This paper develops a long-term, multi-project model
of factors affecting organizational benefits from enterprise systems
(ES), then reports a preliminary test of the model. In the
shorter-term half of the model, it is hypothesized that once a
system has gone live, two factors, namely (1) functional fit and
(2) overcoming organizational inertia, drive organizational benefits
flowing from each major ES improvement project. The importance of
these factors may vary from project to project. In the long-term
half of the model, it is hypothesized that four additional factors,
namely (3) integration, (4) process optimization, (5) improved
access to information, and (6) on-going major ES
business-improvement projects, drive organizational benefits from ES
over the long term. Preliminary tests of the model were conducted
using data from 126 customer presentations from SAP’s 2003 and 2005
Sapphire U.S. conferences. All six factors were found to be
important in explaining variance in organizational benefits from
enterprise systems from the perspective of senior management.
Keywords: Enterprise system success, packaged software,
functional fit, overcoming organizational inertia, change
management, IS implementation, IS project management, integration,
process optimization, improved access to information