عوامل حیاتی موفقیت (CSFs) برای پروژه های ERP در بنگاه های کوچک و متوسط (SMEs)

ABSTRACT Critical success factors for ERP projects in small and medium-sized enterprises - The perspective of selected German SMEs

TODAY’S enterprises are faced with the globalization of markets and rapidly changing economies. In order to cope with these fluid conditions, the use of technology, as well as information and communication systems, is almost mandatory. Specifically, the adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems as standardized systems that encompass the activities of entire enterprises has become an important factor for today’s businesses. The demand for ERP applications has increased for several reasons, including competitive pressure to become low-cost producers, expectations of revenue growth, and the desire to re-engineer businesses to respond to market challenges. A properly selected and implemented ERP system offers several benefits including considerable reductions in inventory costs, raw material costs, lead time for customers, production time, and production [1]-[4]. Therefore, the majority of enterprises around the world now use ERP systems. For example, according to a survey conducted in Germany from 2010 to 2011, ERP systems are used in more than 92 percent of all German industrial enterprises [5]. Due to the saturation of ERP markets targeting large-scale enterprises, ERP system manufacturers today are also concentrating on the growing market of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) [3], [6]. This has resulted in a highly fragmented ERP market and a great diffusion of ERP systems throughout enterprises in nearly every industry and of every size [7]-[9]. Due to the strong demand and the high fragmentation of the market, there are many ERP systems with different technologies and philosophies currently available on the market. This multitude of software manufacturers, vendors, and systems implies that enterprises that use or want to use ERP systems must strive to find the “right” software as well as to be aware of the factors that influence the success of the implementation project.

The implementation of an information system (e.g., an ERP system) is a complex and time-consuming project, and in the process, companies face not only great opportunities but also enormous risks. To take advantage of potential opportunities without being affected by the risks of these implementation projects, it is essential to focus on those factors that support the successful implementation of an information system [10], [11]. Being aware of these factors, a company can positively influence the success of the implementation project and effectively minimize the project’s risks [10]. Recalling these so-called critical success factors (CSFs) is of high importance whenever a new system is to be adopted and implemented or a current system needs to be upgraded or replaced. Errors during the selection, implementation, or maintenance of ERP systems, incorrect implementation approaches, and ERP systems that do not fit the requirements of the enterprise can all cause financial disadvantages or disasters, perhaps even leading to insolvencies. Several examples of such negative scenarios can be found in the literature (e.g., [12], [13]). SMEs must be especially aware of CSFs, since they lack the financial, material, and personnel resources of larger companies. Thus, they are under greater pressure to implement and run ERP systems without failure and as smoothly as possible.

These critical success factors have already been considered in numerous scientific publications. Several case studies, surveys, and literature reviews have previously been conducted by different researchers (e.g., [4], [14]-[16]). However, the existing ERP system success-factor research has focused mostly on the selection and implementation of ERP systems in large enterprises. Less attention has been paid to implementation projects in SMEs, despite the fact that research focusing on CSFs in smaller companies has been recommended by the research community for several years (e.g., [17], [18]).

Therefore, the aim of our study was to focus on the implementation of ERP systems in SMEs, focusing in particular on the differences in CSFs between larger ERP projects and smaller projects. Prior to this study, we conducted a systematic literature review in order to update the existing reviews of CSFs. On the basis of the CSFs identified, we conducted multiple interviews within German SMEs that have already implemented ERP systems in order to obtain insights into the similarities and differences in CSFs for ERP system implementation in SMEs. Overall, our study was driven by the following research question:

Q1: What similarities and differences exist between critical success factors for ERP implementation projects in larger and smaller enterprises?

Therefore, the paper is structured as follows. The next section gives a short overview of the subsequently discussed and important CSFs before the section that follows deals with the results of our literature review. Here, we will point out which factors are the most important and which factors seem to have little influence on the success of an ERP implementation project. Next, our data collection methodology is described before the results of the interviews are presented and the research question is answered. Finally, the paper concludes with a summary of the results and discusses the limitations of our study.