# The Impact of Information Systems Implementation in the Greek Manufacturing Enterprises
## 2 Literature Review and Research Hypotheses
In [30], the authors tried to determine whether the companies benefited from IS adoption regarding cost saving, keeping inventory level lower, being able to determine the cost more accurately, and better coordination with the suppliers and the customers. IS adoption can increase productivity, improve inventory control, and lead to faster delivery times and cost reduction--the latter benefits several departments in a firm--and products can reach higher levels [12; 21]. It is considered that SCM activities are strongly associated with several aspects of business performance such as operating cost reduction, revenue growth, etc. [31]. Taking all this into consideration, we pose the following hypotheses that are focused in areas that the authors subjectively considered more important, as they acknowledge that there are many others that could have been chosen to examine their effects that are derived from IS adoption. The following hypotheses can be posed:  
**Hypothesis 3a (H3a). **: _IS adoption positively affected the competitive advantage._
**Hypothesis 3b (H3b). **: _IS adoption positively affected the production process._
**Hypothesis 3c (H3c). **: _IS adoption led to less returned products._
**Hypothesis 3d (H3d). **: _IS adoption helped the company build a better relationship with the suppliers._
**Hypothesis 3e (H3e). **: _IS adoption led to cost reduction._
**Hypothesis 3f (H3f). **: _IS adoption led to faster customer service._
**Hypothesis 3g (H3g). **: _IS adoption helped the companies maintain their clientele._More and more companies implement ISs because they hope and expect that they will benefit financially. They also hope to be able to maximize those benefits by using proper managerial techniques. It is not a surprise that quite frequently, several studies' main subject is to assess the accountability of investments in ISs [32]. In [32], the authors tried to determine the relationship between the postimplementation practices of ERP and the financial performance. Similarly, a study conducted in [33] by authors in several organizations focus more on determining the financial impacts--besides other impacts-- and the profitability of ERP, SCM, and CRM at the postimplementation stage of the system. The results of that study were mixed. They confirmed that profitability and other financial metrics are positively influenced by ERP and SCM implementation but that does not apply to the CRM adopters. In [25], the authors also studied whether the relationship between CRM adoption and organizations financial performance is positive, and they concluded that there is not a positive relationship, which is similar to the authors' study in [33]. In [27], the authors included financial performance among the performance measures they researched in their study, among others. Thus, the following hypothesis is formed:  
**Hypothesis 4 (H4). **_IS adoption has a positive impact on a company's profitability._  
The former hypothesis has been actually verified in a previously published paper by the authors in [34]. It was derived by the study that 92.7% of the companies stated that IS adoption was profitable at a high or at least a satisfactory level. Based on that, two prominent different groups of companies were identified regarding the level of profitability they obtained due to IS adoption: those which consider that IS adoption led their companies to a high level of profitability (IS1) and those where their company managed to accomplish medium level of profitability (IS2) due to IS adoption. Through the current research, there is an effort to assess whether there are statistically significant differences between these two groups regarding the impact and contribution of IS adoption in a company's several aspects. Thus, two prominent hypotheses were formed:  
**Hypothesis 5a (H5a).