The Role of Project Acceptance in the Successful PeopleSoft Human Resources Management System Implementation for the Kentucky Community and Technical College System

In July 1998 House Bill 1 formed the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). A statewide ERP information system was initiated to seamlessly integrate the functional requirements of Human Resources, Student Administration, and Financial Systems for all KCTCS institutions statewide. This paper describes how the project was planned, designed, and implemented in the short span of 35 months, ahead of schedule, operationally on target, and $3,775,000 (21%) under budget. The lessons learned draw attention to the fact that attention to detail in the planning, resource allocation, and schedule execution were important, but not the key reasons for the project’s acceptance. As Umble and Umble (2002) point out, there are four primary reasons why ERP implementations fail at the time of project acceptance: inadequate education and training, poor leadership from top management, resistance to change, and unrealistic expectations. This paper shows how these potential pitfalls were addressed.