Topic- Integrated ERP Solutions Improves Productivity.

Research Methodology Research methods are used to provide a systematic approach to research and helps in ordering the data collected in order to be to analyze it and conclude whether it answered a particular question or not. There are basically, two types of researches, Primary research and secondary research. I will used both the researches in my study. My primary research supports the knowledge and curiosity behind my secondary research. A)Secondary Research: Secondary research is needed in the study, so as to understand all the previous researches, studies, and derivation in the above field of ERP improving productivity. In secondary research, I will gather various research papers of multiple authors and publications to get the larger picture of the situation. The basic purpose of the secondary research is to back up the actions behind the primary research with the knowledge. B)Primary Research: Primary research will be carried out using various research tools. Primary research will be carried out by questionnaires. It was basically taken from one perspectives, from the consumer perspective. There are generally two types of research methods, quantitative and qualitative. These methods can be used together or separately, one should choose the method most appropriate to the purpose of the thesis (Cantzler, 1992). The two approaches mainly differ in how to collect and analyze data. Quantitative method is focusing on statistical instruments and how to prove relations between different variables Furthermore, it is characterized by a large sample which is examined via forms, statistical methods and analysis of the data. An advantage of quantitative research is the high degree of objectivity and due to the large scope of observations it is possible to make generalizations. Qualitative method on the other hand, means research that generates descriptive data (Taylor & Bogdan, 1984). It is said that the qualitative method reflects upon something and that the data collection in this method is focusing on so called soft data. The

purpose of the thesis is to get industry opinions and analyze them, Thus Quantitative method will be used. Following Research methods will be used Questionnaires: The questionnaire is very important aspect of research work. The questionnaire is constructed for the industry and company people, to get their opinions, which could further be analyzed and could help further in findings The type of questions which will be used in the questionnaire are Demographic Question Multiple choice question with single choice Multiple choice question with multiple choice Single text box open ended questionnaire

Analytical Methods and Hypotheses The effect of ERP adoption on productivity, firm performance and stock market valuation using several different models that have been applied in previous work in IT and productivity (Hitt and Brynjolfsson, 1996; Brynjolfsson and Yang, 1998; Brynjolfsson, Hitt and Yang, 2000). Using both the cross-section and time series component, we can examine the difference in performance of firms (measured in a variety of ways) that adopted ERP versus those that did not. Using the longitudinal dimension we can examine the relative performance of firms before, during and after implementation to examine how the effect of ERP implementations appears over time. Finally, we can use additional data on modules implemented to understand how the extent of implementation affects performance. Empirical Methods: Performance Analysis The firms that adopt ERP systems should differentiate themselves from competitors, due to both the productivity benefits accruing for ERP use as well as an implicit barrier to entry created by the difficulty of successful ERP adoption.

On average, if firms were behaving rationally, we would expect the net effect of ERP implementation to be non-negative, and strictly positive if indeed barriers to adoption are significant. Our base hypothesis is thus: H1: Firms that adopt ERP systems will show greater performance as measured by performance ratio analysis, productivity and stock market valuation. This is implemented empirically by incorporating a dummy variable which is 0 if the firm is a non-adopter of ERP over our entire sample period, and 1 if the firm adopts ERP. Variants of these specifications by allowing this variable to represent the extent of adoption (number of modules, etc.) in addition to the general adoption decision. Note : that in this formulation we can identify differences in performance between ERP adopters and those that do not, but cannot necessarily distinguish the ERP adoption decision itself from other changes that may have occurred concurrently or are otherwise correlated with the choice to adopt ERP An alternative approach to gauge the value of adoption is rather than comparing the firm to the general population, to also compare the firm to itself over time. This has two specific advantages first it enables better control for firm heterogeneity by looking at changes over time (for example, if good firms tend to adopt ERP systems for non-productive reasons, that will still appear as positive benefits in tests of H1). In addition,ERP systems have significant risks and difficulties that are likely to be encountered during the implementation process that may make productivity decline during and perhaps for some time after the implementation is complete. Survey work (discussed in the introduction) suggested that the payback of ERP investments may not begin to accrue for 2 years or more after the implementation has started.

In addition, Austin and Cotteleer (1999) in their survey of ERP implementation risks found that the magnitude of organizational risk and business risk dominate technical risk thus one might expect risks to persist even after the technical component of the project has been completed. This suggests a second hypothesis: H2-1: There is a drop in performance during ERP implementation as measured using performance ratios and productivity regressions. H2-2: There is a continued drop in performance shortly after ERP implementation as measured using performance ratios and productivity regressions.