INFLUENCING FACTORS OF ORGANIZATIONAL READINESS FOR EPR IMPLEMENTATIONS IN SRI LANKAN PRODUCTION / MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

Authors

  • H. M. P. S. Herath Business Analyst / Consultant ERP Consultant, Providence Network and Solutions Pvt. (LTD) Sri Lanka
  • L. D. J. F. Nanayakkara Senior Lecturer Department of Industrial Management University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka

Abstract

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a de facto backbone of business intelligence. Many enterprises in the world as well as Sri Lanka have suffered spectacular project failures due to unplanned or under planned implementation of ERP projects. ERP projects are not IT projects, but are change management process (Alleman, 2007). The trick is no to die in the implementation. The purpose of the readiness assessment review is to determine whether an organization is ready to implement ERP project. It is suggested that assessment of readiness provide detailed answers to two fundamental questions: what is an organization’s current ERP capability and what changes must be in place before project initiation? Though there had been research studies on organizational readiness for ERP implementations and effectiveness / success of implementation in other countries, no research studies focusing on this area could be found in Sri Lanka. This study empirically investigated four variables, which could influence to evaluate readiness of business organizations for ERP project in manufacturing / production industry. The data were collected from a randomly selected sample of (400) in the private sector organizations by administrating a structured questionnaire, which consisted of 46 questions. Survey questionnaires were administered among various levels in organizations from end-user to Director. Data analysis was done by using SPSS15. This paper discusses four tested factors in ERP implementation readiness. That provides a framework useful for organizations seeking to achieve business benefits from ERP implementations, consultants seeking to work on ERP implementations, researches seeking to understand barriers to successful ERP implementations and subsequent exploitation of sub systems, and sponsors to assure successful ERP implementations by mitigating the risk of implementations. United Leadership, Organizational Discipline, Communication & Stakeholder Management and Organization Culture improve organizational readiness for ERP implementation.

Key Words: Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP Readiness, ERP Implementation

For full paper: fmscresearch@sjp.ac.lk

Published

2012-02-25

Issue

Vol. 8 (2011): Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Business Management – 2011

Section

Articles