PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to contribute to the discussion on enterprise resource planning (ERP) system adoption by investigating the relationship of enterprise size to the objectives and constraints of ERP adoption.Design/methodology/approachIn the paper, survey data, based on the responses of 44 companies, are analyzed, by dividing the companies into small, medium‐sized, and large enterprises; and comparing these groups, using statistical methods.FindingsThe paper finds significant differences exist between small, medium‐sized and large enterprises regarding the objectives and constraints of ERP system adoption. While small enterprises experience more knowledge constraints, large enterprises are challenged by the changes imposed by ERP adoption. Further, large and medium‐sized enterprises are more outward‐oriented in ERP adoption than small enterprises. Business development, as opposed to mere efficiency improvement, while being the most prevalent objective for ERP adoption in all the company groups, is considered especially important by medium‐sized enterprises. Finally, the findings suggest that, instead of considering small and medium‐sized enterprises as one homogeneous group of smaller enterprises, differences between these two groups of companies should be acknowledged in information system adoption.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper shows that the Finnish context and the sample size should be taken into consideration when generalizing the findings.Practical implicationsThe paper points out the differences in objectives and constraints between companies of different sizes that should be acknowledged in ERP adoption.Originality/valueInstead of resorting to the customary approach of considering small and medium‐sized enterprises as a homogeneous group of smaller enterprises, this study acknowledges the differences between these two groups of companies.

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This paper investigates the relationship of enterprise size to the constraints and objectives of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems adoption. The survey data based on the responses of 44 companies indicates that significant differences exist between small, medium-sized and large enterprises in ERP system adoption. Specifically, the findings suggest that small companies experience more knowledge constraints than their larger counterparts in ERP adoption. Further, while being the most prevalent objective for ERP adoption in all the company groups, business development through ERP adoption is considered especially important by the medium-sized and large enterprises. Finally, the findings of the study suggest that instead of considering small and medium-sized enterprises as one homogenous group, the differences between these two groups of companies should be acknowledged in the future research.

Several multi-criteria decision support methods have been introduced to sustainable management of natural resources, but different methods suit different planning situations. One way to support decision-making is to apply voting theory. In this study, a multi-criteria decision-support method based on voting theory, called multicriteria approval (MA), is applied to wood supply chain management in a forest area owned by the state of Finland. The area is called Leikko and is located in the rural municipality of Pieksämäki. MA seems to have some promising features in relation to participatory decision support. The most essential advantages are its ease and comprehensibility. MA is also able to deal with ordinal and imprecise information. Since the method does not demand much preference information from interest groups, the inquiries may be conducted using the Internet. In the case study, nine timber-harvesting alternatives were devised for the forest area. The study involved seven interest groups, whose representatives defined seven criteria by which the alternatives were compared. The purpose was to find a consensus or compromise solution for a practical harvesting schedule. Two different versions of MA were tested and compared from the participatory decision-support aspect. Usability and ease of method, the comprehensibility of the inquiries, and the congruence of the results were examined.