One of our nine areas of investigation reported in the chapter. Here we explore who or what was the driving force behind the ES implementation, i.e. what ultimately led the company to their current or future system. This can include functional departments, but also changes in the marketplace, increased competition, changing demands by customers, etc.
Published in Chapter:
Enterprise System in the German Manufacturing Mittelstand
Tobias Schoenherr (Michigan State University, USA), Ditmar Hilpert (Reutlingen University, Germany), Ashok K. Soni (Indiana University, USA), M.A. Venkataramanan (Indiana University, USA), and Vincent A. Mabert (Indiana University, USA)
Copyright: © 2009
|Pages: 17
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-859-8.ch015
Abstract
Although the research on integrated enterprise systems (ES) is proliferating, the knowledge base about ES implementations, usage and experiences outside the United States is still small. This is also true for Germany, despite the crucial importance of ES in the country, and the potential uniqueness of its ES environment. Most ES research to date has also been focusing on larger corporations, neglecting the challenges and issues that small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) have been experiencing. Collectively often referred to as the Mittelstand, German SMEs form the backbone of the German economy. This chapter brings attention to these areas by describing observations obtained from eight SMEs in the German manufacturing sector. These findings about ES implementation, usage, and experiences are reported and summarized along nine points of interest.