Impacts of enterprise resource planning implementation on decision making processes in Australian organisations

This paper reports on findings from the first phase of research investigating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and its impact on decision making process in Australian organisations. The focus of the study is to reveal if and how the vast amount of data which is generated by ERP systems could improve decision making process on strategic and tactical levels. The findings are based on data consists of information collected by fifteen semi-structured interviews and observation in fifteen medium-size organisations in different industries operating in Australia who have been using ERP systems for at least five years. Findings Managers and stakeholders perceive substantial level of importance and potentials for utilising ERP system and data in order to improve decision making process on strategic and tactical levels. However operational issues such as integration, upgrade spiral and decoupled implementations prevent these benefits to be materialised in Australian organisations. These factors and their impacts on utilising ERP towards more strategic benefits are discussed and analysed in this paper. Limitations The study utilised a purposefully selected sample that was neither large nor random; thus, the findings cannot be generalised in the manner presumed by a quantitative study. The researchers' knowledge and experience on the subject reflected upon the way findings been emerged. Practical implications The resultant learning issues in conjunction with the conclusion of the study may help ERP customers in identifying the potential enhancements to utilise customers' investment on ERP towards more strategic objectives such as supporting decision making process. It also may help ERP vendors to identify key areas in ERP systems which require improvement to support decision making process.