The Use of ERP Systems in Higher Education Institutions in the U.A.E

Over the last decade, higher education institutions (HEI) implemented Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and spent millions of dollars in order to improve their strategic planning, implement change management, streamline best business practices, increase productivity and bring competitive advantages. HEI in United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed the same trend and implemented ERP systems in order to comply with UAE Ministry of Higher Education Standards and to attain the perceived value. With millions of dollars and countless hours spent on ERP systems, the executives of UAE federal HEI are legitimately raising concerns about ERP return on investment value. The issue of identifying and measuring the value of ERP system in HEI merits special attention. A qualitative explanatory case study design was used to examine and measure ERP system value in UAE HEI. The purpose of this qualitative study was to apply a post-implementation measurement framework based on the DeLone and McLean information systems (IS) success model and the Senge's learning organization theory to identify and measure the ERP value in HEI in UAE and to determine what they need to do in order to overcome the barriers to achieve the full realization of their ERP systems. This study was conducted in the largest two campuses of a higher education institution in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Interviews were conducted by using online survey with purposely selected staff from the two campuses. The findings revealed that HEI in UAE use constructs from both DeLone and McLean IS success model and learning organization theory to identify and measure the value of their ERP system. The application of the post-implementation measurement framework have revealed some deficiencies in both system and service quality constructs of DeLone and McLean as well as in Senge's learning organization constructs that represented barriers for HEI in UAE to attain the full realization of their ERP systems. Further research is needed to supplement the findings of this study and extend them to other international higher education institutions.