Preparing People to Manage, Support and Use Enterprise Systems in an Arabian Gulf Context

Background

Enterprise systems, such as E-Government, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM) and data warehouse systems are complex solutions that seek to integrate the different functions in an organization into appropriate business processes. Their aim is to provide holistic integrated, dynamic cross-departmental business processes that enable the organization to cut down the time required to complete identified transactions or processes (Aladwani, 2001; Appuswamy, 2000). Where this aim is realized the benefits to the organization are often in improved customer service (and streamlined processes); for instance, the customer no longer has to wait in long queues or visit different offices in order to complete his transaction (Appuswamy, 2000). Such integrated systems can cover functions such as finance, procurement, supply chain, maintenance, human resources, etc (Abdinnour-Helm, Lengnick-Hall, & Lengnick-Hal, 2003). The integration is not limited to functions but can also draw in the wider sociotechnical system which includes the integration of data and people within the organization. In such cases the transparency and availability of information to decision makers in the organization is tremendously improved. The promised benefits of enterprise systems have led to high investments by organizations around the world in order to introduce these systems: either to get a competitive edge in their marketplace, or, in certain cases, simply to survive. Similarly, organizations in the Arabian Gulf countries are also investing and introducing enterprise systems to improve and streamline their business processes: especially given the economic boom that they have experienced in recent years. For example, government organizations are implementing E-government solutions while private sector organizations are introducing ERP and CRM solution to support much of their business activity.