Reasons for adopting an ERP system in a public University in Southern Brazil

It is widely known that enterprise resource planning (ERP) is essential for management of higher education institutions (HEIs). ERP systems are able to cope with the complexity inherent in the nature of business of these institutions. Understanding the reasons that bring a HEI an ERP is as important as the change that this system can cause to the organization. Initially, to provide a better comprehension, we identified from the literature the main reasons commonly associated with adopting an ERP, and, more specifically, the reasons associated with HEIs. Subsequently, we conducted a qualitative approach in public University in the South of Brazil to identify the reasons and difficulties related for ERP adoption. This University opted to develop its integrated internal systems and the results suggest that these reasons are similar to the reasons of other organizations, except those associated with the unique characteristics of those environments, such as the academic processes. It was found, however, that commercial ERP would be virtually incompatible with these organizations.