Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in a Global Environment

Abstract

Companies around the world are placing increasing emphasis on strategy development and implementation. Some argue that this increased emphasis is in response to market forces of increased competition and globalization, and the need to be flexible and adaptive to the business environment. Strategy development and implementation is a multifaceted task reliant on a number of interdependent factors. One of these is the role of information technology which in recent times has become an integral part of most companies’ strategies. This chapter discusses the role of strategy development and the importance of the alignment of business and IT strategies in a global environment. It discusses the role of enterprise resource planning systems on strategy development and how these systems underpin many strategic objectives companies strive for in a global environment.