Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-84b7d79bbc-dwq4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-28T03:47:27.042Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - Risk Factors in Enterprise-wide/ERP Projects

from Part II - From Risks to Critical Success Factors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2012

By
Mary Sumner
Edited by
Graeme Shanks ,
Peter B. Seddon  and
Leslie P. Willcocks
Mary Sumner
Affiliation:
Directs the undergraduate program in Management Information Systems, Southern Illinois University
Graeme Shanks
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Peter B. Seddon
Affiliation:
University of Melbourne
Leslie P. Willcocks
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Get access

Summary

Risk Factors in Enterprise-wide/ERP Projects

In the past several years many organizations have initiated enterprise-wide/ ERP projects, using such packages as SAP, PeopleSoft, and Oracle. These projects often represent the single largest investment in an information systems project in the history of these companies, and in many cases the largest single investment in any corporate-wide project.

These enterprise-wide/ERP projects bring about a host of new questions, because they represent a new type of management challenge. The management approaches for these projects may be altogether different from the managerial approaches for traditional MIS projects. Some of these questions and issues are:

  • What are the major risk factors associated with implementing traditional MIS projects?

  • What are the major risk factors associated with enterprise-wide information management projects?

What are the differences? What new risk factors need to be addressed in ERP projects? What are some of the risks in ERP projects that are not factors in non-ERP projects?

Most organizations have extensive experience managing traditional MIS projects, but these new ERP projects may represent new challenges and present new risk factors that must be handled differently. This paper will provide case studies of seven organizations implementing enterprise-wide/ERP projects and will provide insight into each of these questions based upon their experiences.

Type
Chapter
Information
Second-Wave Enterprise Resource Planning Systems
Implementing for Effectiveness
 , pp. 157 - 179
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam, F. and O'Doherty, P. (2000) Lessons from Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation in Ireland – Toward Smaller and Shorter ERP Projects. Journal of Information Technology 15, 305–316CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ang, J. S. K, Sum, C. C., and Yang, K. K. (1994) MRP II Company Profile and Implementation Problems: A Singapore Experience. International Journal of Production Economics, February, Amsterdam
Bancroft, N., Seip, H., and Sprengel, A. (1998) Implementing SAP R/3, 2nd edn. Greenwich, CT: Manning Publications
Barki, H., Rivard, S., and Talbot, J. (1993) Toward an Assessment of Software Development Risk. Journal of Management Information Systems, 10(2), 203–225CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beath, C. (1991) Supporting the Information Technology Champion. MIS Quarterly, 15(3), 355–373CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bingi, P., Sharma, M., and Godla, J. (1999) Critical Issues Affecting an ERP Implementation. Information Systems Management, Summer, pp. 7–14CrossRef
Block, R. (1983) The Politics of Projects. Yourdon Press, Prentice-Hall
Boehm, B. W. (1991) Software Risk Management: Principles and Practices. IEEE Software, 8(1), 3241CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caldwell, B. (1996) Client–Server: Can It Be Saved?Information Week 584, 36–44Google Scholar
Cash, J., McFarlan, F. W., McKenney, J., and Applegate, L. (1992) A Portfolio Approach to IT Development, Corporate Information Systems Management, 3rd edn. Irwin Publishing
Charette, R. N. (1989) Software Engineering Risk Analysis and Management. New York: Intertext
Davenport, Thomas H. (1998) Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System. Harvard Business Review, July–August, 121–131
Duchessi, P., Schaninger, C., and Hobbs, D. (1989) Implementing a Manufacturing Planning and Control Information System. California Management Review, Spring, 75–90CrossRef
Ewusi-Mensah, Kweku (1997) Critical Issues in Abandoned Information Systems Development Projects. Communications of the ACM, 40(9), 74–80CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginzberg, M. I. (1981) Early Diagnosis of MIS Implementation Failure: Promising Results and Unanswered Questions. Management Science, 27(4), 459–478CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammer, M. and Champy, J. (1993) Re-engineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution. London: Nicholas Brearley Publishing
Holland, Christopher and Light, Ben (1999) A Critical Success Factors Model for ERP Implementation. IEEE Software, May/June, 30–35CrossRef
Holland, C., Light, B., and Gibson, N. (1999) A Critical Success Model for Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation. Proceedings of the 7th European Conference on Information Systems, Copenhagen, Denmark, June, 273–287
Keil, M., Cule, P., Lyytinen, K., and Schmidt, R. (1998) A Framework for Identifying Software Project Risks. Communications of the ACM, 41(11), 76–83CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keil, M. and Montealegre, R. (2000) Cutting Your Losses: Extricating Your Organization when a Big Project Goes Awry. Sloan Management Review, 41(3), 55–68Google Scholar
Kremers, M. and Dissel, H. (2000) ERP System Migrations. Communications of the ACM, 43(4), 53–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lucas, H., Walton, E., and Ginzberg, M. (1988) Implementing Packaged Software. MIS Quarterly, December, 537–549CrossRef
Markus, L. M., Axline, S., Petrie, D., and Tanis, C. (2000) Learning from Adopter's Experiences with ERP: Problems Encountered and Success Achieved. Journal of Information Technology 15, 245–265CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFarlan, F. W. (1981) Portfolio Approach to Information Systems. Harvard Business Review, 59(5), 142–150Google Scholar
Mumford, E. (1981) Participative Systems Design: Structure and Method. Systems, Objectives, Solutions, 1(1), 5–19Google Scholar
Parr, A. N., Shanks, G. and Darke, P. (1999) Identification of Necessary Factors for Successful Implementation of ERP Systems. In New Information Technologies in Organizational Processes: Field Studies and Theoretical Reflections on the Future of Work, Ngwerryama, O., Introna, L., Myers, M. and DeGross, J. (eds) IFIP TC8 WGB8.2 International Working Conference on New Information Technology in Organizational Processes: Field Studies and Theoretical Reflections on the Future of Work. 21–22 August. St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Parr, A. and Shanks, G. (2000) A Model of ERP Project Implementation. Journal of Information Technology 15, 289–303CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soh, C., Kien Sia, Siew, and Tay-Yap, J. (2000) Cultural Fits and Misfits: Is ERP a Universal Solution?Communications of the ACM, 41(4), 47–51CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Subramanian, A. and Lacity, M. C. (1997) Managing Client/Server Implementations: Today's Technology, Yesterday's Lessons. Journal of Information Technology, 12(3), 169–186CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wiegers, Karl (1998) Know Your Enemy: Software Risk Management. Software Development, October
Willcocks, L. and Margetts, H. (1994) Risk Assessment and Information Systems
European Journal of Information Systems, 3(2), 127–138
Willcocks, L. and Sykes, R. (2000) The Role of the IT Function. Communications of the ACM, 41(4), 32–38CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×