Conflict in the Value Chain: An Analysis of Competitive Advantage in Requirements Management of ERPs

There are differing opinions about whether an organization gains a competitive advantage (CA) from an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. However, the basic question in this paper concerns how receiving a competitive advantage from customizing an ERP influences the feedback loop in the ERP development chain. The paper suggests how the interests ERP development chain stakeholders have in maintaining or improving their competitive advantage in their own markets is complex and potentially conflictual and in some circumstances may hinder the development of future ERPs. From a set of theoretical propositions, eight scenarios are proposed. These scenarios are then illustrated from interviews with stakeholders in the ERP development chain. Just from our initial research, we uncovered evidence for six of these eight scenarios.

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