Project report for Master of Business in Information Technology. Thesis (M.Bus.)--University of Technology, Sydney, 1999.

Duisburg, Essen, Universiẗat, Diss., 2007.

Information Communication Technology (ICT) practitioners and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) specialists are highly sought after globally and in South Africa. In order to address this need for ERP specialists, several studies propose that ERP systems should be adopted in the Information Systems (IS) curricula in higher education institutions (HEIs) for instructional purposes. Whilst many HEIs in the United States, Australia and Europe have successfully adopted ERP systems into their curricula, less than 30% of South African HEIs have followed this trend. The adoption of ERP systems is a challenging process as such systems are resource-intensive, costly, complex, and have a steep learning curve. Educators are faced with resource problems and a dearth of options relating to the adoption process. In addition it is critical that the skills and knowledge competencies attained in these courses are industry-relevant. Several education frameworks have been recommended to assist educators with the process of adopting an ERP system in the curriculum, but these frameworks are not comprehensive since they do not consider all the factors relating to the adoption of an ERP system. In addition existing frameworks are not based on industry-relevant competencies but rather on educational objectives. This has resulted in a difference between the competencies required by organisations and those produced by higher education. Whilst there are several research studies on ERP education, empirical studies on frameworks supporting the adoption of ERP systems in HEIs for instructional purposes are limited, particularly on the impact of these frameworks on educational outcomes. The impact of the usability of the ERP system on educational outcomes has also not been fully explored. A survey of ERP consulting organisations in South Africa confirmed that these organisations struggle to obtain ERP specialists with the appropriate competencies. The survey results also contributed to a standardised, comprehensive, set of industry-relevant ERP competencies. The competency set forms part of a comprehensive Competency Framework for ERP System Adoption in IS Higher Education (ERPEd), which can assist educators with the decisions relating to the adoption of an ERP system into the IS curriculum. It includes all the categories of competencies relevant to industry and maps these onto a recommended ERP system adoption approach, an ERP learning tool, as well as the appropriate level of adoption. The application of the ERPEd framework to a case study, the Management Information Systems (MIS) course at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), resulted in the adoption of the SYSPRO medium-sized ERP system into the MIS course with the hands-on approach. The empirical results of the evaluation of the case study revealed that the hands-on use of a medium-sized ERP system, SYSPRO, can successfully contribute to the attainment of educational outcomes. These outcomes were mapped to the three core competencies addressed by the MIS course, which were ERP Theory and Concepts, ERP Transactions and Business Process Management (BPM). The educational outcomes evaluated were the measures of performance, self-efficacy and usability. Self-efficacy included satisfaction with the adoption approach. The results were positive in terms of all the metrics of performance, and all three competency categories had positive post-intervention self-efficacy ratings. In terms of growth in self-efficacy from pre-intervention to post-intervention, BPM was the only competency category that did not show a significant growth, however the satisfaction data indicated that students found that the use of SYSPRO improved their competencies in business process understanding. Usability was evaluated in terms of navigation, presentation and learnability. Learnability was the only usability measure in the neutral range, with the other measures falling in the positive range. This confirms related studies reporting that ERP systems are not designed for learning. Overall the students enjoyed the practical application of the theory by using SYSPRO. Several positive and negative features of the user interface were provided which can be used in the design of improved ERP systems for instructional purposes. The results of this investigation can assist in narrowing the gap between industry requirements and IS education programmes. The ERP competency set provides a standardised list of skills and knowledge which is the starting point for any skills improvement program. The ERPEd framework can improve the quality of ERP courses and the competencies of IS graduates. This in turn, can benefit the business community since it will improve the chances of ERP project success. This research is a major contribution to both government and academic initiatives in South Africa to address both the ICT skills problem as well as the need for ERP specialists.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are part of information systems on which organisations depend when conducting business. An ERP system offers useful functionality in the smooth running of any organisation. This dissertation investigates the impact of ERP implementation at SASSA North West Regional Office. It highlights problems of the current ERP system by delineating the weaknesses and pitfalls. The relevant literature has been visited and has served as a primary data that adds value to the dissertation. Collation of the relevant data is followed by a discussion of the employee perception of the impact of ERP implementation. The relative lack of research of impact on ERP implementation is the primary impetus of this study. The sample was drawn from SASSA North West Regional Office employees who were cooperative in the execution of the study. As a result of this. the research on the subject has moved beyond the limited confines of ERP implementation to focus more on the impact of the ERP system. ERP system is focused on standardisation and synchronisation of information as a result of improved organizational efficiency, but unfortunately problems with the ERP system can create challenges and dissatisfaction among the end users, resulting in failure to deliver the anticipated benefits. The findings of this study reveal ed that there is de ficiency in the ERP system; employees are worried about data loss when they use the system, find system errors, experience difficulty in expotiing data, and are not satisfied with the quality of output from ERP system. SASSA management should explore opportunity to ensure that the employees are trained to be familiar with the ERP system, improve system reliability, reduce possible system errors, and look at the conclusion and recommendations made in this dissertation. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are part of information systems on which organisations depend when conducting business. An ERP system offers useful functionality in the smooth running of any organisation. This dissertation investigates the impact of ERP implementation at SASSA North West Regional Office. It highlights problems of the current ERP system by delineating the weaknesses and pitfalls. The relevant literature has been visited and has served as a primary data that adds value to the dissertation. Collation of the relevant data is followed by a discussion of the employee perception of the impact of ERP implementation. The relative lack of research of impact on ERP implementation is the primary impetus of this study. The sample was drawn from SASSA North West Regional Office employees who were cooperative in the execution of the study. As a result of this, the research on the subject has moved beyond the limited confines of ERP implementation to focus more on the impact of the ERP system. ERP system is focused on standardisation and synchronisation of information as a result of improved organizational efficiency, but unfortunately problems with the ERP system can create challenges and dissatisfaction among the end users, resulting in fai lure to deliver the anticipated benefits. The findings of this study revealed that there is deficiency in the ERP system; employees are worried about data loss when they use the system, find system enors, experience difficulty in exporting data, and are not satisfied with the quality of output from ERP system. SASSA management should explore opportunity to ensure that the employees are trained to be familiar with the ERP system, improve system reliability, reduce possible system errors, and look at the conclusion and recommendations made in this dissertation. / Thesis (MBA) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2012

This study examines staff perceptions of the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERPs) in three Australian universities. It considers the growing body of literature on the issues impacting on effective and efficacious Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementations in organisations including the most recent literature on ERPs in the higher education sector. This literature identifies a number of issues that it is argued, translates from the corporate sector to the higher education sector including a number that require additional focus in this sector. It is proposed in this dissertation that effective and efficacious implementations in Australian universities require particular consideration of organisational influences related to their context and the perceptions of the users of the systems. Case study methodology was used to examine the staff perceptions of the management of ERP implementations in universities. This involved undertaking case studies in three Australian universities in the process of implementing ERP systems. The first phase of the study obtained data through a series of focus groups at one university to explore staff perceptions of the efficacy of the ERP implementation at their university. This data and the relevant literature served as a framework for the development of the research process in the second phase of the study. This phase involved conducting a series of interviews with staff that enabled the researcher to undertake a more detailed exploration of the staff perceptions of influences affecting ERP system implementations at three Australian universities. The research study identifies the influences impacting on the outcomes of these implementations of ERPs in the three Australian universities and forms the basis for the development of guidelines for the effective and efficacious management of ERP implementations in Australian universities. This set of guidelines for the management of implementations of ERPs in Australian universities is an outcome that can have applicability for the higher education sector generally.

Every organization has to deal with planning of the appropriate level of human resources over time. The workforce is not always aligned with the requirements of the organization and it increases an organization’s budget. A literature review reveals that there is no model that can systematically predict accurate human resource required within a complex organization. To address this gap, a human resource predictive model was developed based on material requirements planning (MRP). This approach accounts for complexity in workforce planning and generalized it with a logistic regression model. The model estimates the employee turnover number and forecasts the expected remaining headcount for the next time period based on employee information such as; age, working year, salary, etc. Moreover, external variables and economic data can be utilized to adjust the estimated turnover probability. This model also suggests the possible internal workforce movement in case of in-house manpower imbalance.

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Abstract The development of information technology has progressed and hence, brings to huge conflict on business models in enterprises in the 21 century. However, the introduction of information technology not only involves purchase equipments but also operation processes and managers¡¦ decisions. To successfully introduce a new information system, it is necessary to consider many concepts of organization and management, such as a company¡¦s strategies, managers¡¦ commitments, and communication among different departments and so on. The construction industry is one of important index in a nation economic structure. This industry can push the development of national economics forward, and it is been seen as the head of industry. This study takes the D construction company as an example to discuss the process of introducing ERP system and the faced problems of reengineering. Indeed, this study also referred developed performance indexes to measure how employees feel about the introduction the new ERP system. The results showed that the introduction of an ERP system involves the cooperation among different departments. While a company is introducing an ERP system, there are many types of organization changes and lead to huge conflict. Therefore, the company should develop a team to manage the project, be responsible to manage changes, and strength employees¡¦ trainings. Finally, a company must be sure it is ready to introduce an ERP system for all members in this company.

In a competitive environment, how enterprises keep their advantages is becoming more and more significant. From many theoretical and practical researches, employees seem to be the key resource in a working place, which means to have a proper worker in a right position. However, some enterprises do not have a great understanding of making a good use of human resource to make things go smoothly and effectively. Thus this essay emphasizes on the issue of Manpower Inventory by interviewing eight enterprises. I analyzed the results from these eight enterprises to obtain the similarities and dissimilarities of using Manpower Inventory, like background, purpose, and goal. I hope this research will be a useful reference for all the enterprises. I highlighted the major points below: 1. These eight enterprises have different backgrounds and purses but all are willing to have a change to make a good use of human resource by using Manpower Inventory. 2. Manpower Inventory can be distinguished into regularity and particularity. The former one means to put manpower inventory in routine, in other words, to have manpower inventory regularly. The later, particular inventory will be brought up when the organization probably needs it. 3. Quantity inventory depending on the qualities of employees has different inventory means. Generally speaking, however, multi-index is the better method. Skill inventory is supposed to have some related aids to promote workers¡¦ special skills. 4. Manpower Inventory is connected with working achievement, resigning improper employees and promoting proper employees, to make the company stay strong and effective. Adjusting by the entire environment is the key to gain effects. 5. Manpower policy depends on the predictable produce. When the shortage of employees happens in a short term, asking for more hours working, taking shift turns or having helpers from outsider, can solve the problem. On the other hand, when a company has a quilter business, some workers might be asked to have days off without getting paid or even be let go. 6. Human resource department is supposed to follow the future development and find the solutions for the predictable problems. However, planning cannot always follow the changes. Being flexible and having well communication, therefore, will be the best way to untangle unexpected problems and achieve manpower inventory plan.