ERP Implementation: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

2005

Following a literature review that sets this research in context, case study data from two companies, one in the United States and one in Israel, are presented. Data are used to compare the implementation process of SAP Enterprise Planning Systems (ERPs) in the two cultures. The unique patterns of the implementation process that emerge from the two case studies are discussed as examples of the decision-making patterns typical of the two cultures. When relevant, areas where the findings did not agree with the theory are highlighted. The conclusions section explores the implications from this research to broader issues of ERP implementation across cultures, including the implementation of ERP systems within the higher education sector, and possible directions for future research emanating from this study.

Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications

International Journal of E-Politics, 2011

Implementing an ERP project is a political process. This paper starts with a literature review of organizational politics and its implications to the implementation of ERP systems. The Political Strategies Framework which categorizes different ePolitics strategies in the cases is introduced. The framework is applied in the later sections of the paper to case study data from two companies, one in the US and one in Italy, that both implemented a SAP Enterprise Planning Systems (ERP) with very different outcomes. The discussion highlights the political dynamics in each case and the way in which the framework can help us understand these differences. The conclusion section discusses the differences between the political dynamics in each case and the implications from the findings to broader issues of research on ERP implementation and politics.

2007

Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is defined as the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes. Implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system involves reengineering the existing business processes to accommodate the best practices adopted by these software packages. It is also suggested that an awareness of cultural differences, both at organizational and national levels, is critical to ERP success. This paper reports on a study of BPR through ERP implementation in two Chinese medium sized manufacturing organizations. The selected organizations are the same size and have implemented the same type of ERP systems to reengineer their business processes. One of the companies is a stateowned company and the other is a private organization. The findings suggest that business processes can only reflect technical aspect from socio-technical view. Other two subsystems, human system (eg, culture, motivation, communication, willingness to change) and manag...

2018

Over the past years, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have become an essential business driver with its main features such as modularity, real-time data accessibility and sharing an integrated database on the way to Industry 4.0 Many companies have utilized the advantages of integrated solutions of ERP systems offered by multinational corporations. Nowadays, ERP systems have been widely adopted in specially developed countries as well as developing countries. In developing countries, companies usually use national ERP systems instead of foreign-based ERP systems. However, ERP vendors, consultants have offered different global ERP templates containing their multi-language and high qualified customization options, but also have some cultural adoption problems which may exist during the implementation of ERP systems. Thus, ERP systems face many challenges in, especially developing countries including cultural issues. This study focuses on cultural issues in ERP adoption which...

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is among business software solutions widely used in subsidiaries of multinational companies today. This paper focus on the analysis of national culture and perceived information systems success factors in developed and emerging economies. A better understanding of national culture effect on critical success factors when implementing these technologies in different countries enables stakeholders to optimize scarce resources in an effort to focus on significant factors likely to aid a successful implementation. A comparative study is presented by utilizing qualitative research methods through interviews of four multinational firms, two from Norway and two from Zambia. Hence the paper attempt to explore Cultural differences of success factors in ERP implementation in developed and emerging economies.

ERP-system implementation implies a much stronger organizational change than normal information system development. Organizations have to customize the software packages and transform their existing sub optimal business processes and organizational arrangements into industry "best practices". This transformation is more an organizational than a technical challenge, because of the required fundamental changes in the existing business processes, skills, knowledge of the workforce and organizational arrangements. Therefore our research objective is explanation of the differences in ERP-implementation and their success in relation to their organizational and cultural setting. Based on a review of (transaction governance) literature, a research model is developed for exploring practice. The core of this model is three types of change governance (social contracting, hierarchical contracting and quasi market contracting) and three requisites of effective governance (enough variet...

Over the last ten years, there has been a dramatic growth in the acquisition of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, where the market leader is the German company, SAP AG. However, more recently, there has been an increase in reported ERP failures, suggesting that the implementation issues are not just technical, but encompass wider behavioural factors. This conceptual paper examines the role of culture in the implementation of process-oriented ERP systems, and reports on the formulation of a research project to examine the relevance of macro and micro-level cultural issues in the successful operation of such systems. The paper suggests that some of the reported ERP problems may be attributed to the difficulties that staff operating in an Anglo-Saxon culture may experience with a process rather than function-oriented working environment. 1 What is culture? 1.1 Literature Review In his review of the many definitions of the concept of culture, Olie (1995) concludes that most au...

Business Process Management …, 2005

International Journal of Information Systems and Social Change, 2011

This paper studies the differential practices of change management in organizations of western origin and compares it with the best practices prevalent in Indian organizations, with special emphasis on social and cultural challenges faced in these countries. Since Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), as part of an information and communication technology (ICT) initiative, is frequently associated with organization change and transformation in relation to its adaptation, it has been used as the context in this study. The impact of social factors and cultural challenges on change management processes and elements are compared and contrasted using multiple case studies from USA, Canada, European (Western/Eastern) and Indian organizations who have adopted ERP technologies. The conceptual framework highlights cultural and social factors that affect ERP implementation, and offers suggestions to researchers to empirically test these influences using sophisticated analytical methods and deve...