People Management in the Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

Abstract

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is an integrated software solution, typically offered by a vendor as a package that supports the seamless integration of all the information flowing through a company sales, purchasing, production, service, inventory and material, etc. This paper is intended to discuss on complications in ERP implementation with the client, vendor, implementer, consultant and project management. According to the studies carried out by Somers et al. (2001) and Wong et al. (2005) it was revealed that there are many conflicts in product selection procedure. Although both clients and consultants have no doubt on the business needs of an ERP system, root causes for this problem may be that the client’s lack of knowledge about features of ERP packages, methods of evaluation, and the scope of the project. Further stakeholders may face many complications as a result of improper project planning and execution, Huang et al. (2004). According to the client commitment, it is very important to have a good output from the ERP. The Commitment from the Top Management is also a special factor that affect to the ERP implementation. Huang et al (2001) identified that so many times top management don’t give their best for implementations, so it is too hard to achieve the outcome of the best of the ERP. Transfer of System Knowledge to the Client is another factor that affects to the ERP implementations. Upadhyay et al. (2011) and Huang et al. (2004) found that both clients and consultants agree that transfer of system knowledge to the client is good in implementations, which shows the excellence on training sessions that have been carried out to educate the end user. This research is focused to find a model to Management of Conflicts in Sri Lankan ERP projects. These findings can be effectively used by ERP implementers, consultants and by researchers in projects.