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The purpose of this paper is to develop a benefits realisation road‐map for ERP usage in the context of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

Direct interviews were used to collect data from a random sample of 48 MBA students and 87 business managers (CIO/IT directors and CFO roles).

The ERP benefits road‐map suggests that a long‐term vision is required in order to obtain a successful realisation of the potential benefits that ERP could bring. Thus, this analysis suggests that ERP benefits realisation dimensions are interconnected, and that managers should perceive ERP benefits realisation as a continuum cycle along the ERP post‐implementation. Furthermore, new ERP updates and maintenance projects must take into account the results of ERP benefits realisation auditing to review ERP configuration, correct possible mistakes, and improve the efficiency of some expected ERP benefits.

Although the study focuses on the factors that influence ERP benefits realisation, it fails to differentiate between some factors that may influence the realisation of these benefits, such as size and type of company, ERP system implemented, and organisational context.

The results may help to improve the understanding of ERP success and satisfaction levels, both expected and perceived, from ERP stakeholders. The findings also suggest that auditing the realisation of ERP benefits is a crucial stage in ERP usage phase.

The paper contributes to the current literature in the benefits of ERP systems by defining a benefits realisation road‐map to achieve the ERP benefits identified in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore practical methods for benefits realisation, with the intention of investigating if they are variance of a theme or rather can be classified as different approaches.

Based on a document study of Norwegian methods‐in‐use, this study uses an analytical comparison following an assimilation‐accommodation procedure to categorize the chosen methods as instances of approaches to benefits realisation.

This study documents the emergence of several methods from practice in the last half decade. This analysis suggests the existence of three distinct approaches to benefits realisation and defines these according to their central features.

This is a document study that could have been enhanced by empirical data on first‐hand experiences from the use of these methods. The findings of this study document a critical investigation of methods for benefits realisation, providing an enhanced base framework of three approaches for future research to build on.

This study provides fresh perspectives on benefits realisation by suggesting that existing methods differ to an extent that the authors argue they belong to different approaches that are likely to cause quite different results in practical use. This has important implications for both research and practice, as research should analyse benefits realisation efforts according to approach, and practice needs to carefully consider their choice of method based on their actual needs. Further, the paper employs an established analytical framework for a novel definition of approaches to the field of benefits realisation in the public sector.

The purpose of this paper is to increase our understanding of the requirements for public sector organizations to implement benefits realization practices. The research compares benefits realization practices as suggested by the literature with actual practice with the goal of identifying both insufficiencies in the current literature and challenges in practice that must be overcome to improve the current situation.

The case study approach is used to study benefits realization across national and local government organizations.

Five major challenges that are not dealt with by existing literature were identified: benefits realization requires not just organizational capabilities, but also inter-organizational capabilities; coordination of benefits realization across organizational units, local and central government and across internal organizational levels is both essential and very challenging; managing benefits realization includes much more than integrating benefits realization practices in IT projects; different benefits realization practices are needed at central government level, local management level and case worker level; and different uses of technology require different levels of benefits realization capabilities and different practices. The case also illustrates that under certain conditions, organization can actually realize significant improvements with limited benefits realization capabilities: When IT is used not to change but to fully automate processes, the reliance on formal benefits realization practices is decreased.

The findings are based on a single case.

There is only little empirical research studying benefits realization in a public sector context. Furthermore, the research studies benefits realization from an organizational process perspective, and not from the perspective of IT projects.

While digital transformation holds immense promise, organizations often fail to realize its benefits. This study aims to address how policies for digital transformation benefits realization are translated into practice.

The authors apply a qualitative, comparative case study of two large, public-sector health care organizations in Sweden. Through document and interview data, the authors analyze the process of translation.

The study finds that practice variation is primarily caused by two types of decoupling: policy-practice and means-ends. Contrary to previous studies, coercion in policy compliance is not found to decrease practice variation.

The limitations primarily stem from the empirical selection of two large public health-care organizations in Sweden, affecting the study’s generalizability. Reducing practice variation is more effectively achieved through goal alignment than coercion, leading to implications for the design of governance and control.

Policymakers should, instead of focusing on control-related compliance, work to align organizational objectives and policies to decrease practice variation for successful benefits realization.

The study contributes to better benefits realization of digital transformation initiatives in health care. As such, the authors contribute to a better functioning and more transformative health care in times of increased demand and decreased supply of health-care services.

The study challenges conventional wisdom by identifying that coercion is less effective than goal alignment in reducing practice variation, thereby enhancing the understanding of policy implementation dynamics in health-care settings.

Recent research has proposed the position of a project owner as the individual accountable for realizing target benefits. However, there is a lack of understanding in the literature of this role – in particular, the specific responsibilities of the project owner that can enhance benefits realization and operations performance. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The paper identifies these responsibilities in practice through two studies – a qualitative study, which includes interviews with senior executives who fund projects, and an in-depth longitudinal case study, which describes a company that continuously realizes the benefits from its projects.

The results suggest that a project owner should have 22 key responsibilities across four project phases and that an operations manager is often the most suitable candidate to fulfill this role in operations improvement projects. When performing these project responsibilities effectively, operations managers enhance benefits realization and operations improvement. Finally, the paper proposes five hypotheses for future research.

Based on agency theory, the paper increases our knowledge of the role of the project owner in practice. This new knowledge can enhance the realization of target benefits from projects and ensure a smooth transition from the project to the operations environment.

This paper considers the problems of evaluating the benefits of an investment in information technology and systems against a background of institutional change. It is based on a case study in the National Health Service and follows the progress of a project to introduce benefits realisation in NHS Trusts. The case illustrates the importance of personal, hands‐on attention to benefits management and calls attention to the different contingencies faced by managers in attempting to introduce evaluation or benefits realisation schemes. It concludes that, where managers face “certain” contingencies, formative evaluation will be beneficial, but where the contingencies are uncertain, structural changes in the organisation may be more effective in achieving benefits. The paper ends with a plea for evaluation activities to be re‐integrated into their organisational context.

This paper seeks to focus on the requirements to manage change, tangible and intangible benefits in a joint approach to deliver outputs on time, to quality and cost without failing to realise the benefits of the change. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the need for benefits‐driven programme/project management as well as the importance of identifying the stakeholders' level of involvement and contribution throughout the process, and manage their expectations.

The methodology used is based on an action research approach, combining findings from a literature review and case studies within UK's primary healthcare sector.

Findings demonstrate development of a Benefits Realisation (BeReal) approach in healthcare through looking at case studies taking place within UK's primary and acute healthcare sector.

The framework development is based on theoretical evidence and further research is needed to test and validate its robustness.

The paper highlights the application of benefits realisation and management in developing and delivering primary healthcare facilities.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how benefits management is applied to office fit‐out projects, in terms of benefits identification, benefits planning, benefits control and benefits realisation.

Three case studies, based in Perth (Western Australia) are investigated based on structured interviews with the project sponsor; and analysis of secondary documentation, such as business cases, briefs, and post‐occupancy evaluations.

There is no coherent, holistic application of benefits management models in office fit‐out projects. There are fragments of benefits management evident from the research, such as benefits identification and planning within business cases and briefs, and benefits realisation through post‐occupancy evaluations.

The research is based on three case studies, so it is not possible to draw any strong generalisations. Future studies are needed to corroborate or contradict the findings in this research.

The results highlight some aspects of benefits management in office fit‐out projects that could be improved, particularly the setting of key performance indicators for benefits, and more formal benefits control and realisation processes.

This research is the first to take the construct of benefits management, which is primarily applied to information systems projects, and investigate its application in building projects.

The purpose of this paper is to address the call for more public sector empirical studies on benefits realisation (BR), to contribute to the literature on BR as a dynamic capability (DC) within the context of IT-enabled innovation in a public sector context and to highlight the challenges facing organisations if they adopt a BR competence and capability framework.

The empirical research conducted within this paper is an exploratory survey. Exploratory surveys are particularly useful when investigating a little known phenomenon and can help to uncover or provide preliminary evidence of association among concepts. This survey was a census of all National Health Service acute hospital trusts in England.

The study indicates that most hospitals that participated in the survey have a basic approach to BR and have yet to develop a more mature approach that would provide the strong micro-foundations of a BR capability.

The BR framework that has been the basis of the survey is interesting in terms of its components but is limited with regards to the micro-foundations of a benefits realisation capability within an organisation. The research suggests that organisations in the public sector need to focus much more on staff development and recruitment in the area of BR to ensure that they have the appropriate skills sets for a rapidly changing environment.

The paper proposes a framework for BR capabilities and IT-enabled change, and suggests that although the concept of maturity is valuable when considering the micro-foundations of BR, DCs change and respond to stimuli within the external and internal environment and must be renewed and refreshed regularly.

Investments in information technology (IT) are large and growing and require management attention. This study investigated processes associated with IT benefit management (ITBM) to realise benefits during the development of a new system, to retrofit ITBM processes against an existing system, and to review ITBM processes against an existing system without retrofitting. The case study approach was used to ameliorate the shortage of qualitative research in IT value. The study identified key processes required during IT benefit realisation, changes in processes during retrofitting and strong and weak processes during review. All three approaches were found to be operational effective with the review approach having some strategic effectiveness. Operational effectiveness ensured that social subsystem costs and benefits and complementary assets were identified. To make the review approach more strategically effective requires definitive IT goals to be set. The application of the “3Rs” during case analyses enabled success factors for ITBM to be identified.