Do Cultural Differences in Successful ERP Implementations Exist?
Using a methodology grounded in business process
change theory, we investigate the critical success factors that affect
ERP implementation success in United States and India.
Specifically, we examine the ERP implementation at two case study
companies, one in each country. Our findings suggest that certain
factors that affect the success of ERP implementations are not
culturally bound, whereas some critical success factors depend on the
national culture of the country in which the system is being
implemented. We believe that the understanding of these critical
success factors will deepen the understanding of ERP
implementations and will help avoid implementation mistakes,
thereby increasing the rate of success in culturally different contexts.
Implications of the findings and future research directions for both
academicians and practitioners are also discussed.
[1] A. Parr and G. Shanks, "A model of ERP project implementation,"
Journal of Information Technology, vol. 15, 2000, pp.289-303.
[2] J.J. Williams and A. Ramaprasad, "A taxonomy of critical success
factors," European Journal of Information Systems, vol. 5, 1996,
pp.250-260.
[3] A.C. Boynton and R.W. Zmud, "An assessment of critical success
factors," Sloan Management Review, vol. 25, no. 4, 1984, pp.17-27.
[4] J. Rockart, "Chief executives define their own data needs," Harvard
Business Review, vol. 57, no. 2, pp.81-93, March-April, 1979.
[5] J. Esteves and J. Pastor, "Towards unification of critical success factors
for ERP implementations," Proceedings of the 10th Annual Business
Information Technology (BIT) Conference, Manchester, 2000, pp.44-
52.
[6] M. Al-Mashari, A. Al-Mudimigh, and M. Zairi, "Enterprise resource
planning: a taxonomy of critical factors," European Journal of
Operational Research, vol. 146, no. 2, 2003, pp.352-364.
[7] T.M. Somers and K.G. Nelson, "A taxonomy of players and activities
across the ERP project life cycle," Information and Management, vol.
41, 2004, pp.257-278.
[8] V.B. Gargeya and C. Brady, "Success and failure factors of adopting
SAP in ERP system implementation," Business Process Management
Journal, vol. 11, no. 5, 2005, pp.501-516.
[9] W. Tsai, S. Chien, P. Hsu, and J. Leu, "Identification of critical failure
factors in the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
system in Taiwan-s industries," International Journal of Management
and Enterprise Development, vol. 2, no. 2, 2005, pp.219-239.
[10] R.C. Beatty and C.D. Williams, "ERP II: Best practices for successfully
implementing an ERP upgrade," Communications of the ACM, vol. 49,
no. 3, 2006, pp.105-109.
[11] S. King and T.F. Burgess, "Beyond critical success factors: a dynamic
model of enterprise system innovation," International Journal of
Information Management, vol. 26, no. 1, 2006, pp.59-69.
[12] P. Ifinedo, "An investigation of the impacts of some external contextual
factors on ERP systems success assessment: a case of firms in Baltic-
Nordic region," International Journal of Internet and Enterprise
Management, vol. 4, no. 4, 2006, pp.355-378.
[13] J. Motwani, A. Y. Akbulut, Z.M. Mohamed, and C.H. Greene,
"Organizational factors for successful implementation of ERP systems,"
International Journal of Business Information Systems, vol. 3, no. 2,
2008, pp.158-182.
[14] G. Hofstede, Culture-s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors,
Institutions, and Organizations across Nations, Second ed., London,
England: Sage, 2001.
[15] W. Kettinger, and V. Grover, "Toward a theory of business process
change management," Journal of Management Information Systems,
vol. 12, no. 1, 1995, pp. 1-30.
[16] M. Alavi and P. Carlson, "A review of MIS research and disciplinary
development," Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 8, no.
4, 1992, pp.45-62.
[17] R.K Yin, Case Study Research, Sage Publications, Applied Social
Research Methods Series, no. 5, 1994.
[18] J. Kotter, "Leading change: why transformation efforts fail," Harvard
Business Review, vol. 73, no. 2 , 1995, pp. 59-67.
[19] R. Buck-Emden, The SAP R/3 System: An Introduction to ERP and
Business, Software Technology. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2000.
[20] Project Management Institute (PMI) A Guide to the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 2000.
[21] T.H. Davenport, "Business process reengineering, where it's been, where
it's going-, in Business Process Change: Concepts, Methods and
Technologies, V. Grover and W.J. Kettinger (eds), Harrisburg PA: Idea
Publishing, 1995, pp.1-13.
[22] M. Roseman, W. Sedera and G. Gable, "Critical success factors of
process modeling for enterprise systems," Proceedings of the Americas
Conference on Information Systems, Boston, Massachusetts, August 3-
5, 2001, pp. 1128-1130.
[23] P. Bingi, M.K. Sharma, and J.K. Godla, "Critical issues affecting an
ERP implementation," Information Systems Management, vol. 16, no.
3, 1999, pp. 7-14.
[24] C. Holland and B. Light "A critical success factors model for ERP
implementation," Proceedings of the European Conference on
Information Systems, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 23-25, 1999.
[25] D. Allen, T. Kern, and M. Havenhand, "ERP critical success factors: an
exploration of the contextual factors in public sector institutions,"
Proceedings of the 35th Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences, Computer Society Press, 2002, pp.3062- 3071.
[26] C. Brown, and I. Vessey, "ERP implementation approaches: toward a
contingency framework," Proceedings of the International Conference
on Information Systems, December 13-15, Charlotte, North Carolina,
1999, pp.411-416.
[27] M.G. Murray and G.W.A. Coffin, "Case study analysis of factors for
success in ERP system implementations," Proceedings of the Americas
Conference on Information Systems, Boston, Massachusetts, August 3-
5, 2001, pp.1012-1018.
[28] M. Sumner, "Critical success factors in enterprise-wide information
management system projects," Proceedings of the Americas Conference
on Information Systems, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 13-15, 1999,
pp.232-234.
[29] E. Umble, R. Haft, and M. Umble, "Enterprise resource planning:
Implementation procedures and critical success factors," European
Journal of Operational Research, vol. 146, no. 2, 2003, pp. 241-257.
[1] A. Parr and G. Shanks, "A model of ERP project implementation,"
Journal of Information Technology, vol. 15, 2000, pp.289-303.
[2] J.J. Williams and A. Ramaprasad, "A taxonomy of critical success
factors," European Journal of Information Systems, vol. 5, 1996,
pp.250-260.
[3] A.C. Boynton and R.W. Zmud, "An assessment of critical success
factors," Sloan Management Review, vol. 25, no. 4, 1984, pp.17-27.
[4] J. Rockart, "Chief executives define their own data needs," Harvard
Business Review, vol. 57, no. 2, pp.81-93, March-April, 1979.
[5] J. Esteves and J. Pastor, "Towards unification of critical success factors
for ERP implementations," Proceedings of the 10th Annual Business
Information Technology (BIT) Conference, Manchester, 2000, pp.44-
52.
[6] M. Al-Mashari, A. Al-Mudimigh, and M. Zairi, "Enterprise resource
planning: a taxonomy of critical factors," European Journal of
Operational Research, vol. 146, no. 2, 2003, pp.352-364.
[7] T.M. Somers and K.G. Nelson, "A taxonomy of players and activities
across the ERP project life cycle," Information and Management, vol.
41, 2004, pp.257-278.
[8] V.B. Gargeya and C. Brady, "Success and failure factors of adopting
SAP in ERP system implementation," Business Process Management
Journal, vol. 11, no. 5, 2005, pp.501-516.
[9] W. Tsai, S. Chien, P. Hsu, and J. Leu, "Identification of critical failure
factors in the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)
system in Taiwan-s industries," International Journal of Management
and Enterprise Development, vol. 2, no. 2, 2005, pp.219-239.
[10] R.C. Beatty and C.D. Williams, "ERP II: Best practices for successfully
implementing an ERP upgrade," Communications of the ACM, vol. 49,
no. 3, 2006, pp.105-109.
[11] S. King and T.F. Burgess, "Beyond critical success factors: a dynamic
model of enterprise system innovation," International Journal of
Information Management, vol. 26, no. 1, 2006, pp.59-69.
[12] P. Ifinedo, "An investigation of the impacts of some external contextual
factors on ERP systems success assessment: a case of firms in Baltic-
Nordic region," International Journal of Internet and Enterprise
Management, vol. 4, no. 4, 2006, pp.355-378.
[13] J. Motwani, A. Y. Akbulut, Z.M. Mohamed, and C.H. Greene,
"Organizational factors for successful implementation of ERP systems,"
International Journal of Business Information Systems, vol. 3, no. 2,
2008, pp.158-182.
[14] G. Hofstede, Culture-s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors,
Institutions, and Organizations across Nations, Second ed., London,
England: Sage, 2001.
[15] W. Kettinger, and V. Grover, "Toward a theory of business process
change management," Journal of Management Information Systems,
vol. 12, no. 1, 1995, pp. 1-30.
[16] M. Alavi and P. Carlson, "A review of MIS research and disciplinary
development," Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 8, no.
4, 1992, pp.45-62.
[17] R.K Yin, Case Study Research, Sage Publications, Applied Social
Research Methods Series, no. 5, 1994.
[18] J. Kotter, "Leading change: why transformation efforts fail," Harvard
Business Review, vol. 73, no. 2 , 1995, pp. 59-67.
[19] R. Buck-Emden, The SAP R/3 System: An Introduction to ERP and
Business, Software Technology. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 2000.
[20] Project Management Institute (PMI) A Guide to the Project
Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide), 2000.
[21] T.H. Davenport, "Business process reengineering, where it's been, where
it's going-, in Business Process Change: Concepts, Methods and
Technologies, V. Grover and W.J. Kettinger (eds), Harrisburg PA: Idea
Publishing, 1995, pp.1-13.
[22] M. Roseman, W. Sedera and G. Gable, "Critical success factors of
process modeling for enterprise systems," Proceedings of the Americas
Conference on Information Systems, Boston, Massachusetts, August 3-
5, 2001, pp. 1128-1130.
[23] P. Bingi, M.K. Sharma, and J.K. Godla, "Critical issues affecting an
ERP implementation," Information Systems Management, vol. 16, no.
3, 1999, pp. 7-14.
[24] C. Holland and B. Light "A critical success factors model for ERP
implementation," Proceedings of the European Conference on
Information Systems, Copenhagen, Denmark, June 23-25, 1999.
[25] D. Allen, T. Kern, and M. Havenhand, "ERP critical success factors: an
exploration of the contextual factors in public sector institutions,"
Proceedings of the 35th Hawaii International Conference on System
Sciences, Computer Society Press, 2002, pp.3062- 3071.
[26] C. Brown, and I. Vessey, "ERP implementation approaches: toward a
contingency framework," Proceedings of the International Conference
on Information Systems, December 13-15, Charlotte, North Carolina,
1999, pp.411-416.
[27] M.G. Murray and G.W.A. Coffin, "Case study analysis of factors for
success in ERP system implementations," Proceedings of the Americas
Conference on Information Systems, Boston, Massachusetts, August 3-
5, 2001, pp.1012-1018.
[28] M. Sumner, "Critical success factors in enterprise-wide information
management system projects," Proceedings of the Americas Conference
on Information Systems, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, August 13-15, 1999,
pp.232-234.
[29] E. Umble, R. Haft, and M. Umble, "Enterprise resource planning:
Implementation procedures and critical success factors," European
Journal of Operational Research, vol. 146, no. 2, 2003, pp. 241-257.
@article{"International Journal of Business, Human and Social Sciences:49992", author = "Jaideep Motwani and Asli Yagmur Akbulut", title = "Do Cultural Differences in Successful ERP Implementations Exist?", abstract = "Using a methodology grounded in business process
change theory, we investigate the critical success factors that affect
ERP implementation success in United States and India.
Specifically, we examine the ERP implementation at two case study
companies, one in each country. Our findings suggest that certain
factors that affect the success of ERP implementations are not
culturally bound, whereas some critical success factors depend on the
national culture of the country in which the system is being
implemented. We believe that the understanding of these critical
success factors will deepen the understanding of ERP
implementations and will help avoid implementation mistakes,
thereby increasing the rate of success in culturally different contexts.
Implications of the findings and future research directions for both
academicians and practitioners are also discussed.", keywords = "Critical Success Factors, Culture, Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, India, United States", volume = "3", number = "6", pages = "614-6", }
