Action learning through the use of enterprise resource planning system in construction management

Although information communication technology (ICT) tool is long regard as very useful in today’s engineering, architectural and construction management, organizations cannot just only simply operate based upon its origin, but also requires the on-going observation, controlling measures, monitoring aids, adding features and fine-tuning actions to such tool before the desirable outcome can be achieved. However, it is a very common phenomenon that organizations purchase the licensed “off-the-shelf-software” ICT package and customize it to suit their own requirements. Due to the incapability and inefficiency of such software and customization, the possible result is making such tool becomes not user-friendly and obsolete.

The purpose of this paper therefore, as part of the doctoral research, is to review and report those actions taken by a construction organization to enhance the performance of its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system upon launching it since December 2002. Such actions include: improving data inputting method; removing the transition bottleneck; introducing crystallization function; revising the organization’s “Delegation and Limits of Authority”; publishing the “League Table” amongst users; integrating the 3D Modeling into the system and adopting the “Resources Requirement Planning”.

Whilst the ultimate goals of this system are well beyond the time limit of the research project, an obvious interim result, achieved by this case studied organization, was winning a landmark project worth HK$5 billion after the ERP system was functioned effectively. The experience and success of this organization can be borrowed by those companies which are planning to adopt information technology (IT) strategy and use ICT tool in the architectural management system.

Knowledge management for ERP success

The business value of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and in general large software implementations has been extensively debated in both popular press and academic literature for over three decades. Despite the positive motives for adoption, various organizations have reported negative impacts from these large investments. This ‘disconnect’ between large IS investments and firms’ organizational performance may be attributable to the economic transition from an era of competitive advantage based on information to one that is based on Knowledge. This paper discusses the initial findings of a two-phased study that focuses on empirically assessing the impact of knowledge management on the success of Enterprise Resource Planning systems. The research study uses information gathered from twenty-seven public sector organizations in Queensland, Australia. Validation of the a priori model constructs through factor analysis identified two dimensions of knowledge management. Further analysis assessed the comparative differences in perceptions of knowledge management in ERP, across four employment cohorts.

Beyond enterprise resource planning projects : Innovative strategies for competitive advantage

ABSTRACT A rapidly changing business environment and legacy IT problems has resulted in many organisations implementing standard package solutions. This 'common systems' approach establishes a common IT and business process infrastructure within organisations and its increasing dominance raises several important strategic issues. These are to what extent do common systems impose common business processes and management systems on competing firms, and what is the source of competitive advantage if the majority of firms employ almost identical information systems and business processes? A theoretical framework based on research into legacy systems and earlier IT strategy literature is used to analyse three case studies in the manufacturing, chemical and IT industries. It is shown that the organisations are treating common systems as the core of their organisations' abilities to manage business transactions. To achieve competitive advantage they are clothing these common systems with information systems designed to capture information about competitors, customers and suppliers, and to provide a basis for sharing knowledge within the organisation and ultimately with economic partners. The importance of these approaches to other organisations and industries is analysed and an attempt is made at outlining the strategic options open to firms beyond the implementation of common business systems.

Implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize the scope, methodology and main findings of a doctoral thesis about the implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in a major construction contracting organization in Hong Kong. This research is taken from a leadership and power and project management (PM) perspective.

Design/methodology/approach – The project adopted a case study approach in which the candidate was an employee/observer, who was embedded as a member of the business transformation team taking an action learning approach to study the ERP adoption. The research used the soft system methodology to identify gaps in the observed maturity level which exists in the organization. Data was gathered using public and private documentation, semi-structured interviews, observation and was validated through review of evidence with participants.

Findings – The results identified the importance of leadership and cultural issues in implementation of the business strategy. This research includes a contribution in two spheres: PM and construction procurement. The first implication for PM theory was to illustrate how knowledge has been efficiently managed within a construction organization by using information communication technology (ICT). It can be represented by the ladder of ICT>ERP>KM>PM. The second implication was to pave the way for the use of partnering strategies in PM practice. It can be represented by the ladder of National Culture>Organizational Culture>Leadership>Partnering Strategy>PM.

Practical implications – This model could be adapted to other large and complex organisational contexts. The research project also has implications as opening up a PM perspective on business transformation.

Originality/value – The contribution of this research is proving the success of adopting KM in a construction company by using an ERP system. The importance of culture in the traditionally collectivistic construction industry, and the issues senior management should take into account when formulating business strategies.

Survey design: Insights from a public sector ERP success story

Research on the impact of Information Systems (IS) reported in both academic literature and popular press has reported confounding results. Some studies have reported encouraging results of IS, while others have reported nil or detrimental results. The contradictory results of these research studies can be partially attributed to the weaknesses in survey instruments. In an attempt to increase the validity of conclusions of IS assessment studies, survey instrument design should follow a rigorous and scientific procedure. This paper illustrates key validity and reliability issues in measuring Information Systems performance, using examples from a study designed to assess Enterprise Resource Planning systems success. The article emphasizes on the importance of the survey method and the theoretical considerations of item derivation, scale development and item evaluation. Examples are provided from the ERP assessment study to supplement the readers understanding of the theoretical concepts of survey design.

A critical success factors model for enterprise resource planning implementation

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are integrated enterprise-wide standard information systems that automate all aspects of an organisations’ business processes. The ERP philosophy is that business systems incorporating sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, personnel and finance modules can be supported by a single integrated system with all of the company’s data captured in a central database. The ERP packages of vendors such as SAP, Baan, J.D. Edwards and Intentia represent more than a common systems platform for a business. They prescribe information blueprints of how organisation’s business processes should operate. In this paper, the scale and strategic importance of ERP systems is identified and the problem of ERP implementation is defined. Five company examples are analysed using a Critical Success Factors (CSFs) theoretical framework. The paper offers a framework for managers which provides the basis for developing an ERP implementation strategy. The case analysis identifies different approaches to ERP implementation, highlights the critical role of legacy systems in influencing the implementation process, and identifies the importance of business process change and software configuration in addition to factors already cited in the literature such as top management support and communication. The implications of the results and future research opportunities are outlined.

A critical evaluation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software sourcing and provision using theoretical constructs

Deliberating on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software sourcing and provision, this paper contrasts the corporate environment with the small business environment. The paper is about Enterprise Resource Planning client (ERPc) expectations and Enterprise Resource Planning vendor (ERPv) value propositions as a mutually compatible process for achieving acceptable standards of ERP software performance. It is suggested that a less-than-equitable vendor–client relationship would not contribute to the implementation of the optimum solution. Adapting selected theoretical concepts and models, the researchers analyse ERPv to ERPc relationship. This analysis is designed to discover if the provision of the very large ERP vendors who market systems such as SAP, and the provision of the smaller ERP vendors (in this instance Eshbel Technologies Ltd who market an ERP software solution called Priority) when framed as a value proposition (Walters, D. (2002) Operations Strategy. Hampshire, UK: Palgrave), is at all comparable or distinctive.

A technology diffusion perspective of Enterprise Resource Planning across European Small and Medium Enterprises: from determinants to Use to Value

Tese apresentada como requisito parcial para obtenção do grau de Doutor em Gestão de Informação

Enterprise resource planning and the post bureaucratic organization:'formalization' as trust in the system versus 'solidarity' as trust in individuals

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to use a case study setting involving the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system to expose and analyze the conflicts in the characterizations of the post bureaucratic organisation (PBO) in the literature. ERP implementations are often accompanied by increasing levels of stress in organizations that place pressures on organizational relationships and structures. Additionally, ERPs are regarded as introducing their own techno-logic of centralization, standardization and formalization that provides an apparent contrast to the exhortations about employee empowerment. Design/methodology/approach – A case study of ERP implementation in a medium-sized entity is presented. The paper explores aspects of ERP and PBO from the context of postmodern organization theory. Findings – Some concerns about PBO identified in the literature are reflected in the case situation. For example, there is a commitment to give up private time and work flexibly by some employees. The paper also provides evidence of the way the management team substitute their reliance on a key individual knowledge worker for that of an ERP system and external vendor support. Paradoxically, trust in that same knowledge worker and between core users of the system is essential to enable the implementation of the system. Originality/value – This paper adds empirical insight to a predominantly theoretical literature. The case evidence indicates some conflicting implications in the concurrent adoption of PBO and ERP.

Risk management in enterprise resource planning implementation:a new risk assessment framework

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are risky. But if they are implemented appropriately, they can provide competitive advantage to organisations. Therefore, ERP implementation has become one of the most critical aspects of today's information management research. The main purpose of this article is to describe a new ERP risk assessment framework (RAF) that can be used to increase the success of ERP implementation. In this article, through a case study based in a leading UK-based energy service provider, we demonstrate the new RAF, which has been shown to help identify and mitigate risks in ERP implementation. In contrast to other research, this RAF identifies risks hierarchically in external engagement, programme management, work stream and work package levels across technical, schedule, operational, business and organisational categories. This not only helped to develop responses to mitigate risks but also facilitates on-going risk control.

Managing risk in enterprise resource planning projects

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects are strategic and capital intensive, so failure may be costly and even cause bankruptcy of companies. Previous studies have proposed ways for improving implementation, but they are mostly generic and follow standardized project management practices as specified in various standards (e.g. the “project management body of knowledge” of the Project Management Institute). Because ERP is interdisciplinary (involving change management, project management and information technology management), it warrants a customized approach to managing risks throughout the life cycle of implementation and operation. Through a practical case study, this paper demonstrates a qualitative, user friendly approach to ERP project risk management. Firstly, through a literature review it identifies various risk factors in ERP implementation. Secondly, the risk management practices of a UK-based multinational consulting company in one of its clients are evaluated. The risk factors from the case study organization and literature are then compared and discussed.

Managing enterprise resource planning and multi-organisational enterprise governance:a new contingency framework for the enterprisation of operations

This research has been undertaken to determine how successful multi-organisational enterprise strategy is reliant on the correct type of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) information systems being used. However there appears to be a dearth of research as regards strategic alignment between ERP systems development and multi-organisational enterprise governance as guidelines and frameworks to assist practitioners in making decision for multi-organisational collaboration supported by different types of ERP systems are still missing from theoretical and empirical perspectives. This calls for this research which investigates ERP systems development and emerging practices in the management of multi-organisational enterprises (i.e. parts of companies working with parts of other companies to deliver complex product-service systems) and identify how different ERP systems fit into different multi-organisational enterprise structures, in order to achieve sustainable competitive success. An empirical inductive study was conducted using the Grounded Theory-based methodological approach based on successful manufacturing and service companies in the UK and China. This involved an initial pre-study literature review, data collection via 48 semi-structured interviews with 8 companies delivering complex products and services across organisational boundaries whilst adopting ERP systems to support their collaborative business strategies – 4 cases cover printing, semiconductor manufacturing, and parcel distribution industries in the UK and 4 cases cover crane manufacturing, concrete production, and banking industries in China in order to form a set of 29 tentative propositions that have been validated via a questionnaire receiving 116 responses from 16 companies. The research has resulted in the consolidation of the validated propositions into a novel concept referred to as the ‘Dynamic Enterprise Reference Grid for ERP’ (DERG-ERP) which draws from multiple theoretical perspectives. The core of the DERG-ERP concept is a contingency management framework which indicates that different multi-organisational enterprise paradigms and the supporting ERP information systems are not the result of different strategies, but are best considered part of a strategic continuum with the same overall business purpose of multi-organisational cooperation. At different times and circumstances in a partnership lifecycle firms may prefer particular multi-organisational enterprise structures and the use of different types of ERP systems to satisfy business requirements. Thus the DERG-ERP concept helps decision makers in selecting, managing and co-developing the most appropriate multi-organistional enterprise strategy and its corresponding ERP systems by drawing on core competence, expected competitiveness, and information systems strategic capabilities as the main contingency factors. Specifically, this research suggests that traditional ERP(I) systems are associated with Vertically Integrated Enterprise (VIE); whilst ERPIIsystems can be correlated to Extended Enterprise (EE) requirements and ERPIII systems can best support the operations of Virtual Enterprise (VE). The contribution of this thesis is threefold. Firstly, this work contributes to a gap in the extant literature about the best fit between ERP system types and multi-organisational enterprise structure types; and proposes a new contingency framework – the DERG-ERP, which can be used to explain how and why enterprise managers need to change and adapt their ERP information systems in response to changing business and operational requirements. Secondly, with respect to a priori theoretical models, the new DERG-ERP has furthered multi-organisational enterprise management thinking by incorporating information system strategy, rather than purely focusing on strategy, structural, and operational aspects of enterprise design and management. Simultaneously, the DERG-ERP makes theoretical contributions to the current IS Strategy Formulation Model which does not explicitly address multi-organisational enterprise governance. Thirdly, this research clarifies and emphasises the new concept and ideas of future ERP systems (referred to as ERPIII) that are inadequately covered in the extant literature. The novel DERG-ERP concept and its elements have also been applied to 8 empirical cases to serve as a practical guide for ERP vendors, information systems management, and operations managers hoping to grow and sustain their competitive advantage with respect to effective enterprise strategy, enterprise structures, and ERP systems use; referred to in this thesis as the “enterprisation of operations”.