Toward a Model of Organizational Prerequisites for ERP: Reintroducing the Concept of Data Warehousing

Abstract

Data Warehousing was the ‘hot topic’ of the early-to-mid 1990’s but it became unfashionable through the mid-to-late 1990s with the widespread implementation of ERP systems. However, in recent times, the re-emergence of Data Warehousing, to address the limitations of ERP systems, provides researchers with a new challenge and the ability to test the validity of old notions in solving new problems. This chapter lays the foundation for a model of organizational prerequisites for ERP project implementation. The model is aimed at the ‘Intelligence’ phase of managerial decision making for ERP projects. It draws on the increasing volume of organizational ERP literature now being published and past research into Data Warehousing project implementations is introduced in an attempt to highlight the re-emerging need for the concept of organizational prerequisites. The chapter documents the early stages of a larger research study, which is currently in progress. The main objective of the chapter is to present a literature-based model, the need for which emerges from a number of ‘issues of concern’ around the implementation of ERP, which integrally covers the phases which organizations go through when purchasing ERP packages.