ERP Selection and Satisfaction — a UX Case Study
Overview
ERP systems are defined as “a set of business applications or modules, which links various business units of an organization such as financial, accounting, manufacturing, and human resources into a tightly integrated single system with a common platform for flow of information across the entire business” [1]. When time comes to upgrade these systems, preparation, departmental processes, and business workflows are in need of examination for successful implementations [3]. ERP systems can be pivotal investments within organizations, but they encourage cross-departmental collaboration and unification to create an overall culture.
In 2005, my employer had chosen to upgrade its enterprise resource planning (ERP) software and selected a solution. The organization went through RFI and RFP processes for selecting this product. A consultant, staff, and organizational culture helped determine the best solution.
The selection and deployment process of an organization’s new ERP system falls upon its culture. An organization’s culture is defined as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions that a group learns as it solves its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems” [4].
The “implementation of ERP systems always mandate change in business process and organization culture” [2]. Therefore, to identify cultural adaptations and how future problem solving might affect the selection of a future ERP system, why not look at the current culture’s satisfaction levels of the current ERP system.
To identify the organization’s culture and needs, a survey was conducted by the Information Technology department to assess the quality assurance processes for evaluating future replacement systems. The study had looked to answer whether current modules of the ERP system are satisfactory and to build a benchmark for the procurement and selection of a future ERP system.
Methods
A survey was developed, with questions that asked current employees their level of satisfaction of the current ERP system. After development, the survey was pre-tested for linguistics, survey flow, and timing for future participants. The survey was distributed to all employees, using the organization’s internal email system.
Data Collection
Data was collected anonymously, using a Google Form and spreadsheet collection over the duration of four weeks. Survey questions were categorized into four sections: general knowledge, module frequency, module feature satisfaction, and open opinion.
We are looking to uncover the following themes through 10 survey questions and results:
- General module knowledge
- What modules are being used in the current ERP system?
- Which modules are used by which department?
- General user knowledge
- How many years have users been using the current ERP module?
- How long have you used this module?
- How often do you use this module? (Percentage)
- How would you describe your level of expertise with this module?
- What features are important in this module?
- What are the strongest areas of the current ERP system?
- What are the weakest areas of the current ERP system?
- What would the ideal ERP system modules need?
Results
Demographics
A total of 121 responses were recorded during the duration of the survey. 15 modules were reported by 11 departments with a majority having 8+ years of software experience. One module, CAFR statement builder, was not represented in the results (Table 1).
| Characteristics | # of Responses |
Departments Communications | 1 |
Years of Experience < 1 year |
|
Modules Account Receivable | 8 |
Findings
Most participants, 59.5% use the current ERP system daily/weekly, 14.9% twice a month, 10.7% monthly, and the remaining responded with various usage. When participants were asked about their level of expertise, 42.9% responded as basic, 33.1% intermediate, and 23.9% advanced or greater.
When participants were asked about the importance of feature sets, they responded with the following (ranked by percentage) search records (81%), edit records (78.2%), create records (71.7%), view reports (70.3%), export data (60%), create reports (54%), customization (46.7%), and import data (42.9%).
Participants were asked their overall level of satisfaction, 58.7% responded as being satisfied, 23.9% neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, and 17.4% dissatisfied.
Participants were asked three open questions to gauge personal opinions about the current ERP software. We analyzed the responses, segmented words, and ranked them based on frequency. When asked what are the strongest areas of the current ERP system, participants’ top 10 ranked words were: use, ability, approval, reports, search, data, create, able, information, and easy. When asked what are the weakest areas of the current ERP system, participants’ top 10 ranked words were: permitting, entry, difficult, information, steps, user, customers, invoicing, needs, and accounts. When asked what are the future areas or enhancements they would like to see in the perfect ERP system, participants’ top 10 ranked words were permitting, ability, module, reporting, create, allow, processes, time, invoicing, and paying.
Discussion/Conclusion
Even though the survey results did not show any statistical correlation with regards to user satisfaction levels, longevity with the software, and expertise levels; we anticipate the collected data will steer discussions in future SWOT analysis meetings. The team could utilize current feature sets and strength, weaknesses and wishlist responses to gain insight into the selection of a future ERP candidate.
References
- Hooshang M. Beheshti, (2006) "What managers should know about ERP/ERP II", Management Research News, Vol. 29 Issue: 4, pp.184-193.
https://doi.org/10.1108/01409170610665040 - Light. Zaglago, Idisemi. Apulu, Craig. Chapman, and Hanifa Shah. The Impact of Culture in Enterprise Resource Planning System Implementation. Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering 2013 Vol I, WCE (July 2013) pp 516-521.
www.iaeng.org/publication/WCE2013/WCE2013_pp516-521.pdf - T. Ramayah, Matthew H. Roy, Sawaridass Arokiasamy, Imad Zbib, and Zafar U. Ahmed. 2007. Critical success factors for successful implementation of enterprise resource planning systems in manufacturing organisations. Int. J. Bus. Inf. Syst. 2, 3 (January 2007), pp 276-297.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJBIS.2007.011980 - Schein, E. Sense and nonsense about climate and culture. Handbook of organizational culture and climate. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage (2000).
- Christina Soh, Sia Siew Kien, and Joanne Tay-Yap. Enterprise resource planning: cultural fits and misfits: is ERP a universal solution? Communications ACM 43, 4 (April 2000), pp 47-51.
https://dx.doi.org/10.1145/332051.332070