1.1. Background
In a rapidly changing economic context, the primary challenge facing the majority of companies remains the improvement of their competitiveness on a regional and international scale. The key to competitiveness is a robust information system (IS) infrastructure aligned with core business processes aimed at the delivery of high-quality products and services to customers in the shortest possible time. The use of information systems has become almost compulsory. Currently, the ERP system is regarded as one of the significant information technology (IT) innovation, and it is increasingly recognized as a key new competitiveness variable within companies in the short, medium and long-term. The adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems as standardized systems that encompass the activities of entire enterprises have become an important factor in today’s businesses (Leyh, 2016). The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, Enterprise Information System (EIS), Enterprise-Wide Systems (EWS) or Enterprise System (ES) is a software solution that has been conceived so as to unify all information systems of all departments into a single integrated system, and helps manage and store information from the entire organization in one central database (Brooks, 2013). It is used by many companies to integrate business functions and disseminate common information and processes throughout the organization (Seddon, Shanks, & Willcocks, 2003) ERP gained popularity in the early 1990s and has become one of the best software to manage business processes. The business management system derives from the MRP (Material Resource Planning) (Orlicky, 1975) and MRPII (Manufacturing Resource Planning) (Chung & Snyder, 2000) mainly used in industrial management and production management.
The ERP is considered as a backbone of the information systems in an enterprise, and it supports all parts of business processes by providing a flow of information between all business functions on all levels within an enterprise. This system offers a competitive advantage, especially regarding the value of the information. For many users, an ERP is a “do it all” system that performs everything from the entry of sales orders to customer service . Typically, ERP software is an integrated system that allows the company to standardize its information system to link and automate its underlying processes. It also provides intra-organizational information-sharing mechanisms (Gupta, 2001), by offering accurate and up-to-date information accessibility, faster transaction processing, and data quality (Ekman, Thilenius, & Windahl, 2014).
The demand for ERP applications has increased, and companies have invested considerable resources in the implementation due to the benefits that are offered to organizations, including rapid and accurate decision-making, improving efficiency, streamlining processes and promoting a culture of collaboration within the organization. It has become an essential tool for organization management, regardless of size and field of activity (Sodomka & Klcova, 2016).