Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems development and emerging practices in the management of enterprises (i.e. parts of companies working with parts of other companies to deliver a complex product and/or service) and identify any apparent correlations. Suitable a priori contingency frameworks are then used and extended to explain apparent correlations. Discussion is given to provide guidance for researchers and practitioners to deliver better strategic, structural and operational competitive advantage through this approach; coined here as the “enterprization of operations”.

Theoretical induction uses a new empirical longitudinal case study from Zoomlion (a Chinese manufacturing company) built using an adapted form of template analysis to produce a new contingency framework.

Three main types of enterprises and the three main types of ERP systems are defined and correlations between them are explained. Two relevant a priori frameworks are used to induct a new contingency model to support the enterprization of operations; known as the dynamic enterprise reference grid for ERP (DERG-ERP).

The findings are based on one longitudinal case study. Further case studies are currently being conducted in the UK and China.

The new contingency model, the DERG-ERP, serves as a guide for ERP vendors, information systems management and operations managers hoping to grow and sustain their competitive advantage with respect to effective enterprise strategy, enterprise structure and ERP systems.

This research explains how ERP systems and the effective management of enterprises should develop in order to sustain competitive advantage with respect to enterprise strategy, enterprise structure and ERP systems use.

This paper proposes a new theoretical framework to explain enterprise unionism and conducts the first systematic comparative study of union structure in nine Asian countries. Our framework emphasizes political dynamics and the role of the state in labor relations and argues that the initial period of the collective bargaining era constituted a critical juncture (state labor policy) that occurred in distinctive ways in different countries and that these differences played a central role in shaping the different union structures in the following decades. The nine countries are mainly divided into three groups, depending on the type of state labor policy: enforcement of enterprise unionism; centralization/laissez-faire (non-enterprise unionism); and dual unionism/gradual transition (middle-ground). Governmental data were used for the study. A clear correspondence between state labor policy and union structure in each of these groups was found. We believe that our framework significantly enhances our understanding of the Asian cases. Future research should explore the validity of the proposed framework through comparative studies of Latin American cases where enterprise unions have also been observed.

A marketing‐centric view of the connected enterprise implies that qualitative information in its systems and general document structures share a marketing‐based vocabulary – we propose that this should be founded on POSIT. As any system needs to be accessed and understood by people, the basis of its construction and navigation principles should be transparent even though many component processes will be automated. Based on the use of natural language, a user‐defined glossary stems from a selection of primitives and relationships between them. Semantic mapping employing the reciprocal text‐to‐graphical capability of EXPRESS and EXPRESS G is outlined. The significance of XML and related developments is introduced in the context of qualitative information search and extraction from documents. Consensual language also aids connectivity of intranets and extranets to the Internet.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the decision process of enterprise software acquisition. The research aims to focus on identifying significant influences on enterprise software acquisition decisions.

As a research model and theoretical background, the organizational buying model (OBB) is proposed for the acquisition of enterprise systems. Influences on enterprise software acquisition decision processes were found by an empirical study carried out from a practitioner's perspective. The study collected data via a mail survey administered to information systems (IS) professionals involved in the acquisition of enterprise software (ES). The survey questionnaire was developed based on a previous research project and a literature review. Organizational buying behavior (OBB) models in the literature served as the basis for the influences included in the survey instrument. Factor analysis was carried out on the survey data to identify the most significant factors/influences.

The following five factors emerged as significant influences on the acquisition decision process of enterprise software: ES strategy and performance; BPR and adaptability; management commitment and user buy‐in; single vendor integrated solution; and consultants, team‐location, and vendor's financing. These factors are discussed and managerial implications are extracted. Conclusions are derived from the study findings and guidelines for further research are suggested.

The present study provides a starting point for further research in understanding a more comprehensive list of influences on enterprise software acquisition. A bigger sample from more industries is required to examine whether the significance of the influences remains stable.

Using OBB models has proven to be useful for organizations in making effective decisions on enterprise software acquisition.

Enterprise mobilization refers to the provision by an enterprise of the means for its employees to update information at any time and any place through the use of a wireless network system and related equipment. The implementation of enterprise mobilization can be separated into two main methods, non‐enforceable and enforceable. Non‐enforceable implementation refers to those situations where, although an enterprise encourages its employees to use a mobilized system, it does not enforce such use, whereas the reverse is true in the case of enforceable methods. Aims to examine this situation.

Since this is a relatively new research topic with very little previous research having been undertaken in this area, this paper employs a triangulation. This method enables integration of both quantitative and qualitative data, to investigate the critical success factors (CSFs) for the implementation of non‐enforceable mobilization by enterprises. The data were collected by means of in‐depth interviews with corporate managers and specialists from 29 enterprises and comprise 126 samples of employees currently using mobilization systems.

The study reveals a total of six CSFs for the implementation of non‐enforceable mobilization by enterprises, comprising: cooperation with a good solution “value added reseller”; appropriate planning and the support of senior management; user participation and minimization of any resistance to the installation of the system; open communication channels; enhancement of the understanding of mobilization itself and of employee requirements; and effective mobilization equipment.

This paper will be of interest to organizations looking to implement a wireless network system. The results provided can be used as references for industry and businesses in general, to support their decision‐making processes concerning the introduction of mobilization.

This paper examines the recent quality movement in Greater China and the development of total quality management (TQM) since the 1980s in the following three aspects. First, China is determined to upgrade quality management at the enterprise level by a top‐down approach. The efforts of the PRC Government in establishing quality systems to comply with international standard is reviewed. The Provisional Total Quality Management Guide for Industrial Enterprises and the GB/T 19000 standard (the Chinese version of ISO 9000) for national standards and quality certification are examined. Second, at the implementation level, the development of TQM and other quality systems is found to be less than satisfactory. A brief review of major empirical studies regarding TQM practices in China’s state‐owned enterprises and collective‐owned township enterprises is carried out. Third, TQM practices in Hong Kong, a Chinese market‐oriented economy, are reviewed and compared with those in China to explore any possible implications emerging from the political integration of these two regions in 1997.

Enterprise integration endeavors are complex because they compel an organization to understand how its cross‐organizational business processes are enabled by multiple systems. For any large‐scale implementation project, specific business process and system information is included in the enterprise‐solution architecture. To understand the totality of any organization's business processes, managers must define and document all core and support processes.

The examples used in this paper are from large public sector organizations, but the underlying methodology and conceptual basis for the paper apply to any complex organization.

The main conclusion of this paper is that end‐to‐end (E2E) business process scenarios must be used for defining the requirements for any system implementation project in any organization. If the new system does not align with the E2E‐business processes, then management requirements cannot be realized. We also note that E2E scenarios must be considered when implementing enterprise software in a non‐enterprise environment.

The paper notes that E2E scenarios represent the requirements definition level for composite applications enabled in a service‐oriented architecture (SOA). Traditional implementation methodologies that enable standard software modules (or integration scenarios across modules) are not effective in non‐enterprise environments.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the hurdles, compared with that in the United States, for the implementation of Continuous Auditing in China. As a timely, cost-saving and efficient auditing method, continuous auditing is being increasingly adopted throughout the world. However, while it is increasingly applied in the USA, continuous auditing is still in its infancy in China.

This paper compares and contrasts China and the USA in three important dimensions that determine the “economic architecture” of assurance: the business environment, the audit profession and technology.

The authors find that excessive government intervention in business, the lack of competition, independence of auditors, the support from management and the continuous auditing-specific regulations, as well as the technology gap between these two countries, are the main barriers for the implementation of continuous auditing in China.

The findings of this paper provide better understanding of the drivers of continuous auditing adoption in the USA and the barriers toward doing so in China.

The term “continuous auditing” has never been formally introduced until the release of the draft of the Internal Control Audit Guide in 2011.

The paper highlights how technology by itself is not deterministic, but given the extraordinary rise in the Chinese economy in both its size and its sophistication, it has be to assumed that its “leapfrog” into parity if not outright leadership in continuous assurance is still a matter of “when” and not of “if”.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the information gathering methods used during enterprise system (ES) selection among Polish organizations and to have IT consulting experts evaluate these methods, which will result in identification of the preferred approach for the information‐gathering task during system selection.

The research has a qualitative exploratory design with grounded theory being the main research method. A mixed quantitative‐qualitative approach to data collection was used: an e‐mail‐based survey was used as an introductory stage to gather data on information‐gathering methods. The results of the survey were evaluated by ES experts during unstructured interviews. The interviews were then transcribed and coded according to the grounded theory coding techniques.

The evaluation of selection approaches revealed that the approach to information gathering should depend on the level of configurability of the systems subject to selection. Two generic approaches were identified: requirements driven – for highly configurable systems, and system functionality driven – for the systems offering limited configurability. Interaction between the customer and the bidder was also identified as the main condition for preparing the unbiased offer by the bidders.

Regarding the survey study, as the survey sample was small and the sample selection process was not random, the results should not be generalised to the whole population of Polish enterprises. It would be also beneficial to test the validity of the findings from the grounded theory study on the big population of ES bidders with the use of statistical methods.

For highly configurable systems, a model that includes a business process analysis, detailed requirements' specification and dedicated system functionality presentation is the preferred approach. A workshop is preferred to obtaining a ready requirements list. For systems offering limited configurability, an approach centred on system presentation is more suitable. In this case the requirements should be gathered during the presentation on a “gap‐fit” basis.

There is a significant lack of research that explores the selection process, with the stress on organizational needs and system functionality information gathering and makes indications for improvement of this process from the consulting enterprise (bidder) point of view. The paper fills this gap by presenting the results of a survey among Polish enterprises regarding selection routines and the evaluation of these routines by expert ES professionals, resulting in the development of the preferred set of information‐gathering methods.

Unlike other purchases of information technology that have failed to deliver measurable improvements in corporate performance, enterprise‐wide information systems in the manufacturing industry have immediate and positive impact on the bottom line. The transition from strategic alignment as the basis for IT investment, to redesigned business processes as the critical elements of organizational strategic planning to which IT investments must be targeted, to the integration of these processes into enterprise‐wide systems, to e‐commerce is examined. With supply chain collaboration, information systems have exited corporate boundaries.