uncertainty avoidance, to the recent findings of computer self-efficacy and ERP adoption belief, such as perceived ease of use, based on the survey of 101 ERP system experts. An online survey methodology is used to gather data from the various industrial fields. The research model is constructed based on the findings of the previous studies in IS, management, and cultural psychology. The results indicate that low power distance and high uncertainty avoidance cultural orientation influence general CSE. In addition, uncertainty avoidance positively influences ease of use of ERP systems. As expected, general CSE positively influences ease of use of ERP systems. Training and managerial interventions through communication to improve these cultural orientations would be effective for the successful ERP systems project. The findings of this research would be helpful to the project managers, IS researchers, and ERP practitioners who want to understand the behavioral aspects of ERP systems adoption in the organization.     

多智能体柔性企业资源计划系统模型的研究

针对传统企业资源计划（ERP）系统在处理复杂的、动态的、不确定的企业资源计划等工作时,缺乏足够的自适应性,智能性,灵活性处理能力,采用多智能体技术,将ERP系统中的各种功能及软件模块分解转换为智能体,提出和构造了一个具有高可塑性和高自主性的多智能体柔性企业资源计划系统的模型和软件体系结构,并对模型进行了讨论。     

The implementation of enterprise resource planning packages in different organisational and national cultures

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages provide generic off-the-shelf business and software solutions to customers. However, these packages are implemented in companies with different organisational and national cultures, and there is growing evidence that failure to adapt ERP packages to fit these cultures leads to projects that are expensive and late. This paper describes research that synthesises social science theories of culture to handle the impact of culture on ERP package implementation more efficiently. It describes a knowledge meta-schema for modelling the surface and the deeper manifestations of culture. It reports an empirical study into the implementation of SAP R/3's sales and distribution (SD) module in a large pharmaceuticals organisation in Scandinavia and the UK. Results provide evidence for an association between organisational culture and ERP implementation problems but no direct evidence for an association between national culture and implementation problems. Furthermore, results demonstrate that these diverse implementation problems can be caused by a mismatch between a small set of core values indicative of a customer's organisational culture. At the end of the paper, our predictions are reviewed, conclusions are made about them and about the work of the key authors of national and organisational culture, and future work is discussed.     

Impact of visualization type and contextual factors on performance with enterprise resource planning systems

We studied the use of two types of graphic information visualization to support human operators performing tasks using enterprise resource planning systems (ERP). We compared the original display design of a commercial ERP system with a prototype information visualization design. A simulated supply chain was used to test the hypothesis that graphical visualization can improve the performance of the human operator using ERP systems for supply chain management. Tasks from the production and purchasing domains were tested in the experiment in which experienced and inexperienced human operators had to perform tasks of an easy, moderate, and difficult nature. Analysis of the results revealed that the two types of graphical visualization significantly reduced response time, particularly with inexperienced users performing difficult tasks. Our results imply that some graphic information visualization displays for ERP systems can increase the probability of a successful implementation and enhance the capabilities of the human operators.