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ERP in the minds of supervisors: Joint roles of task interdependence and cultural norms

Elliot Bendoly (Department of Decision and Information Analysis, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
Daniel G. Bachrach (Department of Management, Culverhouse College of Commerce, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA)
Hui Wang (Department of Organization Management, Guanghua School of Management, Beijing University, Beijing, People's Republic of China)
Shouyang Zhang (Department of Management and Marketing, Culverhouse College of Commerce, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA)

International Journal of Operations & Production Management

ISSN: 0144-3577

Article publication date: 1 May 2006

2026

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to test the existence of direct and moderating effects of task interdependence and culture on supervisory views of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.

Design/methodology/approach

To analyze these effects, an experiment was conducted in the USA and The People's Republic of China. A total of 304 management supervisors participated. Participants were exposed to an interdependence manipulation and then rated the importance of ERP in the case contexts described by experimental treatments.

Findings

Results support the moderating effects of culture on the extent to which task interdependence impacts managerial views of the communicative capabilities of ERP systems. Task interdependence effects are much less severe among the views of Chinese managers.

Research limitations/implications

Main limitations potentially stem from our specific operationalizations of the factors studied as well as selectivity of the subject pool. As with many empirical comparisons of culture, these limitations may confine the application of the findings to the two national contexts studied.

Practical implications

If managers in China (as compared to their US counterparts) are more enthusiastic of the communication capabilities provided by ERP systems regardless of the extent to which internal processes are interdependent, then the business cases that support ERP adoption and extension should be expected to emphasize the benefits of such capabilities. This may foster a strategic distinction in the use of these architectures in the two settings.

Originality/value

This study specifically examines the interactive effects of task interdependency and culture on managerial perceptions regarding ERP communicative capabilities.

Keywords

Citation

Bendoly, E., Bachrach, D.G., Wang, H. and Zhang, S. (2006), "ERP in the minds of supervisors: Joint roles of task interdependence and cultural norms", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 558-578. https://doi.org/10.1108/01443570610659900

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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