Success Factors for Implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning System at Ethiopian Airlines
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Date
2014-05
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This research work finds out the factors that determine the success of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation with particular reference to Ethiopian Airlines. An Enterprise Resource Planning system is a corporate wide information system which is used to integrate the business processes and resources of a company. When the business environment of a company increases and becomes complex, it is difficult to continue with the traditional decentralized information systems for timely decision making and other activities. In today’s competitive business environment, ERP systems are found to be essential for companies to get competitive and strategic advantages.
Developing countries like Ethiopia are not yet benefiting much from ERP systems while these systems are widely adopted in the developed countries. However, demand to ERP is increasing to the developing countries also due to economic growth and globalization. On the other hand, implementation of ERP systems is a huge investment and is not an easy job. Successful ERP systems can boost a company’s efficiency while failed ERP systems can damage its performance.
Implementation of ERP system is also affected by different organizational, social, economic, cultural, national and technical factors. So, it is important to identify contextual factors which can lead to successful ERP projects in Ethiopian context since Ethiopian situation is distinctive of developed nations.This research takes the case of SAP ERP system implementation project at Ethiopian Airlines. The research is qualitative type case study which has mainly used interviews, observations and an online survey questionnaire as research tools and techniques. Purposive sampling is used to select interviewees and survey respondents among the project managers, team leaders, super users and project members. Data collected in this study is analyzed by inductive reasoning and triangulation of data from the different sources.
The result of this research found out twenty critical success factors for success of ERP systems. Factors such as project planning, top management support, project management and leadership, capability of consultants, change management and communication, organizational readiness and overall knowledge transfer are among the factors found to be critical for ERP system implementation in the Ethiopian context.
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Enterprise Resource Planning System