A case study of strategic enterprise resource planning management in a global corporation: Standardisation is the basis of competitive advantage

Purpose – Today enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications are a substantial proportion of many corporations' capital expenditure and the effective management of this pliable asset has significant consequence for business performance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the corporate strategy of a global corporation that, in pursuit of competitive advantage, deployed ERP applications.Design/methodology/approach – This inductive case study research examines the corporate processes utilised to strategically manage ERP in a global corporation. The approach is explorative and method qualitative. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted over a period of a year with senior executives, IT directors, IT managers, financial controllers, country managers and end‐users.Findings – The study found that devolving responsibility of ERP applications to subsidiary organisations increased cost and hindered corporate parenting. The considerable cost of centralising IS management and standardising ERP processes was...

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