Enterprise Resource Planning Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Enterprise Resource Planning - Research Paper Example According to "The Conference Board" despite the expenditure of millions of dollars and the work of numerous staff people, 60% of ERP projects fail to deliver the results expected of them. This means that 6 out of 10 ERP projects are either not on time, and/or budget, and/or don't deliver the value expected from them a year or more after launch. Additionally, the study found that, in most cases, implementation costs are 25% over budget. (Dudley Cooke, 2001) This paper will review the most frequent problems encountered, recommend strategies to overcome these obstacles and evaluate the potential to implement ERP systems in organizations. Criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of ERP systems include benefits, functional requirements, hardware requirements, risks associated with implementing an ERP system, and cost. We have seen the industry statistics and know there are issues as well, now the pertinent question is to ask: what are the main causes of ERP failure and what can be done to prevent this from happening The implementation of an ERP project requires the acceptance, compliance, and commitment of a wide range of people: 'Implementing any integrated ERP solution is not so much a technological exercise but an "organizational revolution". Extensive preparation before implementation is the key to success' (Bingi, Sharma et al., 1999). Many experts such as King (1997) regard the need to secure a commitment to a course of action as possibly a more important issue than the determination of the most appropriate evaluation technique. The point here is that achieving positive attitudes and behaviors (especially those of the top management) directed towards a certain outcome may provide benefits that exceed those that can be attained from pushing for the optimum levels of choice. The tendency of top management to delegate the supervision of an ERP implementation to lower management levels usually results in being out of touch with critical events, or the lack of understanding of the scope, size, and technical aspects of the project, and subsequently, the proper commitment of time and resources required for a successful implementation. The result is a failure in the waiting. Involvement of the lower cadre is good but should not be at the expense of the top management being ignorant. Despite the fact that over 90% of companies that have installed ERP admit that they did not do enough to manage organizational turmoil (resulting from the implementation of ERP), most do not even have a clue as to how to minimize organizational distress nor to make it all seem worthwhile (Dudley Cooke, 2001). In my opinion, it is the responsibility of the top management to take charge and manage the change.