Decision-making to switch your ERP system: empirical Japanese evidence

Abstract

A huge research gap in ERP life cycle, the Decline stage, remains. Not only limited empirical evidence is found to support the Decline stage, but also, the existence of this stage is not acknowledged by the majority. On the other hand, because that the Decline stage is short of theory and data support, organizations which are or will be at this stage have little help to deal with what might happen. This research aims at proposing a practical decision model for organizations facing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) switching/reversion. The process model of Rasmussen’s Cognitive Control of Decision Processes was adopted as the theory lens to construct the decision model. Based on the survey results from eighteen organizations, a descriptive model - A2O model - is proposed. This research fulfills the blank in the ERP life cycle, provides the empirical supports on exploring the critical issues, and enlightens vendors and consultants on product development and customer service.