Business Research Report: ERP Implementation and Productivity

This business research report investigates the impact of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems on employee productivity. The report begins with an introduction to ERP systems, outlining their function in integrating business processes and the challenges associated with their implementation. It presents the research questions and hypotheses concerning the relationship between ERP implementation and employee productivity, exploring various approaches to improve productivity through ERP, the business value of ERP systems, and statistical evidence of employee efficiency. A comprehensive literature review is provided, covering the impact of ERP implementation on employee productivity, necessary approaches for increasing productivity through ERP, the business value of ERP systems, and statistical evidence of employee efficiency. The report includes sections on data collection and analysis, discussion of results, and conclusions, providing a thorough analysis of the topic. The research identifies variables such as employee productivity and ERP system implementation, with a focus on Australian telecommunication industry. The report explores the impact of ERP systems on employee productivity, and the impact of open systems in the business environment.

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Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1 Introduction...............................................................................................................2
The Variables...............................................................................................................................3
Research Question........................................................................................................................3
Hypothesis....................................................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 2 Literature Review......................................................................................................4
CHAPTER 3 Data Collection and Analysis..................................................................................14
CHAPTER 4 Discussion of Results..............................................................................................17
CHAPTER 5 Conclusion And Future Work.................................................................................18
BIBLIOGRAPHY..........................................................................................................................19
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................21

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Abstract
The system of ERP are the application packages at the wide level of enterprises that are
formulated and designed to offer integrated support of information system to various functions of
business. Although there are multiple benefits of ERP to the organization, the implementation of
ERP involves multiple amendments I the processes of business and configuration of software for
improved compatibility. The system of ERP integrates the solution of software that helps to
support and ease out all the flow of information which leads to changes in the organization. An
emerging and clear channel in the system of ERP is implementation. Employees face the
challenge of using system of ERP because of its complexity. This study will address the
implementation problems of unfounded ERP which can also aid to lay a blueprint for using the
ERP Systems and its impact on the productivity. The researcher outlines the research proposal
which concerns the use and implementation of system of ERP in the organization. The researcher
has presented various issues concerning the usage and implementation of ERP by taking the
organizational perspective of knowledge and information from consultant and management
aspects. The researcher ends the paper with the discussions regarding the work of the future.
CHAPTER 1 Introduction
System of Enterprise Resource Planning is a package of Information technology which provides
the opportunity in real terms for modern cooperation to integrate the functions and processes of
the businesses. By establishing the environment of ERP, all the transactions become the part of
the business processes which are inter linked with each other. As per a researcher, ERP is
considered as a software which can be put to use for integrating all the functional information of
a corporation to mechanize the processes of business of the corporation, i.e., a system of business
management that consolidates all the faces of business. Another researcher defined ERP as

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systems which are designed for the processing of transactions of organization and also facilitate
the real time and integrated customer response, production and planning. The system of
enterprise can consolidate the processes of business which are significant for the growth and
success of the corporation into one consolidated system software that permits the flow of
information seamlessly in the organization. It is also defined as a package information system
that is configurable and is integrated by the processes based in information within all the areas of
functions in the organization. Enterprise Resource system helps to drive the orientation of
process, improvements of business processes, and overall changes in the organization. The
structure that will be followed in this paper begins with a theoretical framework to the situational
problem, followed by a meeting by the researcher with a company who is using system of ERP
in the organization. Some of the research is conducted in the organizational problem area and
after that the suggestions and response for designing of research are developed. In last, the
researcher has concluded and discussed the performance and designing of the proposed research.
The Variables
In the research proposal, the researcher has identified two variables namely dependent and
independent variables. The productivity of employees of the organization are dependent
variables and the effective implementation and use of ERP system are independent variables.
The selection of variable are on the basis of their importance, for instance, the productivity of
employees in an organization are not eligible to be modified while the performance of
organization is completely based on the effective utilization of system of ERP within the
organization.
Research Question
There are multiple research questions which are addressed in this paper:
 How implementation of system of ERP does helps to impact the productivity of employees,

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 The various approaches of ERP which may help to improve the productivity of employees in
the organization,
 Value of business in ERP System,
 Evidence of all statistics which are available in regarding the employee’s efficiency in the
sector
 Employees in sale department of Australian industry for telecommunication which can help
to strive the sale increase by using the software of ERP,
 The model of input process output for implementing ERP and how it can impact the future.
Hypothesis
The researcher is conducting the research in order to examine and evaluate the below mentioned
hypothesis:
H1: Implementation of ERP system improve the productivity of employees in the organization.
H2: Implementation of ERP system does not improve the productivity of employees in the
organization.
CHAPTER 2 Literature Review
Topic 1: Impact of enterprise resource planning implementation on employees’ productivity
Literature Review:
Chen, Law & Yang (2009) argued that the impact of enterprise resource planning could be
different for different organizations and the impact could be different in short term and long
term. One of the objectives of ERP implementation is to increase the employee’s’ productivity in
long term. The fresh implementation of ERP system can pose some problems relating to the
ability of organizations to collaborate with stakeholders in horizontal relationships. As Daft

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(2015) points out, leaders who are unable to create collaborative, trusting relationships with
others often fail and essentially the productivity of employees could depend on this
collaboration. The interaction with organizations in the external environment, may introduce
cultures and business strategies that function in opposition to the organizations historical view.
Knutsen and Brock (2014) extrapolate that an organization cannot be independent of its
environment, but interacts through influencing and being influenced. It is true that the use of
ERP systems has become the norm in today’s business environment. It is expected that the
leaders would be able to manage the change arising from the implementation of ERP systems
and this would ultimately have a positive impact on employees’ productivity. It is important to
mention that the implementation of ERP could be a big change in the organization and the
employees’ productivity could also depend on the way organizational managers and leaders
manage the change (Tran, 2013). Lack of leadership in ERP implementation causes so much
stress and confusion for organizations. Leaders must be able to help guide his team to the
successful implementation of the changes. The communication in the organization during the
course of ERP implementation is also a key driver of employees’ productivity. Communication
is key in any organization productivity and ERP implementation. Topic 2: Necessary approach
of ERP in increasing the employee’s productivity in an organization
Literature Review:
The necessary approach to the implementation of ERP in increasing the employees’ productivity
in an organization should focus on two key aspects. These are change management and
transformation. According to Dibrell & Davis (2008) the implementation of ERP creates a
transformation between the organization and the environment where the environment becomes
an essential part of the organization instead of a perceived external variable. The researchers

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described the symbiotic relationship between environment and organization creates a depth of
adaptiveness where the organization continually adjusts according to changes in the
environment. The researchers recognized the challenges of transformation in a participatory
organization that operates with an open systems approach. According to Dibrell & Davis (2008)
the challenges included “inertia, managerial ‘bounded rationality’, political constraints and
institutional ‘embeddedness’, and weak organizational learning mechanisms” (p. 185). Ke &
Wei (2008) argued that the approach to improve employees’ productivity with the
implementation of ERP should also include the system of feedback and employee engagement.
The organization outcome and feedback from the organization’s environment are very important
when it comes to evaluate, improve, or measure the implementation of ERP. The feedback helps
to evaluate and improve the input and the process of the transformation. With the ERP
implementation, organization is considered as a system of transformation in which the
environment put the input and the organization transforms it into output for the use of the
environment, and the feedback from the environment is welcome. Welch, Bednar, Milner, (2011)
suggested, “the purpose of knowledge management within an organization is creation of vehicles
to support people to create and share their individual, contextually-dependent understandings”
(P. 3). The technology products like employee resource planning helps the organization learning
from its environment and improving its products. Many of success companies like Avon, Exxon,
Microsoft, Ford, General Motors, Toyota, and Nissan used the benchmarking which is similar to
the open system. This used the external criteria to evaluate and improve its products. However,
certain companies prefer used the internal system analysis to improve their technology products
like ERP products.
Topic 3: Business value of ERP system

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Literature Review:
There are various benefits and business value of using ERP system. In simple terms it can be said
that the use of ERP system creates and open, effective and transparent culture in the
organization. According to Starnes, (2000). “Open systems theory argues that organizations
must interact with the environments in which they operate in order to be successful.
Organizations that attempt to be self-sufficient without interacting with the environment are
referred to as closed systems” (P. 15). With the use or ERP systems, organization can actually be
open and effective in nature. It would result in the business value of cost optimization, increased
revenue and improved profitability. It can be said that the organization’s success depends only
on the degree on which the organization considered open systems and use technology as a
business integrator. However, with today environment with its cyber security problems, the cross
cultural challenges, and the lack of inputs material and the organization good tool of
transformation, the open system theory presented more challenges in management. The use of
ERP system would also enable the organization to track down the quality of products and
services. This is the reason that organizations have started to integrate ERP systems with the
supply chain management solutions. With the implementation of ERP systems, the focus of
management is to create a platform of Total Quality Management. It helps organizations to
create a culture in the organization where all the stakeholders are aware of the goals and
objectives. The use of technology products like ERP systems also helps the large organizations
like Coca-Cola to manage the teams that are spread in different parts of the world. With the
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) module of ERP the organizations can also manage
customers in an effective manner. It is important that the organizations should develop goals and
objectives with respect to ERP implementation. The organizations would be able to derive

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maximum benefits from ERP implementation only when business values map with the defined
goals and objectives.
Topic 4: Statistical evidence available regarding efficiency of employees’ in the sector?
Literature Review:
The statistical evidence regarding efficiency of employees in the telecommunication sector could
be seen with the key metrics like employee satisfaction index, customer satisfaction index,
employee productivity index, etc. The statistical evidence could also be observed in terms of the
stability index of the organizations in this sector. This evidence, assumes that an organization
exists in a stable environment, that it does not need to adapt to its environment, and that it does
not interact with its environment in a substantive way. Knutsen and Brock (2015) further note
that an organization utilizing a close system approach is likely to have a strong, vertical
hierarchy and a mechanistic structure. Given the speed at which change occurs in the
contemporary business environment, particularly in the area of communications technologies,
and the already significant changes to the business environment that have been caused by
globalization, it seems to me that employing elements of open systems theory, at least to some
extent, is virtually essential. And yet there remain successful organizations that operate
primarily or in part as closed systems. Brynjolfsson & Saunders (2010) discussed the importance
of using various metrics to measure the efficiency of employees. It is believed that
implementation of ERP system should start with an assessment phase. In the assessment phase

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the organization should establish the key metrics that would be used as a goal with the ERP
implementation. The implementation of ERP could be termed successful only when there is a
significant improved in the metrics that were established in the assessment phase. For example, it
is expected that the customer satisfaction index should increase after ERP implementation.
Likewise the statistical evidence could be found in other metrics like employee satisfaction
index.
Topic 5: Sale employees of telecommunication industry in Australia can strive for increase in
sales performance by using ERP software.
Literature Review
Organizational leaders must manage the feedback received and adapt organizational operations
through ERP system in a manner that can optimize organizational processes (Karata & El-Rayes,
2015). Karata and El-Rayes (2015) posted that managers must include in organizational
operations specific steps or sessions that identify those points raised from various stakeholders as
warranting attention and action. Without purposefully incorporating work sessions or planning
sessions focused on stakeholder feedback, organizations fail to benefit from the rich intelligence
provided by key constituents. In the interactive stage the organizational response to stakeholders
input is most effective. This is because Lawrence and Weber (2014) state that in the interactive
stage the organization has an ongoing relationship and line of communication with stakeholders
continually to maintain respect and open communication. With this being so, the organization
can more effectively communicate responses or concerns to stakeholders being that trust and
loyalty has been established. Lawrence and Weber (2014) share that the inactive stage is where
stakeholders are ignored. This can be seen as the least desirable stage. With this being so a
response from the organization can be very valid being that communication is becoming active

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between both the organization and stakeholders. Also, because this can be seen as effort being
put forth where stakeholders are not being ignored and both parties are coming together for the
greater good regardless of the lack of communication or relationship that exists. Momoh & Roy
(2010) highlighted that the sales performance of the company would depend on number of
factors. The organizations must figure out the interaction of ERP with the sales cycle or customer
touch points. It is expected that the sales performance would include if the implementation of
ERP products can improve customer touch point. The sales performance could also be improved
if the ERP system can improve the communication levels in the organization. Therefore, one of
the key objectives of ERP implementation is to overcome the communication barrier and have a
system of effective communication at workplace.
Topic 6: Input process output model for the implementation of ERP and its future impact
Literature Review:
Cereola, Wier & Norman (2012) outlines the input-output theory of ERP implementation and the
idea that it has become the most well know of all the theories of ERP implementation. It focuses
on the fact that all organizations are unique and have several subsystems that are not equally
important in organizational development and that issues within the organizations should be
handled based on this idea. This may pose a problem for some organizations in that no
subsystem is likely to be considered as being unimportant by them to the whole organization. In
other word the open systems theory can be seen as diminishing the relevancy of every subsystem
that exists within an organization. Many times a blended approach is taken on by organizations
because they have to implement different organizational strategies when changes occur in the
competitive circumstances, structural design, and experiences. Powell & Riezebos (2013) argued

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that organizations could also use the ambidextrous approach to implement the input process
output model. It is the model used by a firm to simultaneously achieve decentralization as well as
centralized controls during the ERP implementation. Ambidexterity is viewed as a structural
issue targeting certain levels of achievements. Organization uses this approach to put in place
dual structures to alignment while closely focusing on the adaptations of ERP (Daft, 2015). In
established companies, ERP implementation is only a disruptive innovation in a separate unit
that can be pursued. The ambidextrous approach assists in the creation of a separate unit for
examining and pursuing new opportunities as well as keeping the same management to be able to
manage both the parent company and the new unit of innovation (Stemberger, 2008). In this
approach, the management or leadership should possess the ability to attend to the already
existing procedures, services, products and all models as well as processes while still giving
support to the innovations that will eventually drive the organizations future (Daft, 2015). Daft,
(2015) provides examples of organizations such as Google releasing imperfect or unfinished
experiments to try and improve the existing business processes with ERP implementation. This
approach entails continual overseeing the key business while protecting the emerging venture
concurrently as it develops and grows. Executive leadership can apply this approach to form
segregated business units that will help to explore and develop a breakthrough of innovations
while at the same time managing the existing business uninterrupted with (Saunders, 2010). The
teams that manage the project are encouraged to form their own processes, cultures and
structures but still connected to the other organization. Through this approach, new opportunities
are developed and presented to the market by the team of executive as new business units and
therefore slowly introduced into the existing units (Bober, 2014). Introduction of another
approach can only be useful if it does not interfere with the processes in place immediately, the