Enterprise Systems as an Enabler of Fast-Paced Change: The Case of Global B2B Procurement in Ericsson

Abstract

This chapter studies the deployment of the SAP B2B (business-to-business) procurement application in Ericsson between 1999 and 2003, and argues that it enabled complex organizational change in a threephase process: the implementation of said application in Spain; the evolution of the application into a regional B2B procurement platform; and its final transformation into a global, pan-European B2B procurement unit. As described in the chapter, the enterprise system allowed the company to flexibly support the majority of changes that took place during a period of explosive growth of mobile phone sales followed by an unexpected market downturn. In light of the above, this investigation studies how and why enterprise systems are able to support fast-paced changes on a global scale. In other words, this chapter presents enterprise systems as flexible and responsive infrastructures that enable organizational change.