Enterprise Resource Planning: Developments and Directions for Operations Management Research
Robert Jacobs and Elliot Bendoly
Operations and Decision Technologies, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405 Decision and Information Analysis, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322

Abstract Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) has come to mean many things over the last several decades. Divergent applications by practitioners and academics, as well as by researchers in alternative fields of study, has allowed for both considerable proliferation of information on the topic but also for a considerable amount of confusion regarding the meaning of the term. research two distinct research streams emerge. In reviewing ERP

The first focuses on the

fundamental corporate capabilities driving ERP as a strategic concept. A second stream focuses on the details associated with implementing information systems and their relative success and cost. This paper briefly discusses these research streams and suggests some ideas for related future research.

Published in the European Journal of Operational Research 146(2), 2003

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Introduction – The many views of ERP

Speculation on the future development and success of ERP is the topic of many popular press articles. These articles, typically written by individuals

associated with the ERP companies, are often focused on the merits of the featured software. Unfortunately, in order to distinguish the merits of alternate packages, authors find it useful to introduce new terms designed to emphasize potential appeal. In reality many of these “new” terms don’t actually represent “new” concepts, but simply the repackaging of existing ideas. The end result of accepting and disseminating these new terms into general discussions on the topic only leads to increased confusion over time.

A case in point is the variability with