Issues in implementing ERP: A case study

Information technology/systems play a major role in improving the competitiveness of organizations. There are numerous enterprise information software packages available in the market. One of them is enterprise resource planning (ERP). ERP can provide significant improvements in efficiency across a company, but only when implemented correctly. Otherwise, an ERP system could be a curse and drag the whole enterprise into spiraling inefficiency. Planning for ERP systems and their implementations requires an integrated approach to meet the requirements of various functional areas. With a brief overview of ERP implementations, this paper describes some experiences of an ERP implementation in a water corporation. The case study reveals some of the intricacies during the planning and implementation stages that may occur in any company in any part of the world. Suggestions are offered in resolving the issues of implementing ERP. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.