Critical Success Factors for Erp Implementation: Insights from a Middle-Eastern Country

The purpose of this paper is to explore the critical success factors (CSFs) of enterprise resource planning (ERP) system implementation in context of the developing countries. A survey questionnaire including the list and brief description of 17 CSFs of ERP implementation was designed and distributed among ERP adopter companies in Iran. Operational/functional/unit managers’ perception about the criticality of these 17 CSFs was examined using frequency analysis and t-student test. All the 17 CSF were identified as significant factors for the successful ERP implementation in Iranian companies. Besides, comparative analysis of our findings indicated that results are consistent with findings of six prior researches in developing countries. The paper appears to be the first study to focus on the CSFs of ERP implementation in Iran. This research thus adds to the growing body of knowledge on CSFs of ERP implementations in developing countries. This may act as a starting point for more researches in this area in Middle-East, North Africa and other Muslim developing countries. This research improves the understanding of the managers in adopting companies on critical factors that must be carefully considered to ensure a successful ERP implementation.