The Main Cause of Problematic ERP Implementations: Bad Management or Functional Mismatches?

Abstract:     
This paper describes the results of a multiple case study of five ERP implementations. This investigation led to some remarkable conclusions.

Using the project implementation success of Wixom and Watson (2001) as a yardstick, only two out of the five cases could be considered as successful. These two cases concerned stan-dard production processes and had relatively modest implementation objectives.

The other three cases concern more complicated business processes and more ambitious pro-ject objectives. In these cases, mismatches between business processes and the functionality of the ERP system could be observed.

The following conditions appeared to be favourable for a successful implementation: good preparation of the implementation project, good project management and a high degree of consultant expertise. However, the case studies show clearly that the fit between the business processes and the functionality of the applications is a decisive factor for the success of ERP implementations. In contrast to the findings of other authors, the involvement of line man-agement appears to be of less importance.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 21

Keywords: Enterprise information systems, standard application software, ERP, project implementation success, functional fit, user involvement

JEL Classification: M19

working papers series