A Framework for Assessing Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) Systems Success: An Examination of its Aspect Focusing on External Contextual Influences

Assessing the success or effectiveness of information systems (IS) is a critical issue to researchers and practitioners alike. IS evaluation, to some practitioners, is a nightmare because of the lack of knowledge regarding such issues. Researchers offer little help to practitioners as the IS research community is divided on which issues best represent IS success and what relevance should contingency factors have in such discussions. We add to the debate on IS success evaluation literature by focusing on the development of a conceptual model or framework that could be beneficial to practitioners wishing to assess the success of a particular group of IS called Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) Systems. The proposed model incorporates the dimensions of success and contingency factors. Thus, the body of knowledge in this area of research may be enriched by our endeavors. ERP systems are chosen for two reasons, i.e., their popularity and the strategic/operational improvement capabilities they offer firms. Our research effort benefits from relevant theoretical insight and models. In particular, some influential researchers have suggested that focusing on the dimensions of IS success alone might be insufficient to fully appreciate the overall assessment of IS effectiveness or success. They advocated that researchers should consider the influence of contextual or contingency factors in addition to the dimensions of success. However, the main thrust of this present paper is on examining the influence or impact of some selected external environmental factors on ERP systems success. The empirical data for this study was obtained from 62 subjects in 44 private firms in diverse industries in two Northern European countries. Our data analysis, using nonparametric tests indicated that ERP success did not differ according to industry type, climate, or national economy type. Implications of our findings and future research directions are outlined.