A structural equation model for analyzing the impact of ERP on SCM

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) and supply chain management (SCM) represent important information technology investment options for operation or IT managers, and have been acclaimed in the practitioner and academic literature for their potential to improve business performance. The purpose of this article is to provide further insights into the adoption of ERP systems and the impacts on firm competence in SCM. We propose a model featuring ERP benefits to firm competences in supply chain management. We also hypothesize that three constructs of ERP benefits positively impact firm competences in SCM. To clarify the relationships among these constructs, structural equation model (SEM) is conducted to examine the model fit and nine hypotheses. The SEM results clearly demonstrate that there exist close interrelations among the benefits of implementing ERP systems and firm competences in SCM. The data from Taiwanese IT firms was collected through interviewing of experts and surveys. The results provide empirical evidence that the beneficial impacts of ERP on the supply chain do lead to better overall SCM competence. That evidence confirms that operational benefits, business process and management benefits, and strategic IT planning benefits of ERP in turn enhance firm competences of SCM in operational process integration, customer and relationship integration, and planning and control process integration.     

The Use of an ERP System to Facilitate Regulatory Compliance

This article reports the findings of a case study conducted in a multinational organization that aims to investigate how an enterprise resource planning system (ERP) can facilitate control over reporting processes and thus ensure compliance with regulatory requirements. The findings demonstrate how the use of an ERP to comply with financial regulation can impact organizational roles. In particular, IT managers must ensure that the ERP addresses regulatory requirements for internal control over financial reporting.     

ERP的实践和几点体会

本文叙述了企业建立ERP过程中取得的一些实践经验,如树立一把手原则、建立一个有力的总体部,协调IT人员与专业人员共同工作,强化各阶段的人员培训工作。建立ERP是一个大的系统工程,必须从思想认知到业务建设作为一个完整的系统,需要"统一规划,统一设计,统一标准,分期分批实施。"要根据企业的实际确定目标,在实践中很重要的一点是选择好合作伙伴。ERP建立后,还有一个完善和发展过程,它决不会仃滞,并将与其它信息系统更好地结合,逐渐构成或加入私有云(大企业)或其它云中。     

Internal control framework for a compliant ERP system

After the occurrence of numerous worldwide financial scandals, the importance of related issues such as internal control and information security has greatly increased. This study develops an internal control framework that can be applied within an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. A literature review is first conducted to examine the necessary forms of internal control in information technology (IT) systems. The control criteria for the establishment of the internal control framework are then constructed. A case study is conducted to verify the feasibility of the established framework. This study proposes a 12-dimensional framework with 37 control items aimed at helping auditors perform effective audits by inspecting essential internal control points in ERP systems. The proposed framework allows companies to enhance IT audit efficiency and mitigates control risk. Moreover, companies that refer to this framework and consider the limitations of their own IT management can establish a more robust IT management mechanism.     

The critical success factors for ERP implementation: an organizational fit perspective

Since early 1990s, many firms around the world have shifted their information technology (IT) strategy from developing information systems in-house to purchasing application software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. IT managers responsible for managing their organization’s ERP implementation view their ERP systems as their organizations’ most strategic computing platform. However, despite such strategic importance, ERP projects report an unusually high failure rate, sometimes jeopardizing the core operations of the implementing organization. This study explores the root of such high failure rate from an “organizational fit of ERP” perspective. Based on the relevant literature, we define the concept of organizational fit of ERP and examine its impact on ERP implementation, together with ERP implementation contingencies. The results from our field survey of 34 organizations show that ERP implementation success significantly depends on the organizational fit of ERP and certain implementation contingencies.     

The role of goal awareness and information technology self-efficacy on job satisfaction of healthcare system users

This paper investigates the influence of goal awareness and IT self-efficacy on job satisfaction based on the motivation sequence model, goal-setting theory, and social cognitive theory. Using a large-scale field survey of healthcare enterprise resource planning (ERP) system users (n?=?352), this study investigates these relationships and provides important insight to healthcare ERP system researchers and managers. Both goal awareness and IT self-efficacy influence positive job satisfaction of healthcare ERP system users, as expected. Furthermore, the influence of goal awareness is stronger when the role of ERP systems is highly perceived for decision-making of the job. There was no interaction effect between goal awareness and IT self-efficacy in the post hoc analysis. The model is significantly supported by the empirical test with the large number of field data from healthcare ERP system users in the healthcare company. Practical and academic implications are discussed in the paper.     

A roadmap of financial measures for IT project ROI

Organizations have spent billions of dollars in implementing and subsequently repairing, removing, or altering enterprise-wide IT systems for managing finances, customer relationships, human resources, manufacturing resources, and supply chains. Of all IT systems, those for enterprise resource planning (ERP) are among the most difficult to implement. These products provide turnkey automated processes while sharing common data across an organization. Unsuccessful or grossly underestimated efforts to implement ERP tools have resulted in massive financial failures and corporate process disarray for many organizations. Various financial techniques can help organizations select the right projects and better manage the implementation of enterprise systems. The roadmap describes key practices in the fields of financial management and quantitative analysis.     

Implementing ERP in Manufacturing

The authors interviewed IT and other personnel at 30 manufacturing firms of various sizes to discover the major issues concerning the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP). Among the conclusions reached, the authors were surprised to learn that smaller organizations implementing ERP with a “big-bang” approach proved more successful than larger firms using a gradual rollout.     

Examining the influences of external expertise and in-house computer/IT knowledge on ERP system success

External expertise and adequate levels of internal computer skills and knowledge are essential factors that can contribute to the success of complex information technology (IT) systems, including enterprise resource planning (ERP). Studies examining the effects of external expertise and in-house or internal computer/IT knowledge on the success of ERP packages are rare. This present study was designed to fill this gap in research. A relevant research model was developed to test fifteen (15) hypothesized paths or relationships among the study's variables. Data was collected in a cross-sectional field survey of 109 firms in two European countries. The partial least squares (PLS) technique was used for data analysis. The PLS results supported eleven (11) out of the fifteen (15) hypotheses. Essentially, this research's results confirmed that external expertise (an exogenous factor) and internal computer/IT knowledge (endogenous factors) are pertinent to success enhancement of ERP system success for adopting organizations. The implications of the findings for both practice and research are discussed, and possible areas of future research identified.     

Commodity or competitive advantage? Analysis of the ERP value paradox

A true e-business enabled firm needs the support from a well-tuned enterprise resource planning (ERP) system for providing real time data. However, many companies complain that after their huge investments in ERP systems, they found the ERP systems do not bring them new orders, new profits, or competitive advantage as ERP vendors claim. Academic studies also found mixed results regarding ERP’s payoff. In line with resource based view (RBV), the study proposes an integrated model to shed light on the ERP value paradox. We try to answer “With what organizational resources and by building what firm specific capabilities, the investment in ERP systems may bring firms competitive advantage”. Using a sample of 150 ERP and e-business adopters in the US, we found that (1) organizational resources such as managerial skills and organizational change management play a more important role than IT resources (ERP, e-Business technologies) in generating business integration capability. (2) However, neither IT resources nor organizational resources directly provide firms with competitive advantage. Instead, business integration capability built from the two resources plays a mediating role through which business achieves competitive advantage.     

An exploration of factors that impact individual performance in an ERP environment: an analysis using multiple analytical techniques

This study explores the factors that can impact individual performance when using enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Starting from the proposition that organizational performance depends on individuals' task accomplishments, we test a structural model of task–technology fit, ERP user satisfaction, and individual performance in ERP environments. This research utilizes a survey method to examine the perceptions of ERP users. We performed factor and reliability analyses to assess the validity of the survey instrument. Six factors were identified as having an impact on individual performance: System Quality, Documentation, Ease of use, Reliability, Authorization, and Utilization. To explore the relationships among these factors, we conducted regression and multivariate adaptive regression splines analysis, and compared the findings from these two analytical techniques. The study provides evidence that System Quality, Utilization, and Ease of Use are the most important factors bearing on individual performance in ERP environments. Our findings also provide IT managers and researchers with knowledge of how these factors can be manipulated to improve individual performance when using ERP systems.     

The case for building a data warehouse

Unfortunately, IT shops in many organizations lack data warehousing expertise because they have deployed existing IT staff resources to address operational source systems and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. Because many strategic business solutions depend heavily on a solid data warehouse foundation, many organizations will find themselves lagging behind or out of business, if they do not implement a data warehouse. The paper discusses the benefits and disadvantages of data warehousing. It considers the keys to implementation success along with a few real world examples     

Building minds, not widgets: technology for the business of learning

Over the past decade, CIOs in both the corporate and academic worlds have focused on creating an IT infrastructure that supports a variety of business processes through networks, mail systems, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. It is clear that to enhance productivity and increase market share, IT must go beyond general business support to a model that improves core product design and quality. Such a shift should occur at institutions of higher education as well. IT provides a competitive advantage only if it improves learning effectiveness while containing the labor costs of instruction. Successful CIOs in higher education are those who can transfer corporate experience to a teaching and learning culture. Key stakeholders n this case, the provost, department heads, and faculty - judge them for their direct contribution to the key university differentiator, the quality of the graduating students. This is a formidable challenge, but one that CIOs must undertake if IT is to reach its full potential in a university setting.     

Exploring managerial factors affecting ERP implementation: an investigation of the Klein‐Sorra model using regression splines

Abstract. Predicting successful implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems is still an elusive problem. The cost of ERP implementation failures is exceedingly high in terms of quantifiable financial resources and organizational disruption. The lack of good explanatory and predictive models makes it difficult for managers to develop and plan ERP implementation projects with any assurance of success. In this paper we investigate the Klein & Sorra theoretical model of implementation effectiveness. To test this model we develop and validate a data collection instrument to capture the appropriate data, and then use multivariate adaptive regression splines to examine the assertions of the model and suggest additional significant relationships among the factors of their model. Our research offers new dimensions for studying managerial interventions in IT implementation and insights into factors that can be managed to improve the effectiveness of ERP implementation projects.     

Organizational learning networks that can increase the productivity of IT consulting companies. A case study for ERP consultants

This paper considers the use of social learning networks to increase the productivity of IT consulting companies. We advocate that using a carefully designed social learning network can reduce the learning time for enterprise software developers and consultants. By viewing learning as a social act, a consulting company can increase its productivity. Increased productivity is based on hastening the learning process. The focus of this paper is to identify the ways in which social networks catalyze the process of knowledge sharing in order to increase the productivity in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) consulting sector. We present a set of detailed practical results that were obtained from experiments with an original knowledge sharing method that was applied to training young software developers to enable them to work for some of the world’s most demanding IT companies. The experimental data were collected from 2004 to 2011 during 12 training sessions conducted by an IBM partner in conjunction with the Computer Science Department of a large Eastern European University. The main results of this study were: (1) designed a learning community that reduced the time needed to insert junior consultants into ERP projects; and (2) statistical data were generated that measured the increase in productivity that an ERP consulting company could obtain by employing organizational learning networks. We also discuss the positive impacts of social networks that can be established between private companies and universities.     

An information system architecture for build- and engineer-to-order production of application services

In manufacturing, substantial efficiency gains have been achieved through industrialization. Key concepts of industrialization include standardization, automation, and modularization. Transferring these to IT service production promises increased efficiency. ERP systems apply such concepts and have been an integrating tool for making production for manufacturers more efficient. However, previous research has considered ERP systems for IT service providers either very broadly or only from a business or technical perspective. This article investigates how to apply the ERP system concept comprehensively to a specific type of IT service provider. To this end, application services are prescribed as being composed of three types of configuration models. This helps to achieve a composition of (IT) application services that is comparable to physical parts, and it further supports their management and automated production within an ERP system. An information system architecture with the ERP system at its core is presented. It supports application service production. All relevant service lifecycle phases are considered and a consistent domain model is provided that connects business and technical layer entities. Targeted companies can improve their application service production in terms of quality and efficiency by leveraging this novel automation- and model-based approach.     

A multicriteria approach for risks assessment in ERP maintenance

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems cannot remain static after their implementation, they need maintenance. ERP maintenance is a key process required by the rapidly changing business environment and the usual software maintenance needs. However, these projects are highly complex and risky. So, the risks management associated with ERP maintenance projects is crucial to attain a satisfactory performance. Unfortunately, ERP maintenance risks have not been studied in depth. For this reason, this paper presents a general risks taxonomy. It gathers together the risks affecting the performance of ERP maintenance. Moreover, the authors use the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) methodology to analyze the risks factors identified. It helps managers, vendors, consultants, auditors, users and IT staff to manage ERP maintenance better. Results suggest that the most critical stage in ERP maintenance is the first phase, which receives, identifies, classifies and ranks the software modification. The most important hazards in ERP maintenance are the cooperation and commitment of ERP users and managers.     

Lessons from an ERP implementation

In 1999, the University of Wisconsin-Superior (UWS) launched a project to implement an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system called PeopleSoft Student Administration (SA). The new system would replace the university's aging, home-built legacy student information system (SIS) and several third-party subsystems. The university's chancellor and provost envisioned that the SA system would integrate existing administrative subsystems, meet increased demand for student Web-based services, and provide prompt and accurate reports. The implementation was, by and large, a success. In the paper implementers of the university ERP system share experiences and lessons from an IT perspective     

基于IRP的企业信息化工程整体解决方案的设计

为解决当前企业信息化建设中“信息资源整合与共享问题”,提出了一种基于IRP的企业信息化工程整体解决方案。介绍了信息资源规划的相关知识,分析了IRP与ERP之间的区别,采用信息资源规划方法,提出了一整套由“方法论＋标准规范＋支持工具”组成的技术体系解决方案,从而减少企业内部信息交流和沟通的中间环节,加快部门信息传递速度,提高了企业内部计算机应用水平,促进了企业现代化管理水平的提高,增强了企业的市场竞争能力。     

A multi-level model-driven regime for value-added tax compliance in ERP systems

As the economy becomes global and ICT-reliant, approaches practiced in enterprise software product development and enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation must cope with increasingly complex situations induced by contemporary supply chain and regulations. Compliance with regulations in the market is one aspect of the requirements that enterprise software must meet. Recent research of KPMG IT Advisory has confirmed that where little attention is being paid to the value-added tax (VAT) issues during large ERP projects, there is a higher VAT-risk exposure. In a design-oriented approach, we first identify the stakeholders and their interests in the VAT compliance of ERP systems. Enterprise architecture (EA) and model driven engineering in a multi-level perspective serve as the source of solution patterns. The efficient solution of compliance problems builds upon stakeholders utilizing a set of interdependent models and methods that are suitably allocated to the public and proprietary domains.