Enterprise system (ES) is being considered an important phenomenon in the corporate use of information technology, enhancing organizational cross functional efficiency and effectiveness through the integration of all the information flowing through a company.
The implementation and use of this system involve high expenditure and risk and it has a great impact in every aspect of an adopting organization. The wrong selection of this system would have an adverse effect on the company performance. So the selection of this system deserves considerable attention from the practitioner and researcher.
In this study, our objective is to identify the influencing factors on the ES selection process from the existing theory and investigate them in real life situation from the client and vendor’s perspectives.
To fulfil the first objective of the study, we have made a comprehensive review on ES literature and synthesized an integrated framework of influencing factors on the ES selection process. To fulfil the other objective, we have made a qualitative empirical study through multiple case study approach.
To collect necessary in-depth information, we have used purposive sampling and general interview guide approach. The integrated framework has guided us in empirical study and the cross case analysis of empirical data has been performed on the basis of this framework from the view point of client and vendor.
The result of this study shows that there exists a good fit between client and vendor views about the influencing factors on the ES selection process, in spite of insignificant imbalance between them.
The result also reveals that most of the influencing factors of integrated framework have been recognized both by client and vendor with some diversity. Three new influencing factors: geographical proximity, requirement specification and sales skill of vendor have emerged from the study.
Source: Jönköping University
Authors: Hossain, Mohammad | Cao, Shuang