Factors influencing the successful implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning systems in South Africa

Date
2014-02-19
Authors
Louwrens, Jessica
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Abstract
The South African business world has embraced the concepts of technology based information systems (IS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) actively since the early 90’s. As a result many implementation projects have been completed for such systems within South African companies. The number of failed and challenged ERP implementation projects remains higher than the number of successful projects. Literature with details of implementation reviews, project guidelines, tools, implementation guidelines and recommendations are available academically and to the general public globally. Yet the trend of challenges remains and often appears to effect less than optimal productivity instead of the envisioned high operational efficiency. The purpose of this research is to identify the real factors that influence the success or failure of Enterprise Resource Planning projects in South Africa. Data was collected using discussions in semi-structured interviews that was administered personally by the researcher. The 20 interviewees were from representatives from varied organisations across different industry sectors who were actively and directly involved in completed ERP and general IS implementation projects. It was found that only 3 of these projects were 100% successful while 15 were completed with significant challenges that ultimately affected the allocated time to implement and/or the cost to implement. Two projects were considered failures and were not significantly completed. It was concluded that in addition to the general standard critical success factors for ERP implementation projects, there are a number of factors that are paramount to success in a post-apartheid South African business environment. iii These are:  Continuous assessment of project governance  Process and efficiency management  Change management The context and impact of these 3 factors may vary in different organisations but they are proven to be vital to project success and stakeholder return on investment
Description
MBA thesis
Keywords
Enterprise resource planning
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