Implementing Enterprise Resource Planning Systems: The Role of Learning from Failure

Judy E. Scott () and Iris Vessey ()
Additional contact information
Judy E. Scott: University of Colorado
Iris Vessey: Indiana University

Information Systems Frontiers, 2000, vol. 2, issue 2, No 6, 213-232

Abstract: Abstract ERP implementations remain problematic despite the fact that many of the issues are by now quite well known. In this paper, we take a different perspective from the critical success factors and risks approaches that are common in the information systems discipline to explain why ERP implementations fail. Specifically, we adapt Sitkin's theory of intelligent failure to ERP implementations resulting in a theory that we call “learning from failure.” We then examine from the viewpoint of this theory the details of two SAP R/3 implementations, one of which failed while the other succeeded. Although it is impossible to state, unequivocally, that the implementation that failed did so because it did not use the approach that was derived from the theory, the analysis reveals that the company that followed many of the tenets of the theory succeeded while the other did not.

Keywords: enterprise systems; enterprise resource planning systems; ERP implementation; organizational learning; intelligent failure; learning from failure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1023/A:1026504325010 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:infosf:v:2:y:2000:i:2:d:10.1023_a:1026504325010

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/journal/10796

DOI: 10.1023/A:1026504325010

Access Statistics for this article

Information Systems Frontiers is currently edited by Ram Ramesh and Raghav Rao

More articles in Information Systems Frontiers from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().