Understanding misalignment and cascading change of ERP implementation: a stage view of process analysis

Abstract

When adopting an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, experiencing misalignments between the functionality offered by the package and that required by the firm is common. Implementing an ERP package often necessitates disruptive organizational change, and the outcome of implementation is largely determined by the resolution of misalignment problems. This study draws upon data from a case study to understand the misalignments of ERP adoption and the associated change dynamics from a stage view. The results reveal that industry-, company-, and regulation-specific misalignments often occurred in the chartering phase; misalignments of input, control, data, process, output, and schedule are the major problems in the project phase; misalignments of information and new business requirements are the main concerns in the shakedown phase and onward and upward phase. The cascading effects of misalignments and change actions are illustrated, the misalignment resolution strategies examined, and the implications discussed.

Keywords:

• enterprise resource planning system
• misalignment
• organizational change
• cascading effect

Acknowledgements

This research is supported by MOE Program for Promoting Academic Excellent of Universities under the grant number 91-H-FA08-1-4.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hsiao-Lan Wei

About the authors

Hsiao-Lan Wei is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Information Management, National Central University, Taiwan (ROC). Her research interests include enterprise resource planning, organizational learning, and supply chain management. Her research will appear in Total Quality Management and Business Excellence and others.

Eric T G Wang

Eric T.G. Wang is Professor and Dean of School of Management at National Central University, Taiwan (ROC). He received the Ph.D. degree in Business Administration, specialized in computer & information systems, from the William E. Simon Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Rochester. His research interests include electronic commerce, outsourcing, organizational economics, and organizational impact of information technology. His research has appeared in Information Systems Research, Management Science, Decision Support Systems, Information Systems Journal, Information & Management, Omega, European Journal of Operational Research, International Journal of Information Management, and others.

Pei-Hung Ju

Pei-Hung Ju is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Information Management, National Central University, Taiwan (ROC). His research interests include IS project management and IS personnel.