This thesis deals with the relation between ERP systems and lean principles. More specifically, the utility of these principles in conjunction with ERP systems for small and medium-sized companies supplied by Czech companies. The basic building block is then practical experience and interviews with experts. That all from both sides of the business relationship (supplier and client). The work does not only evaluate the relationship of mentioned systems and lean principles, or their usefulness in the Czech environment, but also provides complete material for basic awareness regarding these issues and answers to fundamental questions that I (or interviewed experts) choose like interesting. The thesis ends with finding the truth of the basic thesis and recommendations for possible implementation or integration of ERP systems and lean principles.

With the mounting pressures on institutions of higher education to do more with limited resources, the opportunity to collaborate with other colleges has emerged as a viable tool to create efficiencies and obtain valuable knowledge otherwise unattainable by an institution, even if that collaboration takes place with a competing institution. Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are critical to managing student information and college operations, but can be challenging for colleges to implement. Consortia present a unique solution to colleges to address gaps in their expertise and skills needed to achieve a successful ERP implementation. This study explores the factors that are critical to successful ERP implementations in a community college setting and aims to develop a model that will assist colleges in targeting their efforts so as to make the best use of their resources. This paper shares a set of best practices to assist community colleges in accomplishing successful ERP implementations. In addition, this paper introduces a potential solution to community colleges of using a consortium relationship with like colleges to support the ERP implementation process and best practices with regard to these consortia to successfully support these efforts. Additionally, this best practices are discussed in this paper and are a compilation from insights gained through a review of the academic literature on ERP success factors and surveys of four community colleges that had completed ERP implementations. We hope that these insights will prove beneficial to colleges contemplating the implementation of a new ERP system. We believe that this paper can also assist colleges in determining if a consortium approach to their ERP implementation would be advantageous, generating greater bargaining power for the participating colleges, providing for the sharing of information between colleges, and helping to accommodate for any deficiency in expertise.

The importance of aligning information technology and business strategies to exploit capabilities and change business practices has increased as firms strive for competitive advantage in a diverse and changing marketplace. Nevertheless, over 50% of firms implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems ranked expected process and value enhancements as inadequate, whereas only 13% indicated that implementations met their needs. The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model formed the conceptual framework of this single case study. The study comprised a purposeful sampling of 8 business managers in Southeast Alabama working in related job roles and based on established eligibility criteria. Data collection involved semistructured interviews, casual observations, and document analysis. Through method triangulation and predetermined themes directly related to the UTAUT conceptual framework, 5 themes emerged: management endorsement, change management, training and education, dedicated resources, and governance. Results of this research may influence the elimination of key barriers central in the deployment and adoption of ERP systems by the public sector. The study's implications for positive social change include the potential to enhance social and intellectual capital formation through recognizing strategies that mitigate employees' gender and age variances during an ERP implementation.

Existem diversas pesquisas que tratam o assunto do processo de implementação dos Sistemas de Gestão Empresarial (SGE) no setor empresarial. A maioria delas focalizada no planejamento e o controle do gerenciamento no contexto formativo e abrangente que as envolve. Contudo, ainda existe uma lacuna ao estudar o processo de implementação nas pequenas e médias empresas que tenham orientação empreendedora. Devido ao fato de que estas empresas encontram-se num ambiente descontrolado, evidenciando saídas de rumo diante qualquer planejamento (drifting), tornam-se interessante os estudos de caso neste setor. Sendo assim, compreender como acontece o processo de implementação de um SGE e quais são as práticas que podem ser executadas para promover sua utilização sucedida é o foco deste trabalho de pesquisa. Para tanto foram utilizados os conceitos teóricos trazidos pelo trabalho de Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) em conjunto com a abordagem da Teoria do Ator- Rede (TAR) proposta pelo Latour (2005), Callon (1998) e Law (1992). O trabalho mostra a forma de utilização da TAR, evidencia os conceitos trazidos pelo Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) e propõe práticas para promover a utilização dos SGE para a fornecedora do estudo. Além disso, demonstra a necessidade de fazer mais pesquisas, no setor empresarial objeto deste estudo, uma vez que este tipo de empresa não aplica as melhores práticas mostradas nas diversas pesquisas apresentadas na literatura. Assim também, sugere-se a continuação deste estudo analisando outros atores que introduzam o ambiente tecnológico, econômico e social desse setor para poder identificar outros motivos pelos quais os atores executaram e fizeram as escolhas relatadas, pois com a TAR estudou-se a interação entre os atores envolvidos no processo de implementação do SGE, apresentando uma descrição de como foi construído esse processo. / There are several researches that deal with the matter of ERP implementation process on enterprise sector. Most of them focused on planning management control on overarching formative context that involves them. However, there is still a gap when a study is made on implementation for small and medium sized companies with entrepreneur orientation. Because these companies are settled in a non-controlled environment, noticing miss-routing upon any planning (drifting), it is interesting to have case studies in this sector. Thus, understanding how ERP implementation process is made and which are the procedures that can be applied to promote a succeed utilization is the focus of this research work. For this, it has been used theorical concepts brought by the work of Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) and the theorical approach of actor-network theory (ANT) proposed by Latour (2005), Callon (1998) and Law (1992). This work has shown the utilization of the ANT, it has evidenced the concepts brought by Ciborra (2002, 2000, and 1999) and suggests practices to promote the utilization of ERP for the supplier followed on this study. Besides, it is suggested to continue this study by introducing actors that represents the technological, economical and social environment of the studied sector to identify others reasons for actors’ options, once with the ANT was shown the interaction between the actors during the implementation process as a description of how the process was constructed as a result of this interaction.

Este trabalho de pesquisa, organizado sob a forma de uma Dissertação de Mestrado em Administração, estuda os fatores envolvidos na implementação de pacotes de software para gestão empresarial, ou sistemas ERP – Enterprise Resources Planning – no contexto de empresas usuárias desse tipo de sistema. Além de uma pesquisa, este trabalho também é composto por uma revisão bibliográfica sobre os principais assuntos abordados, tais como: pacotes de software para gestão empresarial; administração de projetos; fatores críticos de sucesso em projetos; redesenho de processos de negócios; e adoção de novas tecnologias. Para a execução da pesquisa, foi realizado um survey com uma amostra formada por 43 empresas, no Brasil, que já tivesse implementado ou estivesse em um projeto de implementação de algum pacote de software ERP. Os resultados obtidos com a análise dos dados buscam traçar um quadro sobre os projetos de implementação de pacotes de software para gestão empresarial no Brasil, além de estabelecer a existência ou não de relações entre alguns fatores, considerados críticos nesse tipo de projeto, e o sucesso dos projetos. / This research, organized under the form of a Mastership Dissertation in Business Administration, studies the factors involved in the implementation of ERP – Enterprise Resources Planning – systems, in the context of companies that use that sort of system. Besides a research, this essay is also composed by a bibliographical revision on the main approached subjects, such as: integrated software packages for business management; project management; critical success factors in projects; BPR – business process reengineering; and adoption of new technologies. For the execution of the research, a survey was accomplished with a sample formed by 43 companies in Brazil, that had already implemented or it was in an implementation project of some ERP software. The results obtained with the analysis of the data outline a chart on the projects of ERP software implementation in Brazil, besides establishing the existence or not of relationships among some factors, considered critical in that project, and the success of the projects.

This paper presents the work in progress regarding an international research project based on an empirical survey. It focuses on the early stages of making the adoption decision, thereafter evaluating and selecting an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system prior to implementation in Small to Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs). The project seeks to close some of the identified gaps in ERP research. In addition, it attempts to link the results of the early stages of decision making to implementation, usage and evolution success in order to allow important conclusions to be made, for example, on the best practices in decision making or decision quality and success. This project will be restricted to the case of ERP software but will also give insights into the potential of integrating ERP and other important applications such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Supply Chain Management (SCM). The proposed research seeks to identify any differences and similarities contributing to the analysed research areas between British and Austrian companies. The choice of companies originating from two different regions in Europe is an important precondition in order to formulate results that will be applicable to the European Union in general. Due to the pervasive nature of ERP systems, our research results should be of interest to a wide range of professional and scholarly communities (from software engineering to accounting), in addition to the Information Systems (IS) field. The results presented should especially help practitioners in SMEs facing the important task of introducing an ERP system into their company. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers on Information Systems, Information Business and Operations

Existem diversas pesquisas que tratam o assunto do processo de implementação dos Sistemas de Gestão Empresarial (SGE) no setor empresarial. A maioria delas focalizada no planejamento e o controle do gerenciamento no contexto formativo e abrangente que as envolve. Contudo, ainda existe uma lacuna ao estudar o processo de implementação nas pequenas e médias empresas que tenham orientação empreendedora. Devido ao fato de que estas empresas encontram-se num ambiente descontrolado, evidenciando saídas de rumo diante qualquer planejamento (drifting), tornam-se interessante os estudos de caso neste setor. Sendo assim, compreender como acontece o processo de implementação de um SGE e quais são as práticas que podem ser executadas para promover sua utilização sucedida é o foco deste trabalho de pesquisa. Para tanto foram utilizados os conceitos teóricos trazidos pelo trabalho de Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) em conjunto com a abordagem da Teoria do Ator- Rede (TAR) proposta pelo Latour (2005), Callon (1998) e Law (1992). O trabalho mostra a forma de utilização da TAR, evidencia os conceitos trazidos pelo Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) e propõe práticas para promover a utilização dos SGE para a fornecedora do estudo. Além disso, demonstra a necessidade de fazer mais pesquisas, no setor empresarial objeto deste estudo, uma vez que este tipo de empresa não aplica as melhores práticas mostradas nas diversas pesquisas apresentadas na literatura. Assim também, sugere-se a continuação deste estudo analisando outros atores que introduzam o ambiente tecnológico, econômico e social desse setor para poder identificar outros motivos pelos quais os atores executaram e fizeram as escolhas relatadas, pois com a TAR estudou-se a interação entre os atores envolvidos no processo de implementação do SGE, apresentando uma descrição de como foi construído esse processo. / There are several researches that deal with the matter of ERP implementation process on enterprise sector. Most of them focused on planning management control on overarching formative context that involves them. However, there is still a gap when a study is made on implementation for small and medium sized companies with entrepreneur orientation. Because these companies are settled in a non-controlled environment, noticing miss-routing upon any planning (drifting), it is interesting to have case studies in this sector. Thus, understanding how ERP implementation process is made and which are the procedures that can be applied to promote a succeed utilization is the focus of this research work. For this, it has been used theorical concepts brought by the work of Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) and the theorical approach of actor-network theory (ANT) proposed by Latour (2005), Callon (1998) and Law (1992). This work has shown the utilization of the ANT, it has evidenced the concepts brought by Ciborra (2002, 2000, and 1999) and suggests practices to promote the utilization of ERP for the supplier followed on this study. Besides, it is suggested to continue this study by introducing actors that represents the technological, economical and social environment of the studied sector to identify others reasons for actors’ options, once with the ANT was shown the interaction between the actors during the implementation process as a description of how the process was constructed as a result of this interaction.

Existem diversas pesquisas que tratam o assunto do processo de implementação dos Sistemas de Gestão Empresarial (SGE) no setor empresarial. A maioria delas focalizada no planejamento e o controle do gerenciamento no contexto formativo e abrangente que as envolve. Contudo, ainda existe uma lacuna ao estudar o processo de implementação nas pequenas e médias empresas que tenham orientação empreendedora. Devido ao fato de que estas empresas encontram-se num ambiente descontrolado, evidenciando saídas de rumo diante qualquer planejamento (drifting), tornam-se interessante os estudos de caso neste setor. Sendo assim, compreender como acontece o processo de implementação de um SGE e quais são as práticas que podem ser executadas para promover sua utilização sucedida é o foco deste trabalho de pesquisa. Para tanto foram utilizados os conceitos teóricos trazidos pelo trabalho de Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) em conjunto com a abordagem da Teoria do Ator- Rede (TAR) proposta pelo Latour (2005), Callon (1998) e Law (1992). O trabalho mostra a forma de utilização da TAR, evidencia os conceitos trazidos pelo Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) e propõe práticas para promover a utilização dos SGE para a fornecedora do estudo. Além disso, demonstra a necessidade de fazer mais pesquisas, no setor empresarial objeto deste estudo, uma vez que este tipo de empresa não aplica as melhores práticas mostradas nas diversas pesquisas apresentadas na literatura. Assim também, sugere-se a continuação deste estudo analisando outros atores que introduzam o ambiente tecnológico, econômico e social desse setor para poder identificar outros motivos pelos quais os atores executaram e fizeram as escolhas relatadas, pois com a TAR estudou-se a interação entre os atores envolvidos no processo de implementação do SGE, apresentando uma descrição de como foi construído esse processo. / There are several researches that deal with the matter of ERP implementation process on enterprise sector. Most of them focused on planning management control on overarching formative context that involves them. However, there is still a gap when a study is made on implementation for small and medium sized companies with entrepreneur orientation. Because these companies are settled in a non-controlled environment, noticing miss-routing upon any planning (drifting), it is interesting to have case studies in this sector. Thus, understanding how ERP implementation process is made and which are the procedures that can be applied to promote a succeed utilization is the focus of this research work. For this, it has been used theorical concepts brought by the work of Ciborra (2002, 2000, 1999) and the theorical approach of actor-network theory (ANT) proposed by Latour (2005), Callon (1998) and Law (1992). This work has shown the utilization of the ANT, it has evidenced the concepts brought by Ciborra (2002, 2000, and 1999) and suggests practices to promote the utilization of ERP for the supplier followed on this study. Besides, it is suggested to continue this study by introducing actors that represents the technological, economical and social environment of the studied sector to identify others reasons for actors’ options, once with the ANT was shown the interaction between the actors during the implementation process as a description of how the process was constructed as a result of this interaction.

Este trabalho de pesquisa, organizado sob a forma de uma Dissertação de Mestrado em Administração, estuda os fatores envolvidos na implementação de pacotes de software para gestão empresarial, ou sistemas ERP – Enterprise Resources Planning – no contexto de empresas usuárias desse tipo de sistema. Além de uma pesquisa, este trabalho também é composto por uma revisão bibliográfica sobre os principais assuntos abordados, tais como: pacotes de software para gestão empresarial; administração de projetos; fatores críticos de sucesso em projetos; redesenho de processos de negócios; e adoção de novas tecnologias. Para a execução da pesquisa, foi realizado um survey com uma amostra formada por 43 empresas, no Brasil, que já tivesse implementado ou estivesse em um projeto de implementação de algum pacote de software ERP. Os resultados obtidos com a análise dos dados buscam traçar um quadro sobre os projetos de implementação de pacotes de software para gestão empresarial no Brasil, além de estabelecer a existência ou não de relações entre alguns fatores, considerados críticos nesse tipo de projeto, e o sucesso dos projetos. / This research, organized under the form of a Mastership Dissertation in Business Administration, studies the factors involved in the implementation of ERP – Enterprise Resources Planning – systems, in the context of companies that use that sort of system. Besides a research, this essay is also composed by a bibliographical revision on the main approached subjects, such as: integrated software packages for business management; project management; critical success factors in projects; BPR – business process reengineering; and adoption of new technologies. For the execution of the research, a survey was accomplished with a sample formed by 43 companies in Brazil, that had already implemented or it was in an implementation project of some ERP software. The results obtained with the analysis of the data outline a chart on the projects of ERP software implementation in Brazil, besides establishing the existence or not of relationships among some factors, considered critical in that project, and the success of the projects.

An implementation project of an ERP system results in large changes. Organizations that face an ERP implementation project have several risks to consider in order to avoid problems that cause failures. The purpose of this research is to extend existing models and create a method for implementation of ERP systems. The method has then been employed to an ongoing project at the department of Procurement and Supply at Ericsson Mobile Platforms in Lund. Objectives for the research are to consider which implementation strategy can be used and how an organization can minimize risks. The research approach and methodology is influenced by the qualitative research method since it was necessary to gather qualitative facts instead of quantitative facts. Included is also a case study due to the research is executed within Ericsson Mobile Platforms in Lund. There are two main opposite implementation strategies, Big Bang and Step-by-Step. The choice of implementation strategy depends on number of factors like the size of the organizations, complexity and resources. A method of ERP implementation has been put forward as a result of the integrated models. The method includes an overall model and a check list. Risk identification is a problem that many implementation project faces, a way to solve this is to make a careful risk analysis, a risk matirx with several identified risks are putted forward throughout this study.