Top-Level Managers, Don’t Underestimate Your Role in an ERP Implementation
According to a systematic review of thirty-five (35) papers from industry and scientific publications on the subject, Top Management Support is the most frequently cited critical success factor (CSF) for ERP implementations (Mahraz). Management involvement is key to ERP implementation success.
Delegate Responsibilities, But Don’t Overdue It
Early in a project’s life, no single factor is as predictive of its success as the support and involvement of top management (Somers and Nelson). Correspondingly, research shows that project cancellations tend to occur when senior management delegates progress monitoring and decision making at critical junctures.
How to Get Involved
Develop an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the ERP solution
Establish reasonable goals for the ERP project
Communicate the corporate IT/ERP strategy to all employees
Exhibit a strong commitment to the successful introduction of the ERP system, and help ensure the implementation receives the resources, time and priority that is necessary
Monitor progress and be involved in the decision making at critical junctures
Check out the Following References Publications for Additional Reading
Mahraz, Mohamed-Iliasse. “Success Factors for ERP Implementation: a Systematic Literature Review.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Bangkok, Thailand, 2019.
T. M. Somers and K. Nelson, "The impact of critical success factors across the stages of enterprise resource planning implementations," Proceedings of the 34th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Maui, HI, USA, 2001