Custom Development as an Alternative for ERP Adoption by SMEs: An Interpretive Case Study

Abstract

There have been few studies of the adoption of custom-developed enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. An interpretive case study of a SME in the agri-food industry was thus conducted to analyze this phenomenon. The study shows that custom ERP seems to represent a credible alternative for ERP adoption by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and that to minimize risk at the adoption stage, a SME can proceed in a rather intuitive and unstructured manner, based however upon certain principles, policies, and practices.

Keywords:

• ERP
• custom development
• adoption
• implementation risk
• SME

Notes

1. The three examples of the use of theory in interpretive case studies are: as an initial guide to the design and data collection, as part of an iterative process of data collection and analysis, and as a final product of the research.

2. The three other types of generalizations are: the development of concepts, the drawing of specific implications, and the generation of theory.

3. This case is based on actual facts and existing firms. A transposition has been made to preserve the anonymity of these firms and the confidentiality of the data.

4. 4D is a software publisher (integrated development environment, data bases, application servers, and web servers) whose products are meant to accelerate the development and deployment cycles for professional applications (www.4D.fr).

5. In October 2012, one of the researchers had a follow-up phone interview with a sales manager who has been working with the company for more than 12 years. We were informed that the company is still very satisfied with SpecificSoft and has added new functionalities to the ERP system each year since it went live in 2006. For instance, a function that manages the process of booking products for or by customers was added as well as a comprehensive set of functionalities to allow for a more rigorous management of “best-before” dates. We were also informed that the company has grown to 40 employees, that Global-Delta is still a minority shareholder of the company, and that Mr. Nelson, the founder of the company, had sold the enterprise to another entrepreneur and has retired from business.