Understanding the impact of enterprise systems on management decision making: an agenda for future research

Abstract

Enterprise systems have been widely sold on the basis that they reduce costs through process efficiency and enhance decision making by providing accurate and timely enterprise wide information. Although research shows that operational efficiencies can be achieved, ERP systems are notoriously poor at delivering management information in a form that would support effective decision‑making. Research suggests managers are not helped in their decision‑making abilities simply by increasing the flow of information. This paper calls for a new approach to researching the impact of ERP implementations on global organizations by examining decision making processes at 3 levels in the organisation (corporate, core implementation team and local site).