An empirical reflection on the needs for and consequences of operational and technical integration with ERP projects

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An empirical reflection on the needs for and consequences of operational and technical integration with ERP projects

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Abstract

This research article is set against the background of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) as a solution to address operational and technical integration to support daily operations. It aims at characterizing ERP projects by their reasons for initiation in particular considering integration criteria and at highlighting connecting implementation consequences based on an empirical survey. In particular, the importance of ERP to solve operational and business integration related problems has increased over time, the catalogue of expectations has expanded and the business related criteria of ERP do not solely dominate initiation of ERP projects. In overall, integration projects were able to meet organizational expectations especially in terms of an integrated flow and a better quality of information. The ERP integration projects were overrepresented in organizational clusters with relatively higher ERP adoption success rates. However, business seeking to integrate with ERP do not believe as much in ERP to provide a competitive edge as compared to other ERP adopters, they also regularly produce unexpected integration issues in the implementation phase and face prolonged performance problems in the operational stage that are not solved over time. New ERP developments in particular in the area of Business Intelligence or Application Integration should further promote ERP solutions as integration drivers.

Key words: Enterprise resource planning, integration, enterprise application integration, empirical survey.

Abstract
Introduction
Methodology
Classification of ERP projects
1. Support and primary ERP projects
2. ERP projects by initiation driver
3. ERP projects by impact
Research questions
1. Sample demographics
2. Historic development (Q1)
3. Integration and ERP impact (Q2)
Conclusions
References

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[...] This states that ERP integration projects do not believe as much in ERP to provide a competitive edge as compared to the others (χ2, p=.01) Conclusions In general, it is known that operational and technical integration is a highly complex task, associated with high costs and risks, but also with great potentials. ERP can be seen as one solution that addresses integration to support daily operations. This research has shown that historically seen, the majority of ERP projects were initiated due to business related adoption drivers. [...]

[...] Bernroider, "An Analysis of ERP decision making practice and consequences for subsequent system life cycle stages - A case study," in Decision Support for Global Enterprises - Annals of Information Systems, vol U. Kulkarni, D. J. Power, and R. Sharda, Eds pp. 195-206. M. Themistocleous, Z. Irani, and R. M. O'Keefe, "ERP and application integration: Exploratory survey," Business Process Management Journal, vol pp. 195- E. P. Bureau-van-Dijk, "Amadeus," Bureau-van-Dijk D. A. Dillman, Mail and telephone surveys: the Total Design method. [...]

[...] Table 3 Id X1 X2 X3 X4 X5 X6 X7 X8 X9 X10 X11 X12 X13 X14 X15 X16 Organisational impact measures of ERP Name Overall IT/IS costs Efficiency/Profitability Effectiveness/Productivity Revenue after switching to ERP Profit after switching to ERP Transactions (deliveries ) finished on schedule Availability of IT/IS services Problems with order processing or management Problems with warehouse processes Problems with standard reports Problems with reports on demand Average time to upgrade the system Communication with supplier Financial close cycle Training hours per user Training hours per developer Cluster analysis provided a two cluster solution (2CS) and a three cluster solution (3CS) (see Figure 2a and 2b). [...]

[...] Thus, the utility of ERP in terms of organisational integration in particular beyond internal business processes constantly increases with the improvement and extension of ERP packages, i.e. ERP in its classic boundary may soon cease to exist. References G. Corbitt, M. Themistocleous, and Z. Irani, "ERP/EAI (ERPII) System Issues and Answers: Minitrack Introduction," presented at 37th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS'04), Big Island, Hawaii S. Sarker and A. S. Lee, "Using a case study to test the role of three key social enablers in ERP implementation," Information & Management, vol pp. [...]

[...] Figure 1b provides information on the distribution of ERP projects over time considering besides integration also the technology and business projects. As figure 1b shows, all three types of ERP projects have became nearly equally important. In a historic view, integration and technical ERP projects have developed from lower diffusion levels in the 90ies. Currently, ERP integration projects have taken the lead and have overtaken the business related ERP projects. Figure 2a/b 4.3 Integration and ERP impact Development of ERP projects over time Expectations according to decision making criteria Managers were asked to assess the level of satisfaction considering pre-selected criteria related to integration issues on a scale between 1 (expectation fell short) and 5 (expectation were exceeded). [...]

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