In recent years, Internal Control has become the focus of attention every time there is a notable scandal in the corporate world. An effective internal control system can prevent an organisation from fraud and errors, and provide an organisation with assurance and competitive advantages. It is argued that in order to have a robust internal control system, an integrated system, such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is needed. ERP systems have the ability to control user access and facilitate the separation of duties, which is one of the most common internal control mechanisms used in order to deter fraud within financial systems. Moreover, there are other factors that can provide support for effective internal control systems. This thesis aims to explain how ERP success, organisational and ERP factors affect the effectiveness of internal control procedures. In particular, this thesis develops and validates a research model with empirical evidence collected in the context of the Saudi Arabia business environment. In order to achieve the research aim, this research identifies four key propositions derived from the existing literature to establish the relationships between organisational factors, ERP factors, ERP success and effectiveness of internal control procedures. An exploratory study is used to initially test the four propositions. The findings indicate that different companies follow different requirements that mainly depend on ownership. Additionally, the study indicates that the eight components of the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission’s (COSO) Enterprise Risk Management framework are considered by the companies investigated, however there are variations regarding their level of consideration. The findings suggest that further study is needed to explain the impact of ERP success on internal control and to measure the effect of the organisational and ERP factors. Based on the four propositions, four hypotheses are developed and tested in a quantitative study. A questionnaire is constructed and sent to 217 Saudi ERP-implemented companies. 110 valid responses are received. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is adopted for data analysis and hypothesis testing. The results suggest that the maturity of the ERP systems, formalisation and centralisation can impact on the success of ERP systems. Prospectors’ strategy, organisational culture and management support are positively related to the effectiveness of internal control procedures. The study results show a positive significant relationship between the success of ERP systems and effectiveness of internal control procedures. This research contributes to the knowledge at different levels. At the theoretical level, it develops and validates a theoretical framework that links the ERP system success to the effectiveness of internal control procedures. At the methodological level, unlike many of previous studies, this study adopts multiple data collection methods, and a powerful statistical technique, PLS-SEM to generate more robust outcomes. Finally, at the practice level, the study is conducted in Saudi Arabia, which is different from the developed countries in many aspects, such as internal control regulations and taxation system. Thus, the findings can be beneficial to Saudi organisations as well as other Middle-East countries.

Small to medium sized enterprises (SMEs) play a significant role in global and national economies, both in developed and developing countries, contributing significantly to economic growth and job creation. Yet, SMEs face ongoing survival issues as their limited access to resources often constrains their ability to compete and realise their potential. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are known to be a crucial component in realising benefits for any organisation and are seen as significant contributors to an organisation’s performance. However, only a portion of SMEs report that their value expectations have been met in adopting an ERP system. SMEs require a better understanding of how to extract value from ERP adoption in order to remain competitive. An on-going SME problem is a lack of low-level awareness of the benefits that an ERP system is capable of providing them. The problem is stated as “SMEs do not understand the benefits derived from the adoption of an ERP system”. The purpose of this treatise was to determine a clearer understanding of how ERP systems can be considered a technological innovation that may be exploited by an SME to deliver business value by increasing the performance of the SME and thereby increasing the SME’s competitive advantage. A literature review was conducted on ERP and SMEs which identified benefit models grounded in the theories of Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) and Resource Based View (RBV). DOI explains the benefits derived from ERP use as the technology diffuses throughout the social organisation and RBV measures the business value extracted from ERP adoption and use. A model for ERP benefits for SMEs was proposed based on the extant literature and empirical evaluation on a sample of 107 SYSPRO ERP users in South Africa. The model was statistically assessed as to the relationships between the independent variables of ease of use, collaboration, capabilities, efficiencies, analytics, industry sector and maturity against the dependent variable of ERP business value. The variables of analytics, capabilities and ease of use together explain 68.9% of the variance of ERP business value, while analytics and capabilities explain 53.8%. No significant relationship was found for efficiencies, collaboration, industry or maturity, being a measure of length of years’ experience in ERP use. The results indicate that SMEs perceive analytics to be a valuable determinant of ERP value contributing to the competitiveness of SMEs. The higher the SME focuses on analytics, the greater the organisation’s performance increases due to the enhancement of analytical-based decisions aiding in a better decision-making process. Capabilities are the degree to which an ERP system caters for the functional needs of the SME. This treatise argues that SMEs should pay particular focus on their operational requirements and whether the ERP system is capable of providing them as customisation of the ERP is costly. Organisational personnel utilising ERP must be comfortable utilising it. Perceptions as to an ERP’s complexity and usefulness define the ease-of-use. SMEs should consider the inherent aspects of a given ERP system that support the adoption rate of their personnel of an ERP system. Practically, SMEs should assess the degree of system intuitiveness both during ERP selection and during the adoption lifecycle phases. ERP providers should focus on the provisioning of aspects both in the software and during the implementation of an ERP system at an SME in ensuring the system is intuitive, useful, easy to use, functionally addresses the SME requirements simply and surfaces meaningful analytics in support of decision-making process.

Orientador: José de Souza Rodrigues / Banca: Renato de Campos / Banca: Edmundo Escrivão Filho / Resumo: As empresas necessitam de estratégias que melhorem seus desempenhos organizacionais, consequentemente seus retornos financeiros e as ferramentas como os sistemas de gestão integrados - ERPs podem auxiliar a maximizar esses retornos. Os ERPs - Enterprise Resource Planning são sistemas de possibilitam integrar diversas áreas funcionais e operacionais da empresa, tendo como característica principal de atendimento simultâneo de vários departamentos, melhorando seus processos de negócio. Ao mesmo tempo em que alimentam o processo tomada de decisões com informações, oferecem suporte aos processos de negócios da empresa, integrando-os e melhorando a comunicação. Este estudo tem por objetivo analisar as contribuições dos sistemas integrados - ERP no atendimento das necessidades da empresa em seus negócios, como uma ferramenta de grande importância para o processo gerencial e decisório no contexto organizacional. A pesquisa é um estudo de múltiplos casos, cuja amostra foi retirada dos clientes de um dos maiores fornecedores desses sistemas do Brasil, escolhida por critérios de conveniência (facilidade de acesso às empresas e seus dados) sendo composta de três organizações de pequeno e médio porte do Estado de São Paulo. Os dados foram coletados com questionários (abertos e fechados) e entrevistas com pessoas da área de TI das empresas pesquisadas, ocupando funções em níveis gerenciais e estragégico. Foram utilizadas como referências para o desenvolvimento do questionário, as variáveis base do modelo original proposto pro Mahmood e Soon (1991) e as adaptação dele feita, por Saccol et al. (2010) e contribuições do autor, resultando em um questionário composto de oito macro variáveis estratégicas: "Utilidade", "Clientes", "Competitividade da empresa", "Fornecedores", "Mercado", "Produção: estrutura de custo e capacidade", "Eficiência e Eficácia da Organização" e "Eficiência Interorganizacional"... / Abstract: Companies need strategies to improve their organizational performance, hence its financial returns and tools such as integrated management systems - ERP can help to maximize these returns. The ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning systems are enabling to integrate various functional and operational areas of the company, with the main feature as simultaneously managing multiple departments, improving their business processes. While feeding the decision-making process with information, support the company's business processes, integrating them and improving communication. This study aims to analyze the contributions of integrated systems - ERP in attending the company's needs in their business, as a very important tool for management and decision-making in the organizational context. The research is a multiple case study, whose sample was taken from customers of one of the largest suppliers of these systems in Brazil, chosen by convenience criteria (ease of access to campanies and their data) being composed by three small and medium-sized organizations of the State of São Paulo. Data were collected by questionnaires (open and closed) and interviews with people in the IT department of the surveyed companies, occupying functions in management and strategic levels. It was used as references for the development of the questionnaire, the variables base of the original model proposed by Mahmood and Soon (1991) and his adjustment made by Saccol et al. (2010) and the author of contributions resulting in a questionnaire composed of eight macro variables: "Utility", "Customers", "Competitiveness of the company", "Suppliers", "market", "Production: cost structure and capacity" "Efficiency and Effectiveness of the Organization" and "Interorganizational Efficiency". The results showed that the ERP systems, has a major role in the business context of SMEs, specially in variables Utility, Production: Cost structure/capacity and efficiency / effectiveness... / Mestre

Submitted by Daniella Sodre (daniella.sodre@ufpe.br) on 2015-03-10T11:50:00Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação Arquimedes de Medeiros.pdf: 3873666 bytes, checksum: 7106bb10646b36fe5e2c1e0d04cd07c7 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2015-03-10T11:50:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação Arquimedes de Medeiros.pdf: 3873666 bytes, checksum: 7106bb10646b36fe5e2c1e0d04cd07c7 (MD5) license_rdf: 1232 bytes, checksum: 66e71c371cc565284e70f40736c94386 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-04-22 / Nos últimos anos, com uma economia mundial globalizada, as empresas têm buscado cada vez mais por novas tecnologias que lhes permitam obter informações integradas de suas diversas áreas, visando o auxilio no processo decisório. Com tal intuito, surgiram os sistemas ERP’s (Enterprise Resource Planning), cuja principal característica é integrar as informações de toda companhia, proporcionando uma visão gerencial única de todas as suas áreas. Não indiferente a esse cenário, as empresas sucroalcooleiras têm adquirido e executado projetos de implantação de sistemas ERP’s em suas unidades. Neste contexto, pesquisas vêm sendo realizadas sobre o que leva um projeto a ser bem sucedido. Uma das áreas pesquisadas são os fatores críticos para o sucesso de cada projeto, ou seja, o que deve ser mais focado, pois falhas podem trazer consequências para o projeto e em muitos casos culminar em seu insucesso. Identificar os fatores críticos de sucesso pode minimizar os riscos e maximizar a probabilidade de sucesso do projeto. Esse trabalho mapeou os principais fatores críticos para o sucesso de projetos de implantação de ERP de manutenção industrial em usinas do ramo sucroalcooleiro, através de um estudo de caso e uma pesquisa de campo com diversos profissionais e companhias de tal área de negócio, que já passaram ou estão passando por esse tipo de processo no Brasil, sendo os mais importantes: escopo do projeto bem definido, presidência comprometida e gerente de projeto competente.

Para o mundo atual é necessária a mudança de paradigmas e entre as mudanças mais prementes encontra-se a necessidade de garantir a sustentabilidade dos empreendimentos humanos. Assim, a gestão empresarial tende a mudar e, para adequarse a essa nova forma de gestão, o conceito de Ecologia Industrial e o uso de softwares de controle podem ser de grande valia. O presente trabalho teve como objetivo desenvolver metodologia do uso desses softwares na aplicação do conceito de Ecologia Industrial em empresas da área de eletroeletrônicos, preferencialmente ligadas à área de microeletrônica, para definir indicadores de sustentabilidade adequados ao sistema e indicar possíveis melhorias de processo pela formação de ecossistemas industriais. O setor eletroeletrônico foi avaliado preliminarmente e apresentou, devido ao alto valor agregado de seus produtos, várias oportunidades de redução de custos, de melhoria ambiental e social na cadeia produtiva devido à reutilização de co-produtos gerados internamente ou por outras empresas, sugerindo um esforço para aumentar a formação de ecossistemas industriais neste setor. Como a formação de ecossistemas industriais é muito dependente da troca, é relevante o fato dos estudos de caso mostrarem a importância das distâncias e, deste modo, entre os prováveis impactos significativos, a emissão de carbono precisa ser fortemente considerada. Para a área de insumos para a microeletrônica, avaliada preliminarmente no programa QITS (Quartz Industrial Trade System), a possibilidade do uso de lascas de silício e de bagaço de cana é dificultada pelas distâncias entre os produtos e respectiva emissão de carbono decorrente do translado. Outros insumos são normalmente adquiridos e descartados em ciclos ainda mais abertos. Na área de microeletrônica, ciclos de reuso de água com galvânicas existem, mas não de outros produtos, como soluções aquosas ácidas ou alcalinas, que poderiam ser recicladas em metalúrgicas, onde o grau de pureza exigido é menor. Na área de circuito impresso e de montagem em superfície vários co-produtos já são reciclados, porém, uma troca entre produtores, não envolvendo recicladoras, proporcionaria um ganho econômico maior. Soluções aquosas similares às utilizadas em microeletrônica também poderiam ser utilizadas, porém, novamente as distâncias são as principais variáveis a dificultar tal processo. A reciclagem de equipamentos completos esbarra em várias dificuldades, entre elas os aspectos legais. Para as micros e pequenas empresas o desenvolvimento de banco de dados permite a implantação da Ecologia Industrial sem altos custos associados. Estes bancos de dados também favorecem a obtenção de indicadores requisitados por outros atores ambientais, tal como bolsa de valores. / Nowadays, paradigm changes are needed and one of the most urgent changes required is to assure sustainability on human entrepreneurships. Therefore, entrepreneurship management will be modified and Industrial Ecology concept allied to software applications can be very useful. The aim of this work was development of suitable methodology for Industrial Ecology concept implementation using software. Brazilian industries on the electronic sector were evaluated in order to define sustainability indicators and also to propose processes improvement using industrial ecosystems. Preliminary evaluations of the electronic sector shows, due to the high value of the products, several possibilities for cost reduction and environmental and social improvement as well. The opportunities can be implemented with non-product exchanges inside the plants or among different plants, i.e. by industrial ecosystem formation. However, as industrial ecosystems require intense exchange among participants distance between plants is a high constraint and can associates a significant environemental impact, mainly due to carbon emission. Reactants production for Microeletronics was formerly evaluated on QITS (Quartz Industrial Trade System) program. The program suggested the use of sugarcane biomass and quartz for silicon production. However, due to the high distances between these two products, carbon emission inhibits the ecosystem. Moreover, other products are also acquired and discarded in open circles. Microelectronics can reuse water in partnership with the galvanic industries but not other products, such as acid and basic aqueous solution, mainly on metallurgic processes. Print circuit board and surface mounting technology several non-products are already recycled, nonetheless the best economical practice would be a direct change, i. e., no recyclers involved. Aqueous solutions are hardly recycled due to distance between sites. Equipment recycling is a huge problem due to the legal concerns on disassembly For micro and small industries simple software, such as database, allows Industrial Ecology implementation with very low cost. These databases also favor obtaining sustainability indicators required for several stakeholders, such as stockers.

Background The importance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is that they redesign organizational processes and structure. The new knowledge embedded in the ERP systems induces substantial changes in the businesses which adopt ERP systems. Furthermore, ERP implementations are socially complex and knowledge-intensive activities as several companies may be involved in a single ERP project and intensive knowledge transfer among these companies is vital for the success of the implementation projects. Purpose To date limited amount of research has been performed in the area of knowledge transfer in ERP implementations. My study answered the following questions: 1. What is the effect of the transfer of knowledge that is associated with ERP implementations? 2. What (if any) knowledge transfer barriers have been identified during the ERP implementation process? 3. What types of activities did the firms initiate to enable the knowledge transfer during the ERP implementation process? Method My research consisted of theoretical and empirical parts. Theoretical part entailed a thorough review of current literature on the ERP systems and knowledge management. Adopting a phenomenological approach I next collected the primary data through interviews and surveys with experts in the ERP implementation projects. Results I have described the area of knowledge transfer within ERP implementation projects and identified connections between ERP implementations and organizational learning. I have also uncovered and analyzed the origins of a number of factors that potentially inhibit or enable the knowledge transfer within implementation projects. I was able to connect the theoretical part of the thesis with empirical data and gained a comprehensive understanding of the phenomena at hand. Major barriers to the knowledge transfer stem from the tacit nature of the knowledge itself and the lack of social relationships within the various stakeholders. Activities organizations engage in are ‘knowledge conversion’ and relationships facilitation within the project team.

Das Planen und Entwickeln eines optimalen Data Warehouse-Systems ist ein Ansinnen vieler Wissenschaftler und Forscher aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen. Zahlreiche Publikationen wurden zu diesem Thema verfasst und in den letzten Jahren veröffentlicht. In dieser Literatur wird versucht eine Heuristik zu entwickeln, welche eine Lösung nahe am Optimum für das Materialisierungsproblem im Data Warehouse liefert. In der Vergangenheit wurden in zahlreichen Publikationen Annahmen, wie unbegrenzte Ressourcen oder rasche Zugriffszeit getroffen, welche in der realen Welt allerdings nicht vorhanden sind. Die Vision, welche hinter dieser Arbeit steckt, ist es, ein Instrument zu entwickeln, welches diese limitierenden Faktoren mitberücksichtigt, bzw. dieses versucht. Dabei hat sich insbesondere die Modellierungsmethode des Aggregation Path Arrays von Prosser und Ossimitz als geeignet erwiesen, in diesem Problembereich einen Lösungsansatz zu finden. Vor allem ist diese Methode durch die einfache graphische Darstellungsfähigkeit besonders für informationstechnische Darstellung geeignet. Dabei ist es auch unerfahrenen Endbenutzer möglich, das Design eines Warehouses zu bewerkstelligen. Aus diesem Grund ist die Methode auch für Schulungs- und Ausbildungszwecke besonders geeignet. Die kostenminimale physische Bereitstellung der wichtigen Informationen für die Entscheidungsträger in Unternehmen stellt das Ziel dieser Arbeit dar. Dabei ist ein Optimierungsproblem zu lösen, welches limitierende Zeit- und Speicherressourcen bei gleichzeitigem Berücksichtigen wichtiger Information beachtet. Leider ist diese Information nicht immer als homogen anzusehen. Es gibt beispielsweise wichtige Information, welche für das Überleben einer Organisation notwendig ist und Information, welche wichtig, aber nicht ständig verfügbar sein muss. Der Versuch einen Lösungsansatz für diese Problematik zu finden, stellt das Herzstück meiner Arbeit dar. (Autorenref.)

PhD. (Computer Science) / Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are implemented within organisations to enable them to work more efficiently and enhance productivity. They also ensure that different levels of information are available to managers within the organisation for strategic and tactical decision-making. The implementation of ERP systems is often associated with great costs, they are resource intensive and cover the whole organisation. The implementation of ERP systems is perceived as a project that often fails owing to overrun on cost and time. The return on investment (ROI) is also often questioned once an ERP system has been implemented, since the organisation does not always see the benefits of the ERP system versus the effort and cost of implementing it. The purpose of this thesis is twofold: firstly it determines what an ERP system is and whether it can be subdivided into different components. The focus of this section is on the operational side of an ERP system to determine how it is managed and operated within an organisation. The second focus is on the way that ERP systems are implemented and the management that goes hand in hand with this implementation. The first focus area is addressed by developing a model that explains ERP and the different components within it. It describes the interactions between the different components and how the ERP system affects the organisation. This model provides a better understanding of an ERP system and shows the technology to be mature. The second focus area is addressed by a framework that assists organisations in deriving projects from the organisational vision. This ensures that the implementation of an ERP system will directly support the organisation’s vision and strategies. This addresses the issue of determining the value of the ERP system as well as ROI. The framework also provides alternative ways and methods that can be used to implement ERP systems. The value of this research is firstly that it provides a holistic model of what constitutes an ERP system and its effect on the organisation. ERP systems change not only the financial systems, but also the way the organisation operates. They introduce organisational change. The value of the framework is that it can assist organisations in identifying and implementing projects that will enable the implementation of the organisation’s vision and strategies. This will eliminate any favoured projects that are not in support of the organisation’s vision and can save the organisation’s scarce resources that would have been wasted on these projects. The framework can also assist organisations in determining if they must implement an ERP system and what value this implementation will have for the organisation.

Due to innovation, Information Technology (IT) is changing all the time. One of the fast growing IT innovations is cloud computing. The phenomenon of cloud computing has changed the way that business consumes IT and in particular Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. This phenomenon has led to a need for research in the field of cloud ERP systems. A review of the literature revealed a gap in research related to cloud ERP systems and particularly to the adoption of these systems in South African companies. Only a few studies have been done regarding the adoption of cloud computing in South Africa, and the extent of adoption of cloud ERP systems in South Africa is not known. This study set out to answer the research question “What is the extent of understanding and adoption of ERP system in South African companies?” The study will be useful to the ERP industry in understanding the level of adoption of and perceptions about cloud ERP systems by South African companies. In order to answer the research question a survey research strategy was adopted and was of an exploratory nature. The sample was composed of IT professionals and line managers in South African companies. Questionnaires were sent via web link and 41 complete responses were obtained. The results showed that the respondents had a good understanding of the advantages/benefits of cloud ERP systems. However, a lack of clear understanding of the disadvantages/drawbacks of cloud ERP systems was evident in the research data which could lead to non-adoption of cloud ERP systems. Adoption of cloud ERP systems was highest in the engineering, manufacturing and IT sector. It was evident that IaaS and PaaS have not been adopted at all. The majority of the companies (60 percent) that had adopted cloud ERP systems were SMEs. This is in line with international studies that show that SMEs are driving the change in IT innovation such as cloud ERP systems.

The aim of this study is to examine key implementation and managerial issues surrounding the use of a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a Decisions Support Tool (DST) for planning and managing development interventions. Ever since the emergence of GIS as a powerful analytical tool in almost all spheres of human endeavour, many organisations involved in development work have adopted its use. But the challenges of conceiving and implementing a GIS in ways that are more responsive to the problems that trigger its purchase remains a daunting task to many development organisations; even those with a wealth of experience in GIS. This is one of the motivating factors for this study. In this research, some relevant themes in GIS implementation and GIS management as a Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS) were examined in the literature review. A case study research strategy was used focusing on the experience of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Enterprise GIS (EGIS). The study examined how the system is been ran and what other development organisations can learn from this experience. Data was collected and analysed using a mixed research methods approach. The findings show a good level of GIS acceptance among municipality staff. However, running the system is not hitch free. A couple of problems and challenges were identified on the field. It is recommended that the municipality like most development organisations seeking GIS solutions should put the user at the centre of every technical innovation in GIS as a DST.