Toward a Model of Investigating Non-Decision Making ERP Communities

Abstract

This chapter proposes to reframe current research on decision making process in the area of ERP selection and implementation and to study ERP communities, defined here as triadic groups composed of (1) an ERP vendor, (2) an ERP implementer and (3) an implementing organisation. In this novel perspective, the core contribution of this chapter is to introduce and apply the concept of Non-Decision Making (NDM) in its two basic forms—explicit and implicit—to the area of IS in general and more specifically to ERP research. As far as the authors are aware, this chapter is the first to examine the ERP decision making process under this light. The researchers’ objective is to structure their ideas in the shape of a model of ERP decision making, incorporating both the community dimension of ERP decision making and the ideas borrowed from the NDM literature, that can inform both the practice and investigation of ERP implementation and lead to higher success rates in ERP projects.