The Impacts of Organizational Culture and Supply Chain Management (SCM) Practices on Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) Decisions

In the past decade, more and more Chinese manufacturers adopt enterprise resources planning (ERP) systems to facilitate their planning, manufacturing, logistics and other business processes and management. Meanwhile, how to choose a suitable ERP system becomes a difficult problem for many companies.;Scholars have conducted many studies related to ERP decision problem. Findings of those existing studies have provided important references for companies to make decision on using or not using ERP system. However, very limit insight can be found from the previous studies regarding of which type of ERP system should be chosen.;Based on the findings of previous studies, we propose that culture and management practices significantly influence ERP decisions that include using or not using ERP and using which type of ERP system. To provide more insights for the ERP vendors to develop systems which fit Chinese culture and practices as well as for Chinese manufacturers to choose a suitable ERP system, this study explores and aims to empirically validate factors influencing ERP decisions from the perspectives of organizational culture and SCM practices.;We propose two research models integrating organizational culture, SCM practices and ERP decisions, based on a comprehensive review on the literatures of IT and culture, management practices and culture. We conduct a survey in the manufacturing firms in five cities in Pearl River Delta (PRD) regions and empirically validate our research models. The empirical results indicate that process versus results oriented, open versus closed system and information sharing significantly influence the decision on using or not using ERP system; in addition, loose versus tight control, normative versus pragmatic, information quality and internal agile practices significantly influence the decision on using which type of ERP system.