ERP Systems and Organisational Change (eBook)

Prof. Bernard Grabot teaches production management, industrial organization and ERP systems at the National Engineering School of Tarbes, France. He is member of international research groups on "knowledge-based enterprise" and has been involved in several projects on implementation of ERP systems, leading him to develop one of his research axes on the problem of implementation and adoption of these systems. He belongs to the Strategic Council that pilots the relationships between SAP and the French Universities for teaching purposes. Prof. Anne Mayère's teaching activities mainly concern project management, communication in organizations, the evolution of information and communication activities and information systems in contemporary firms. She is the Head of the research team "Organizational Change, Communication and Quality" of the LERASS research laboratory, France, and her main research topics are on conditions of use of information technology in small and medium firms, and rationalization of information production and system design in contemporary firms. Dr Isabelle Bazet is Associate Professor in Information and Communication Sciences at the Institute of Technology, Tarbes, France. Her research interests focus on information and communication rationalization in organizations, with a specific emphasis on ERP systems, including a three-year research program concerning the relationship between organizational change and information system transformation in firms dealing with ERP implementation projects.

Contents 6
1 The Mutual Influence of the Tool and the Organisation 11
1.1 Introduction 11
1.2 Integration Versus Communication 12
1.3 Unification Versus Interpretation 17
1.4 Alignment Versus Adaptability 18
1.5 New Developments in ERP Integration 19
1.6 References 20
2 ERP Systems in the Extended Value Chain of the Food Industry 23
2.1 Introduction 23
2.2 Research Methodology 25
2.3 Integrating the Extended Value Chain with ICT 26
2.4 The Food Industry as Extended Value Chain 27
2.5 Key Criteria for Integration Choices 32
2.6 Conclusions 33
2.7 References 34
3 Integrative Technologies in the Workplace: Using Distributed Cognition to Frame the Challenges Associated with their Implementation 37
3.1 The Integrative Logic of ERP Systems 37
3.2 Distributed Cognition: A Framework to Study Integrative Technologies 39
3.3 Mutating Artefacts, Mutating Work: The Case of Billing Services in a Hospital Environment 41
3.4 From Paper to Screen: Analysing the Change that Organisational Members Experienced 47
3.5 The Contribution of Distributed Cognition to the Study of Integrative Technologies in the Workplace 52
3.6 References 55
4 ERP Implementation: the Question of Global Control Versus Local Efficiency 57
4.1 Introduction 57
4.2 ERP and Information Production Design 58
4.3 ERP Combined with Business Process Re-engineering and Business Process Outsourcing: Re- designing the Organisation While Transforming its Information System 61
4.4 Contradictory Dynamics Relying on Local Employees and on Project Teams 63
4.5 Back to the Definition of Information and Knowledge Associated with ERP Design 65
4.6 Conclusion 66
4.7 References 67
5 Why ERPs Disappoint: the Importance of Getting the Organisational Text Right 69
5.1 Introduction 69
5.2 What is an Organisation (and What Is Its Basis in Communication)? 74
5.3 The Case Study 76
5.4 A Reconciliation of Texts? 82
5.5 Conclusion 92
5.6 References 93
6 Contradictions and the Appropriation of ERP Packages 95
6.1 Introduction 95
6.2 Views of Information and Communications Technology Appropriation Processes 96
6.3 Coping with Contradictions and ERP Packages 98
6.4 Discussion 102
6.5 Conclusion 105
6.6 References 106
7 Exploring Functional Legitimacy Within Organisations: Lessons to e Learnt from Suchman’s Typology. The Case of the Purchasing Function and SAP Implementation 111
7.1 Introduction: Revisiting Weber’s Bureaucratic Organisation. Challenging the Power of Functions and heir Quest for Legitimacy ithin Organisations 111
7.2 Suchman’s Contribution and Suchman’s Typology in the Debate on the Nature of Legitimacy 113
7.3 Putting Suchman’s Typology into Practice: an Analysis of the Legitimisation Process of a Purchasing Department During the Implementation of an ERP System 119
7.4 References 126
8 How to Take into Account the Intuitive Behaviour of the Organisations in the ERP? 129
8.1 The Enterprise: a Complex Mix of Various Trades Organised in Business Processes 129
8.2 Enterprise Resource Planning to Support Business Processes 131
8.3 EDME Company: a Real Industrial Example 132
8.4 Which Requirements for Business Processes in a Changing Environment? 135
8.5 Autonomy and Competition: the Performance Weight 137
8.6 Towards a Tool to Manage the Decision Processes Environment 139
8.7 How to Transform Authority in Performance Drivers 142
8.8 How to Take into Account the Intuitive Behaviour of the Organisations in the ERP? 143
8.9 References 146
9 Process Alignment or ERP Customisation: Is There a Unique Answer? 149
9.1 Introduction 149
9.2 The ERP as a Tool for Change Management 150
9.3 ERP Implementation and Business Process Alignment 154
9.4 Customisation of the ERP Package 158
9.5 Can Standard Processes or Customisation Bring a Competitive Advantage? 162
9.6 Conclusion 164
9.7 References 164
10 Process Alignment Maturity in Changing Organisations 167
10.1 Introduction 167
10.2 ERP: After the Project, the Post-project 168
10.3 Synthesis of ERP Surveys 171
10.4 Towards a Maturity Model for ERP “Good Use” 175
10.5 Organisational and Temporal Heterogeneousness of an Information System 179
10.6 Towards the Construction of a Learning Path 186
10.7 Conclusion 188
10.8 References 188
11 A Cross-cultural Analysis of ERP Implementation by US and Greek Companies 191
11.1 Introduction 191
11.2 Literature Review 192
11.3 Methodology 196
11.4 Case Analysis: Implementation and Discussion 196
11.5 Conclusions 200
11.6 References 208
Appendix Utilisation of Suchman’s Paper 211
Index 223