Influence of ERP systems on business process agility

Abstract

Past research on the effect of ERP systems on agility is contradictory, and research on the post implementation effects of ERP systems on agility is limited. Employing a cross sectional field study, this exploratory study analyses how key defining features of enterprise systems environment—integration, process optimisation, and best practices—affect agility. Standardisation of processes has mixed effect on agility and depends on the extent of standardisation implemented and whether it included prior simplification. Rather than the ERP-system enabled environment, the inadequacies in implementation and poor process optimisation prior to ERP implementation are restricting process agility.