ERP critical success factors: an exploration of the contextual factors in public sector institutions

New information technologies have brought public-sector higher education institutions (HEIs) into increased competition, while their government funding in parallel has been continually eroded. In response to these growing pressures, there has been a call for HEIs to improve operational efficiency and to reduce duplication of resources by implementing advanced information systems that span the institution and improve processes. In response, HEIs have turned their efforts to implementing complex enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. These systems are seen as the solution to address the growing governmental information requirements and to improve competitiveness, but do these systems represent a viable proposition for the diverse higher education sector with its traditionally strong and fragmented structure and culture? This paper investigates whether ERP systems offer a feasible information systems strategy for HEIs, using a 'critical success factor' model. Four in-depth case studies were conducted in HEIs that were in the process of implementing ERP systems. Numerous complexities, especially cultural and political ones, arose in light of the traditional structure of HEIs. The findings suggest that a careful use of communication and change management procedures to handle the business process reengineering (BPR) impact of ERP systems can alleviate some of the problems, but a more fundamental issue concerning the cost feasibility of system integration, training and user licenses may, in the end, impede ERP system utilization.