ERP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE

1
ERP AND ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE
Workshop on ES Research 2nd Enterprise Systems
pre-ICIS 2007 workshop December 8 - 9 2007
Montreal - Canada 

• INDIVIDUALS AND DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES IN THE
  IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS

Lapo Mola University of Verona
Martina Gianecchini University of Padua
2
Agenda

• Background
• Research Question
• Some Figures
• Our idea
• Questions and suggestions

3
Background

• Enterprise Resource Planning Some definitions
• ENTERPRISE SYSTEMS appear to be a dream come
  true. These commercial software packages promise
  the seamless integration of all the information
  flowing through a company - financial and
  accounting information, human resource
  information, supply chain information, customer
  information. (Davenport, 1998)
• Complex systems that integrate business processes
  (Murray and Coffin, 2001)
• Reshaping business structures (Kumar et al., 2000)

4
Background

• From empirical studies
• From invincible formulas for ERP happy
  implementation
• To contextualized studies (role of dimension,
  country, culture, strategy, HR management)
• (Hanseth, Ciborra and Bra, 2001 Beretta and
  Polo, 2002 Krumbholz et al., 2000 Mabert, Soni
  and Vekataramana, 2003 Duplaga and Astani, 2003)

5
Research Question

• In this diversity we can see a constant
• The ERP designed is different from the ERP
  implemented!
• But
• Are deviation and drift from the original design
  always bad?
• From the first step of the design phase to the
  implementation
• Which drivers have to be considered in order to
  manage this change?

6
Preliminary Consideration Designed and
Implemented Organizations
Analysis
Model Described
Organization
Design Process
Model Designed
Enterprise System
Implementation
From Ciborra C.U. 1987
7
An explorative case

• Research Group University of Padua and
  University of Verona
• Different Vendors and Business Partners
• Period Sept. 2004 Mar. 2005
• Structured Questionnaire
• CIOs. o ERP Project manager
• 219 questionnaires sent gt 104 received
• Answer rate 47.5

8
The Sample

• Characteristics
• 90 Private
• 10 PA
• Belonging to a group
• 47 holding
• 31 not holding
• Nationality
• 84 Italian
• 16 Not Italian
• Industries
• 71 Manufacturing
• 29 services

9
ERP Designed vs ERP Implemented

• Performances
• 29 business performances improved less than
  expected
• 82 did not implement all ERPs modules and
  features
• Costs and time
• 60 no pernicious differences from what expected

10
ERP Designed vs ERP Implemented
11
How to explain the differences

• The role of Actors
• Resistance to change
• Identity, role, number of institutional sponsors
• Lack of cooperation between users and the project
  team ()
• The role of the Organization
• Organizational dimension
• ERPs complexity perceived (-)
• Number of jobs redesigned ()
• Hierarchical culture vs. process culture (-)
• Role of Technology
• Wrong organizational and technological analysis
  (As-Is) ()
• Internal software development (-)
• Big Bang approach (- Unexpected)

12
A possible model (?)

• ERP complexity comes from
• different contexts, functions, roles, actors,
  processes involved in the implementation phase.
• ERPs have different faces
• Strategic instrument for driving the
  organizational change
• Operational tools for increasing efficiencies

13
A possible model (?)

• Strategic Phase
• Actor Top Management / Partner Selection
• Strategic Political Phase
• Actor Top Management, Middle Management /
  Organizational Design
• Operational Phase
• Actor Middle management (key user) / Prototyping
  
• Go - live
• End user / Adoption

14
A possible model (?)
15
Can we formalize it ?





(
ERP

/
ERP
)




structure
actor
f


structure
actor
actor
f
)

(


p
rj
eff
d
t
f
t
,
,
d
t
f
t
,
function of the structure
We can write


actor


)
(
structure
f
actor


f
,
d
t
f
The original formula becomes


16
Questions and suggestions

• Thank you