Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation in a contracting and construction company.
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Date
2015
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Abstract
In quest of sustainable competitive advantage, firms around the globe are
increasingly turning to survival strategies founded in Information Systems (IS). It is
arguable, Information Systems that are in alignment with business processes add
immensely to a firm’s value chain. Among the plethora of IS solutions available,
the last 20 years has witnessed many companies invest heavily in Enterprise
Resource Planning systems (ERP) with the intention of integrating their business
processes under one common database. The ERP adoption trend is expected to
rise on account of the impact of such technological break-trough’s as cloud
computing on affordability. ERP systems, when implemented correctly and to best
practice, can make a positive impact on a firm’s efficiencies, effectiveness and
ultimately the bottom line. Sadly in spite of their value propositions and over 2
decades of maturity as products, ERP systems are still notorious for high system
usage and implementation failure. In some quoted cases, these systems, often
touted as the panacea to business pain during sales cycles, have paralysed
adopting organisations to the point of bankruptcy. Against the depressing failure
rates of ERP projects, this study aimed to establish factors that are critical to the
successful rollout of ERPs. In addition the current study sought to determine
company-specific factors militating against ERP project success in the target
organisation as well as establishing change management effort required to turn
around ERP outcomes. To ensure validity and reliability, a mixed method study
was conducted. The method comprised a critical review of contemporary ERP
literature as well a quantitative and qualitative census survey targeting 148
employees of the organisation studied. The study found some fundamental gaps,
largely of a people nature, in ERP implementation methodologies of the company
studied. These cracks, if unmanaged, cumulatively contribute to ERP project
opposition and consequently failure. There are however solutions to address the
identified gaps and these include but are not limited to change management,
injection of top management support to ERP endeavours, business processes
modelling and re-engineering before new ERP systems are implemented and an
all-inclusive selection process of an ERP system or combination of systems with
the most fit and alignment to current and future business processes.
Description
Master of Business Administration. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville 2015.
Keywords
Enterprise resource planning., Management information systems., Business planning., Construction industry., Theses--Business administration.