The FoxMeyer Drugs\u27 Bankruptcy: Was it a Failure of ERP?

'Implementation-Realizing Operations Management Knowledge', Proceedings of 16th International Annual Conference of the European Operations Management Association, 2009

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects are strategic and capital intensive, so failure may be costly and even cause bankruptcy of companies. Previous studies have proposed ways for improving implementation, but they are mostly generic and follow standardized project management practices as specified in various standards (e.g. the "project management body of knowledge" of the Project Management Institute). Because ERP is interdisciplinary (involving change management, project management and information technology management), it warrants a customized approach to managing risks throughout the life cycle of implementation and operation. Through a practical case study, this paper demonstrates a qualitative, user friendly approach to ERP project risk management. Firstly, through a literature review it identifies various risk factors in ERP implementation. Secondly, the risk management practices of a UK-based multinational consulting company in one of its clients are evaluated. The risk factors from the case study organization and literature are then compared and discussed.

The International Journal of Digital Accounting Research, 2001

The implementation of ERP systems has been problematic for many organizations. Given the many reports of substantial failures, the implementation of packaged ERP software and associated changes in business processes has proved not to be an easy task. As many organizations have discovered, the implementation of ERP systems can be a monumental disaster unless the process is handled carefully. The aim of this study is to identify the risks and controls used in ERP implementations, with the objective to understand the ways in which organizations can minimize the business risks involved. By controlling and minimizing the major business risks in the first instance, the scene can be set for the successful implementation of an ERP system. The study was motivated by the significance, for both the research and practice communities, of understanding the risks and controls critical for the successful implementation of ERP systems. Following the development of a model of risks and controls, a field study of an ERP system implementation project in an organization was conducted to provide a limited test of the model. The results from the field study provided support for risks and controls identified in the literature. The results also identified several controls not mentioned in the reviewed literature. The study lays the foundation for further research into the risk/control framework so important for the success of the implementations of ERP systems.

2017

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have been regarded as one of the most important information technology developments in the past decades. While ERP systems provide the potential to bring substantial benefits, their implementations are characterized by large capital outlay, long duration, and high might be a solution to ensure the success of ERP system implementations in organizations. The overall objective of this research is to to provide detailed analysis and impacts of business processes re-engineering and communication risks on ERP projects. At the begging, the research describes ERP systems in conjunction with the nature of Information Technology projects. Research identifies the communication and business processes re-engineering risks in ERP implementation projects and analyzes the causes. Accordingly, a conceptual research framework is presented, and the procedures and research methods are outlined. Secondly, quantitative data is provided based on twenty-one ERP projects implemented in North America. Data accompanied by based analytical statements and conclusions. Thirdly, an approach is developed based on fault tree analysis to decompose ERP systems failure and assess the relationships between ERP project failure and Communication and Business processes re-engineering risks. The principles and processes of this approach and related fault tree analysis and design methods are presented. Fourthly, certain conclusions and practical strategies are proposed. The current research does not only contribute to the body of knowledge of information system risk management, but also can be used as an effective tool for practitioners to actively analyze, assess, and manage the risks of ERP system implementations.

Information Systems, 2012

Conducting Risk Management of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects is an ambitious task. ERP projects are complex undertakings for business enterprises, as the associated risk factors include myriad technological, managerial, psychological and sociological aspects. Moreover, such factors are often tightly interconnected and can have indirect effects on projects. Such features make Risk Management more difficult, uncertain and important than in traditional projects, especially in the Assessment stage. The aim of this paper is to propose an innovative technique to support Risk Analysis in order to provide a better, more structured and systematic understanding of the major relations amongst various risk factors, on the one hand, and between risk factors and the specific effects associated with ERP projects, on the other. A real case study regarding a multinational company and involving a panel of experts and practitioners is presented to illustrate application of the method.

International Journal of Computer Applications, 2012

The ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) is a major innovation in the Field of Information Systems and Organization Management. Including their ability to make the organization more integrated and consistent, and absolute control of information. But the implementation of these projects remains a disturbing adventure that may lead to success or deadly failure of the organization that is embarking on this project. The aims of this article are to determine the necessary critical success factors for the ERP and causes of failures,through a comparative study of large organizations that have adopted ERP , for addressing the convergence and divergence points in implementation ERP. Such a study will allow us to develop a governance model for ERP

Malahat Pouransafar, Maral Cheperli, Mohammad Reza Faraj Tabrizi, 2013

Implementing an information technology project is a very challenging task that needs several preparations such as assigning a professional project manager, receiving top management support , employee engagement ,etc. Same studies have been conducted about the success and failure factors of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects and several researchers concluded that the ERP projects are very vulnerable.This qualitative research is an attempt to summarize the most common failure factors of the ERP projects in Iranian manufacturing industries. key words: ERP failure Factor, IT project Management,

Business Process Management Journal, 2010

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to help managers to successfully plan, implement, and operate enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects using a risk management framework. Design/methodology/approach -This paper adopted a combined literature review and case study method. Using literature review, the paper first identified major issues of managing ERP projects and develops a risk management framework for managing those issues. The proposed risk management framework was then applied to a ERP implementation project of a UK-based energy services group and its effectiveness for managing ERP projects implementation had been demonstrated. Additionally, the risk factors as identified from the case application are compared with the risk factors from the previous researches so as to suggest mitigating measures. Findings -All the risk factors are categorized into planning, implementation and operations phases along with project processes, organizational transformation and information technology (IT) perspectives. Project implementation phase is the most vulnerable to failure. The case study results reveal that the effect of other projects on on-going ERP project, management of overall IT architecture and non-availability of resources for organizational transformation are most critical from likelihood and impact perspectives. Managing risk across various phases of project and equal emphasize to effective project management, organizational transformation and IT adoption are the key to success in ERP implementation. Practical implications -The risk factors, which were identified using literature review and the case study, have great significance as mitigating measures of those risks may result successful implementation of ERP projects in the industry. Additionally, proposed risk management framework could be customized to implement ERP projects elsewhere. Originality/value -ERP projects are risky as they are capital intensive, technically complex, and call for organizational transformation. There are both success and failure stories. However, both researchers and practitioners agree, that if it can be implemented and operated successfully and benefits should be achievable. Although there are many studies on ERP implementation, little has been discussed on managing risks of ERP projects. Therefore, this paper bridges the gap.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) projects are considered to be expensive, time-consuming, difficult to manage, and extremely risky. ERP projects are risky from strategic, operational, technical and organisational perspectives. Risks and critical success factors of ERP projects have been widely studied, and the management of risks is a key to a successful ERP project. Generic risk analyses have faced inflation, and in the worst case companies do not manage risks in their ERP project at all. This paper presents the risks in their ERP project. Focus is on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), because they often have limited resources and competencies for analyzing and managing ERP project risks. In this paper we reflect our results to some of the previous studies of ERP project risks in order to present a new approach to ERP risks. Qualitative case study of three SMEs gives empirical evidence to our view to ERP risks. As a result we state that in addition to generic project management risks there should be assessed also company specific risks which, in fact, are usually the fundamental issues that should be considered in the early phase of the ERP project.

Over the past decade, Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERP) have become one of the most important developments in the corporate use of information technology. ERP implementations are usually large, complex projects, involving large groups of people and other resources, working together under considerable time pressure and facing many unforeseen developments. In order for an organization to compete in this rapidly expanding and integrated marketplace, ERP systems must be employed to ensure access to an efficient, effective, and highly reliable information infrastructure. Despite the benefits that can be achieved from a successful ERP system implementation, there is evidence of high failure in ERP implementation projects. Too frequently key development practices are ignored and early warning signs that lead to project failure are not understood. Identifying project success and failure factors and their consequences as early as possible can provide valuable clues to help project managers improve their chances of success. It is the long-ra nge goal of our research to shed light on these factors and to provide a tool that project managers can use to help better manage their software development projects. This paper will present a review of the general background to our work; the results from the current research and conclude with a discussion of the findings thus far. The findings will include a list of 23 unique Critical Success Factors identified throughout the literature, which we believe to be essential for Project Managers. The implications of these results will be discussed along with the lessons learnt.

This study firstly examines the current literature concerning ERP implementation problems during implementation phases and causes of ERP implementation failure. A multiple case study research methodology was adopted to understand "why" and "how" these ERP systems could not be implemented successfully. Different stakeholders (including top management, project manager, project team members and ERP consultants) from these case studies were interviewed, and ERP implementation documents were reviewed for triangulation. An ERP life cycle framework was applied to study the ERP implementation process and the associated problems in each phase of ERP implementation. Fourteen critical failure factors were identified and analyzed, and three common critical failure factors (poor consultant effectiveness, project management effectiveness and poo555îr quality of business process re-engineering) were examined and discussed.