Risk factors in ERP project

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore previous researchers related to risk factors in enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation. With an aim to reach a coherent picture of risk related to the ERP project success. ERP systems have emerged to be the backbone of the infrastructure spine of several companies, thus providing valuable information to managers to enchase their decision-making and create competitive advantage. Even though the topic of ERP implementation output is a well researched, the success rate of the projects remains low, justifying the relevance of this research subject.

The key findings of this thesis are that top management support and commitment are essential to the success of ERP project, especially in the implementation stage of ERP’s lifecycle. Top management supports meaning to the ERP project outcome was discovered by conducting a summary of studies exploring instances of critical success factors (CSFs) in literature. Lack of empirical studies concerning to the top management support and tools to monitor top management support during ERP project was recognized. Therefore, this thesis suggests further research should be guided towards a practical aspect of top management support since it is tightly related to ERP project outcome.