The distribution function in a supply chain is an important internal service function for any firm, and has been increasingly recognized as playing a strategic role in achieving…
Abstract
The distribution function in a supply chain is an important internal service function for any firm, and has been increasingly recognized as playing a strategic role in achieving competitive advantage. This paper proposes improving the distribution function of the supply chain by employing hub‐and‐spoke network designs. Such designs have proven to be effective with third party logistics carriers such as Federal Express, UPS, Norfolk Southern, and Yellow Freight. Several models and heuristic solution techniques have been introduced in the literature in the past ten years. However, the performance of such heuristics, under different transportation environments, has not been examined. This paper acts as a first step in this direction. The performance of two heuristics to solve a hub‐and‐spoke network is compared against the performance of an optimal technique, for various configurations of data. With the results of this study, business managers can, by analyzing the structure of their data, assess the “risk” associated with applying one of the two heuristics. Heuristic developers can also exploit the results of this study to give them insight into areas where heuristics can be developed or strengthened in order to give rise to more robust heuristics.
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Locating hub facilities is important in different types of transportation and communication networks. The p‐Hub Median Problem (p‐HMP) addresses a class of hub location problems…
Abstract
Locating hub facilities is important in different types of transportation and communication networks. The p‐Hub Median Problem (p‐HMP) addresses a class of hub location problems in which all hubs are interconnected and each non‐hub node is assigned to a single hub. The hubs are uncapacitated, and their number p is initially determined. Introduces an Artificial Intelligence (AI) heuristic called simulated annealing to solve the p‐HMP. The results are compared against another AI heuristic, namely Tabu Search, and against two other non‐AI heuristics. A real world data set of airline passenger flow in the USA, and randomly generated data sets are used for computational testing. The results confirm that AI heuristic approaches to the p‐HMP outperform non‐AI heuristic approaches on solution quality.
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Sue Abdinnour and Khawaja Saeed
The purpose of this paper is to explore how key users’ perceptions (capability, value, timing, and acceptance) toward an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system change from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how key users’ perceptions (capability, value, timing, and acceptance) toward an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system change from the pre-implementation to the post-implementation phase. The paper also examines how this change differs with varying levels of user involvement in the implementation process and users’ positions in the company.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors survey the employees of a major aircraft manufacturing company in the Midwest and analyze the data using repeated measures ANOVA. The authors use time as a within-subject independent variable, and involvement/position at the company as between-subject independent variables.
Findings
The results reveal a significant drop in users’ perceptions regarding the capability, value, and implementation timing of the ERP system. However, the perception of acceptance did not change significantly. Furthermore, there were more significant interactions of users’ perceptions with employee position than employee involvement in the implementation process.
Research limitations/implications
The study offers a better theoretical understanding of how users’ perceptions regarding an ERP system evolve over time. The use of one company is a limitation of the study, so future research can focus on extending the study in different sectors.
Practical implications
Management can design interventions to minimize users’ negative perceptions about the ERP system and increase usage in the post-implementation phase. For example, management can design training customized toward users’ positions in the company.
Originality/value
Post-implementation research in the ERP field is rare. Conducting a survey of users’ perceptions allows the authors to take an in-depth look at attitudes toward an ERP system.
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Ann Zhong Liu and Peter B. Seddon
The purpose of this paper is to present and test a model that seeks to answer Robey et al.'s challenge that “ERP's critical success factors offer few insights beyond conventional…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present and test a model that seeks to answer Robey et al.'s challenge that “ERP's critical success factors offer few insights beyond conventional wisdom.” The model proposes that many so‐called critical success factors (CSFs) affect organizational benefits from enterprise systems use (OBESU) through their impact on three outcomes of an enterprise systems (ES) implementation process, namely functional fit, overcoming organizational inertia, and delivering a working system.
Design/methodology/approach
The model is tested using content analysis of 133 customer presentations at SAP's April 2007 Sapphire USA Conference.
Findings
The benefit‐driver approach appears to provide at least one good answer to Robey et al.'s challenge.
Research limitations/implications
It seems likely that the model is valid for most large Western organizations implementing ES.
Practical implications
The model provides new insights into how and why the CSFs affect benefits from ES.
Originality/value
No prior study to the best of one's knowledge has sought to explain in such depth how ES project CSFs affect OBESU.
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The purpose of this paper is to further build up the knowledge about reasons for small and mid‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt open source enterprise resource planning (ERP…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to further build up the knowledge about reasons for small and mid‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to adopt open source enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents and analyses findings in articles about proprietary ERPs and open source ERPs. In addition, a limited investigation of the distribution channel SourceForge for open source is made.
Findings
The cost perspective seems to receive a high attention regarding adoption of open source ERPs. This can be questioned and the main conclusion is that costs seem to have a secondary role in adoption or non adoption of open source ERPs.
Research limitations/implications
The paper is mainly a conceptual paper written from a literature review. The ambition is to search support for the findings by doing more research in the area.
Practical implications
The findings presented are of interest both for developers of proprietary ERPs as well as SMEs since it is shown that there are definitely reasons other than costs involved when deciding on proprietary ERPs or open source ERPs.
Originality/value
It can be argued that there is a lack of research conducted and published about why SMEs choose open source ERPs instead of proprietary ERPs. This paper identifies the gap and suggests future research directions about this subject.
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This paper aims to examine the impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) on organizations and discusses critical issues that should be considered by managers and decision…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) on organizations and discusses critical issues that should be considered by managers and decision makers who are considering implementing an ERP/ERP II system.
Design/methodology/approach
Extensive literature review and the author's professional experience on the topic provide the foundation for this article.
Findings
ERP/ERP II are designed to improve competitiveness by upgrading an organization's ability to generate timely and accurate information throughout the enterprise and its supply chain. The goal of an ERP/ERP II is to integrate all business units of an organization and to create a system that is capable of providing up‐to‐date and relevant information for the corporation's decision makers and employees as well as business partners. The investment that is required is significant, sometimes running into the hundreds of millions of dollars and the decision to purchase and implement an ERP system is one of the most important decisions a manager will have to make.
Practical implications
Implementing ERP systems often requires organizational change and commitment by top managers. Participation by decision makers and executives from the acquisition phase to the end is essential to the success of ERP/ERP II. Factors that managers should consider are outlined in the study.
Originality/value
This paper provides useful information to both academicians and practitioners who are interested in ERP.
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Hooshang M. Beheshti, Bruce K. Blaylock, Dale A. Henderson and James G. Lollar
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that contribute to the successful implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in manufacturing firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors that contribute to the successful implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems in manufacturing firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative research method was used to study six diverse manufacturing firms in Virginia. A semi-structure method of data collection was used for the analysis.
Findings
The ERP software has emerged as a key enabler of system integration in organizations to reduce redundancy, improve efficiency, productivity and performance. Firms implement ERP not only to improve operations efficiency but to be more responsive to the customer needs in the global economy. The findings provide insights on the factors that these large and global manufacturing firms consider to be important to the success of ERP implementation and utilization.
Research limitations/implications
The study is limited to large manufacturing firms and does not consider service industries or small and medium enterprises.
Practical implications
A considerable amount of time and capital are required for the acquisition and implementation of ERP systems. The results are useful to managers of manufacturing companies who are interested in using, modifying or upgrading an integrative technology software system, such as ERP.
Originality/value
This empirical study provides an in-depth analysis of factors that motivate firms to consider ERP systems, factors that are important when acquiring the system, key factors to implementation and cultural adjustments following implementation. To the best of our knowledge, no single study has examined all of these issues in one report.