Towards a model of organisational prerequisites for enterprise-wide systems integration: Examining ERP and data warehousing

Purpose – The need for an integrated enterprise-wide approach to management information pronounced data warehousing (DW) the “hot topic” of the early-to-mid-1990s. However, it became unfashionable in the late 1990s, with the widespread implementation of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. With ERP managers were led to believe that they would derive informational as well as operational benefits from the introduction of integrated enterprise-wide systems. However, the recent re-emergence of DW, to address the limitations and unrealised benefits of ERP systems, provides a new, more complex integration challenge. The main objective of this paper is to present the concept of organisational prerequisites for enterprise-wide integration projects as a means to help managers preparing for and managing their ERP/DW projects. Design/methodology/approach – This paper draws on existing literature on ERP and DW implementations. It puts forward a model to be further tested and validated by ERP researchers. Findings – The proposed model has the potential to solve the problems experienced in ERP implementations and, more generally, in projects leading to large-scale enterprise integration. Originality/value – Existing ERP research indicates that the intelligence phase of most ERP projects is ignored both in practice and in research. This paper lays the foundation for a framework that addresses this problem.