Implementingenterpriseresourceplanningandknowledge

InformationandOrganization13(2003)25–52www.elsevier.com/locate/infoandorgImplementingenterpriseresourceplanningandknowledgemanagementsystemsintandem:fosteringefficiencyandinnovationcomplementarityS.Newellb,c,J.C.Huangd,R.D.Galliersa,b,∗,S.L.PaneaDepartmentofInformationSystems,LondonSchoolofEconomicsandPoliticalScience,HoughtonStreet,LondonWC2A2AE,UKbBentleyCollege,ForestStreet,Waltham,MA02452-4705,USAcSchoolofManagement,RoyalHolloway,UniversityofLondon,Egham,SurreyTW200EX,UKdNottinghamUniversityBusinessSchool,JubileeCampus,WollatonRoad,NottinghamNG81BB,UKeDepartmentofInformationSystems,SchoolofComputing,NationalUniversityofSingapore,ScienceDrive2,Singapore117543AbstractThispaperexaminesthesimultaneousimplementationwithinasingleorganizationoftwocontemporarymanagerialinformationsystems—EnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)andKnowledgeManagement(KM).Exploringtheirsimultaneousdeploymentwithinanorganiza-tionprovidesanopportunitytoexaminetheresultinginteractionsandimpacts.Morespecifi-cally,weexaminetheircombinedinfluenceonimprovingorganizationalefficiencyandflexi-bility,twooutcomeswhichtraditionalorganizationaltheorysuggestsareincompatible.Throughaninterpretativecasestudy,theresearchconfirmsthat:(1)thetwosystemscanbeimplementedintandemtogoodeffect;(2)complementaritybetweenthetwosystemsisposs-ible,althoughthisisnotanautomaticoutcome,ithastobefostered.Thiscomplementarityisanalyzedinrelationtothefourmechanisms(namelypartitioning,enrichment,metaroutinesandswitching)proposedbyAdler,GoldoftasandLevine(OrganizationScience10(1999)43),asvitalforthesimultaneousdevelopmentoforganizationalefficiencyandflexibility.2002ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Enterpriseresourceplanning;Knowledgemanagementsystems;Concurrentimplementation;Knowledgecreation;Organizationalefficiency;Organizationalflexibility;Interpretativecasestudyresearch∗Correspondingauthor.Fax:[phone].E-mailaddress:[e-mail](R.D.Galliers).1471-7727/02/$-seefrontmatter2002ElsevierScienceLtd.Allrightsreserved.PII:S1471-7727(02)00007-626S.Newelletal./InformationandOrganization13(2003)25–521.IntroductionWithinthefieldofIS/ITtherehasbeenatendencytoembracenewconceptssothatthefieldhasbeenpopulatedbyexampleafterexampleofonefadorfashionafteranother(Galliers&Newell,2001).Akeyproblemhereisthatthese‘latestfads’oftenappeartodisregardpastlearningfromtheIS/ITliterature.So,forexample,whileDavenport(1996)belatedlyreferredtoBusinessProcessReengineer-ing(BPR)as‘thefadthatforgotpeople’,soKnowledgeManagement(KM)hasbeencriticizedforemphasizingtechnologyattheexpenseofpeople(Scarbrough,Swan&Preston,1999).Moreover,thesedifferentIS/ITfashionsareoftenconcep-tuallyratherdifferentfromoneanother.Indeed,ithasbeenarguedthateachnewfashionfollowsonfromthelastinthesensethatitaddressestheproblemsthatwereanunintendednegativeconsequenceofthepreviousone(Benders&vanVeen,2001).Forexample,BPRwastypicallyassociatedwithdown-sizing,whichmeantthatmanyemployeesweremaderedundantasorganizationssoughttoimprovetheefficiencyoftheirbusinessprocessesandreducecosts.Manyorganizationssub-sequentlyfoundthatanunintendednegativeconsequenceoftheirBPRinitiativewasalossoforganizationalknowledge,whichtheyhadquiteliterallyallowedto‘walkoutthedoor’intheformofredundantemployees.SubsequentKMinitiativeswerearguablyaresponsetothisproblem.WhatthisfaddishnessmeansinpracticeisthatmanycompaniesintroducenewIS/ITconcepts,ofteninquicksuccession.Indeed,twoormorenewIS/ITfashionsmaybebeingimplementedsimultaneouslywithinagivencompany.Giventhattheimplementationofmultiplesystemsislikelytoproduceeffectsthataredifferentthantheeffectsofimplementingasinglesystem,researchinvestigatingthesimultaneousimplementationofIS/ITconceptswouldseemtobeanissueworthyofinvestigation.ThisissoespeciallywheretheparticularIS/ITconceptsbeingintroducedconcur-rentlyareratherdifferentintheirunderlyingphilosophy.Thisthen,isthefocusofthispaper.WeexploretheimpactoftheconcurrentimplementationofanEnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)andaKnowledgeManagement(KM)systemwithinasinglecasecompany.BothERPandKMsystemsarecurrentlybeingwidelyimplementedacrossorganizations(see,forexample,respectivelyCommunicationsoftheACM,2000andAlavi&Leidner,2001).Inallprobabilitytheyarebeingimplementedsimultaneously,oratleasttheirimplementationsoverlapinmanycom-panies,asinthecasecompanydescribedinthispaper.Specifically,weexaminetheimpactofintroducingthesetwoinitiativessimultaneouslywithinasingleorganiza-tion.InthisintroductorysectionweexaminethekeydefiningcharacteristicsofERPandKMsystems.ERPsystemshavebeendefinedasenterprise-widepackagesthattightlyintegratebusinessfunctionsintoasinglesystemwithashareddatabase(Lee&Lee,2000).Theyhavealsobeencharacterizedascomprehensivesoftwaresolutionsthatintegrateorganizationalprocessesthroughsharedinformationanddataflows(Shanks&Seddon,2000).Thus,ERPsystemsaremarketedasavehicleforintegratingthecorebusinessactivitiesofanenterprise,suchasfinance,logisticsandhumanresources,andasameansofovercomingproblemsassociatedwithso-called27S.Newelletal./InformationandOrganization13(20