Towards a model for user adoption of enterprise systems in SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises are seen to be the future of emerging economies and the driving force in the global economy. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have recently been developed for this sector but their successful implementation is a challenge. One of the major factors contributing to this challenge is user adoption. This paper presents an overview of user adoption constraints affecting two medium sized South African organisations when adopting an ERP system. Two qualitative in-depth case studies were analysed using the grounded theory method. The 11 direct and 3 indirect user adoption constraints identified were categorized under organisational conditions, facilitating conditions, implementation actions, system expectations and system perceptions. User communication was the dominant constraint and was found to be influenced by organisational culture and reseller value. Many conditions and experiences were found to be distinct from previous research typically performed in large organisations in developed economies. It is hoped that the model presented will be able to assist SMEs within emerging economies in improving the success of their ERP implementations.