USER-RELATED COMPLEXITY DIMENSIONS OF COMPLEX PRODUCTS AND SYSTEMS (CoPS): A CASE OF IMPLEMENTING AN ERP SYSTEM

What can cause five postponements and a delay of two years in introducing a relatively simple ERP system that usually takes only a few months to be implemented? We find the answer to this puzzle by highlighting the context of use of this high technology IT capital good, an issue so far overlooked because the literature on complex product system (CoPS) focuses on the intrinsic dimensions of the product and the provider. We rely on an extensive case study of the ERP system Movex at the furniture manufacturer Edsbyn and on literature on user-related innovations, organisational studies and inter-firm relationships to extract a series of additional user-related complexity dimensions. These include the importance of the capital good for the user, the user's perception of its complexity and the strength and complexity of the routines to be changed at the using organisation. We conclude the paper with implications for complex systems providers.

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