Analyzing ERP Implementation Challenges and Solutions: iWesabe

This report focuses on the ERP implementation challenges faced by Global Creative Concepts Tech Co Ltd (iWesabe), a B2B organization specializing in ERP implementation and customization. The report identifies key issues, including a lack of inter-departmental communication, limited customization options, and diminishing client relations. It explores the impact of these challenges on the organization's ability to effectively implement ERP systems for its clients. The study then proposes and evaluates potential solutions, such as implementing an online communication platform, adopting agile methodology, utilizing big data analytics, and creating cloud computing activities to enhance client information sharing. The report provides a rationale for rejecting certain alternatives and aims to provide insights for improving ERP implementation processes and client satisfaction.

Running head: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING IN ORGANIZATIONS
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING IN ORGANIZATIONS
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note
1. Introduction to the organization

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The concerned organization, Global Creative Concepts Tech Co Ltd or iWesabe, is an
ERP implementation and customization based organization offering B2B services to the other
businesses (Iwesabe.com). The development of diverse range of technological service provision
has enabled the business in gaining a competitive edge over the existing ERP developers in
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and India (Iwesabe.com). The services that are offered by the organization
are planning, development and implementation of different software and systems that would
allow an organizational management in keeping a track of the overall activities in the venture.
The concerned organization also enables the client organizations in developing efficient control
systems for managing information and retrieving the same anytime for exchange, use and
delivery.
However, there have been significant issues that are being faced by the concerned
organization while assisting the client organizations in improving their capability of
implementing the ERP systems. The major concern that is being faced by the concerned
organization is due to the absence of sufficient amount of inter-departmental communication in
the implementation and the post implementation phase (Iwesabe.com). Again, the lower
customizable options during the implementation of the ERP systems as per the specifications
made by the client organizations have affected the capability of the organization in improving
their output in accordance to the expectations of the client organizations.
Thesis: The report will identify the different concerns and challenges that are restricting Global
Creative Concepts Tech Co Ltd or iWesabe while enumerate proposing a solution towards
resolving the challenges, for uninterrupted operations.

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2. Background and challenges
The concerned organization has developed a wider range of service propositions in the
B2B segment, specifically the ERP systems, empowering the activities of different
entrepreneurs. The ERP systems focus towards enabling a business organization in developing
and tracking knowledge and information on their daily activities. Moreover, the ERP systems
also allow an organization in storing the information and reutilizing them in future. In this
connection, iWesabe aims towards supporting the B2B clients in implementing the ERP systems
in accordance with their expectations and process requirements. However, while operating as per
their common goals, the concerned organization has been facing significant challenges which
restricted the uninterrupted functioning of the business. The concerns that were identified during
the research were through the responses in the questionnaire. The uncertain responses guided the
way towards the concerns that are being planned by the organization even in the middle of their
operational efficiency. It has been observed that the neutrality of the responses that are provided
by the personnel of the organization clearly reflects the uncertainties in the organizational
operations which might affect the capability of the business.
· Absence of
cooperation and
collaboration between
inter-departments
· Minimal
customization options
· Diminishing client
relations

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Graph: Problems and concerns based on values
(Source: Author) Absence of cooperation and collaboration between inter-departments
The major challenges that is being encountered by the organization are due to the absence of
inter- departmental communication in the implementation or the post implementation stages. The
absence of communication among the departments in the implementation or the post
implementation phase restricted the business in improving integration and collaboration,
minimizing their quality of deliverables. The absence of inter-departmental cooperation and
collaboration affected the capability of the organization in empowering collaboration among the
stakeholders of the project. Gupta et al. stated that communication plays a major role in
improving the quality of operations while working towards the implementation of complex
technological projects. In this connection, the absence of efficient communication among the
departments of the organization, while focusing towards the implementation of ERP projects in
client organizations have reduced their efficiency (Huang and Yokota). The absence of
integrative operations of the different stakeholders from the diverse departments, affected the
capability of the organization in increasing the viability of the activities. The absence of
cooperation and collaboration between the different departments has disabled the capability of
the organization in increasing the systematic integration of the resources. According to Shao,
Feng and Hu, the data from the different operational processes is required to be integrated with
the technological systems. In this connection, the absence of cooperation and communication
with the different stakeholders affected the capability of the business in improving their scope of
implementing the ERP systems. Minimal customization options

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The vendors limited the customizable options of the ERP project to 15% which might
affect the capability of the organization in improving the effectiveness of the ERP design.
Wamba opined that the customizable option in ERP projects sufficiently enables an organization
in improving the efficiency of the overall operations, the tracking process for the orders and
maintaining security of transactions. Baig, Shah and Sajjad opined that the improvement of the
customizable options in the ERP apparatus enables an organization in improving the capability
of rescaling the limits as per the operational criteria. It has been observed that the concerned
organization operates through the utilization of waterfall methodology which is relatively rigid
and does not allow a wider range of customizable options (Masa'deh, Mufleh and Alrowwad).
Nandi and Kumar stated that the use of waterfall methodology as a project management and
scheduling approach affects the capability of the organizations in implementing different
operations as per the pre-requisite milestones and making modifications or customizations in the
previous steps. ERP, being complex technological projects, require customizable options with
the purpose of improving the scope of its operations. In this relation, the minimized customizable
options in the concerned organization might affect the capability of the same in improving and
rescaling the overall systems in accordance with the demand (Eid and Abbas). The rigidity of the
ERP systems in the organization would also affect their capability of reframing the activities
smoothly. Again, the absence of customizations in the post implementation phase might affect
the capability of the organization in improving the future prospects. Therefore, the lower
customizable options might affect the capability of the concerned organization in maintaining
asymmetry of the operations in accordance with the common objectives of the venture. Diminishing client relations

5ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING IN ORGANIZATIONS
The absence of integrative operations of the stakeholders towards addressing the concerns that of
the clients and the absence of efficient and updated knowledge on the technological environment
have disabled the organization in retaining healthy relation with clients. According to
Parthasarathy and Sharma, the absence of knowledge on the client needs affects the capability of
an organization in identifying the big picture. In this relation, it has been observed that the
absence of sufficient data and information on the requirements of the clients among the
stakeholders of the different departments restricted the planning and execution of the standard
activities for ERP implementation. It has been observed that the concerned organization aims
towards proficient ERP implementation based assistance to the client organizations (AlBar and
Hoque). However, the unavailability of information among the stakeholders of the different
departments on the specific requirements of the clients affected the capability of the organization
in conceptualizing the time or the budget that is offered by the customer organizations.
According to Simmonds, Tadesse and Murthy, the misinterpretation of client requirements
degrades the service quality of an organization. In this connection, the absence of information
transmission on client requirements among the employees or stakeholders from the different
departments incapacitated in improving the quality of the ERP services that the concerned
business aimed at providing..
3. Alternatives
3.1 Evaluation of the alternatives
Alternatives play an important role in improving the decision making criteria in an
organization. Accordant to Arab, Yaghoubi and Arjestan, the development of the alternatives in
the organizational context allows a business in maintaining the efficiency of the business

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operations as per the common goals of the venture. It has been observed that the development of
the alternatives allows an organization in improving the scope of the project management related
activities (Gao). Therefore, the current section would develop an understanding on the different
alternatives that might be considered by the organization while resolving the concerns and reflect
on the constraints that might restrict the smooth application of the alternatives. Devising an online communication platform for all the stakeholders of the
organization
The development of an online communication platform in form of a dedicated portal
would allow the organization in integrating the overall activities of the different departments and
improving the quality of the services. The development of efficient communication platform, in
the form of the dedicated portal, would allow the organization. in improving inter-departmental
collaboration and communication which would significantly contribute to the efficiency of the
service propositions that are made by the organjizati0on while implementing the ERP apparatus
for clients. Improving customizable options through the application of agile methodology
The application of the agile methodology would allow the organizations in improving
customizable options. According to Mayeh, Ramayah and Mishra, the customizable options play
an important role in improving the scope of the ERP projects. In this connection, the application
of the agile methodology would allow the organization in improving the .overall capability of
making modifications in the ERP implementation process as per the changing preferences and
specifications of the client organizations. Application of Big Data analytics for the projects

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The implementation of the Big Data Analytics would allow the concerned business in
improving the capability of the business in improving the overall activities. The knowledge on
the technological innovations and the market environment allows an organization in gaining
efficient understanding on the different modifications in the ERP procedure. In this connection,
the implementation of the Big Data analytics related aspects in the concerned organization would
significantly affect the capability of the businesses in maintaining the efficiency of the operations
as per the common goals. Creating a cloud computing activity for making client requirements widely available
among the teams
The development of a cloud computing related activity would allow the concerned
organization in developing integration among the different departments and making client
information available among the employees in the different departments. It has been observed
that the integrated functioning of the different departments towards handling the client concerns
allows an organization in improving the overall efficiency of the business. According to
Albashrawi and Motiwalla, the businesses require assistance for implementing the ERP
technology, being complex in nature, as per their own specifications. In this relation, the absence
of efficient knowledge on the specifications among different departments of the service
providing organization might incapacitate the overall quality of the service. The degradation of
services quality might affect the capability of the concerned organization in retaining client
relations. Again, the security of information is an important concern that is being faced by the
organization which might be eradicated through the development of cloud computing
mechanisms. Overall, the implementation of the cloud computing activities would allow the

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organization in developing client relations through integrated functioning of the different
departments while implementing the ERP systems.
3.2 Rationale for rejection of specific alternatives
The online platform or the creation of dedicated portals might have helped the
organization in improving the rate of integration among the different departments. However,
there are no feasible gains other than efficiency of communication between the different
departments. Again, the application of Big Data Analytics in the organizational operations would
support the organization in gaining substantial knowledge on the different business and
technological environment Misra, Bisui and Mahapatra. However, in most cases, the
stakeholders or the employees might resist the use of new systems for analyzing the
competitiveness of the environmental structure. In this connection, the application of the Big
Data analytics would specifically support in improving the efficiency of the stakeholders in
gaining an idea on the recent changes in the ERP systems but the stakeholders might resist to the
idea, resulting to its rejection. On the other hand, the application of agile methodology in the
ERP projects might involve a huge amount of costs which might be incurred by the concerned
organization. The change in the methodology might bring forth significant modifications and
alterations in the existing procedure of ERP implementation. The alteration in the existing
processes and the inexperienced value of the stakeholders towards the new process design might
affect the capability of the organization in adhering to the common specifications of the client
organizations (Chatzoglou, Chatzoudes and Apostolopoulou). Overall, it has been found that the
online communication platform might contribute 20% to the project, whereas improving the
customizable options and the induction of Big Data analytics would contribute to the project by
30% and 10%. respectively, which has significantly reduced the chances of the alternatives.

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Therefore, the idea of developing agile methodology other than the existing waterfall
methodology might be rejected in the case of the concerned organization.
Graph: Value of the alternatives
(Source: Author)
4. Proposed Solution
The concerned organization might take the initiative of undertaking the implementation
of a cloud computing system with the purpose of keeping the departmental stakeholders aware of
the different specifications and requirements of the clients. According to Aremu, Shahzad and
Hassan, cloud computing activities allows an organization in adhering to the security concerns of
the different client centric information while making information available to the different
stakeholders in the departments. The development of the cloud computing based systems in the
organization would allow the business in carefully selecting and making different client related
specifications available to the stakeholders in the different departments. It has been observed that

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the transmission of client centric information would enable the organization in empowering
integration among the different departments while facilitating open communication.
On the other hand, the clear understanding of the client centric needs and beliefs relating
to the ERP processes would allow the concerned business in elevating the quality of the services.
Wijaya, Prabowo and Kosala stated that the identification of the client needs and the
development of the different contingency based approach enable an organization in improving
the experience of the clients through the service delivery process. Therefore, the development of
cloud computing systems in the concerned organization would allow transmission of relevant
information to the different stakeholders while directing their work towards specifications of
client organizations. Again, the information security based concerns that are being faced by the
clients might be mitigated through the implementation of the cloud computing activities. Davis
and Comeau stated that cloud computing secures and restricts the transmission of information to
inappropriate users. In this connection, the organization would be able to handle the concerns
related to transmission of information to the inappropriate users through the utilization of cloud
computing activities while gaining over the trust and commitment of the client organizations.
5. Recommendations
The strategies that are considered by the organizations are specifically reliant on the
efficient functioning of the different systems while improving the overall operational outcome.
In this connection, the concerned organization might take the initiative of devising different steps
placation through which the application of the cloud computing system might be applied.
Therefore, the section would enumerate a list of suggested activities that might be conducted by
the concerned organization with the purpose of implementing the cloud computing systems.

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 Effective planning and consultation with the different stakeholders: The effective
planning and consultation with the specialist stakeholders like the IT and the project
management personnel would allow the organization in clarifying the different set of
activities that might be expected by the same while operating towards the implementation
of the cloud computing mechanism. The planning and strategizing related activities of the
organization would allow the same in gaining knowledge on the critical paths and the
manner in which they might be achieved with the purpose of improving the operational
aspects of the organization. Again, the consultation with the different stakeholders would
allow the organization in encouraging the engagement of the stakeholders in the different
processes in accordance with the accomplishment of the common goals of the venture.
 Negotiating with the resistances: The organization might take the initiative of holding up
meetings and open discussion sessions with the employees, the different vendors and
stakeholders with the purpose of negotiating with the same on the basic terms of growth
and expansion of the organization. It has been observed that most companies encounter
resistances from the employees and stakeholders from the different levels while
undertaking a change in the existing systems. The negotiation with the different
stakeholders would allow the organization in integrating the forces while encouraging the
active engagement of the stakeholders in the processes. On the other hand, the open
discussion with the stakeholders would also allow the organization in clarifying the
doubts of the stakeholders while encouraging the same to engage actively in the different
activities of the organization.
 Efficient budgeting: Efficient budgeting and cost control related activities of the
organization would allow the same in minimizing instances of cost override in a project.