| This study reports the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) experiences of Malaysian and the USA companies. The aim of the research is to examine the critical success factors needed to ensure success of ERP implementation and to explore the impact of ERP on various operational performance measures. Based on Dehning and Richardson (2002) theoretical model, this research adopts a survey study approach with data obtained from directors of various publicly listed firms through the use of questionnaires. The results were compared between Malaysia and the USA using statistical analysis. Since few ERP studies have been conducted in Malaysia, this research provides a better understanding of ERP practice across cultures, particularly for multinationals operating in Malaysia and the USA. The study shows that Malaysia had different critical success factors compared to the USA (t-test, p < 0.05), faced different problems compared to the USA (t-test, p < 0.05) and was driven by different motivations compared to the USA (t-test, p < 0.05). The study confirms that ERP delivered positive impacts on operational performance in Malaysia and the USA on four measures cost, quality, delivery and flexibility (t-test, p < 0.05). Multiple regression test shows that the firm size in terms of revenue and number of employees, length of ERP, work climate, cost, quality, delivery and flexibility performance had significant impacts on overall performance (F-test, p < 0.05). Multiple regression test confirms that length of ERP and quality performance are the most important variables influencing overall firm performance (F-test, p < 0.05). Finally, the study concludes that the USA was more successful than Malaysia in the sense that it scored higher on the overall performance (t-test, p < 0.05), perceived more positive impacts on various operational measures (t-test, p < 0.05) and had a better creative climate (t-test, p < 0.05). |
