Information systems are used to increase business performance to gain competitive advantage. Information systems affect both financial measures and internal processes, thus providing different benefits to organisation. The main objective of the thesis is to create a model for evaluation of business performance through implementation of information systems. The thesis consists of three parts. In the theoretical part definition on what are information systems, enterprise resource planning systems and how do they correspond to each other were given. Explanation on how information systems can increase business performance and what business processes and indicators might be affected were analyzed. Integrated information system that refers to enterprise resource planning systems group is presented in the more detailed way. In the second part description was provided on how model was created for evaluation of influence of information systems on business performance. Information how the hierarchical organizational structure and selected performance indicators might be used for evaluation the general business performance index. In the practical model approbation part the results on the evaluation of information Systems, implemented in different branch offices in different countries of company providing engineering consultancy services , was made. Research results analysis has revealed that information systems have a great effect on business performance and can enhance performance... [to full text] / Informacinės sistemos naudojamos siekiant pagerinti įmonės veiklos rodiklius ir įgyti konkurencinį pranašumą. Informacinės sistemos turi poveikį tiek finansiniams, tiek ir vidaus procesų rodikliams, taip suteikdamos naudą įmonei. Baigiamojo darbo pagrindinis tikslas yra sukurti informacinių sistemų poveikio įmonių veiklai vertinimo modelį. Baigiamąjį magistro darbą sudaro trys dalys. Teorinėje studijoje pateikiami informacinės sistemos, įmonių vidinių išteklių planavimo sistemų apibrėžimai ir aiškinama sąsaja tarp šių dviejų reikšmių. Analizuojama, kaip diegiamos informacinės sistemos didina verslo efektyvumą, gerina rodiklius, paveikia verslo procesus. Antroje dalyje nagrinėjamas informacinių sistemų poveikio įmonių veiklai vertinimo modelis. Išanalizuota, kaip esama hierarchinė organizacijos struktūra ir pasirinkti veiklos rodikliai gali būti panaudoti bendro verslo veiklos rodikliui paskaičiuoti. Praktinėje dalyje buvo atliktas modelio aprobavimas inžinierines konsultacines paslaugas teikiančioje įmonės filialuose, įsteigtuose skirtingose šalyse. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad informacinės sistemos turi didelį poveikį verslo rodikliams ir gali padidinti įmonės efektyvumą. Baigiamojo darbo pabaigoje pateiktos išvados ir pasiūlymai. Baigiamojo darbo apimtis – 79 p. teksto be priedų, 24 pav., 22 lent., 82 bibliografiniai šaltiniai.

Business leaders around the world are expressing equal amounts of excitement and urgency for implementing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Yet the upcoming AI revolution is clouded with uncertainties and misconceptions. In this thesis, the business value and application potential of AI were studied in a context of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems through a case study at a consultancy firm with small- to midsize clients. Three research questions were posed and answered: how can, or do, organizational processes covered by ERP systems benefit from AI, what AI features do customers typically request when ordering ERP systems, and is AI adopted with the purpose of reducing costs or increasing revenue? Using a framework for data analysis, multiple organizational processes covered by ERP systems were explored through interviews with ERP experts. The results indicated that small- and midsize companies were still primarily requesting and working to implement basic, incremental AI with the purpose of reducing costs through automations. Future leaders may instead need to implement AI that fundamentally reinvents their business processes, with the purpose of increasing revenue through augmentations. Overall, while some organizational processes have already been improved with AI solutions, many processes have yet to be AI-powered in the ERP solutions sold by the consultancy firm examined in this study. However, the consultants of the firm express great positivity for the untapped potential of AI, and many further AI solutions are being developed. / Affärsledare världen runt upplever såväl entusiasm som brådska för att implementera artificiell intelligens (AI). Men den kommande AI-revolutionen är fylld av osäkerheter och miss-uppfattningar. I denna uppsats undersöktes det affärsvärde och den användningspotential som AI har i en kontext av affärssystem (enterprise resource planning system, ERP) genom en fallstudie på en konsultfirma med små- och mellanstora kunder. Tre forskningsfrågor ställdes och besvarades: hur kan organisatoriska processer som täcks av affärssystem komma att gynnas av AI, eller hur gynnas de redan, vilken typ av AI efterfrågar kunder när de beställer affärssystem, och införskaffas AI i syftet att minska kostnader eller öka intäkter? Med hjälp av ett ramverk för dataanalys utforskandes ett flertal organisatoriska processer som täcks av affärssystem genom intervjuer med affärssystemsexperter. Resultatet tyder på att små- och mellanstora företag fortfarande primärt efterfrågar och jobbar med enkla, inkrementella AI-utvecklingar, med syftet att minska kostnader genom automatiseringar. Framtida ledare kan istället komma att vilja implementera AI som fundamentalt återuppfinner organisationens affärsprocesser, med syftet att öka inkomsterna genom att göra personalen kraftfullare. På det stora hela har enbart än så länge endast ett mindre antal organisatoriska processer blivit förbättrade med AI-lösningar i de affärssystem som säljs av konsultfirman som undersöktes i denna studie. Företagets konsulter uttrycker dock starkt positivitet för den outnyttjade potentialen som kan hittas i AI, och fler AI-lösningar för affärssystemen håller på att utvecklas.

Servitization is a popular term referring to the innovation of an organization’s capabilities and processes to better create mutual value through a shift from selling products to selling Product-Service Systems. It is generally regarded as an innovative business model with great potential for smoother revenue streams, higher profit margins and longer, more closely-knit customer relationships. It is seldom easy to reengineer the business model of an entire organization and the servitization concept does not come without risks and uncertainties. One of the biggest changes when servitizing is the ownership of products; it is no longer necessarily the customer who owns the product, but the producer. This entails new uncertainties surrounding the use and care of the product, leaving the provider with a risk because of a lack of information about how the product is being used. The technology Internet of Things (IoT) can potentially solve this problem by enabling a constant remote data flow from the products in use back to the provider. IFS, the company at which the research of this study took place, develops and supplies enterprise systems (ES) such as enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) and can be described as forward-thinking and innovative. The ERP is a central point for any manufacturing firm, governing data and enabling an organization to automate and integrate a comprehensive part of their business processes, and to produce and access information in real time. In order to build functionality which can be referred to as the “best practice”, and to make a profit doing it, ES providers, such as IFS, need to stay in touch with the market and develop attractive applications in line with the general demand. One way to do this is to collaboratively develop functionality together with customers. In recent years, IFS has developed the product IFS IoT Business Connector in such a collaborative way with a number of pioneer customers. The product enables the collection and analysis of IoT data as well as seamless integration into IFS’ other products. This has opened up possibilities to utilize IoT functionality to support a more efficient provision of services, but the continued successful development of the Business Connector in this direction entails several more collaborative ventures into many different industries. To assist in this, we have concretized how IoT can be used to support a servitization process, as well as how the market has realized and adopted this. This has rendered a conceptual model for judging the suitability of a company, based on the readiness to utilize IoT and servitization respectively. We have then presented which types of customers an ES provider should aim to collaborate with for joint development of functionality in the enterprise system, to enable IoT solutions which can support servitization. This is followed by a presentation of a short market review, and the visualization of the market in the model. From this we draw conclusions about the fit and usefulness of the model, and the market maturity in general. Finally, we present a number of suggestions on how ES providers can work to develop such support in a more efficient manner.

Altos investimentos são feitos na área de tecnologia da informação (TI), especialmente em sistemas de gestão empresarial (ERP). Entretanto, tais investimentos não garantem o sucesso do sistema. Estudos indicam que o sucesso de um sistema de informação pode ser avaliado através da satisfação dos usuários do sistema. O tema deste estudo é a satisfação do usuário final e do usuário-chave de um sistema de gestão empresarial (ERP) como forma de avaliar o sucesso do sistema. O objetivo da pesquisa é medir a satisfação dos usuários do sistema. O método utilizado é a pesquisa Survey, realizada a partir da combinação de dois modelos apresentados pela literatura, um para o usuário final e o outro para o usuário-chave. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas etapas: o estudo piloto e a pesquisa final. O processo de validação e refinamento do instrumento utilizou diferentes técnicas, como: Validade de Face e Conteúdo, Análise de Confiabilidade (Coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach), Análise de Item Total Corrigido (CITC), Análise Fatorial Exploratória Convergente (Teste de Unidimensionalidade) e Discriminante. Foi verificado que as variáveis Acuracidade e Confiabilidade se agruparam em uma única variável (Exatidão). As demais variáveis permaneceram iguais e nenhum item precisou ser excluído. Através da Análise de Regressão, foi possível constatar que existe uma relação entre as variáveis 'Percepção de Sucesso do Sistema’ e ‘Satisfação com o Sistema’. A principal contribuição desta pesquisa tanto para a prática gerencial como para o meio acadêmico e empresarial é a validação de um instrumento de pesquisa adaptado para a realidade brasileira, capaz de medir a satisfação do usuário de um sistema de gestão empresarial (ERP), através da percepção dos usuários do sistema. / Large investments are made in Information Technology (IT), specially in Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP). But such investments are not a success guarantee. Previous researches show that the Information System (IS) success might be evaluated by determining the system users’ satisfaction. The subject of this paper is the ERP end-users’ and key-users’ satisfaction as a mean to evaluate ERP success. The purpose of this research is to measure ERP users’ satisfaction. The method used is a survey, which was based on a combination of two previous models, one about end-users’ and the other about key-users’ satisfaction. The survey was conducted in two steps: pre-test study and final study. The instrument was validated and refined through the use of qualitative and quantitative procedures such as face and content validity, reliability analysis (Cronbach Alfa), corrected item total correlation (CITC), exploratory factor analysis within and among blocks. As a result, the variables Accuracy and Reliability merged into a new variable (Exactness). All other variables remained the same, and none had to be excluded. Through the Regression Analysis it was possible to verify that there is a relationship between ‘System Perceived Success’ and ‘System Satisfaction’. The main academic and managerial contribution of this paper is a research instrument, duly validated and adapted to Brazilian reality, to measure ERP users’ satisfaction.

This study investigates whether a relationship exists between two constructs, namely sense of coherence (SOC) and organisational commitment, and their relationship with specific biographical attributes of consultants working in the enterprise resource and planning (ERP) industry. The results of the study indicate that, overall, a relationship at a significant level could not be established between the two constructs. However, some of the correlations in this study showed that a few relationships could be established at a significant level between age and tenure and some of the subscales of the two constructs. On the basis of the results of the study, recommendations could be made that apply in the ERP industry. Suggestions were also made for possible further research in other areas such as recruitment, employee development, employee reward, compensation and recognition, employee retention, succession planning, employee wellbeing and talent management. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / M. Com. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)

This dissertation is seen as a contribution to the field of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) and their application in regional science. The main objective is to demonstrate the possibility of using accounting data of enterprise information systems for regional evaluation, for example, regional statistics, identifying agglomeration and economic analysis of some spatial dependency of economic activities, through a set of accounting data obtained from business entities. The dissertation is divided into two parts - theoretical framework and practical part. The theoretical framework provides a theoretical basis for the definition of information society, ERP, their structure and deployment of ERP in the EU regions, including the use of accounting data from the ERP for the regional evaluation. It also contains a definition of the region and regional relations as part of a regional policy. Regional statistics and the comparison of regional indicators, definitions of economic clusters, enterprise networking and methodology of identification of economic agglomerations are explained in another part dissertation. Interpretation of statistical methods are then used in the practical part of the dissertation. In the practical part is then performed identification of economic agglomerations, derived from accounting data of enterprise resource planning systems, 27 randomly selected enterprises with nationwide coverage in ČR, regardless of the branch structure, followed by an analysis of the spatial dependence of sales and purchases to the distance.

Altos investimentos são feitos na área de tecnologia da informação (TI), especialmente em sistemas de gestão empresarial (ERP). Entretanto, tais investimentos não garantem o sucesso do sistema. Estudos indicam que o sucesso de um sistema de informação pode ser avaliado através da satisfação dos usuários do sistema. O tema deste estudo é a satisfação do usuário final e do usuário-chave de um sistema de gestão empresarial (ERP) como forma de avaliar o sucesso do sistema. O objetivo da pesquisa é medir a satisfação dos usuários do sistema. O método utilizado é a pesquisa Survey, realizada a partir da combinação de dois modelos apresentados pela literatura, um para o usuário final e o outro para o usuário-chave. A pesquisa foi realizada em duas etapas: o estudo piloto e a pesquisa final. O processo de validação e refinamento do instrumento utilizou diferentes técnicas, como: Validade de Face e Conteúdo, Análise de Confiabilidade (Coeficiente Alfa de Cronbach), Análise de Item Total Corrigido (CITC), Análise Fatorial Exploratória Convergente (Teste de Unidimensionalidade) e Discriminante. Foi verificado que as variáveis Acuracidade e Confiabilidade se agruparam em uma única variável (Exatidão). As demais variáveis permaneceram iguais e nenhum item precisou ser excluído. Através da Análise de Regressão, foi possível constatar que existe uma relação entre as variáveis 'Percepção de Sucesso do Sistema’ e ‘Satisfação com o Sistema’. A principal contribuição desta pesquisa tanto para a prática gerencial como para o meio acadêmico e empresarial é a validação de um instrumento de pesquisa adaptado para a realidade brasileira, capaz de medir a satisfação do usuário de um sistema de gestão empresarial (ERP), através da percepção dos usuários do sistema. / Large investments are made in Information Technology (IT), specially in Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP). But such investments are not a success guarantee. Previous researches show that the Information System (IS) success might be evaluated by determining the system users’ satisfaction. The subject of this paper is the ERP end-users’ and key-users’ satisfaction as a mean to evaluate ERP success. The purpose of this research is to measure ERP users’ satisfaction. The method used is a survey, which was based on a combination of two previous models, one about end-users’ and the other about key-users’ satisfaction. The survey was conducted in two steps: pre-test study and final study. The instrument was validated and refined through the use of qualitative and quantitative procedures such as face and content validity, reliability analysis (Cronbach Alfa), corrected item total correlation (CITC), exploratory factor analysis within and among blocks. As a result, the variables Accuracy and Reliability merged into a new variable (Exactness). All other variables remained the same, and none had to be excluded. Through the Regression Analysis it was possible to verify that there is a relationship between ‘System Perceived Success’ and ‘System Satisfaction’. The main academic and managerial contribution of this paper is a research instrument, duly validated and adapted to Brazilian reality, to measure ERP users’ satisfaction.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T19:51:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2979.pdf: 2470713 bytes, checksum: cb66cbd2392299db2bc5224246b85d95 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-03-05 / Many companies which adopted ERP systems in the past are frequently reluctant tostart new projects to upgrade the technology to newer versions. The decision is difficult due to thelong time of the project, the amount of financial investments and internal workforcerequired for the job, which are usually similar to the original ERP implementation. This work has asproposal a research and analisys of the apparently large demand of resources necessary to upgradethe versions of ERP R/3 systems. Firstly, a review in literature is made to present the arquitecture,characteristics and concepts of modules and funcionalities of these ERPs systems. It is alsoincluded the study of the life cicle of ERPs systems and its interfaces with legacy systems. Insequence, the versions upgrade subject is explored, where this author suggests that upgrade ofversions gives new life to ERPs systems and discuss how the suppliers share the ERP´s market andfinally explore the kinds of upgrades available for these systems. After these studies, twoquestionnaires are made to obtain data. This research is a Unique Case study type and has asobjective to describe the behavior of critic factors of implementation during an upgrade of ERPsystems, verifying if the demands are justified. / As empresas que necessitam fazer atualizações em seus sistemas ERP SAP R/3questionam os tempos, os valores e a utilização dos recursos humanos e estruturais solicitados parafazer estas atualizações. As demandas necessárias se aproximam aos de uma implementação. Estetrabalho tem como proposta a pesquisa e análise das dificuldades para atualizar as versões dosistema ERP R/3 da SAP. Inicialmente uma revisão bibliográfica é feita para dimensionar aabrangência dos sistemas ERPs e apresentar um referencial teórico de conceitos sobre os sistemas degestão empresarial; sobre a arquitetura e as características dos sistemas ERPs; sobre os conceitos demódulos e funcionalidades que estão diretamente relacionados a estes sistemas; sobre a evolução eciclo de vida destes sistemas; sobre a integração que estes sistemas têm com os sistemas legados. Nasequência é explorado o assunto atualização de versão, onde o autor sugere que as atualizações deversões dão sobrevida aos sistemas ERPs; a participação do mercado dos fornecedores de sistemasERPs; e as formas utilizadas para se atualizar o sistema ERP R/3 da SAP. Com base na pesquisa enos assuntos explorados são gerados os instrumentos de coleta de dados. Para execução destetrabalho realizou-se um estudo de caso único com objetivos descritivos visando analisar se algunsdos fatores críticos de implementação de sistemas ERPs se comportam da mesma forma naatualização de versão, justificando as demandas.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-04-16T14:49:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1514293 bytes, checksum: 3688767b9bcdbcff44029c3fed4e943b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009-08-28 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Nowadays, the implementation of information systems is a major cause of organizational change. Despite most often focused on the perspective of planning, issues relating to unforeseen changes and actions of improvisation have become important in this area of research and practice. This research aims to analyze, according to the user s perception, if actions based on improvisation during the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system do leverage effective changes to a public organization in the Brazilian state of Paraíba, in particular its state-owned water company Cagepa. Furthermore, we looked for organizational change models extant in the academic literature and the user s perception in respect to the importance of information systems (IS). Other research goals were to identify the main changes that are brought about by the implementation of an ERP system and to verify if there was user resistance during implementation. This study was performed from the qualitative perspective of a case study, which is an appropriate method for this type of research. The primary data were extracted from ten semi-structured interviews with users of ERP Pirâmide implemented in Cagepa six years ago. Secondary data were collected from literature and documentary research. Data processing was performed using the qualitative content analysis technique proposed by Gläser e Laudel (2009). Such a method is of a deep interpretative nature, driving the researcher through an intense interpretation and organization of results. The key moment of this method is the extraction phase, where significant information are selected for investigation. The Improvisational Model for Change Management proposed by Orlikowski and Hofman (1997) served as the starting point for choosing the research theme. The research findings sustain the Model and indicate that improvisational actions during IS implementation can foster institutionalized changes to a public organization, like in Cagepa. Moreover, one can see that ISs are important to users and promote significant changes when implemented. We also found that resistance from users and actions of improvisation during the implementation of the system did occur. / A implementação de sistemas de informação, atualmente, é um dos maiores causadores de mudanças organizacionais. Embora sejam focadas, na maioria das vezes, sob a perspectiva de planejamento, questões referentes a mudanças imprevistas e ações de improvisação têm se tornado importantes nessa área de estudos e práticas. A presente pesquisa buscou analisar, sob a perspectiva dos usuários, se ações baseadas em improvisação durante a implementação de um Sistema Integrado de Gestão (ERP - Enterprise Resource Planning), trouxeram mudanças institucionalizadas para uma organização pública do Estado da Paraíba, especificamente a Cagepa (Companhia de Água e Esgoto da Paraíba). Além disso, procurou-se conhecer modelos de mudanças organizacionais existentes na literatura e a percepção dos usuários em relação à importância dos sistemas de informação (SIs). Outros objetivos da presente pesquisa foram o de identificar as principais mudanças ocasionadas pela implementação de um SI e verificar se existe resistência por parte dos usuários durante sua implementação. O estudo foi realizado a partir de uma abordagem qualitativa, utilizando-se um estudo de caso, que se mostrou como método à presente pesquisa. Os dados primários foram extraídos a partir de dez entrevistas semi-estruturadas com os usuários do ERP Pirâmide, implementado na Cagepa há seis anos. Os dados secundários foram coletados a partir de pesquisa bibliográfica e documental. O tratamento dos dados foi realizado utilizando-se o método da análise de conteúdo qualitativa, proposto por Gläser e Laudel (2009). Tal método é de caráter interpretativo, cabendo ao pesquisador interpretar e organizar os resultados. O momento mais importante de tal método é a fase de extração, onde são selecionadas as informações relevantes para investigação. O Modelo Improvisado para Gestão da Mudança de Orlikowski e Hofman (1997) serviu de ponto de partida para a escolha do tema da presente pesquisa. Os achados da pesquisa apoiaram tal Modelo e indicaram que ações de improvisação durante a implementação de sistemas ERPs podem trazer mudanças institucionalizadas para uma organização pública, como foi o caso da Cagepa. Além disso, pôde-se constatar que SIs são importantes para os usuários e originam mudanças significativas em uma organização. Verificou-se, ainda, uma grande resistência por parte dos usuários, além de ações de improvisação durante a implementação de sistema ERP.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY in the Faculty of INFORMATICS AND DESIGN at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology 2013 / In this information age, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation simplifies complexities within organisational heterogeneous Information Systems (IS). Following the early era of computerisation, ERP systems were designed to provide a formal integration of the whole enterprise with a business focussed approach to the application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT). With the advent of ERP systems, organisations in industry have invested substantially in these systems to assist and augment their ability to form more effective management of their resources across corporate walls and business functions through an integration of information and operations. In the public sector, governments at all levels have also turned to ERP systems to address their needs. As such, ERP implementation has become a new solution that many public institutions are venturing into, based on the evidence of benefits in the commercial sector. However, in the public sector, ERP systems should not be focussed on just internal organisational benefits. Due cognisance must be given, during design and implementation, to the citizen, who is the key public sector beneficiary. The benefits from ERP systems implementation and utilisation are well researched and documented by various scholars. However research has mainly focused on the private sector. Given the growing importance of ERP systems in the public sector it has become imperative to advance understanding in the arena of government with regards to public ERP system implementation and utilisation. Thus, an important question that warrants investigation is: ―What are the benefits for the citizen when ERP systems are implemented by municipalities?‖ The empirical work reported in this research investigated, via an in-depth case study, how the citizen benefits from ERP implementations in municipalities. Fifteen respondents, who are employees the City of Cape Town Municipality, were interviewed. Their interview transcripts, together with the other supporting documents they supplied and information from the City‘s website, were analysed through hermeneutical analysis. The analysis of the data was facilitated by the use of Atlas.ti, a computer-aided qualitative analysis software tool. Four key findings emanated from the analysis.  Indirect ERP-system benefits: The benefits in this category denoted those benefits that are generically found in any ERP system regardless of it being implemented in a private or public enterprise setup.  Direct citizen benefits: These are the benefits that are noticeable and directly extended to the citizens even without the knowledge of the existence of the ERP system.  Effective ERP system benefits management: This finding elaborated how the ERP system can be sustainably managed to ensure that it delivers maximum benefits to the citizens in a long term.  Efficient and effective use of public money: This finding explained the outcomes of utilising the ERP system, specifically in public enterprises, such as municipalities. The findings of this study are important in that they would assist to articulate and improve the business cases when municipalities commence with planning for ERP system acquisition. This is especially important given the high cost related to ERP system implementation. More importantly, the findings provide a basis for the identification of citizen benefits which are related to ERP system implementation. This provides municipal management a frame within which to improve the on-going management of ERP systems. The findings thus support improved ERP system benefits management and which would in turn ensure improved service delivery to the citizenry.