Business Transformation Through ERP: A Case Study of an Asian Company

Abstract Research into enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) has investigated how these systems add value to an organization, implementation issues and how these systems should be linked with other technologies within the organization and across the supply chain. This case study takes a slightly different approach and explored the potential of ERP to transform a business. The result indicates that key dimensions of the case organization, that is its strategy, structure, system, staff, skill, style, and shared values changed materially following the implementation of ERP. The transformation is greatly enabled by ERP but its cause might not necessarily be attributed to ERP only. The marketing and production innovations and work practices complexities that the implementation and use of ERP allowed and the acceptance and assimilation of those practices by the case organization’s staff and management have contributed to the transformation of the case organization. Based on the experiences of the case company, several theoretical and practical implications that are relevant to managing and sustaining IT-enabled changes are outlined and discussed.

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