Identifying Critical Success Factors of ERP Systems at the Higher Education Sector

Abstract

In response to a range of contextual drivers, the worldwide adoption of ERP Systems in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) has increased substantially over the past decade. Though the difficulties and high failure rate in implementing ERP systems at university environments have been cited in the literature, research on critical success factors (CSFs) for ERP implementations in this context is rare and fragmented. This paper is part of a larger research effort that aims to contribute to understanding the phenomenon of ERP implementations and evaluations in HEIs in the Australasian region; it identifies, previously reported, critical success factors (CSFs) in relation to ERP system implementations and discusses the importance of these factors.

Experiences of enterprise resource planning system at a flagship university in Africa: Familiarity, barriers and way forward

“…Typically, these impetuses, for example, are the ongoing decline in government funding for students in Africa, gradual spike in competition among higher education institutions, tighter regulations by higher education authority, changes in the needs of students, growth in the demand for higher education, and fluctuating expectations of employers and industry stakeholders. These changes have created a need more efficient management processes in universities which the ERP system purported to offer (Al-Mashari 2003;Rabaa'i 2009).…”

Critical Success Factors (CSFS) of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) System Implementation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIS) : Concepts and Literature Review

“…Table 1 shows the 13 factors identified as critical to ERP implementation success from previous studies conducted in the HEIs sector. [25,28,29,30,62,64,66,75,78,79,80] There is enough support from senior management in the ERP project. Top management must be willing to be involved and commit to allocating valuable resources to the implementation effort.…”

“…In addition, these studies have pointed out that there is no sure method of achieving success in implementing ERP systems; many ERP implementation projects fail or go over time and over budget. It is noteworthy that several previous studies have focused on the implementation of ERP systems in the business sector [5,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24], but there is lack of studies on implementation in the HEI sector around the world [25,26,27,28,29]. Moreover, these studies have argued that the university community needs research attention to achieve more relevant knowledge regarding ERP implementation [26].…”

“…Moreover, these studies have argued that the university community needs research attention to achieve more relevant knowledge regarding ERP implementation [26]. Furthermore, there is an urgent need to identify the success factors that lead to the successful implementation of these systems [28], since the failure rate in HEIs is higher than that in the business sector [11,30]. Moreover, Saudi HEIs are in the early stage of technology development because of the lack of implementation of ERP systems in this country [30,31].…”

“…Change management [25,28,29,30,62,64,66,75,78,79,80] A primary strategy, strong institutional identity and structured approach are needed to create a comprehensive environment to ensure the successful implementation and smooth transitioning to the ERP system.…”