From transactional user to VIP: how organizational and cognitive factors affect ERP assimilation at individual level

Abstract

This study extends the enterprise resource planning (ERP) assimilation research from organizational level to individual level with the argument that it is the individual users who transform ERP systems’ capabilities into organizational performance. We employed a multi-case study method in this exploratory research with the objectives of defining individual level ERP assimilation and identifying key influential factors. Interviews with ERP users at all levels in five organizations revealed four key drivers: influence of supervisors, performance evaluation schemes, intrinsic motivation, and perceived usefulness, as well as two significant moderators: job specifications and individual absorptive capacity. Moreover, evidence suggests a potential relationship between individual level and organizational level ERP assimilations. Our findings highlight the importance of individual level assimilation within a firm in the post-implementation phase and provide managerial insights on how firms could improve ERP assimilation at the individual level that could impact the organizational level assimilation.

Keywords:

• enterprise resource planning (ERP)
• individual level assimilation
• organizational level assimilation
• multi-case study

Acknowledgements

This research was partially funded by a grant from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (Contract #71028003). The authors would like to express their gratitude to the executives, managers, and users in the case companies for their time and contribution to this study. We are also indebted to the editor, associate editor, and the anonymous review team for their insightful and constructive comments which helped significantly to improve the quality, rigor, and readability of the manuscript.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Luning Liu

Luning Liu is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Management Science and Engineering in the School of Management at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China. He received his B.S. and M.S. in Information Systems from HIT. His research primarily focuses on enterprise information systems implementation and assimilation. His work has been published in Management Review and conferences including the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences and the Americas Conference on Information Systems.

Yuqiang Feng

Yuqiang Feng is Professor and Chair of the Department of Management Science and Engineering in the School of Management at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), China. She received her B.S. in Computer Science, M.S. in Management Engineering, and Ph.D. in Management Science and Engineering from HIT. Her research primarily focuses on management information systems, decision support systems, negotiation support systems, and online auction. Her work has been published in Scientometrics, Journal of Management Sciences in China, System Engineering – Theory and Practice in China and presented at conferences including the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, the Americas Conference on Information Systems, and the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems.

Qing Hu

Qing Hu is Dean's Professor of Information Systems in the Department of Supply Chain and Information Systems at Iowa State University. He teaches IT management strategy, electronic commerce, and systems development at graduate and undergraduate levels. His research primarily focuses on the impact of IT on organizational strategy, culture, security, and performance. His work has been published in leading academic journals including MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of the AIS, Communications of the ACM, California Management Review, Journal of Management Information Systems, IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, European Journal of Information Systems, and Information Systems Journal.

Xiaojian Huang

Xiaojian Huang is Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Beijing Seeyon Software Co. in China. He has over 20 years of experience in management and practice in ERP industry. He was Executive Vice-President of SAP (China) and Vice-President of Kingdee International Software Group Co. His work has been presented at conferences such as the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.