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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a recent information technology (IT) innovation that improves organizational efficiency by integrating many information systems performing different functions and existing on different management levels. ERP is considered one of the most significant information technology innovations in the last decade (Somers & Nelson, 2001). Using an ERP system in higher education institutions (HEIs) was intended to increase productivity among faculties and departments with minimum cost (Watson & Schneider, 1999). Also, ERP systems help HEIs to achieve a competitive advantage because of their ability to provide reliable, accurate, and timely information (Soliman & Karia, 2017). However, the significance of ERP system adoption in educational institutions was not realized because of the low number of successful projects (Abugabah & Sanzogni, 2010). According to the literature of ERP system adoption in HEIs, 60% to 80% of these system projects fail to provide the expected results. Other ERP system projects did not improve the business process and overall performance (Abugabah & Sanzogni, 2010). A study by Abdellatif (2014) indicated that approximately 50% of ERP project implementations failed in Egyptian organizations, and Hellens et al. (2005) showed that few ERP projects succeeded in Austria. Although implementing an ERP system can be helpful to any organization, it should be maintained in a way that most benefits the organization. The cost of ERP system implementation includes installing software programs and transitioning from the old system to the ERP system as well as the cost of system maintenance and updates and staff training (Monk & Wagner, 2013). The literature showed that ERP system implementations in HEIs did not achieve the expected advantages because of barriers such as organization and people resistance (Bradley & Lee, 2007).
For the purposes of this research, the PeopleSoft system that is implemented in Yanbu University College (YUC) in Yanbu City, Saudi Arabia (SA), is taken as an example of an ERP system. Based on our initial observations, users of the system, teachers, and administrators have a negative attitude toward the PeopleSoft system. This study aims to explore and determine the factors that affect teachers’ and administrators’ acceptance and use of the PeopleSoft system. We are proposing a model using one of the technology acceptance theories with the addition of two factors that have been determined based on literature and initial observations—namely, the system’s complexity and output quality. These factors were integrated in the model suggested for this paper. Identifying such factors would help HEIs to increase the positivity of users’ intentions and improve their satisfaction.
The adoption and implementation of ERP systems in HEIs is growing rapidly, but such a sector receives little attention in scholarly publications (Rabaa'i et al., 2009). The majority of the ERP implementation in HEI publications focuses on the system’s benefits, impacts on the business process, challenges, or technical aspects. The adoption and use studies of ERP in HEIs are scarce and in the immature stage (Soliman & Karia, 2017). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study in the domain of ERP in HEIs in SA that proposed a conceptual model for users’ adoption.