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Impact Factor: 5.225, Volume 10 Number 02 February 2019

Impact of CSFs in effective implementation of ERP systems in educational

institutes

Mr. Dinesh Banswal1,Dr. Ramchandra Pawar2

1
Assistant Professor,
MIT School of Management, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India

2
Principal
SVPM’s College of CCSCE Malegaon (BK), Baramati, Savitribai Phule Pune University,
Pune, India

Abstract:

Education Industry rapidly absorbs the best practices/innovation in the industry, Strategic
applications like Enterprise Resource planning systems stepping down from manufacturing industry to
service industry. Education industry also started adopting technology based innovations to meet the
modernization of delivery aspects. Use of ERP system is gradually increased in educational environment
in order to stream line the processes of academic administration.
Many research studies has been carried out to focus on different
aspect of implementation of ERP System at educational institutes, some aspect includes of study of CSFs,
User perception, Implementation frame works. It has been observed from the available literature that 7
out 10 implementation of ERP System recorded failure, due to improper consideration given to CSFs and
their importance in effective implementation.
The identified critical success factors are; Top Management, Planning, Change Management, Project
Management, Business process Re-Engineering, IT Infrastructure, Communication, and Users
participation etc.This research gave an important insight into the most cited CSFs i.e. Planning and
Communication while adding theory and knowledge with its impact on effective ERP System
implementation at Educational institutes located in Pune. It is hoped that future ERP implementations can
draw upon and learn from this research study. The author suggests further investigation into
understanding the relationships between the different factors found to contribute to the possibility of an
effective ERP System implementation in Educational Institutes.
In this descriptive study, the stake holders and students considered as respondents, total 53 samples
were collected and hypothesis testing has been carried out using SSPS tool.

Key words: 1.Enterprise Resource Planning 2.Planning 3.Communication

4.Effective implementation 5.CSFs.

1. Introduction
Kumar and Hillegersberg (2000) defined enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems as
“configurable information systems packages that integrate information and information-based
processes within and across-functional areas in an organization”. Implementation of an ERP system is
a complex IT-related social phenomenon with a large body of knowledge. ERP Systems becoming a
back bone to many big enterprises today, many universities started adopting the ERP Systems, to
cope with best practices in the industry, usage of the ERP Systems differs by the purpose, industry
usage to get financial profits where as education sector to integrate the academic processes.

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There are many key factors that lead to effective implementation of ERP systems in the university
environment;
The paper is divided into 6 remaining sections. Section 3 presents a review of related literature on
user participation and past research on ERP implementation. Section 4 describes the methodology
followed in collection and analysis of data. A brief description of the case study university and how an
ERP system was implemented in this university is presented in section 5. The data on user
participation in the ERP implementation process is presented in this section. Section 6 gives a brief
discussion of the findings while section 7 concludes this paper.

2. Purpose of the study

ERP system implementation is a strategic decision. Implementation seeks man hours, intellectual
discussion, and refinement of current business processes, up gradation of hardware and software
requirements.
In this study researcher considered one the most cited CSFs as Planning and Communication. Study
investigates the influence of Planning with respect to ERP System implements process at higher
educational institutes, and how proper communication in between the stake holders and functional
departments lead to effective implementation

3. Literature Review
a. Enterprise resource planning Implementation
Over the past decade, the significant revolution and focus towards ERP adoption and
implementation has forced top management to trade off for opting the system that is vital for their
organization in which their main aim is to generate the business value (as returns) from their huge
investments (Abdelghaffar and Azim, 2010). Rationale for adopting and implementing new ERP
systems can be different based on the contextual factors for every organization.
Globally organizations deploy sole ERP solutions for all its internal operations and subsidiaries. It is
often noted that this type of practice leads to problems in local subsidiaries such as over budgeting
and time resources spending, lack of technical expertise and compromises in business process
(Sethi et al., 2008). The main aim of ERP system implementations in HEIs has been to integrate
different administrative functions into a more systematic and cost effective approach to gain a
strategic advantage. The integration of administrative functions in the higher education sector
spans the integration of student administration, human resource management, facilities
management, and financial systems that have in the past been supported by separate legacy
systems. Mahrer (1999) investigated the antecedents and impact of a successful ERP system
implementation in a Swiss university, and concludes that strong communication and coherence
between the departments in the university was the main success factor. ERP system implementation
in a US college as “merging a system of decades–old databases and re-educating campus employees”
and causing “enormous cost and pain”

b. Critical Success Factors (CSFs)

Understanding the CSFs in implementing ERP systems has been a challenging process for many
organizations worldwide. In the context of this research, the theoretical base has already been
discussed in previous by the authors (Al-Fawaz et al., 2010); There are many factors, identified in
the literature, which influence and guide ERP implementations and which have a direct impact on
implementation outcomes. However, researchers have very often focused on only specific aspects

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of the implementation process or specific CSFs. Resultantly, there is little research documented that
encompasses all significant CSF considerations

Critical success factors of ERP system implementation are the factors, where the ERP system
implementation can be measured to its success. The identified critical success factors are: Top
Management, Planning, Change Management, Project Management, Business process Re-
Engineering, IT Infrastructure, Communication, and Users participation etc.

For scope of this study researcher have considered the most cited critical success factors as:

1. Planning: - Planning is the process of thinking about the activities required to achieve a
desired goal. It is the first and foremost activity to achieve desired results. It involves the
creation and maintenance of a plan, being a strategic application, ERP System required a
proper and timely planning for effective implementation. Planning is setting up the activities,
allocation of the recourses, monitoring the implementation phases. Most the ERP system
implementation observed the failures in the initial stage because of the improper planning, so
it’s recommended that ERP System implementation plan should be ready during the planning
phase, to avoid any unforeseen situations during implementation. The project plan provides
guidance throughout the implementation process and allows the project team to keep focused
on the project goals and objectives. Thus, project requirements provide a clear view to what
needs to be done during the project, and the project plan provides detailed steps on what
needs to be accomplished in the project (Grabski and Leech, 2007).

2. Communication :- Communication (from Latin communicare, meaning "to share") is the act
of conveying meanings from one entity or group to another through the use of mutually
understood signs, symbols, and semiotic rules. Communication play a vital role in the
implementation of the ERP System in the educational environments, communication intact with
all stakeholders for smoother aid on the implementation process. Communication between
the function departments bring clearly and transparency to the implementation process.
Sumner (1999) debated that the communication plan should not just exist between senior
management and project team members. Organization’s stakeholders must be informed of
the project goals and the expected benefits of the ERP project as well as its capabilities and
the limitations of the ERP system

4. Methodology

4.1 Introduction
This is focuses on methods used to collect and analyze data in this research. In This Descriptive
research, author used a standard questionnaire to get the response from stake holders i.e. Top
management, Faculty, Liberian, admin staff, etc And from end users as students. These levels are
the indicators of effectiveness of User Participation in Acceptance and Adoption. Primary Data is
collected from the users. For analyzing the data and significant tests the statistical package for
social sciences (SPSS) used.

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4.2 Measurement scale:

The questionnaire consisted of a series of statements, where the respondents needed to provide
answers in the form of agreement or disagreement to express their attitude towards Impact of
CSFs in ERP System Implementation. A Likert scale was used so that the respondent could select a
numerical score ranging from 1 to 5 for each statement to indicate the degree of agreement or
otherwise. Where 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 denote “Strongly agree‟, “Agree‟, “Neutral‟, “Disagree‟, and
“Strongly Disagree‟ respectively.

Table 1 : Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha N of Items

.942 30

As can be seen in Table 1, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated at α > 0.05 indicating an
acceptable reliability coefficient.

5. Scope of the study

This study proposes the following hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1:
H0: Planning has not influence in effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational
Institutes.
H1: Planning has influence in effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes.

Hypothesis 2:
H0: Communication not leads to effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes
H1: Communication leads to effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes
6. Analysis of Data
Hypothesis 1:
H0: Planning has not influence in effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational
Institutes.
H1: Planning has influence in effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes.

Table 2 : Hypothesis 1 Statistics

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

Variable Variable
1 2
Mean 3.736842 3.157895
Variance 0.085319 0.028809
Observations 6 6
Pearson Correlation -0.72636
Hypothesized Mean 0
Difference
df 5

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t Stat 3.286879
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.010894
t Critical one-tail 2.015048
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.021788
t Critical two-tail 2.570582

P Value < 0.05

Reject Null Hypothesis

Since p=0.021 < 0.05, reject null hypothesis and accept alternative hypothesis, hence Planning
has influence in effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes.

Hypothesis 2:

H0: Communication not leads to effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational

Institutes.

H1: Communication leads to effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes.

Table 3 : Hypothesis 2 Statistics

t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

Variable Variable
1 2
Mean 3.589474 3.189474
Variance 0.079501 0.028532
Observations 5 5
Pearson Correlation 0.180303
Hypothesized Mean 0
Difference
df 4
t Stat 2.967301
P(T<=t) one-tail 0.020627
t Critical one-tail 2.131847
P(T<=t) two-tail 0.041255
t Critical two-tail 2.776445

P Value < 0.05

Reject Null Hypothesis

Since p=0.041 < 0.05, reject null hypothesis and accept alternative hypothesis, Communication
leads to effective implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes.

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7. Findings
Significance value for both hypotheses is < 0.05, which states that Planning has influence in effective
implementation of ERP Systems in Educational Institutes. A well planned project is half way done,
systematic planning leads to effective implementation of ERP systems. Second proven hypothesis
states that communication lead to effective implementation of ERP Systems in the educational
environment. Educational environment composed of different functional departments to cater the
basic functions of academics, admissions, examination, payroll etc student is central unit of these
departments, ERP Systems needs a strong communication and cooperation between the departments
to observe the effective implementations.

Chart 1 : ERP Implementation Statistics

Above chart shows that 47% of respondent claim that their institute has in-house implementation of
ERP systems, 32% observed outsource implementation, where as 21% responded as unknown
implementation.

Chart 2 : ERP Usage Statistics

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Maturity in the usage of ERP System claim as 52% respondent report usage duration more than one
year but less than five years, only 16% has experience to use more than five years, 32% of
respondents reported that they are still in inception phase of ERP System and has usage experience
under one year

V. Conclusion
Current education industry seeks the best practices in the technology domain; ERP Systems helps
educational institutes to integrate all the function units to enhance its capabilities in the academic
delivery. Many literature Studies carryout on the CSFs to understand its impact over implementation
process, still education sector observed many cases of failure implementations because lack of
consideration given to CSFs that impact on implementation process.
For the said study researcher has considered Planning and Communication CSFs which has impact
over ERP System implementation, ERP System is a strategic application seeks proper planning in the
different stages of implementation. Planning composed of identification of ideal ERP System can be
in-house implementation or outsources product.

Further, researcher suggests in-depth analysis of other CSFs, which has impact over effective
implementations.

References
1. Kumar, k., & van hillegersberg, j. (2000). Erp experiences and evolution. Communications of the
acm, 43(4), 22.

2. AlSudairi, M. A. (2013). Analysis and Exploration of Critical Success Factors of ERP

Implementation: A Brief Review. International Journal of Computer Applications (0975 – 8887)

3. Aldayel, A. I.; Aldayel, M. S.; Al-Mudimigh (2011), A. S. The Critical Success Factors of ERP
implementation in Higher Education in Saudi Arabia: A Case Study. Journal of Information
Technology & Economic Development, [s. l.], v. 2, n. 2, p. 1–16

4. Abdelghaffar, H. and Azim, R. H. A. (2010) Significant Factors Influencing ERP Implementation in

Large Organisations: Evidence from Egypt. European, Mediterranean & Middle Eastern
Conference on Information Systems (EMCIS), Abu Dhabi, UAE, pp.1-16.

5. Al-Fawaz, K., Eldabi, T. and Naseer, A. (2010) Challenges and Influential Factors in ERP Adoption
and Implementation. European, Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Conference on Information
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6. Grabski, S., and Leech, S. (2007). “Complementary controls and ERP implementation success”,
International Journal of Accounting Information Systems, (8:1), pp. 17-39

7. Mahrer, H. (1999), “SAP R/3 implementation at the ETH Zurich: A higher education management
success story”, Proceedings of the 5th American Conference on Information Systems. Milwaukee,
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8. Sethi, V., Sethi, V., Anand , J. and Kevin, D. (2008) Enterprise resource planning Implementation
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