Investigating the success of ERP systems in Pakistan : end-users' perspective

Abstract

The global business environment is changing rapidly, and organisations from developing countries such as Pakistan have to re-engineer their business processes to meet the challenges of increased competition and rising customer expectations. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems intend to deliver many benefits, such as business automation, reduced operating costs, accurate demand forecasts, better decision-making and improved customer service. However, organisations adopting ERP systems encounter many types of problems that may lead to failures in processes, expectations and interactions. In order to address these failures, researchers have identified the critical success factors in the implementation of ERP systems, but there is a paucity of research on post-implementation success factors. Most studies on ERP systems are based on the context of Western countries, but there is a need to apply information system (IS) theories and identify the problems in developing countries such as Pakistan. By addressing the gap, this study investigates the success of ERP systems in the context of Pakistan. To approach this study, we have used different research methods. The results attempt to extend current knowledge from a different perspective. First, in Pakistani organisations, the most important factors for ERP system implementation are top management support, effective project management, clear goals and objectives, careful selection of ERP software and data accuracy. Second, Western countries views of users perspectives are problematic in the context of Pakistan. In Pakistani organisations, end-users need proper training in order to use ERP systems effectively. They also need computer literacy training before they receive software interface training. The other related problem is that most end-users do not have a training manual available to learn about existing or new tasks. Managers are unaware of the usability of ERP systems, and they believe that it is the will of end- users to use the software. Users from Pakistani organisations consider the end-users training materials to be more useful than online Help. Organisations that adopt ERP should invest more in training materials for end-users and rely less on online Help. The error messages generated by the software are technical and not easily understood by the end-users. Thus, software manufacturers should design error messages in a way that is more meaningful and understandable to end-users. The opening of multiple windows simultaneously is confusing for the end-users in Pakistani organisations. Software manufacturers should adopt a different strategy for tackling this problem.