Introduction: Open Source ERP is considered as a viable alternative of proprietary ERP paradigm. Open Source ERP is getting more and more acceptance among Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) recently. Majority of Proprietary ERP vendors are changing their strategy nowadays and extend their focus on SMEs, even though SMEs are not that interested in Proprietary ERP systems. The factors that may motivate SMEs to select an Open Source ERP over proprietary ERP are not identified empirically in previous researches. Few researches raised the issue of cost and thus proposed that Open Source ERP is appropriate for SMEs. The other factors than cost involved in the selection process are yet to investigate empirically. Purpose: The overall purpose of this thesis work is to contribute in knowledge domain of Open Source ERP. Open Source ERP is an emergent area but it has the potential to attract many organizations to implement this kind of ERP Systems. The issue under investigation throughout this research will be the selection process of Open Source ERP in Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs). The focus will be to identify mutually most important factors, from the perspective of SMEs and Suppliers that may motivate the Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs) to select OS ERP. Method: Data obtained from the respondents is quantified in the research. Information gathered from the SMEs who have implemented Open Source ERP and from the Suppliers through web based survey. Two separate questionnaires comprised of various questions related to different factors in selecting of Open Source ERP solutions were made and sent to both SMEs and Suppliers of Open Source ERP. Opinion from an Open Source ERP expert is obtained regarding different factors motivate SMEs to select Open Source ERP. The results obtained from respondents through empirical findings were analyzed thereafter. Conclusions: SMEs were investigated regarding the importance of various rationales when they were selecting Open Source ERP solutions. The degree of importance of various factors in selection process might be diverse from organization to organization. It might be dependent on the size, geographical location of the organization or many other issues. Despite all this, there might be some common factors that may be always considered as foremost factors which influence SMEs to select an Open Source ERP over proprietary ERP.

I en konkurrenskraftig omvärld, finns det ett behov hos företag av väl integrerade informationssystem. Systemen har till uppgift att se till att aktuell information i verksamheten kommer alla till godo när personalen har behov av den. Idag har företag standardiserade affärssystem till sin hjälp för att hantera den information de har behov av i sin verksamhet. Studien har haft som syfte att beskriva hur anskaffningsprocessen kan se ut på olika företag och att besvara följande frågor: ·       På vilka grunder togs beslutet om införskaffande av ett nytt affärssystem? ·       Har ledningen varit involverad i anskaffningsprocessen? ·       Ledde implementeringen till ett system företaget blev nöjda med? Studien har gjorts med en kvalitativ ansats, där halvstrukturerade intervjuer användes för att samla in empiri. Empirin har sedan ställts mot olika teorier med utgångspunkt i affärssystem och anskaffningsprocessen. Studien har visat att besluten på de företag som intervjuats har tagits på ungefär liknande grunder och att ledningens engagemang har varit av stor betydelse för de förändringar företagen har ställts inför i anskaffningsprocessen. Den implementering anskaffningsprocessen ledde till, har gett företagen affärssystem som de i stora drag har blivit nöjda med, trots att ett av företagen ansåg sig ha blivit lurade av systemleverantören vid upphandlingen. Denna missnöjdhet kan tänkas ha berott på bristande kunskap om anskaffningsprocessen.

ERP-implementationer är en komplex process som ofta stöter på problem. Det är väl känt och beror ofta på den stora komplexitet som verksamhetsförändringen medför. Trots att verksamheter spenderar betydande resurser på att investera i ett ERP ses många ERP-implementationer som misslyckade då förväntade fördelar och mål inte uppnås i verksamheten. Tidigare har ett flertal kritiska framgångsfaktorer identifierats. I denna studie undersöks relationen mellan två av dessa, förståelse för strategiska mål samt utbildning av användare. Studien undersöker hur en verksamhets arbete med strategiska mål inför och under en ERP-implementation kan påverka utbildning av användare. Studiens resultat visar att en verksamhets målarbete kan ha stor påverkan på utbildning av användare.

The use of ERP systems in brazilian public organizations represents a change in operating procedures quite significant and is the result of the worldwide movement "New Public Management" or "New Public Management", occurred from the 1980s, the government pricipalmente U.S. administrations , Great Britain and Sweden. The main feature of this movement is the adoption by government organizations of information and communication technologies (ICT) and operational technologies already tested as efficient from the private organizations. The ERP system arises in the early 1990s, released by the German company SAP, founded in 1972, with the R / 2 and R / 3 products, becoming a leader in this segment, becoming the product of information technology used by most large public and private organizations worldwide. The implementation of this type of information technology in organizations has as consequence the beginning of a state of organizational change, where all the people involved, planters, managers and operators get the reflexes arising from the adoption of new technology. In public organizations, especially in Brazilian IFES, there are few studies on the investigation of these reflections, which can be both difficult as benefits to be enjoyed by people. The aim of this study is to describe the implementation of an ERP system in a Brazilian IFES through the study of the life cycle of this system along with the difficulties and possible benefits of adopting this emerging information technology. / A utilização de sistemas ERP em organizações públicas brasileiras representa uma mudança de procedimentos operacionais bastante significativa e é fruto do movimento mundial "New Public Management" ou " Nova Administração Pública", ocorrido a partir dos anos de 1980, pricipalmente nas administrações governamentais dos Estados Unidos, Grã-Bretanha e Suécia. A principal característica deste movimento é a adoção pelas organizações governamentais de tecnologias da informação e comunicação (TIC) e tecnologias operacionais já testadas como eficientes provenientes das organizações privadas. O sistema ERP surge no início dos anos 1990, lançado pela empresa alemã SAP, fundada em 1972, com o produtos R/2 e R/3, tornando-se líder neste segmento, tornando-se o produto de tecnologia da informação mais utilizado pelas grandes organizações públicas e privadas em todo o mundo. A implantação deste tipo de tecnologia da informação nas organizações tem como consequencia o início de um estado de mudança organizacional, onde todas as pessoas envolvidas, implantadores, gerentes e operadores recebem os reflexos provenientes da adoção da nova tecnologia. Nas organizações públicas, sobretudo nas IFES brasileiras, ainda existem poucos estudos relativos à investigação destes reflexos, que tanto podem ser dificuldades como benefícios a serem usufruídos pelas pessoas. O objetivo deste estudo é descrever a implantação de um sistema ERP em uma IFES brasileira através do estudo do ciclo de vida deste sistema juntamente com as dificuldades e os benefícios possivelmente emergentes da adoção desta tecnologia da informação.

Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to contribute empirical evidence focusing on sustainable competitive advantage through ERP systems. It identifies the shift towards strategic positioning while moving in different ERP stages and industrial environments. The work starts from the premise that advanced ERP processes are simply commodities insinuating competitive convergence. The literature considers IT and strategy but few texts deal with understanding ERP resources over time in order to become source of sustainable advantage. As companies undergo transformation or strive to develop new approaches to competition, it is particularly significant to investigate this venture. The exploratory inquiry in this dissertation aims to develop insights by a combination of qualitative and quantitative research traditions. The dual approach seeks to integrate the best research practices for contribution to the pertinent stakeholders. The first section is the introductory part followed by publications including case studies and surveys conducted on the basis of the gaps identified between theory and practice. The work is limited in scope and the intention is to appreciate knowledge acquired from the studies instead of drawing rigid extensive conclusions. However, the study traces that the ERP systems do provide competitive advantage, the sustainability depending on integrating to meet the business needs and building uniqueness. The implication is to capitalize on the potential of ERP, the idea being not to imitate competitors but to tailor applications to the company's overall strategy.

This thesis focuses on the process of implementation of the ERP system Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 in a corporate environment of an investment company. In the first part the reader is familiarized with the ERP system in terms of its architecture, together with the presentation of selected modules, including an overall contextualization of this product in the current market environment of ERP systems. Gradually this work addresses the issues involved in the choice of this very ERP system and the choice of an implementation partnner. Follow-up of the work is devoted to the analysis phase and the implementation of the ERP system itself, together with a description of selected functionalities and solutions that have been specific for this company, which was needed to implement because of the speci-ficity of a companys needs. This work identifies places at risk during the ERP system im-plementation, both in terms of functionality development and in terms of project management, and can thus serve as a helpful guide in the implementation of information system in a company with similar needs.

Les chercheurs en psychologie ont montré que nous utilisons différentes stratégies pour accomplir différentes tâches cognitives. Une stratégie est une procédure ou un ensemble de procédures permettant aux participants d'atteindre un but cognitif. La question importante est alors de savoir comment nous choisissons une stratégie parmi toutes les stratégies disponibles. Pour améliorer nos connaissances sur ce phénomène, l'objectif général de cette thèse était d'étudier les processus impliqués dans la sélection stratégique, ainsi que leur évolution au cours du vieillissement. Pour cela, nous avons adopté une double approche neuroscientifique et cognitive. Les données rapportées dans nos études IRMf indiquent qu'un réseau cérébral spécifique serait associé à la sélection stratégique. Ce réseau comprend notamment des régions préfrontales connues pour être recrutées dans des tâches impliquant les fonctions exécutives. Ainsi nos données suggèrent que, contrairement à ce que postulent les modèles théoriques, les fonctions exécutives pourraient être impliquées dans la sélection stratégique. L'absence d'activation dans ces régions chez les participants âgés pourrait nous aider à expliquer pourquoi la capacité à choisir la meilleure stratégie diminue avec l'âge. De manière intéressante, nous montrons aussi que les participants peuvent utiliser différents processus de sélection stratégique en fonction de la difficulté des problèmes. Enfin, dans la dernière partie, nous discutons des implications de nos résultats au niveau des modèles de la sélection stratégique, ainsi qu'au niveau du vieillissement cognitif. / Researchers in psychology have shown that we use several strategies to accomplish cognitive tasks. A strategy is a procedure or a set of procedures for achieving a higher level goal or task. One of the crucial issues concerns how we choose a strategy among several available strategies to solve each problem. To further our understanding of strategy selection, the overall objective of this thesis was to investigate processes involved in strategy selection, and their evolution with aging. To achieve this goal, we adopted both neuroscience and cognitive approach. Data reported in our fMRI studies indicate that a specific network was associated with strategy selection. This particular network includes prefrontal regions known to be engaged in tasks involving executive functions. Thus, our data suggest that, contrary to the assumptions of theoretical models, executive functions may be involved in the strategy selection. The lack of activation in these regions in older adults may help us to understand why the ability to choose the better strategy decreases during aging. Interestingly, we also show that participants can use different strategy selection processes based on the difficulty of problems. Finally, in the last section, we discuss the implications of our results for theoretical models of strategy selection, and for cognitive aging.

My thesis is intent on selection and recommendation of a suitable ERP system for the distribution company distributing tea and coffee products in the Czech market. To select a suitable system, I used methods of multi-criterion decision-making, concretely the ORESTE, WSA, TOPSIS and MAPPAC methods. In the theoretical part of my thesis, I describe the methods of multi-criterion decision-making and principles of utilization the ERP systems. The practical part of my thesis is divided in hard-selection and soft-selection. The aim of the hard-selection lies in reduction of the total number of ERP systems (upon available public information) which then shall be the subject to making the final selection. The soft-selection is then applied to the adjusted list of systems. Within the soft-selection, I included the applied procedure as well as reasons for selection of appropriate criterions since they essentially affect the calculation. At the end of my thesis, I show the procedure of implementation the ERP system.

Submitted by Nadir Basilio (nadirsb@uninove.br) on 2016-03-30T17:31:27Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Nendy Temistocles Ribeiro.pdf: 1014260 bytes, checksum: d60b9cd2859b602eb8c06e6dcfb61173 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-30T17:31:27Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Nendy Temistocles Ribeiro.pdf: 1014260 bytes, checksum: d60b9cd2859b602eb8c06e6dcfb61173 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-11-11 / This research evaluates the adherence to organizational competencies that are linked to the universe of ERP systems management in the public hospital sector in its prospect of post-implementation. For this, use the theoretical framework associated with both the literature focused on the study of organizational skills as well as the literature on the ERP systems management, focusing on the public hospital sector. From the bibliographic review, study proposals were prepared that served as the basis for the development of a matrix of competencies with three public hospitals in the direct administration of the State of São Paulo. The methodology of the study predicted the development of multiple case study method by which the information gathered in organizations were analyzed together and in crosswise way, making possible the identification of the organizational competencies and their respective adhesions to the problem of research. Empirical evidence suggests that in fact there is a set of organizational competencies related to post-implementation of ERP applications, related to the quality of use and quality of information extracted; full IT management; technological innovation and safety requirements, confidentiality and reliability required by law specifically when it comes to health information. The results allowed defining strengths and weaknesses of which resulted in a contribution proposition to practice by means of a guide of best practices. / Este projeto de pesquisa avalia a adesão às competências organizacionais que estão vinculadas ao universo de gestão dos sistemas ERP no setor hospitalar público, em sua perspectiva de pós-implementação. Para isso, utiliza o referencial teórico associado tanto à literatura voltada para o estudo das competências organizacionais como também à literatura voltada para o a gestão dos sistemas ERP, com foco no setor hospitalar público. A partir do levantamento bibliográfico, foram elaboradas proposições de estudo que serviram de base para o desenvolvimento de uma matriz de competências junto a três hospitais públicos de administração direta na Zona Norte do Estado de São Paulo. A metodologia utilizada no estudo previu o desenvolvimento do método de estudo de caso múltiplo, através do qual as informações colhidas nas organizações foram analisadas em conjunto e de forma cruzada, possibilitando a identificação das competências organizacionais e de suas respectivas aderências ao problema da pesquisa. As evidências empíricas sugerem que de fato existe um conjunto de competências organizacionais ligadas à pós-implementação dos aplicativos ERP, relacionadas à qualidade de uso e qualidade das informações extraídas; gestão plena de TI; inovação tecnológica e requisitos de segurança, sigilo e confiabilidade legalmente exigidos especificamente quando se trata de informações em saúde. A análise dos resultados permitiu delinear pontos fortes e fracos dos quais resultou uma proposição de contribuição para prática por meio de um roteiro de boas práticas.

In dem Forschungsvorhaben wurde das Konzept eines simulations-basierten Assistenzsystems zur Unterstützung von Disponenten bei der Pflege der Parameter eines ERP-Systems im laufenden Betrieb entwickelt. Anhand einer Ampelgrafik zeigt das Assistenzsystem einem Disponenten Handlungsbedarf bei der Parameterpflege an, sofern durch eine andere Parametereinstellung ein höherer Zielerreichungsgrad für zukünftige Perioden erzielt werden kann. Eine alternative Parametereinstellung wird durch das Assistenzsystem vorgeschlagen.