Integration of records management systems at a South African water utility company

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mpho Ngoepe ◽  
Vincent Mello

Purpose Digital records are either stored in an enterprise resource planning (ERP) or an electronic content management (ECM) system or managed without the benefit of either. To achieve high productivity, integration of these systems is required. However, the utilisation of either an ERP or ECM system is absent in many organisations. The purpose of this paper is to explore the development of a framework that may support the integration of an ERP into an ECM system at Rand Water. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative study used a case design with 14 interviewees from different levels in the organisation and diverse business units using ERP and ECM to perform their operational deliverables. Purposive sampling was used to select the interviewees in line with their area of work, role and level of operation. Findings This study established that the water utility company has implemented an ERP system (SAP) since 2004 and ECM systems since 1991 (Papertrail and later IBM FileNet) with only the information flow module integrated. This study suggested that to integrate ERP into ECM, human and non-human actors need to collaborate to ensure large-scale integration. Originality/value This study presents a framework for integrating ERP into ECM. It is suggested that an integration module for ERPs called extended ECM, be considered. A further study of the transfer of digital records in ECM into archival custody is recommended.

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-531
Author(s):  
Kunal Vegad ◽  
Mangesh Madurwar ◽  
Rahul Ralegaonkar

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report the results of a techno-economic feasibility study on the application of Audio Visual Enterprise Resource Planning (AV-ERP). Due to rapid urbanisation and economic growth in developing countries (DCs) like India, there has been tremendous development in infrastructural projects. To maintain the quality and competitive commercial pricing of the projects, stakeholders are working together from different geographic locations. Due to lack of culture in adopting the technological advancements, the on-site construction activities lack coordination among the stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach – In the present case, it is observed that the site and various stakeholders like consultants are physically monitoring and controlling the ongoing construction activity from different geographic locations. To manage the effective communication and information exchanges, an integrated tool for surveillance and AV-ERP is proposed in the present paper. These equipment and technologies play a very vital role in the construction industry, which, in turn, significantly affects the progress, cost and time of the project. The techno-economic feasibility of proposed AV-ERP system was evaluated for the ongoing township project over the study area. Findings – For the considered case study, 75 per cent cost of the project overhead incurred for site monitoring can be saved by implementing the proposed technology of AV-ERP system. Practical implications – The proposed AV-ERP system is a techno-economically viable solution for the effective project management. Originality/value – In the DCs like India, to develop the culture for adopting the technological advancements (AV-ERP system) for monitoring the on-site construction activities, the presented case becomes an innovative solution for upcoming medium as well as large-scale construction projects.


Author(s):  
Jessy Nair ◽  
D. Bhanusree Reddy ◽  
Anand A. Samuel

Organizations require to enhance their firm level resources to compete in turbulent business environment. Strategic application systems, such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System is one such resource technology that centralizes the database of the organization to enable a seamless view of the organization. However, implementation of ERP systems in organizations has not been a success story for many. ERP systems implementation brings about large scale organizational change and hence it becomes essential for stakeholders to have a reference framework for planning for various dimensions of the organization. Hence this chapter applies a General Morphological Analysis(GMA) to identify the most suitable theory to analyse ERP implementation. Socio technical theory with Leavitt's diamond model was analysed as most appropriate since they are based on the of premises organizational change at firm level. Socio technical organizational change model will enable stakeholders to analyse resources required for core dimensions of the organization for ERP implementation.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Hajipour ◽  
Hamidreza Amouzegar ◽  
Sajjad Jalali

PurposeEnterprise resource planning (ERP) offers a streamlined system architecture to feed businesses with beneficial information in the current intense global competition. The primary concern of ERP is how to integrate different functional units to facilitate a unified flow of information. This paper aims at providing a non-trivial practice of integrating the quality control (QC) system into the core ERP processes of a real large-scaled case study.Design/methodology/approachTo satisfy the purpose of the current study, a large-scale steel making holding, inclusive of 27 business units being dispersed over a wide area, has been targeted. In our research methodology, a sample of four business units is selected as the pilot cases to be investigated at first. The output results of such investigations are further extended to the other units. In light of the investigation, the existing QC working conditions of the pilot cases are assessed through the As-Is model. The To-Be models are derived based on the best practices and the integration scope is then bordered.FindingsThe findings show that the integrated QC solution has enabled the following features: the smooth interconnection between QC and other functional units like purchase and manufacturing, the ease of generating real-time performance report of QC unit, the sack of tracing the quality of any available item in the system and the root-cause of defects, and the straightforwardness of the qualitative assessment of the suppliers.Research limitations/implicationsThere is almost no similar practice for designing a large-sized integrated system from scratch in the target region associated with our case study while the off-the-shelf products are prohibitively expensive.Practical implicationsThis paper includes implications for providing a standard practice on integrating a substantial module of ERP down to the smallest detail.Originality/valueThe value of the current paper is associated with fulfilling a critical research gap in the context of studying the QC integration into an enterprise solution. In fact, despite the importance of the QC module and its plethora of interconnection with other functional units, the literature review shows a centric lack of considering such integration in a real case study, particularly the large-scale one. Further, this paper works as a valuable study in the literature owing to not only focusing on the design and development of an integrated QC solution but also considering the deployment facet of such a practice.


Author(s):  
Kalinga Jagoda ◽  
Premaratne Samaranayake

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose an alternative integrated approach based on the stage-gate method to implement enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems which will enhance the effectiveness of ERP projects. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted on ERP system implementation and its effectiveness. The need for improving implementation approaches and methodologies was examined. Based on the insights gained, a conceptual framework for ERP system implementation is presented by combining the state-gate approach with the pre-implementation roadmap. Findings The proposed framework aims to enhance the overall ERP implementation outcomes, ensuring critical success factors and eliminating common causes of failures. A pre-implementation roadmap is identified as a key element for eliminating many causes of failure including lack of organisations’ readiness for ERP. The post-implementation stage can be used for further improvements to the system through internal research and development. Research limitations/implications The development of the framework is an attempt to contribute to improving ERP implementation. This research is expected to motivate researchers to work in this area, and it will be beneficial to practicing managers in the identification of opportunities for improvements in ERP systems. Case studies will be valuable to refine and validate the proposed model. Originality/value This paper explores research in a needy area and offers a framework to help researchers and practitioners in improving ERP implementation. This framework is expected to reduce the implementation project duration, strengthen critical success factors and minimise common problems of ERP implementation projects.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Abdinnour ◽  
Khawaja Saeed

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore how key users’ perceptions (capability, value, timing, and acceptance) toward an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system change from the pre-implementation to the post-implementation phase. The paper also examines how this change differs with varying levels of user involvement in the implementation process and users’ positions in the company. Design/methodology/approach – The authors survey the employees of a major aircraft manufacturing company in the Midwest and analyze the data using repeated measures ANOVA. The authors use time as a within-subject independent variable, and involvement/position at the company as between-subject independent variables. Findings – The results reveal a significant drop in users’ perceptions regarding the capability, value, and implementation timing of the ERP system. However, the perception of acceptance did not change significantly. Furthermore, there were more significant interactions of users’ perceptions with employee position than employee involvement in the implementation process. Research limitations/implications – The study offers a better theoretical understanding of how users’ perceptions regarding an ERP system evolve over time. The use of one company is a limitation of the study, so future research can focus on extending the study in different sectors. Practical implications – Management can design interventions to minimize users’ negative perceptions about the ERP system and increase usage in the post-implementation phase. For example, management can design training customized toward users’ positions in the company. Originality/value – Post-implementation research in the ERP field is rare. Conducting a survey of users’ perceptions allows the authors to take an in-depth look at attitudes toward an ERP system.


Author(s):  
Jessy Nair ◽  
D. Bhanu Sree Reddy

The successful implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a challenge to many organizations. Though an intervention, ERP brings in large scale tangible and intangible benefits to an organization. It poses significant intervention on firm level endogenous dimensions; internal stakeholders, internal organization, business processes and technology. Though literature recognizes that ERP intervention brings about technological change during ERP implementation, hardly any article has conceptualized these interventions in evaluating its performance. Drawing on the Socio Technical system perspective the objective of this article is to conceptualize the ERP intervention on the endogenous dimensions of the organization and develop a comprehensive conceptual model to assess the success or failure of ERP system implementation. The conceptual model, Process-Variance and Adapted Socio-Technical (PVAST), proposed in this article will enable decision makers and practitioners to measure ERP project performance at every stage of its life cycle in a coherent method and adopt corrective measures.


2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 206-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvio Carlo Ripamonti ◽  
Laura Galuppo

Purpose The purpose of this study is to introduce the Human Resources (HR) module of the SAP suite in the Italian branch of a leading multinational pharmaceutical company. This study can be re-conducted within the interpretive tradition of information technology studies focusing on the attempt to understand and describe how software users in the HR department interpreted the enterprise resource planning (ERP) technology, how they changed their work practices and the changes that occurred in organizational discourses and meanings alongside the process. Design/methodology/approach The case study/intervention took start with the impulse of the Italian HR department manager, who was struck by the way that the ERP system technology implementation was affecting work life of the employees in the department. This research/intervention used interviews, focus groups and internal documents as sources of data. The authors conducted and analyzed 20 narrative interviews and 3 focus groups with middle managers, and they analyzed about 120 pages of internal memos. Findings The implementation of ERP systems is almost invariably accompanied by great expectations of increased process rationalization, efficiency and cost-effectiveness, and upper managers’ discourses make large use of what Engeström et al., 2010 have called process efficiency rhetoric. But the ERP technology, most likely, will neither revolutionize management nor will it become a “complete calculation machine” that runs an entire work organization (Quattrone and Hopper, 2005, p. 731). Originality/value The implementation of the ERP system has caused conflicts and disturbances, aggravating contradictions that already existed between activity systems and introducing new types of contradictions. Pre-existent contradictions become clearer; there is a stronger interconnection between activity systems. The individual agents could experiment an expansion in their activities if only they will initiate a movement of expansive learning and if they are not prevented from doing so by coercive control. The natural expansion of the subjects’ scope of activity and horizons of possibilities could be sustained by the ERP technology if it is not used as a tool for domination and if the upper management does not try and separate what cannot in actuality be separated: The actors’ capabilities of improvised learning, which makes the institution of a new mode of the activity possible, and their capacity to assume collective control of the meaning and direction of the transformation of the activity. ERPs are technologies that can naturally bring transformations in the activity system and networks where they are introduced, but in some cases, they can easily and in a non reflective manner be intended as tools for oppression by the upper management.


2017 ◽  
Vol 117 (8) ◽  
pp. 1612-1631 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Ruivo ◽  
Tiago Oliveira ◽  
André Mestre

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical model to measure the impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems and moderating relationships of system and process integration on business value. Design/methodology/approach ERP and CRM systems are analysed with the resource-based view theory and measured by their impact on business value, having in consideration the moderation of system and process integration. The model was tested and analysed with data collected by Microsoft, from firms that have adopted both ERP and CRM systems in their organisation. Findings ERP system is found to be an important asset to business value, but CRM systems’ impact on business value is found to be not significant. System integration as moderator of ERP or CRM system is found to be not significant but has a positive and significant impact on business value. For process integration, the study finds that it is significant only when moderating the CRM system variable. Research limitations/implications The model shows that the moderating effects of system and process integration are important variables for understanding the joint business value of ERP and CRM. Practical implications Adopting an ERP system and ensuring system integration provides a direct impact on business value. In order for a CRM system to have a positive impact on business value, process integration with ERP system must be ensured. Originality/value This study provides new knowledge on how ERP and CRM systems used together may positively influence value from IT investments, and how systems integration and process integration provide business value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 476-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Niyi Arasanmi

Purpose This study aims to examine the link between supervisor support, transfer motivation and post-training usage of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The study tested the influence of supervisor support and transfer motivation on training transfer in a complex information systems environment. Second, the study tested the mediating effect of transfer motivation in the relationship between supervisor support and training transfer. Design/methodology/approach An online survey method was used to collect data from 170 ERP system users, who had previously attended ERP system training. The descriptive analysis was conducted with SPSS version 24, while Hayes Process Macro was used to test the research model and the mediation analysis. Findings The findings from this study showed that supervisor support and transfer motivation positively influence training transfer. The additional result also confirmed that transfer motivation mediates the relationship between supervisor support and training transfer. Research limitations/implications The study contributes to training theory by specifically analysing the interactions among supervisor support, transfer motivation and training transfer in a complex information system environment. One of the limitations of this study is the cross-sectional design adopted; future studies could improve by using multiple sources of data collection. Practical implications The study highlights the importance of social exchanges in an ERP transfer environment. Originality/value This paper provides a better understanding of the influences of supervisor support and transfer motivation on the transfer of hard skills in a complex environment.


2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 480-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ekman ◽  
Peter Thilenius ◽  
Torbjörn Windahl

Purpose – Research has shown that companies focus their internal processes when they adopt enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. However, the ERP systems need to expand their functionality to include customers and suppliers (with e-commerce functionality) to reach their full potential. The purpose of this paper is to consider business relationships as a resource but also a limitation when companies strive to get an extended ERP system. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents an illustrative case study of an industrial company's process of developing an extended ERP and how the company's portfolio of business relationships has affected the solution. The analysis is supported by the markets-as-networks theory. Findings – The process of developing an extended ERP system needs to incorporate the company's business partners (customers and suppliers). It is a simultaneously bottom-up and top-down process given that the operative frontline staff hold the knowledge about the company's business relationships while the corporate management has the means of extending the ERP system functionality and align it with the focal company's strategy. Research limitations/implications – Companies need to consider the fact that the technological and financial status of their customers and suppliers differ. Thus, an effective and flexible extended ERP system needs to include both a high-end and low-end solution as well as understand that a full interorganizational integration might not be realistic. Originality/value – The paper puts forth business relationship portfolios as an important factor to consider when extending the ERP system functionality in the supply chain and toward customers.


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