Analyzing Different Strategies to Enterprise System Adoption: Re-Engineering-Led vs. Quick Deployment

Abstract

The literature on enterprise systems (ES) adoptions suggests that companies use different strategies; some opting to re-engineer business processes up-front, while others employ a quick deployment strategy on the assumption that organizational change will follow. In this chapter, we explore how these two different strategies play out in practice and also consider the factors that influence which approach is taken. We use exploratory data from interviews with consultants from XYZ who have been involved in multiple ES implementations in external companies as well as interviews with project members involved in an internal ES implementation in XYZ. Analysis of the data suggests that some level of re-engineering is an inevitable outcome of ES implementation. However, attempts to re-engineer up-front is difficult and can be problematic. Much of this stems from how the ES is actually used versus its envisioned (or planned) use. The implications for post-implementation exploitation opportunities are explored.