Coordinator research program Professions in Healthcare and Manpower Planning; endowed professor 'Health workforce and organisation studies', Radboud University, the Netherlands
Publicatie
Exploring the gap between the practical and theoretical world of ERP implementations: results of a global survey.
Catersels, R., Helms, R.W., Batenburg, R. Exploring the gap between the practical and theoretical world of ERP implementations: results of a global survey. In: Proceedings of the International Conference on Research and Practical Issues of Enterprise Information Systems CONFENIS 2010, 25-27 August 2010, Natal (Brazil)
Download the PDF
This paper describes the differences between the theoretical world of ERP researchers and the practical world of ERP consultants. A survey was held among 129 ERP consultants to explore their opinion and experience with regard to a number of subjects that have been researched in many papers, such as the use of ERP implementation methods, ERP phase models, critical success factors (CSF’s), and critical failure factors (CFF’s). A central question was to investigate the consultants’ use of scientific research in relation to their preferred source of information on ERP implementations. The results of the survey shows that ERP consultants mainly use implementation methods that are developed by ERP vendors. Other implementation methods used are proprietary methods which in most cases are a combination of vendor methods and project management frameworks. Also ERP phase models developed by vendors are used most often by consultants. Respondents appear to hardly know ERP phase models that are scientifically based. The most preferred scientific phase model by respondents is a model that focuses on the implementation phase of the ERP lifecycle. This study shows that the majority of the respondents does not use scientific publications on ERP. This mainly due to lack of time and knowledge which articles are interesting. Quite practically, the cost of accessing scientific material was also mentioned as a hindering factor. The conclusion is that there is indeed a gap between the scientific and the practical world of ERP implementations. The science community should reconsider other ways to let the business community take advantage of their knowledge. Reversely, the consultant community should dedicate more time in both reading and contributing to the scientific knowledge on ERP implementations. (aut. ref.)
This paper describes the differences between the theoretical world of ERP researchers and the practical world of ERP consultants. A survey was held among 129 ERP consultants to explore their opinion and experience with regard to a number of subjects that have been researched in many papers, such as the use of ERP implementation methods, ERP phase models, critical success factors (CSF’s), and critical failure factors (CFF’s). A central question was to investigate the consultants’ use of scientific research in relation to their preferred source of information on ERP implementations. The results of the survey shows that ERP consultants mainly use implementation methods that are developed by ERP vendors. Other implementation methods used are proprietary methods which in most cases are a combination of vendor methods and project management frameworks. Also ERP phase models developed by vendors are used most often by consultants. Respondents appear to hardly know ERP phase models that are scientifically based. The most preferred scientific phase model by respondents is a model that focuses on the implementation phase of the ERP lifecycle. This study shows that the majority of the respondents does not use scientific publications on ERP. This mainly due to lack of time and knowledge which articles are interesting. Quite practically, the cost of accessing scientific material was also mentioned as a hindering factor. The conclusion is that there is indeed a gap between the scientific and the practical world of ERP implementations. The science community should reconsider other ways to let the business community take advantage of their knowledge. Reversely, the consultant community should dedicate more time in both reading and contributing to the scientific knowledge on ERP implementations. (aut. ref.)