The Organizational Change Dilemma Of ERP Implementation In A Small Manufacturing Company

Abstract

ERP implementation in small and medium-sized businesses is especially challenging not only because of their shortage of budget and talents but also of the strong organizational and individual resistance to the overall organizational changes caused by the new technology.

This paper presents an original case of ERP implementation failure in a small manufacturing company and how we used the case to teach about organizational changes in a management class. Rather than leading a retrospective analysis of the case as many instructors would do with this type of change failure case study, we employed the four-step problem-solving case study approach to guide the students to identify the case problem, analyze its causes, prescribe and evaluate alternatives, and make a decision and develop detailed action plan to eventually solve the problem. Our purpose with such a thorough, quasi-experiential learning case study was to develop the students’ problem solving and decision making skills, particularly in understanding and leading organizational changes. Students received methodological, conceptual, practical, and technical learning benefits from the forward-looking, solution-focused case study of the small company’s ERP implementation failure.