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This study aims to explain the implementation of Cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and underlying factors and challenges that might be practiced by the users. It also provides a comparison between traditional and Cloud ERP systems.

The study uses qualitative case study and analyzes the primary evidences from in-depth interviews. It conducts a thematic analysis of the interviews' findings. Furthermore, the current study uses three groups of factors (technological, management and environmental) that are expected to be best determinants of the Cloud ERP implementation.

The findings provide an evidence that using the Cloud EPR system, as alternative to on premise traditional ERP system, is constructive to the success of organizations and improve the quality of their decision-making process. The findings also reveal that effectiveness of implementing Cloud ERP is reliable on the provider's professionalism; hence resulting in issues related to minimize organizational independence.

This paper is subjected to case studies limitations, as it lacks rigor and generalization. The paper has important implications for practitioners and decision-makers alike as it presents real-life example about Cloud ERP implementation. It thus enhances decision-makers' ability to make a relevant reporting process in the small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

This study can be considered as a one of very few case studies that discusses Cloud ERP implementation in UAE organizations particularly SMEs. It also provides three groups of factors (technological, management and environmental) that are influenced by the Cloud ERP implementation.

This paper aims to examine the influence of organizational support, subjective norm and output quality on end-users' usage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in China.

A conceptual framework is formed based on technology acceptance model literature. Data were collected through a survey on 127 ERP users in small- to middle-sized Chinese firms. Multiple regression analysis was employed.

Subjective norm and output quality determine the perceived usefulness of ERP. Communication has a significant impact on both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of the use of ERP, which further influence ERP usage.

Future research should consider the adoption of different kinds of ERP systems in other countries.

The findings may help organizations effectively use ERP and other kinds of technology systems. In particular, efficient training should be a focus of organizational support in systems implementation.

This study focuses on the impact of organizational training and output quality on end-users' usage of ERP in China.

Centralization, which indicates distribution of decision-making power in organizations, is well-discussed in innovation literature as one of the influencing factors of innovation implementation. Motivated by a gap in enterprise resource planning (ERP) research, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of centralization on the success of ERP implementation.

Centralization is characterized twofold: policy-related centralization (PRC) and work-related centralization (WRC). ERP implementation success is captured in terms of user acceptance and the use of the ERP system. Using organizational innovation theory, six hypotheses relating centralization, ERP implementation success, and organization size are built and tested using data gathered from 51 Indian organizations that implemented ERP. The data are analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling.

User acceptance is significantly inhibited by PRC. WRC has a negative influence on use. The negative influence of PRC on acceptance is more pronounced in the case of larger organizations. On the whole, a decentralized set-up is favorable to ERP implementation success.

The study highlights the impact of a centralized management structure on success of ERP implementation and in doing so, it demarcates the varied influence of two types of centralization. It contributes to the scarce research on ERP implementation using the strong theoretical basis of organizational innovation. The findings highlight the implications of centralization to the implementation outcomes, for organizations embarking upon ERP.

Consistent with the diffusion of innovation (DOI) model and resource‐based view (RBV) theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop a research model for measuring enterprise resource planning (ERP) post‐adoption and its consequence on small and medium enterprise (SME) performance.

The model links six determinants based on DOI to explain “ERP use” and three on RBV to explain the “ERP value”, on which nine hypotheses are postulated. Testing was conducted through structural equation modelling, utilizing data from 558 web‐surveyed firms in Portugal and Spain.

Full sample analysis finds that competitive pressure, training, best‐practices, compatibility, and efficiency are important antecedents of “ERP use”. Together with usage, collaboration and analytics capabilities contribute to “ERP value”. Cross‐country analysis reveals that complexity is an important inhibitor for “ERP use” in Portuguese firms whereas it is a facilitator for Spanish firms. In addition, while for Portuguese firms, compatibility and efficiency are significant, they are not for Spanish firms. For “ERP value”, while use and collaboration are more important for Portuguese firms, analytics is more important for Spanish.

The paper provides insight into how SMEs use and value ERP; however, the authors cannot speak empirically on the issue of whether value is sustained, or on maturity stages, or on the impact of different industries.

The paper describes the first empirical research study on Iberian SMEs, thus adding a cross‐country dimension to the innovation diffusion literature. Unlike the typical focus on ERP adoption found in the literature, this paper focuses on post‐adoption stages, linking usage with value.

To identify, classify, and propose a preliminary theory of the value conflicts and social choices that arise in enterprise system use.

Ethnographic case study of a medium‐sized manufacturing firm, using a participant‐observer approach.

Three areas of value conflict are identified between functional areas: conflicts over work priorities, conflicts over dependency on the commitments of others, and conflicts over evaluation fairness. When participants perceived that the value conflicts were accommodated in a balanced and legitimate way, they chose to use information resources within the enterprise system. When the conflicts were perceived as too great, participants chose to ignore the enterprise system, or develop their own competing information resources.

This paper reports on theory building from one intensive case study. It implies, however, that previous attempts to account for the difficulty of enterprise resource planning (ERP) use have not focused enough on the social relationships between the functional areas that are tightly integrated through enterprise systems.

The three value conflict questions (work priorities, dependency on commitments, and evaluation fairness) can be used to identify potential ERP problem areas, and to clarify the costs and benefits of different ERP choices for various functional areas.

For information systems researchers and practitioners, this paper offers another means for identifying value conflicts and social choices in computerization, hopefully bringing us closer to Rob Kling's dream that computerization choices be made in a more socially benign way.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the antecedents of ERP use and use of alternative software packages simultaneously.

An exploratory model was composed based on literature on adoption and diffusion of innovations in general and ERP in specific. The model was tested using a sample of 486 Dutch midsized enterprises of the electrical, engineering and metal industries. Using two regression analyses we identify the effect of ERP related factors on ERP adoption and the simultaneous use of alternative software solutions.

ERP adoption is significantly related to ERP complexity (positive), ERP compatibility (negative), IT competence (negative), and ERP sellers' marketing efforts (positive). For the ERP adopters that also use other software packages the following relationships were significant: ERP's additional flexibility, ERP compatibility (positive), IT competence (positive), ERP sellers' marketing efforts (negative), and company size.

As any sample, ours is limited and the findings may be validated among other populations. In‐depth qualitative research may help gaining deeper insights into actual decision processes.

Companies considering investing in ERP are aware of the influence sellers might have; companies should consider alternatives to ERP systems to overcome flexibility problems emanating from ERP use. This will most likely help to maintain their competitive advantage in the marketplace. It will require some internal IT competence to help make the right decisions, i.e. balance need for integration of software and product/service differentiation towards customers.

This is the first paper on the issue of the exclusive use of ERP systems versus the simultaneous use of alternative packages.

The purpose of this paper is to examine various factors affecting users' behavioral intention to use (BIU) enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, based on data from 75 potential end‐users of ERP systems.

A survey methodology is used to gather data. The research model is constructed based on the findings of the previous studies.

The results indicate that subjective norms, perceived usefulness (PU) and education level are determinants of BIU the system. In addition, PU affects attitude toward use, and both perceived ease of use (PEOU) and compatibility affect PU. In addition, among personal characteristics, education level has a significant effect on PEOU and behavioral intention. However, there is no significant relationship between attitude and behavioral intention.

As the sample is limited, the findings will require validation among other populations.

This paper provides evidence that compatibility and PEOU are important for the users to perceive the system's usefulness. Also, subjective norm is very important for the BIU the ERP systems.

This paper combines technology acceptance model, theory of reasoned action and innovation diffusion theory with personal characteristics of gender, education level and experience to determine the factors important for the acceptance of ERP systems.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have been implemented in most organizations for a few years. ERP solutions go through three phases of lifecycle: selection, implementation and operation phase; the operation phase consists of the stabilization stage and the routine stage. To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of ERP system use in the operation phase, organizations need to research the factors that have impact on users' satisfaction. A literature shows that few published studies have examined users' adoption of ERP systems through a technological acceptance model (TAM) or examined external factors that have influence the intention to use an ERP system, or ERP use in the stabilization stage. The purpose of this paper is to expose and research external factors which have influence on ERP users in the operation phase of ERP lifecycle and to investigate the impact of those factors on ERP system use.

The TAM proposed by Davis has been the most widely‐used model for researching user acceptance and usage of information technology/information systems. Despite the existence of several additions to TAM connected with ERP use, the authors aim to make further contribution in the area of external factors. Within this context the present research is focused on the mature use of ERP system (more than one year of ERP use in an organization). A limited number of external factors mentioned in already published papers connected with TAM regarding ERP use has also been extended. The authors have researched the effect of external factors through the second‐order factors on the original TAM. The model has been empirically tested using the data collected from a survey of 161 ERP users from a national telecom company, which has been using an ERP system since 1999. The model has been analysed using PLS approach.

The study shows that extended external factors observed through the second‐order factors have important influence on ERP usefulness and ERP ease of use; they also have a strong influence on the attitude toward using ERP system by ERP users in the routine (maturity) stage.

The paper researches the factors which have an impact on ERP solution use in the routine (mature) stage of ERP lifecycle. The paper adds to the literature, in that few previous studies have examined the users' adoption of ERP systems through the TAM or examined external factors that have influence on the intention to use an ERP system or ERP use in the stabilization stage.

The purpose of this paper is first, to develop a methodological framework for conducting a comprehensive literature review on an empirical phenomenon based on a vast amount of papers published. Second, to use this framework to gain an understanding of the current state of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) research field, and third, based on the literature review, to develop a conceptual framework identifying areas of concern with regard to ERP systems.

Abstracts from 885 peer‐reviewed journal publications from 2000 to 2009 have been analysed according to journal, authors and year of publication, and further categorised into research discipline, research topic and methods used, using the structured methodological framework.

The body of academic knowledge about ERP systems has reached a certain maturity and several different research disciplines have contributed to the field from different points of view using different methods, showing that the ERP research field is very much an interdisciplinary field. It demonstrates that the number of ERP publications has decreased, and it indicates that the academic interest in ERP is driven by an interest in an empirical phenomenon rather than that ERP is a new research discipline. Different research topics of interest are identified and used in developing a conceptual framework for “areas of concern” regarding ERP systems. Finally the usefulness of the framework is confirmed by analysing one specific aspect of ERP research; business process reengineering (BPR) to establish which theories different authors and journals have used in their efforts to explore BPR and ERP.

The findings of the literature study, the structured methodological framework for comprehensive literature review and the conceptual framework identifying different areas of concern are believed to be useful for other researchers in their effort to obtain an overview of the evolution of the ERP research field and in positioning their own ERP research.

The paper provides guidance for researchers with insight into what has been published, where to publish ERP‐related research and how to study it, and in positioning their own interest in ERP systems in the interdisciplinary research field. Access to the EndNote database containing bibliographical data of more than 880 papers can be used in future research and literature analysis. For managers, the conceptual framework can be useful in increasing their understanding of the complexity and areas of concern with regard to the ERP system.

The paper presents a structured methodological framework for analysing a vast amount of academic publications with an interest in an empirical phenomenon, demonstration of how academic interdisciplinary interest in ERP has evolved over time and reached a certain amount of maturity and a conceptual framework of areas of concern with regard to ERP systems.

Competitive advantage can be gained in several ways including gaining a knowledge advantage (K‐Adv). This paper sets out to report on the first stage of broad study to assess the effectiveness of implementing an enterprise resource planning system (ERP) from a knowledge management (KM) perspective.

The study used a survey of a small but representative group to gain feedback in their experience of using the ERP system. Results are evaluated using a KM framework, the knowledge advantage (K‐Adv) capability maturity model (CMM) tool that was initially developed for use by construction organisations to assess the impact of leadership and its supporting ICT infrastructure on the ability of people (by effectively creating, sharing, disseminating and using knowledge) operating in a highly dynamic business environment.

The K‐Adv framework analysis for the study indicates that the ERP system was seen as a useful tool for cost management and that its deployment effectiveness is mainly dependent on human‐to‐human knowledge transfer about how to make the ERP system work. Also, how leaders in organisations facilitate and support people is a critical enabler of the ERP system deployment. The K‐Adv CMM tool was useful in making sense of the degree of organisational maturity from a KM perspective.

The findings first highlight the usefulness of focusing on people‐support in using the ERP adoption in this organisation's context and, second, they illustrate how a CMM tool like the K‐Adv can be used to evaluate KM practices.

The likely effectiveness of use of an ERP is well‐known. However, the originality of the paper is twofold. First, it explains effective ERP application drivers and inhibitors from a KM perspective. Second, it tests and adapts a tool that helps evaluate KM effectiveness and assists better understanding of how these practices are enacted from a cost management business unit perspective.