| The purpose of this study is to describe the various stages of the ERP adoption process in SMEs, to identify the practices that help minimize the implementation risk during adoption, and to understand the determinants and impacts of these practices. To do so, we propose and test a process model of ERP adoption in SMEs.;The proposed model was derived from an in-depth review of the scientific and empirical literature. Drawing upon the theoretical work of Boudreau and Robey (1999), we used three dimensions of process theories to explain the dynamics of the ERP adoption process: form, motor , and theoretical content. This framework allows us to integrate three complementary theories in addition to organizational change theory: diffusion of innovation theory, neoinstitutional theory and complexity theory. The research model states that the process of ERP adoption can be broken down into seven stages: decision, planning, information search, selection, evaluation and negotiation. This process is influenced by the specific context of adoption (motivation, criteria, stakeholders, and alternatives) and the general context of the organization (environmental, organizational, strategic, technological, and entrepreneurial or managerial). Drawing upon Barki, Rivard and Talbot's (2001) work, the model suggests that the success of the implementation of an ERP is influenced by the level of "fit" between the degree of implementation's risk (risk exposure) and how the risk is managed (risk management profile), beginning at the adoption stage.;This dissertation is comprised two empirical phases: an initial Delphi technique and a case study design. The Delphi technique involved 13 experts and was used to arrive at consensus among these experts on the relevance of the main dimensions of the research model. In the second phase, we used a case study approach in a holistic multiple-case design with four cases. The data from these cases were compared with the research model dimensions and the constructs of the four included theories.;The results of the Delphi technique provided added content validity to the search model. The analyses of individual cases, essentially through pattern matching, made it possible to validate the relevance of the main dimensions of the research model and the links between these dimensions. This analysis also revealed new variables that must be considered in order to improve our understanding of the dynamics of the ERP adoption process as well as the mechanisms that helped reduce ERP implementation risk during this process. The study shows that on the one hand, to minimize implementation risk at the adoption stage, all four SMEs proceeded in a rather intuitive and unstructured manner, based however upon certain principles, policies and practices. Despite differences between the cases analyzed, the ERP adoption process in each case exhibits patterns that can be decomposed into the seven stages suggested by the research model. Organizational change theory, especially teleological, life cycle and evolutionary motors, proved useful to explain the manner in which the SMEs moved from one stage to another in the adoption process. It is also clear that the characteristics of innovation, as defined by diffusion of innovation theory, namely the compatibility of technology, its observability, complexity and trialability, have proven their relevance in understanding ERP adoption by SMEs. All four cases where seeking an ERP system that fitted their business processes.;The coercive motor emanating from neo-institutional theory was proven capable to explain the dynamic that drove one of the SMEs. However, none of the three previous theories could explain why the patterns were found in the ERP adoption behaviour. The characterization of the adoption process as a complex phenomenon, through complexity theory, explains the presence of process regularities in all four cases. In similar fashion, the strange-attractor motor stemming from this theory has proven adequate in explaining the process dynamics of another SME.;It appears from the study that the use of four complementary theories provides a much deeper understanding of the events that took place during the adoption of an ERP in each of SMEs studied and provide an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon of ERP adoption and implementation's risk reduction. Through the use of four theories, it was possible to reveal several aspects of the same phenomenon that would not have been apprehended with a single theory. (Abstract shortened by UMI.);Keywords : ERP, adoption, implementation, risk, SME. |
