Change management strategies for successful ERP implementation

When implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, top management commonly faces an unwanted attitude from potential users ± for one reason or another, they resist the implementation process. Top management should, therefore, proactively deal with this problem instead of reactively confronting it. In this paper, I describe an integrated, processoriented approach for facing the complex social problem of workers' resistance to ERP. Introduction The enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is an integrated set of programs that provides support for core organizational activities such as manufacturing and logistics, finance and accounting, sales and marketing, and human resources. An ERP system helps the different parts of the organization share data and knowledge, reduce costs, and improve management of business processes. In spite of their benefits, many ERP systems fail (Stratman and Roth, 1999). Many ERP systems face implementation difficulties because of workers' resistance. Al-Mashari and Zairi (2000) assert that effective implementation of ERP requires establishing five core competencies, among which is the use of change management strategies to promote the infusion of ERP in the workplace. Although some studies tried to address this problem by identifying change management strategies that facilitate the success of ERP implementation, many ERP systems still face resistance, and ultimately, failure. Another stream of research that also deals with the introduction of new products (or ideas) puts forth a different story. Despite the large number of new products and services that they introduce every year, marketers can still achieve high rates of success (Bogart, 1984). Why? I believe the answer rests in the strategies and techniques employed by marketing professionals. The goal of the present paper is to demonstrate how marketing and ERP implementation ideas and strategies together could help overcome workers' resistance to ERP. ERP implementation strategies A quick review of ERP research revealed different strategies for implementing ERP successfully. One can classify these strategies into organizational, technical, and people strategies. Organizational strategies for promoting ERP The research register for this journal is available at http://www.mcbup.com/research_registers The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emerald-library.com/ft D ow nl oa de d by U ni ve rs ity o f K w aZ ul uN at al A t 0 7: 14 3 1 A ug us t 2 01 5 (P T ) Change management strategies 267 implementation success include change strategy development and deployment, change management techniques, project management, organizational structure and resources, managerial style and ideology, communication and coordination, and IS function characteristics (e.g. Al-Mashari and Zairi, 2000; Gable and Stewart, 1999; Sarker and Sarker, 2000). Some of the technical strategies that have been proposed to determine ERP success include technical aspects of ERP installation, ERP complexity, adequacy of in-house technical expertise, and time and cost of implementation (e.g. Al-Mashari and Zairi, 2000; Amoako-Gyampah, 1999; Russo et al., 1999; Sarker and Sarker, 2000). Examples of people strategies include staff and management attitudes, involvement, and training (e.g. Amoako-Gyampah, 1999; Gable and Stewart, 1999; Russo et al., 1999; Computerworld, 1998). Past ERP implementation research may be described as factor research, which involves identifying the factors or variables that are critical for implementing ERP successfully. Although factor research is valuable for advancing our understanding of ERP implementation success, it adopts a rather static view, which limits its adequacy in explaining the dynamics of the implementation process. Thus, factor research alone is not adequate for explaining how the transition from resistance to success has happened. Unlike factor research, process research helps us understand how ERP implementation efforts have happened; it therefore gives a moving picture about how we got from time 1 to time 2. To benefit from the two perspectives, in this study, I will adopt an integrated view to ERP implementation. Marketing strategies There are many important streams of research in marketing, two of which are strategic marketing and consumer behavior. The strategic marketing view usually suggests several general steps to be followed by an organization to secure its long-term survival (e.g. Aaker, 1992). These phases can be abbreviated as follows: . an organization identifies objectives and develops strategies to achieve them; . an organization implements the identified strategies; and . an organization evaluates if it has achieved what it wanted to achieve. In the first step, an organization, after identifying its objectives, examines its potential markets through customer analysis in order to develop the appropriate marketing strategies. Customer analysis involves studying customers' needs, motives, segments, etc. (Guiltinan and Paul, 1988). Porter (1985) proposed three generic marketing strategies to reach potential customers: differentiation, cost leadership, and focus. The last of the three strategies, focus, has two variants, differentiation focus and cost focus. Aaker (1992) identified many tactics for differentiation (including quality and technical superiority, brand awareness, etc.) and for low cost (including features control, labor reduction, government D ow nl oa de d by U ni ve rs ity o f K w aZ ul uN at al A t 0 7: 14 3 1 A ug us t 2 01 5 (P T )