ERP Adoption and Acceptance in Saudi Arabia Higher Education: A Conceptual Model Development

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems are integrated information systems inter-connecting different functional areas within organisations. It has been widely implemented by large manufacturers globally to enhance operational excellence. However, ERP in the Higher Education sector is less accepted and research in this area still remains at its infancy. Although many higher education institutions (HEIs) have implemented ERP solutions or are in the course of implementing the ERP systems, the failure rate ERP projects within HE is much higher than in other sectors. Through critically examining the existing literature the aim of this research is to develop an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) taking into account the critical factors of ERP adoption for HEIs. Two categories of these factors have been identified from literature based upon a conceptual model is developed. It was clear from reviewing the literature that the main categories of factors that have been studied extensively and shown to be key to understanding ERP adoption and acceptance are: the individual-related factors such as computer self-efficacy and organisational-related factors such as top management.