Top Management Support of Enterprise Systems Implementations

Abstract

Despite the general consensus regarding the critical role of top management in the information systems (ISs) implementation process, the literature has not yet provided a clear and compelling understanding of the top management support (TMS) concept. Applying metastructuring (Orlikowski et al., 1995) as a guiding framework for understanding TMS behaviors, this paper attempts to address the gap by focusing on two key questions: (1) What supportive actions do top managers engage in during IS implementations? (2) How do these actions affect IS implementation outcomes? Analyses of in-depth case studies at two Canadian universities that had implemented a large-scale enterprise system revealed three distinct types of TMS actions: TMS - resource provision (TMSR - actions related to supplying key resources such as funds, technologies, staff, and user training programs); TMS - change management (TMSC - actions related to fostering organizational receptivity of a new IS); and TMS - vision sharing (TMSV - actions related to ensuring that lower-level managers develop a common understanding of the core objectives and ideals for the new system). Results suggest that different support behaviors exercise different influences on implementation outcomes, and that top managers need to adjust their support actions to achieve the desired outcomes. In particular, TMSR affected project completion, TMSC impacted formation of user skills and attitudes, and TMSV influenced middle manager buy-in. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Social Environment of Virtual Collaboration Using Mobile Social Media

“…In addition, executives may provide necessary support for technology use such as resource provision, change management and vision sharing [16]. Such a top management support is necessary for virtual teams to overcome adoption thresholds for effective mediated communication among all the members.…”

“…Executive involvement and participation have a direct impact on organizing IT use by providing necessary resources, strategic guidance, and managerial support [25,16]. Virtual collaboration is not only limited to internal communication within a group, but often also involves peer teams, external customers and other stakeholders.…”

When planned IS/IT project benefits are not realized: a study of inhibitors and facilitators to benefits realization

“…Several of these inhibitors represent the absence of facilitators identified in the change literature. For example, frequently mentioned inhibitors include a lack of top management support (Dong et al, 2009), negative user attitudes and a lack of user ownership (Authors, 2001) user resistance (Lapointe and Rivard, 2005) and a lack of attention to organizational issues (Doherty and King, 2005). However, despite these studies there is relatively little clear consensus in the IS literature concerning the key facilitators and inhibitors for successful IS/IT projects (Fortune and White, 2006).…”

“…The IS literature has established that there are many factors that may inhibit the successful implementation of a new IS/IT investment. For example, frequently mentioned factors include a lack of top management support (Dong et al, 2009), user resistance (Lapointe and Rivard, 2005) and a lack of attention to organizational issues (Doherty and King, 2005). Therefore, we extended the standard BDN through the inclusion of an inhibitors construct.…”

Understanding Megaproject Success beyond the Project Close-Out Stage

“…Lee (1990) -User satisfaction measures the effectiveness of an information system. (Pinjani and Palvia, 2007) -Group diversity Kassahun (2012) -A public sector organization in a developing economy can use BPR to improve process and overall organizational performance if it (a) has accumulated stock of BPR-relevant resources and capabilities; (b) has undertaken BPR with sufficient depth; (c) is developing a post-BPR complementary competencies to sustain and further enhance the BPR changes; and (d) has mitigated the adverse effect of BPR implementation problems Dong, Neufeld and Higgins (2009) Top management support -Top management support to resource provision -Top management support to change management -Top management support to vision sharing Veiga et al (2014) Greater organizational support Funnell (2000) -Agreement by business to meetings with program advisers with a view to identifying possible solutions; few refusals -Preparation of action plans that include defined key elements -Business-specific examples of increased willingness Evaluation is conducted in order to measure the congruence planned and actual project results. A common assumption in evaluation is the link between actions taken during the project, and project results.…”