Competency and Capability Development Process: an Sme Enterprise System Upgrade and Implementation

To date, the low rate of adoption of Enterprise Systems (ES) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), together with the relatively high failure rates of ES utilization, has triggered the need for further research in this area. This paper presents a unique view how SMEs might develop competencies and capabilities in the context of a resource-scarce environment, to ensure successful ES upgrade and implementation. This study is based on theory drawn from the ES implementation literature, the resource-based view, and competency and capability development theories. A longitudinal case study was conducted with Singapore SME LC (Anonymous), a company which has successfully faced the challenge of limited resources in developing strategic ES upgrade and implementation. Based on the findings, a competency and capability development model is proposed which constitutes a structured approach to leveraging existing organizational competencies and capabilities to drive ES upgrade and implementation. This study contributes to four research areas, in particular the limited literature on competencies, and proposes on the existence of strong relationships between organizational practices, competency and capabilities worthy of further investigation. For practitioners, three important managerial lessons are identified concerning future strategy development on SME system upgrade and implementation.