Enterprise system implementation issues: learning from field study in Poland

Abstract

This study examines enterprise system (ES) implementation issues on the basis of research conducted among practitioners dealing with ES projects in Poland. The particular topics investigated include mechanisms determining the success of ES implementations, project conditions and implementation effects. Using a success factors model and a synthetic measure of implementation success, this paper recognises the factors that have the greatest influence on implementation success. While researching project conditions, this study discusses how the ES projects researched were linked with enterprise strategy, how their efficiency was measured and to what extent they defined implementation goals. This paper analyses also the positive and negative effects of ES implementations. The effects investigated were divided into technical, economic, organisational and social results. During the analysis, the implementations examined were divided into groups of projects on the basis of their duration, scope and company size. The findings recognise the leading roles of certain factors among specific project groups and suggest that participants from the most complicated projects are most aware of the overwhelming implementation challenge. The analysis reveals some differences in perceptions and attitudes between stakeholders involved in an implementation project. Managerial and research issues are discussed, together with country-specific aspects.

Keywords:

• enterprise system
• implementation
• success factors
• project conditions
• implementation effects

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Carol Schlorff and John Held for their valuable help in proofreading this paper.