The relationship between ERP software selection criteria and ERP success

¿ERP success¿ measures are the most important, but they cannot be analyzed and understood without ¿software quality¿ and ¿information quality¿ measurements. Moreover, high software quality is an essential requirement in an ERP system. And, it will further influence information quality and ERP success. Consequently, the determination of ERP software selection criteria for ERP success plays an important role while organizations consider implementing an ERP system. This study presents a conceptual framework to investigate how ERP software selection criterion are linked to software quality, information quality and ERP success in the ERP implementing process, as well as, the impacts of those factors on software quality. Through a cross-sectional survey of top 5000 largest companies in Taiwan, undertaken in 2006, the study explores 13 important selection criterion which can directly and positively influence ERP software quality in the dimension of functionality, reliability, usability, efficiency and maintainability, respectively, in pre-implementing ERP phase. Generally, software quality and information quality are critical in influencing the effectiveness of ERP success after implementing ERP system. Despite ERP software selection criterion seem less influential to ERP success, they still impact the ERP success indirectly through software quality and information quality. We consider the results are generally supportive to the research model and such support also provides additional evidence of the validity of the concept proposed in the study.