ERP Software Selection-Widening the Current Debate

Abstract

This chapter reflects on the nature of managerial decision making in the case of ERP projects. It draws on the increasing volume of organisational ERP literature now being published, but also attempts to draw lessons from the traditional research on decision making processes carried out over the last thirty years. This chapter documents the early stages of a larger research study, which is reported in various chapters in the book. Its main objective is to present a literature-based model, which integrally covers the phases which organisations go through (or should go through) when purchasing ERP packages, from the identification of the problems facing them to the review of the outcomes of the ERP projects. This represents a departure from current ERP literature, which has often focused on the software selection phase as if it were the key to organisational success and neglects the issue of organisational fit – i.e., the extent to which the business model underlying the ERP package selected fits the way an organisation conducts its business. We conclude from our observations that organisations are not well prepared when kicking off their ERP projects and that this may explain why many instances of relative ERP failure have been reported.