An ERP implementation case study from a knowledge transfer perspective

An enterprise resource planning (ERP) application is an enterprise-wide package that tightly integrates all necessary business functions into a single system with a shared database. An ERP implementation often entails transferring the business knowledge incorporated in the basic architecture of the software package into the adopting organization. This article proposes a new approach to analysing ERP implementations from a knowledge transfer perspective. It also contributes to a better understanding of competitive advantage based on process knowledge when standardized business processes are implemented by an organization. The article begins by identifying the types of knowledge transferred during an ERP implementation and the factors affecting this transfer. It then investigates how conflicts between the business knowledge transferred from the ERP package and the existing organizational knowledge are resolved. During our investigation, we used in-depth interviews, process analysis and documentation analysis in order to analyse an early implementation stage of ERP. The results indicated that the business processes which are incorporated in an ERP package are transferred into an organization along with the business rules inherent in the processes due to process automation, the limited flexibility of such packages and the cross-functional nature of an ERP package. The results also suggested that an organization's adaptive capability concerning role and responsibility redistribution, the development of new types of required knowledge and the introduction of a different knowledge structure influence an organization's ability to internalize these standardized processes into business routines that provide a competitive advantage.