Understanding the Cross-Cultural ERP Implementation Impact: A FVM Perspective

Successful adoption and implementation of ERP Systems has been the subject of extensive research as can be evidenced by the large body of research literature on this topic. However, the effect of cross-cultural issues has been less widely studied, perhaps because of the difficulty and complexity of such cross-cultural studies. In today’s global business environment this remains a key issue and critical success factor. Hence, this paper explains how challenging the cross-cultural ERP implementation success is for organizations and how important it is to assess a fit and viability of cross-cultural ERP implementations in diverse cultures (which is especially important in economies heavily reliant on off-shoring services). By drawing upon multiple streams of theory building, a framework, from the Fit-Viability Model (FVM) perspective, is developed. The framework provides important and valuable guiding principles for organizations for their decisions on adoption and deployment of Enterprise Systems (ES). Grounded on the fit-viability framework, the paper advocates the use of a multi-case study approach to examine the success or failure of ERP adoption and implementation. Managers and researchers can use the developed framework to identify the fit and viability of cross-cultural ERP implementations so as to increase the possibility of success.