Factors Determining the Enterprise Resource Planning Project-Success in Small and Medium Enterprises: Evidence from Indian Cases

It is common to see more than 60% of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation projects exceed timeline and budget because of people related factors than technical reasons There are studies which measure the importance of players and activities across enterprise system life cycle but there is little effort to quantify the overall contribution of each player, also they do not cover different types of users and support groups involved in the projects especially in Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) where knowledge management initiative is lacking.. The present study attempts to quantify the contribution through an empirical research conducted in SME segments of a developing economy like India. A descriptive study conducted in 52 SMEs shortlisted through multistage random sampling and analysed using discriminant analysis. The study develops a model for project-success using seven type of people related factors. It further proves that the group of knowledgeable employees called knowledge power-users in SME segments determines the success of ERP project than other stake holders involved in the ERP implementation.