Research Article: ERP Implementation in the Middle East Region

This research article examines the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in the Middle East region, focusing on the challenges and critical success factors. The paper begins with an introduction highlighting the importance of ERP in improving business efficiency and management, particularly in the oil and construction sectors prevalent in the Middle East. It then provides background information on the problems faced by regional oil companies before ERP implementation and the challenges encountered during its use, such as high costs and user resistance. A literature review explores the impact of ERP on organizational performance, the process of ERP implementation, and critical failure factors, including risk management and lack of domain knowledge. The review also identifies critical success factors (CSFs), such as top management support, project management, and business process re-engineering. The paper emphasizes the importance of proper ERP vendor support and concludes by highlighting the benefits of ERP systems for businesses in the Middle East, emphasizing the need for strategic planning and risk management for successful implementation. The study aims to help industries in the Middle East countries to streamline their processes and improve business performance.

ERP implementation pertaining to Middle East region
Name of the student

Abstract— ERP systems are considered to provide the best form
of business support in various aspects. They form a great impact
over the overall success factor affecting the business and helps in
proper management of the enterprise. However, there are also
major challenges towards the implementation of ERP systems in
some countries. This paper helps in analysing the critical success
factors that are available to mitigate the challenges being faced
by the industries within the Middle East countries. Further, the
paper also helps in understanding the core benefits that could be
incurred with the rapid use of ERP and implement them
efficiently.
Keywords— ERP, Critical Success factors, Omantel
I. INTRODUCTION
The rapid development of IT (Information Technology) in
every field have raised great expectations for various
industries from all across the world. Large number of
organizations, ministries, enterprises and various other sectors
have an urgent need for the incorporation of Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) systems based on their essential
core for the purpose of enhancing the efficiency, productivity,
saving of costs, efforts and time for the purpose of
management of daily operations (Almahamid and Awsi 2015).
Hence, the purpose of ERP have been based on facilitating the
information flow between all kind of business functions while
also managing the connections that would be made with
external stakeholders. This discussion would be focused on
the major impact of ERP made to the Middle East countries.
Oil and Construction are the primary focus areas of business
within the Middle East countries and hence the
implementation of a successful ERP would prove to be
beneficial for the countries to evolve.
In the following parts of the discussion, the primary focus
would be based on the implementation of ERP systems in the
Middle East regions. The implementation of the technological
systems would play a major form of constructive role while
also enabling the businesses in those countries for
streamlining their processes (Egdair, Rajemi and Nadarajan
2015). The major developments that have been made in the
field of ERP have been discussed while also discussing on the
challenges faced by them and further discussion on the future
work that needs to be accomplished.
II. BACKGROUND
Prior to the implementation of ERP in the Middle East
countries, the regional oil companies had faced tremendous
problems. These include the loss of business documents and a
considerable time to develop and implement the ERP systems
in the industries. However, the development of ERP had led to
great form of business development in several aspects.
However, companies implementing the ERP systems were
facing tremendous challenges during the use of the system.
These challenges includes the huge cost of implementation,
interruption with the core operations performed by the
businesses and fear over the failure of a failed
implementation.
In these aspects, it can also be considered that an absence
of a strategic management planning would result in a failed
implementation of the entire project. In such cases, the
organizations would incur a huge loss as the entire business
operations might be halted for a certain amount of time.
Further, users within the industries might also resist the
implementation and further use of the ERP systems (Jafari and
Nair 2018). The further discussion within this report would
primarily focus on the use and impact of ERP systems in the
industries operating in the Middle East countries while also
discussing the ways in which the challenges could be
mitigated. Further, the discussion would also be put on the
critical success factors for an ERP system.
III. LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Organization Performance
With the implementation of ERP within the industrial
systems, there would be an overall increase in business
performance in terms of both non-financial and financial
aspects as well. It thus brings an overall increase within the
performance factors of the business. The present research thus
aims to take beneficiary advantages towards the adoption and
current implementation of ERP systems within an
organization (Parto, Sofian and Saat 2016). The prime idea
behind the implementation of ERP systems within the
organization is based on automation of all integrated processes
within the business under a single database. This would
further be enabled for increasing the level of communication
across all departments within any concerned organization.
Further, it also helps in supporting towards the decision-
making processes while also helping the organization for
predicting the future perspectives of the business.
The ERP systems have become one of the main
prerequisites for different countries, which enables them to
compete in the global space and a price for gaining a position
for entry within the global economy. Many business and
industries have selected ERP systems as a backbone for their
business processes. On the other hand, there are still some
businesses, which are reluctant towards taking steps for the
implementation of ERP system (Dezdar 2017). The reluctance
of the companies to implement ERP systems within their core
business processes further pushes them back in the global
economy and lowers their chances of competition with their
competitors who have implemented the ERP systems within
their processes.
With the growth of changing face of ERP systems and the
implementation of such systems within the industries in the
Middle East countries, it can be discussed that there a certain
number of advantages that could be incurred by these
industries in the future. The systems would help in supporting
an organization in their vision of systems integration, which
would further mean that these organizations would not have to
handle each of their departments in an independent manner. In
such promising situations backed up by ERP processes, the
organization is tremendously helped with optimizing their

core business processes (Bailey, Seymour and Van Belle
2017). This situation tremendously increases the processes of
supply chain and also integrates the functionalities thus finally
leading towards transparency of each processes being
implemented within the organization.
2. ERP Implementation
In the previous discussions based over the discussion of
improved organizational performance with the
implementation of ERP, it can also be discussed that most
organizations have also faced failures during their
implementation. From the literatures focusing on the failure of
ERP implementation failures, different cases of industries in
the Middle East were also considered. In Kuwait, there are
some companies who had strongly resisted towards the
implementation of ERP systems. On the other hand, some
companies had also considered the implementation of ERP
within their systems (Kaló et al. 2015). They had proposed a
two-phased procedure based on the selection of the proper
ERP vendors supporting small manufacturing enterprises
within Iran.
With the massive development of systems into the new
ERP II systems, it would now be considered for ERP service
providers to share more detailed information with their
customers since each of their departments would be integrated
together under a common platform while also be linked to a
single database (Almajali and Tarhini 2016). With the rapid
growth in the implementation of ERP systems, it can be
understood that organizations and businesses have felt the
rising need for implementation of such systems by replacing
their existing systems and improve the organizational core
processes.
3. Considerations
A proper implementation of IT/IS systems within the
organizations serve as an added advantage towards the
implementation of ERP systems within the organizational
perspectives. Hence, they serve new roles towards the
components of customer intelligence and knowledge
management. In this respect, the Oman Telecommunications
Company (OTC) or Omantel could be considered to have the
major advantage of computing systems within their
organizational perspectives (Al Yahyaee 2016). They actively
emphasize on active localisation. In addition to these factors,
it can also be considered that the company is the only single
company to be actively operating within the monopoly
market.
According to the studies and works supported by various
authors, it can be discussed that the stages of implementation
could be considered to be of vital importance towards
introducing ERP systems (Abukhader 2015). Since the
implementation procedure of ERP systems is considered as
highly challenging and complex in nature, it would not be
uncommon that these organizations would allow only a
significant number of resources towards the discussed project
phases.
4. Critical Failure Factors for ERP Implementation
From the understanding of the existing literatures, it can be
discussed that there are many factors leading towards failure
towards the implementation of ERP (Jinno, Abe and Iizuka
2017). There are two primary factors, which are pertaining
within the Middle East countries leading towards the failure
during the implementation and use of ERP systems.
One of the prime critical factor that was required to be
managed by the different organizations working over the
implementation of ERP systems was based on recognizing the
important aspect of risk management during the
implementation processes (Ebad 2016). Weaknesses in the
areas of managing risks can be considered as a major critical
factor. This is because considering all aspects within a project
without a prior consideration over the risk factors is a major
problem while also leading serious implications such as
bankruptcy for the firm.
Another factor that could be leading towards critical
implications is based on not having a proper domain
knowledge about the ERP systems, the vendors offering the
service and choosing a wrong ERP system, which would offer
the least benefit towards the organization. Hence, these factors
would lead to complete failure of the set objectives within the
firm.
5. Critical Success Factors for ERP Implementation
There are various critical success factors (CSF) during the
implementation of ERP systems in the organizations
pertaining within the Middle East regions. The CSFs vary
from one organizational perspective to another, which further
depends on the organizational structure, skill sets of the
employees and expertise as set within the organization
(Alsayat and Alenezi 2018). In the area of Middle East, there
have been three important critical success factors based on a
successful implementation of ERP systems.
The prime CSF during the implementation procedure is the
total support that should be provided from the top
management. Based on gaining a full support towards the
implementation process, it can be discussed that the process of
implementation would happen in a smooth and each employee
would be willing to make use of improved systems.
The second CSF in relation to ERP implementation is based
on proper sense of project management. Unrealizable
expectations, frequent change in requirements and poor
resource allocation would have a poor impact towards the
implementation process of ERP. When each of the
requirements and use of resources would be fulfilled, the
implementation towards the ERP procedures would be
running in a smooth manner (Trinoverly, Handayani and
Azzahro 2018). The organization would also be able to
properly test their internal systems properly during the live
operations of the system with the organizational objectives.

Thus, no heavy form of maintenance would be required unless
any major change in business processes would occur and the
system would run in a smooth manner.
The third CSF towards the proper implementation of ERP
systems is the aspect of Business process re-engineering.
Since the ERP package might not be supported across all the
processes located within the business. Hence, customisation of
the ERP systems as per the business requirements would be
greatly required to be handled (Ali et al. 2017). Better
designed and customized software packages have resulted in
better success rates within the industries.
6. Proper ERP Vendor Support
The implementation of an ERP system can be determined
to be a lifetime commitment for enterprises. Hence, during the
procedure of implementation of such systems within the
organizational context, the latest modules and versions should
be chosen. This would be helpful towards narrowing the gap
between the business of the firm and the implemented system.
Since, the implementation procedure is considered as
challenging, hence, the firm should not initiate the procedure
without a proper guidance and assistance over the system
(AL-Zoubi and Al-Haija 2018). The ERP service provider or
vendor should be able to provide exclusive training and
support to the employees within the firm so that they would be
able to gain a good hold and expertise over the use of such
technical systems. Moreover, the ERP vendor should provide
user manuals that would help the organization in
understanding the use regarding the ways of set up and
operations of the system (Rabaa'i and AlJamal 2015). Thus,
these requirements would need to be set up within the initial
contract when signed with the ERP vendor. Additionally,
some of the requirements could be clearly checked during
investing and purchasing the system.
The choice of the ERP vendor should be deemed as
appropriate because they would be extremely helpful during
the final result of the implementation procedures. Thus, during
the selection of the vendor, the company should properly
conduct a thorough check over the scope of support during
and after the implementation while also understand staff
proficiency (Candra 2016). It should also be checked whether
the vendor had well developed relationships with their
previous customers and their quality of services being offered
previously.
IV. CONCLUSION
From the conclusion drawn from the above research, it can
be discussed that ERP systems would prove to be great
advantage for the businesses situated in the Middle East
countries. From the analysis over the studied literatures, it can
be discussed about the environment of ERP implementation
processes in the countries. The studies have shown that there
is a consistent form of positive relationship between project
team composition, support from top management,
organizational culture, project management, user satisfaction
and many others. The next part of the study focused on the
different considerations that should be undertaken for the
implementation process of ERP within an organization. The
various alternatives should also be seen carefully based on
understanding the proper form of ERP system that should be
incorporated within the organization for reaping long-term
benefits towards the organization. Since, the implementation
and the integrated processes are considered to be a major one-
time investment factor, hence these considerations should be
taken care of properly so as to expect better future results. The
research also puts emphasis on the discussion over major
factors leading towards the failure of implementation of ERP
in some organizations. Lack of proper care and choice of
vendors before the implementation process could be leading
towards negative implications for the business and might also
lead to bankruptcy for the company. On the other hand, the
research also discusses over the different critical success
factors that could be sought for the business in order to bring
in positive outcomes for the business (Al Mahrami and Hakro
2018). During choosing of the vendor who would provide the
ERP implementation services, it should be ensured that they
would be able to provide full support and maintenance of the
product in the future. Based on the understanding of each of
the aspects from the conducted research, it can be concluded
that ERP implementation within the countries would help in
bringing major business outputs in the future while also
helping the industries in the Middle East countries to incur the
maximum benefits from the features supported by the ERP
systems. Hence, for a successful implementation of ERP, the
companies should take into consideration regarding the
organizational environment and then decide whether their
systems would be able to implement the CSF and increase the
potential growth for their businesses.
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