Learning to Implement Enterprise Systems: An Exploratory Study of the Dialectics of Change

Abstract

This paper reports on a comparative case study of 13 industrial firms that had implemented an enterprise resource plannmg (ERP) system. Firms were compared based on their dialectical leammg process. All firms had to overcome knowledge bamers of two types: those associated with the configuration of the ERP package, and those associated with the assimilation of new work processes. We examined the mechanisms through which firms attempted to overcome each type of knowledge barrier. We also observed different ERP implementation approaches: piecemeal and concerted. In the former approach, firms concentrated on the technology first and on process changes second. In the latter approach, both the technology and the process changes were tackled together. The learning challenges associated with each of these approaches were found to be different.