Learning to understand what the ERP system is all about: A literature review.

• The purpose of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is to bring several benefits to the company by using a mutual database and real time data. Though, empirical studies show that several companies judge the ERP project as unsuccessful. Research has tried to explain why users are disappointed with the ERP system, but findings are scattered and inconsistent. There is need for further development of our knowledge on how ERP systems are viewed and used in companies. Organizational learning (OL) is a concept that has been used in research within the fields of organization theory and management. Still, only a few empirical studies have been conducted on OL in the context of ERP systems. To what extent and how do research conceptualize the ERP system as involved in the organizational learning process? The paper is a review of research on OL in the context of ERP systems: selection, implementation and use. Twelve articles were found in full text. The purpose is to compare and contrast approaches in order to analyze similarities and dissimilarities. The analysis shows that overall there is a lack of definitions and stringency in research on OL and ERP systems. The complexity of the ERP system and how that can be understood, how the artifact functions or interplays with the organization and the organizing process, is seldom discussed in greater detail. If learning in organizations, at least partially, depends on the use of enabling technologies, it would be a worthwhile effort to analyze more closely how, when and why an ERP system can be used in this respect. A major suggestion for future research is that it should be more explicitly engaged with the relationship between OL and the ERP system. Regarding the ERP system as a part of the organizational memory might be a fruitful way to go.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

ERP systems

organizational learning

literature review

Business studies

Företagsekonomi

Företagsekonomi

Business Studies

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

kon (ämneskategori)