Benefits realization from IS/IT investments : a perspective from ERP systems

Delivery of benefits from many ERP systems remains disappointingly low. The high investment in ERP systems means that realizing benefits from these implementations is of critical importance to many organizations. Thus, the main aim this research is to develop insights that can help organizations to improve benefits realization from ERP systems. In doing so, this study is not only evaluating the benefits gained by different organizations, but it is also analysing the key activities that are deemed necessary for benefits realization. This research was conducted in two phases to explore the research objectives. The initial phase was conducted with a selection of stakeholders working in the ERP industry to gather insights concerning the adoption of benefits management approaches and the relationship between ERP customization and benefits realization. The second phase comprised of three in-depth case studies that investigated the activities that were necessary to realize benefits from ERP projects. The research provides a number of important contributions to the academic literature. With respect to the adoption of benefits management (BM) approaches, this research contributes by providing empirical insights about what organizations are actually doing to manage benefits. More specifically, the study provides evidence to suggest that organizations have an increased chance of realizing benefits if they develop localized BM approaches based on organizational needs and context. This study also highlights the role of organisational change in facilitating the realisation of business benefits, in the context of ERP projects. Another important contribution is an attempt in establishing of relationship between different types of customizations and the resultant benefits. The study also contributes by indicating that organizations, in the very particular context of ERP projects, can identify the additional un-planned benefits during the use of the system. This study makes another important new contribution to the literature, by demonstrating the importance of tackling any organizational inhibitors in order to realize maximum benefits at various stages of ERP systems life cycle. Finally, with respect to the evaluation of ERP systems, this research contributes by providing interpretive evaluation of operational ERP systems to explore the process of how benefits were realised, in the participating organizations. It is envisaged that interpretive evaluation will fuel the insights that will maximize the attaining of benefits from ERP implementations.