Managing Operational Enterprise Resource Planning Applications

This book explains an investigation into the ongoing benefits management of enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. A conceptual model that details the key factors relevant to ongoing management and evaluation is identified and used to position the study. One of the key findings of the study is that the decisions that are made early in an applications lifecycle may well impact the resultant business benefits for the life of the application. These decisions are often made by organisational stakeholders who have insufficient knowledge of the application and who are inadequately supported by consultants concerning macro business matters. The antecedents of poor decisions are very difficult, in terms of time, complexity and cost, to recover from and they can ultimately result in ERP abandonment. The major recommendation is that an organisation takes managerial ownership of the application as early as possible. A framework that specifies the factors that an organisation needs to understand to properly manage an operational ERP application are explained and the management processes defined.