Global Deployment of Enterprise Systems in MNC: Exploring the Importance of Intercultural Social Knowledge

This study investigates an instance of global enterprise systems (ES) deployment in the context of a multinational corporation (MNC). Based on an in-depth case study, we highlight a specific type of knowledge relevant to such context i.e., intercultural social knowledge. Such knowledge is particularly pertinent when members involved in the ES project come from different cultures, which makes conflicts arising from cultural differences likely. Evidence of how cultural differences introduced issues to an ES deployment project is presented. Specifically, the study finds that being open to cultural diversity may help members to tolerate cultural differences, but it may not be sufficient to ensure smooth collaboration of the team. Intercultural social knowledge may be needed to provide the guidance of how one should react when faced with these issues. Additionally, intercultural social knowledge may also be helpful to ES deployment team’s interactions with the relevant external parties such as the vendors. This paper may serve to sensitize managers of global ES deployment projects the importance of intercultural social knowledge. Implications are also suggested for how such knowledge can be better leveraged to improve intercultural project collaboration.