Alternative Geschäftsmodelle wie Software as a Service (SaaS) und Open-Source-Software (OSS) steigern die Attraktivität von Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systemen für Kleine und Mittelständische Unternehmen (KMU). Jedoch stellen die Beratungsleistungen, die für die Konfiguration eines ERP-Systems zur Anpassung an die spezifischen Bedürfnisse eines Unternehmens notwendig sind, eine hohe Einführungshürde dar. Eine Konfigurationsoption, die bei vielen ERP-Systemen eine Rolle spielt, ist die Kategorienkonfiguration. Mit Hilfe einer automatisierten Konfigurationsunterstützung können Geschäftsführer von kleinen Unternehmen die Kategorienkonfiguration selbst durchführen und einen Teil der Einführungskosten einsparen. Im Rahmen der kumulativen Dissertation werden Automatisierungsansätze zur Konfigurationsunterstützung für die ERP-Kategorienkonfiguration generiert und auf das Open-Source ERP-System ERP5 angewandt. Die Automatisierungsansätze basieren auf Ähnlichkeitsberechnungen zu Falldatensätzen von 235 Unternehmen, Kategorien-Konsolidierung durch Umleitungsinformationen in Wikipedia-Artikeln, Templates und Meta-Templates. Die empirische Evaluation in einem Laborexperiment mit 100 Teilnehmern und eine Umfrage bestätigen die Gültigkeit, Nützlichkeit und Effektivität der generierten Ansätze. Die Konfigurationsunterstützung kann durch einen standardisierten Beratungsprozess und die Vermittlung des für eine konkrete ERP-Einführung notwendigen Wissens mittels Massenindividualisierung ergänzt werden. Dieser Ansatz wurde mit und für ERP5 umgesetzt und lässt sich auch auf andere Open-Source-Projekte übertragen.

Gröna försörjningskedjor bidrar till att företag tar bättre miljömässiga och hållbara beslut i sin verksamhet och tillsammans med ett välutvecklat ERP-system kan tillverkande företag bli mer konkurrenskraftiga. Digitalisering inom träindustrin sker inte i samma takt som utvecklingen av informationsteknologi, vilket innebär att branschen har en rad utmaningar kopplade till bland annat spårbarhet och utbyte av information.  Studiens syfte är att beskriva och förklara hur ERP-system kan stödja gröna försörjningskedjor inom träindustrin utifrån ett användarperspektiv. Studiens syfte besvaras med hjälp av en kvalitativ ansats där semistrukturerade intervjuer genomförts med 5 respondenter samt en dokumentanalys av två verksamheters hållbarhetsrapporter och observation på ett av företagens sågverk.  Utifrån en öppen kodning har studiens empiri framställts i tre övergripande teman vilka är, hållbarhet och miljö, spårbarhet och informationsdelning samt data och kvalitet i affärssystem. Företag inom träindustrin arbetar mot hållbar utveckling inom verksamheten, dels för att kunna besvara marknadens efterfrågan, dels för att bidra till Sveriges möjlighet att uppnå agenda 2030 och FN:s globala mål för hållbar utveckling. Respondenter vittnar om att det är svårt att jobba mot miljömålen i sin specifika roll och hur mycket de jobbar mot det sker i varierande utsträckning. Samtidigt saknas funktioner i systemen för att anställda ska kunna få de rapporter de är i behov av. Idag inhämtas information från olika system och det saknas integrationer mellan databaser och system. Visst arbete sker även med manuell handpåläggning och eller dokumenteras enbart i Excel. Det saknas även möjlighet att spåra produkter genom hela försörjningskedjan. Spårbarhet av certifikat framträder som särskilt viktigt för lyckat miljöarbete inom träindustrin, systemstöd för detta finns men enkelt stöd för spårbarhet genom hela kedjan saknas. Många olika system används idag vilket gör att fördelarna med ERP-system inte syns i det dagliga arbetet. Tillgång till information upplevs generellt som god medan tillvägagångssättet att hitta information kan förenklas. Integrationer mellan system såväl som förbättrad funktionalitet kopplat till rapporter och måluppföljning efterfrågas av användarna. Gröna försörjningskedjor stöds av de existerande systemen i viss utsträckning, studiens resultat tyder dock på att det finns utrymme för vidare utveckling för att uppnå ett bättre anpassat system baserat på användarnas behov

Studien undersökte vilka centrala designprinciper inom ärendehantering och tidsplanering som kan appliceras vid utveckling av ett anpassat ERP-system (Enterprise Resource Planning system) inom SMF:er (Små och Medelstora Företag). Anpassning av ERP-system inom SMF:er är ett komplext område med många komplikationer vilket gör det till en problemklass. Två SMF:er som upplever problem med ärendehantering och tidsplanering var involverade i studien och användes som grund för att utveckla ett anpassat ERP-system. Ett antal wicked problems identifierades utifrån de problemområden som företagen upplevde. Undersökningen utfördes genom en ADR (Action Design Research) forskningsansats med kvalitativ insamlad data under en nio veckor lång period, där fem iterationer av utveckling och utvärdering utfördes med en veckas tidsspann var. Studien resulterade i ett anpassat ERP-system som inkluderar ärendehantering och tidsplanering med en god system-till-arbete passform inom företagen. Sex designprinciper utvecklades under ADR-arbetet och fastställdes när systemet var fullt fungerande och godkänt av involverade företag. Designprinciperna besvarade de identifierade wicked problems och kan användas av andra vid anpassning av ERP-system inom SMF:er / The study examined which central design principles in case management and time planning can be applied in the development of a customized ERP system (Enterprise Resource Planning system) within SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises). Customization of ERP systems within SMEs is a complex field with many complications which makes it a problem class. Two SMEs experiencing problems with case management and planning were involved in the study and were used as a basis for developing a custom ERP system. Several wicked problems were identified based on the problem areas that the companies experienced. The study was conducted through an ADR (Action Design Research) approach with qualitative collected data over a nine-week period, where five iterations of development and evaluation were performed with a time span of one week each. The study resulted in a custom ERP system that includes case management and time planning with a good system-to-work fit within the companies. Six design principles were developed during the ADR work and established when the system was fully functional and approved by the involved companies. The design principles answered the identified wicked problems and can be used by others when adapting ERP systems within SMEs.

M. Tech. Business Information Systems / Legacy systems are standalone computer applications mostly based on old technologies used in many organizations notwithstanding the availability of more streamlined systems and newer applications. The systems are in place due to the fact that it is costly to replace them, and or they respond adequately to users' requests towards the function they are designed to do. Legacy systems play an important role in today's business because they consist of application programs that may not be upgraded and old data which may not be reformatted to suit new systems. Further, these systems are still alive because of their good pedigree and distinct characteristics. If used in silos, the Legacy systems as part of information systems make the sharing of information, security and management controls, a nightmare. As a result, this affects the process of decision making at the operation and top management levels. Synchronization of reports from the different business units becomes a problem and in the long run the whole business is rendered ineffective and inefficient. This study is calling for the need to integrate legacy systems into enterprise resource planning system. Much as this is so, there is still limited understanding of the factors that contribute to the users' acceptance of the integration of these Legacy systems into an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP SYSTEM). This study therefore sought to determine factors influencing users' acceptance of Legacy systems' integration into an ERP System by taking a case of the National Department of Human Settlements.

Critical success factors (CSFs) are those things that must be done correctly for a project to be successful; however, CSFs are not sufficient by themselves to guarantee success. CSFs, as identified in the literature, vary from study to study. In addition, previous studies have not typically included contextual details for the projects studied. As a result, it is difficult to know how the particulars of a project impact (or not) CSFs. Researchers have suggested that CSFs can be affected by contextual details. Knowledge about the effect of contextual factors on CSFs would allow organizational leaders and project managers to more effectively use resources to achieve project success. Enterprise system implementation projects have exhibited high failure rates. Both Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Electronic Health Record (EHR) system implementations have proven to be challenging for organizations. For enterprise system implementation projects, a variety of contextual factors may be important. Examples of contextual factors include the number of software modules implemented, the number of sites undergoing implementation, the geographic dispersion of the sites, the number of people in the organization, and the percentage of personnel in the organization whose daily tasks are disrupted by the new enterprise system. This research was designed to shed light on the role of contextual factors on CSFs for enterprise system implementation projects. A survey was created to evaluate the effects of contextual factors on CSF ratings. The survey included questions related to 17 CSFs, 14 of the CSFs included in the study have been well-cited in the project management literature. Three additional CSFs were also included in the study to capture important elements of change management, which more recent studies have shown to be relevant to enterprise system implementations. The survey included questions related to eight contextual variables for ERP projects and 11 contextual variables for EHR system projects. The research focused on small to medium-size organizations, which have been less studied than larger organizations. The target respondents for the survey were enterprise system (ERP or EHR) project managers from software companies or consulting firms and government project managers whose implementation projects were within six months of completion. Data were collected on 17 ERP projects and 26 EHR system implementation projects in 43 different organizations. The survey data and subsequent analyses provided evidence that EHR system implementation projects are impacted by contextual factors. The results for the ERP implementations are not conclusive. The results suggest that contextual factors should be taken into consideration when determining how best to manage enterprise system implementations. In addition, the results of this research did not support previous research findings, which indicated that similar CSFs exist for ERP and EHR system projects. CSFs were found to vary substantially in a number of key areas, especially with respect to training. The User Training and Support CSF for the ERP projects included in this study was rated less important than prior research results suggest (Finney & Corbett, 2007). One of two CSFs included in the survey to capture change management requirements, Early Adopter/Super-user, was found to be an important CSF for the ERP projects included in this study. The EHR system projects were found to be affected by contextual factors, with nine different instances of significant relationships identified between individual CSFs and one or more contextual factor. Eight of the 17 CSFs for the EHR system implementation projects in this study were affected by contextual factors. Contextual factors impacted the ERP and EHR system implementations quite differently, suggesting that more research is needed to better understand the phenomenon leading to these differences. The findings from this research can be used by organizational leaders and project managers to more effectively achieve project success. These results provide project managers and organizational leaders in small and medium-size organizations with a much deeper and relevant understanding of the factors that are most important to manage in successfully implementing either ERP or EHR system projects. As this study focused on small and medium-size organizations and both ERP and EHR system implementation projects, the findings are relevant across a wide range of organizations. As smaller organizations have not typically been the focus of CSF research, this study makes an important contribution to the understanding of CSFs for both ERP and EHR system implementation projects. More generally, this research also expands the broader body of knowledge on the identification of CSFs, as this study has provided empirical evidence for the important role played by contextual factors. Every project is carried out within a broader organizational setting. This broader organizational setting appears, based on the results of this study, to have a strong effect on the importance of CSFs for each specific project and as such, may explain some of the seemingly contradictory findings related to CSFs in the existing literature. While further research is needed to understand the means by which contextual factors impact CSFs, this study has provided a significant contribution in validating the relationship between contextual factors and CSFs for a broad range of enterprise system projects in a wide range of industries. / Graduation date: 2012

Kreditbedömningar vid lån är en riskabel process för banker, vid felaktiga kreditbedömningar riskerar de inte bara sin egen lönsamhet utan det kan även påverka samhället finansiellt. En banktjänsteman baserar sin kreditbedömning på både finansiell- och icke finansiell information, banktjänstemännen har även möjlighet att använda affärssystem som ett datoriserat beslutsstöd vid sin kreditbedömning. Affärssystem har möjligheten att samla in finansiell information, hantera informationen samt generera ny information som kan användas som beslutsunderlag. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva affärssystemets roll vid kreditbedömningar och hur affärssystemets roll påverkas av relationsfaktorer. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats som består av sju intervjuer av banktjänstemän som arbetar med kreditbedömningar på både företags- och privatsidan. Dessa sju banktjänstemän arbetar på olika banker, med olika arbetspositioner och har olika stor erfarenhet av kreditbedömningar. Studien visar att affärssystemets roll vid en kreditbedömning är olika stor mellan banktjänstemän på privatsidan respektive företagssidan. Studien visar även att relationsfaktorer påverkar affärssystemets roll vid en kreditbedömning. I och med att denna studie visar att affärssystemets roll skiljer sig åt vid banktjänstemäns kreditbedömningar, rekommenderar vi att framtida studier jämför de olika utfallen av kreditbedömningarnas lyckade eller misslyckade kreditbeslut beroende på affärssystemets roll. / Credit assessments is a risky process for banks, if a bank makes an incorrect credit assessments, they will not only decrease their own profitability it may also affect the whole community financially. Banks base their credit assessments on both financial and non-financial information, they are also able to use Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to support their decision making. ERP systems have the ability to retrieve financial information, manage information, and generate new information that can be used as a basis for decisions. The purpose of this study is to describe the ERP systems role in the credit assessment and how relational factors impact the ERP system's role in credit assessments. The study has a qualitative approach consisting of seven interviews with bank officials, these officials work with credit assessment for both corporate and private customers. These seven bank officials work in different banks, with different work descriptions and have different experience of credit assessments. This study shows that the ERP system's role in a credit assessment is different depending on if it is a corporate customer or a private customer and also that the relationship factors affect the ERP systems role in credit assessments. We recommend that a future study compares the ERP systems role with the outcomes of credit assessments were successful or unsuccessful credit decisions.

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.

The thesis deals with the latest trend in providing ICT service -- Cloud Computing -- and its possible application in enterprise information systems generally. The aim of the thesis is to evaluate market readiness for Cloud Computing services in order to find out to which extent it is possible to cover enterprise information system, or rather its software applications, on strategic and tactical management levels using the above-mentioned services. To achieve the aim, it is necessary to determine both the Cloud Computing services market and the enterprise information system sphere and then to decide whether Cloud Computing services are able to cover the basic needs of enterprise information systems. The evaluation of the market readiness will be executed in accordance with both the specially created methodology and the defined requirements. Thus the present market readiness rating will be possible to determine. The thesis should show to which extent it is possible to apply Cloud Computing model to the enterprise information systems issue. It will also be possible to find out the factors which support this application the most and, on the other hand, which factors limit this application the most. The thesis will also show which fields are advanced enough, which services we can consider and what we can expect of these services.

Thesis (MTech (Business Information Technology))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / Institutions of higher learning are operating in an environment that is continuously informed by the markets and government regulations, hence the need for continuous improvement initiatives in order to remain relevant to the dynamic changes in higher education. The improvements are done by reviewing the course content, operations, and business processes, which includes an application and admission process. This study analyses the residence application and admission process (RAAP). The business processes and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system support the realisation of the application and admission process of the university. The review of the current application and admission process will be based on business processes, business process reengineering, and the business process modelling theory. Therefore, the problem statement for the study is that the impact of information flow during the application and admission of students for residency at the university involves business processes that are inefficient and ineffective. This results in mistakes being made by administrators, and students who are dissatisfied. The study is based on two research questions: Firstly, what strategies can be used to improve the application and admission process of the role players at the selected tertiary institution, and secondly, how does the application and admission process affect service delivery to the students and residence administrators at the selected tertiary institution? The aim of the study is to explore how the participating students and administrators in the residence application and admission process perceive the efficiency of university business processes. A further aim is to explore how the processes can be reengineered to fulfil the requirements of the students and administrators. The research methodology employed to resolve the problem logically is qualitative in nature. A research paradigm guides the actions of the researcher with regard to the generation and interpretation data, which results in knowledge production. The inductive research approach is well suited for the research strategy. For the purpose of this study, a case study strategy is deemed suitable because of its qualitative nature, and comprehensive knowledge of the university processes is required to understand and address the research problem. The unit of analysis of the study is the university’s administrative department business processes. The purposive, non-randomly selected students who applied for residency and the employees of the applicable departments within the university form the unit of observation, which is also a source of data. The data are collected by means of interviews using semi-structured questionnaires, with the samples being non-random and purposively selected. The data collected in the case study are then be summarised and categorised into themes. The themes are uses to present the “As-Is” and the “To-Be” application and admission process.

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.