ERP Integration - A Systematic Mapping Study

Abstract

Companies have been adopting Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems for decades in order to integrate business functions to increase their competitiveness. The original goal of ERP was to provide an all-in-one integrated suite for the enterprise. However, in a modern business environment, ERPs are integrated externally with customers, suppliers and business partners and internally with continuously changing system landscape of the enterprise. In this paper we present a systematic mapping study that investigates how ERP integration-related issues have been studied by the academia between 1998 and 2012. Studies about technological issues are mostly dealing with systems inside a company whereas studies on methodological issues focus on the integration of the supply chain management and e-business. However, these studies are often either carried out without a rigorous research method or they are based on single cases only. Quantitative methods have been mainly used to investigate quality attributes of ERPs. It is still unclear, how integration issues are effectively solved by a network of stakeholders in an ERP project. This requires more research in the future.

Conceptualizing Supply Chain Resilience: The Role of Complex IT Infrastructures

“…Due to the immaturity and variety of existing XML standards, the diversity and adaptability of electronic messages and the widespread use of traditional EDI messages, a clear convergence of business messages standards has still not emerged [73]. -Interconnection can be achieved through different technological solutions, such as ERP to ERP communication [74], exchange of data (e.g., via electronic messages or web services), uploading information on web-based platforms or typing in web-based forms [22]. Internet-based collaboration platforms may be used to support cooperation among different organizations in a supply chain, facilitating interconnection of different systems and supporting the exchange of data.…”

Outlining a Process to Manage the Complexity of Enterprise Systems Integration

“…technological, organizational and strategic perspectives. The technological aspects of integration have been studied widely, but in the context of ERP systems, the studies focus mostly on a specific target system (Kähkönen and Smolander 2013). The organizational perspective has focused on organizational characteristics and intra-organizational factors, such as top management support and cultural fit (Chowanetz et al 2012).…”