Order Lead-Time Improvement Following Enterprise Information Technology Implementation: An Empirical Study

This paper investigates the influence of enterprise systems implementation on operational performance. The work extends the literature on enterprise systems by focusing on changes in process dynamics as a source for ongoing firmlevel performance improvement. A case discussion ofTristen Corporation, a firm that implemented ERP and subsequently experienced benefits through gains to its continuous improvement efforts, is examined in light of theorized impacts of .such implementations on process dynamics. Analyses of longitudinal data suggest that performance along a key metric motivating the ERF initiative (i.e., order fulfillment lead-time) showed a significant improvement immediately after system deployment. The data further suggest that the system implementation gave rise to an ongoing trend of performance improvement, in contrast to a stable performance trend prior to go-live.