A Business process management approach to ERP implementation: A study of ERP implementation in the light of the third wave of Process Management

Abstract: One of the most stated reasons for ERP failure is that the organization failed to recognise the impact the system would have on business processes. A possible solution to this could be to use an approach focusing on process change when implementing ERP systems. Therefore this study investigates the possibilities of using Business Process Management (BPM) when implementing ERP systems. The focus lies on the phases and activities in the two concepts as well as presumably influencing factors like manner of payment, project organisation structure and level of customization. The data collection was conducted in the form of interviews with respondents from two big consultancy firms in Sweden that conducts ERP implementations. It was concluded that the first four phases of BPM fits the frameworks of ERP implementation. The main enabling activity was found to be process modelling and it was also concluded that the structure of implementation projects today might negatively affect an integration of BPM and ERP implementation. The conclusions relied on theories about BPM and both theoretical frameworks and empirical data about ERP implementation.