Strategic alignment of ERP implementation stages: An empirical investigation

Benchmarking strategic alignment of business and IT strategies: opportunities, risks, challenges and solutions

Business and IT strategy alignment is a complex dynamic process in which organizations are in a position to enable extensive IT capabilities to achieve their business objectives. This interdependence is amplified by the COVID-19 crisis, which makes the integration of IT and business strategies more important than ever. This paper mainly aims to contribute to the understanding of strategic alignment from a practical perspective, as well as to demonstrate the applicability and robustness of the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM). Moreover, potential opportunities and risks associated with the strategic alignment of business and IT strategies are analysed. Findings are discussed after a qualitative analysis of 31 participants (semi-structured survey and interviews). Results indicated several difficulties affecting the strategic alignment implementation transcend the business and IT strategies like communication, corporate culture, governance, resource prioritization, and effective leadership. The study contends that there is a need to align and harmonize different agendas and interests within an organization and improve the understanding of the value of Strategic Alignment.

Aligning Information Technology and Business: The Differential Effects of Alignment During Investment Planning, Delivery, and Change

Digital transformations often require firms to align and synchronize their information technology (IT) and business initiatives. In this context, one important question that managers face is where they should focus most when aligning IT and business for leveraging IT investment for firm performance. Authors argue that firms that focus on IT–business alignment at the later stages (i.e., IT delivery and IT change) are better able to translate their IT investment into revenue than firms that focus on IT–business alignment at the early stage (i.e., IT investment planning) of the IT lifecycle. They use archival data from more than 120 firms in India and find that the positive relationship between IT investment and firm revenue is stronger for firms that focus on IT delivery–business alignment or IT change–business alignment than for firms that focus on IT investment planning–business alignment. In addition, they find that at higher levels of IT investment, firms that focus on IT change–business alignment or IT delivery–business alignment have higher revenue than firms that focus on IT investment planning–business alignment, whereas at low levels of IT investment, firms that focus on IT investment planning–business alignment outperform firms that focus on IT delivery–business alignment or IT change–business alignment. Taken together, these findings can help managers to improve the success of their digital transformation efforts by tailoring their alignment efforts across planning, delivery, and change stages.

Risks Assessment using Fuzzy Petri Nets for ERP Extension in Small and Medium Enterprises

In this paper a Fuzzy Petri Net model (FPN) is developed and tested to assess the risks involved during Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). This model pertains only to the risks and risk factors identified in the extension phase of ERP adoption in SMEs. In other words, this work studied only the risk perception relating to extending the ERP integration between the supply chain partners. This paper addresses the problems of risk identification and assessment during the extension phase. There are two motives for this research namely, one to define the ERP extension risks and two to assess and quantify the risks in a simple yet robust model. The uniqueness of this paper is three dimensional because in addition to presenting and quantifying the risk values in FPN, the risks are categorized and further graded for decision support to SME stakeholders. Realignment and standardization of SMEs business process, lack of support from larger enterprises and incompatibility issues are perceived to be most critical risk factors.

ERP system implementation in large enterprises – a systematic literature review

Purpose

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation brings with it a set of challenges. In order to gain a better understanding of these and they can be mitigated during the implementation process, the purpose of this paper is to use Esteves and Bohórquez (2007) classification based on ERP lifecycle framework, and content analysis to review the literature on ERP implementation in a structured format with a focus on larger enterprises, and provide a platform for practitioners to plan implementation with minimum possibility of failure.

Design/methodology/approach

Esteves and Bohórquez (2007) classification based on the ERP lifecycle framework is used to develop and present a comprehensive structured review of the literature on ERP system implementation in large enterprises (LEs), with a particular focus on pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation.

Findings

Drawing from the literature, organisations can plan implementation based on the findings and strategies presented in the study. This can lead to a better understanding of implementation with minimal probability of failure. The authors find that top management support, good project management teams, and good communications are the top three most important critical successful factors during implementation. The authors also identify critical gaps in current research. Existing research focusses predominantly on the implementation phase, but research on pre- and post-implementation is lacking, and that no industry standard implementation methodology has been developed.

Research implications

This review primarily focusses on the literature in the area of ERP implementation. ERP implementation planning involves access to effective implementation strategies. Despite the literature identifying a myriad of different ERP implementation models, no standard industry ERP implementation model has been developed. The findings for ERP implementation are repetitive, inconsistent, and lack empirical research, rendering these two of the most critical areas for future research, and collaboration between ERP practitioners, system developers, and researchers. Researchers, in turn, need to become more innovative in terms of their research techniques when examining ERP implementation.

Practical implications

This paper provides guidance to researchers and practitioners with an insight into published research work and their findings. It provides a better understanding of ERP implementation, which can be applied towards overcoming operational difficulties during the implementation process.

Originality/value

This study is innovated in its use of Esteves and Bohórquez (2007) classification based on the ERP lifecycle framework, and content analysis to present a comprehensive structured literature review of the ERP implementation literature with a specific focus on pre-implementation, implementation, and post-implementation in LEs between the period 1989 and 2014. The technique and time period used in this study differs from those of other studies on ERP implementation. The paper brings together theoretical and practical developments on ERP implementation under a single source, which should aid practitioners, researchers and ERP developers with future research and decision making.

Application of FMEA to Study the Risk Perception of SMEs Throughout the ERP Adoption Life Cycle

In this paper, the authors have tried to validate the risk perception of ERP adoption in SMEs using Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). The work significantly contributes to the existing body of ERP adoption knowledge to the SMEs. Foremost, an ERP adoption life cycle addressed to SMES comprising of five distinct phases is proposed. Second, a well-laid out inventory of risk factors have been identified. Third, FMEA is applied to understand, validate the risk perception of respondents on ERP adoption in SMEs. Exploiting the ERP System, Inadequate financial management, Lack of Owners' Commitment, Ineffective communication with users and change in project scope are the top five highest perceived risks based on the risk perception number (RPN). The process centric approach to system implementation through FMEA also prescribes pertinent recommendations to the stakeholder ecosystem to proactively defend against vulnerabilities during the ERP adoption life cycle.

Are business users social? A design experiment exploring information sharing in enterprise social systems

In recent years, social technology has changed the ways people collaborate and communicate. With the blurring boundaries between work and personal life, business software vendors have begun to deliberate on the possibilities for enhancing the rather rigid and impersonal structures in enterprise systems (ES) by integrating social features. In doing so, they frequently assume that business users share the same interaction patterns as private users. In this paper, we challenge this belief and explore the factors that stimulate business users to share information in ES environments. By means of a design experiment, we show different use scenarios and explore business users' attitudes toward open and unconditional information sharing in ES. Our results demonstrate that business users are less ‘social’ and that applying social features in ES is highly context dependent. Based on these findings, we offer recommendations for software vendors and researchers who are interested in the social enhancements of ES.

Strategy map for Chinese science parks with KPIs of BSC

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to present a structural evaluation methodology to link key performance indicators (KPIs) into the strategy map of the balance scorecard (BSC) for Chinese science parks (CSPs). We establish the visualized strategy map with the logical links to improve the science parks’ (SPs’) performance.

Design/methodology/approach

– Corresponding to the four BSC perspectives (finance, customer, internal process and employee learning and growth), KPIs for CSPs are synthesized and screened in the relevant literature. The application for Zhongguancun Science Park (ZSP) is provided as an example.

Findings

– The research results show that the presented approach is an objective and feasible way to construct a more justifiable strategy map. The proposed framework can be applied to non-profit organizations, such as SPs.

Originality/value

– This work provides a systematic method to establish strategy maps for SPs (non-profit organizations), based on the consideration of the intricate causal relationships among KPIs, and the analysis of the important strategic improvement paths and proposes the model of assessment of emphasizing the processes rather than outcomes.

Enhancing Functional Fit with Continuous Training During the ERP Post-Implementation Phase

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, such as SAP, feature a rich set of integrated business applications. However, to maximize the long term benefits from ERP implementations, organizations need to careful manage the post-implementation phase and focus on supporting end users to achieve better fit between their business processes and the ERP system features. This study develops a research model based on the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm and finds support for a positive and complementary relationship between continuous training resources, functional fit capability and business process success. An increase in continuous training resources increases the functional fit capability for the organization and is seen to improve business process success. The results support the need to focus on continuous end user training throughout the post implementation phase as a key contributor to ERP systems success for any organization.

A Survey Study of Influential Factors in the Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) play a significant role in the management of businesses processes. Determining the influential factors that are positioned behind a successful ERP implementation is critical to gain the most value-added from competitive potentials of such systems. The driver of current research is to gain a deeper understanding of the various subjective criteria to measure ERP implementation success with the aim of enhancing the chance success through investigating ERP implementation performance indicators. By exploring the international literature, a comprehensive list of potential success factors of ERP systems is identified which are complementary and critical to the ERP projects. Subsequently, reliability analysis and factor analysis were conducted to categorize the preliminary list into a final set of critical success factors for each of the primary factors. Therefore conducting an Exploratory Factor Analysis, three final factors were proposed as the main factors for evaluating the success of ERP implementation which are social, intellectual, and technical factors. The rest of indicators have been grouped under these categories. The result of current research is a firm basis for the interested scholars and practitioners to formulate their empirical attempts upon and proceed with every aspect of the ERP project according to the guidelines provided.

Legal Truth and Consequences for a Failed ERP Implementation

This case is inspired by a complaint and response filed in the U.S. court system. One of the case’s authors served as an expert witness in the case. Because the suit settled before going to trial, some of the details of the case are not part of the public record; therefore, the names of the companies involved have been changed and certain details disguised to protect the identity of the litigants. However, the essentials of the case remain faithful to the actual circumstances and provide a basis for analysis of decision points and a discussion of costs and responsibilities for the issues in the case. A leading manufacturer of building materials in the United States selected an integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to install on its existing hardware infrastructure. This case describes the ERP selection, implementation and migration challenges, impaired functionality, and the business and legal issues that ensued due to the software’s incompatibility with the hardware. With the software not performing as expected, the vendor withdrawing its software support, and costs escalating, the manufacturer sought legal counsel.