The aim of current study was to investigate the implementation of enterprise resource planning and its effect on performance and capabilities of organisation. In order to fulfil this aim, the current study has been carried out on Walmart and data from managerial level employees of Walmart was obtained. In order to collect data, the qualitative methodology was used and data was collected through structured interviews. The data was collected from 5 respondents and it was analysed by using qualitative content analysis. The results of the study have suggested that Walmart has successfully implied effective enterprise resource planning system by laying emphasis on its features including; integration, configuration, adaptability and user training. The effectively implemented system has enabled the company to increase the level of its performance by delivering low cost products with high quality, increased product delivery and by reducing the time to market. Along with this, the results have also indicated that Walmart has strengthen its capabilities through increased innovation and high functional coordination by relying on ERP system. The results have also depicted that enterprise resource planning system can increase information access capabilities of the organisation as well. All of the study’s results are well aligned with findings of previous related studies. The study has huge implications for both practice and theory.

Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1Background

In globalised business realm, the organisations are continually seeking to gain sustainable competitive advantage by improving the quality of their processes and products (Hunton, Lippincott and Reck, 2003). The contemporary organisations are relying on effective information systems with aim of enhancing the quality of customer services and to reduce the cost associated with production and distribution of goods (Umble, Haft and Umble, 2003). The Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is one of an important paradigm of information systems and it has gained increasing attention due to enormous benefits associated with ERP (Markus, Tanis and Van, 2000). The ERP has evolved from Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP) and it has offered assistance for improvement of business processes and functions, which is the way of managing enterprise’s resources in an effective manner (Nicolaou, 2004). The reliance of ERP is based on the notion that it is an important tool for managing the resources in efficient, productive and profitable manner.

The rapid growth has been experienced by ERP systems during 1990s, when most of organisations have took initiative to replace their old systems with ERP systems. Initially, the focus of ERP was on back office functions which were lacking direct linkage with customers and clients (Soh, Kien and Tay-Yap, 2000). It has been enhanced by the introduction of front office functions such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Suppliers Relationship Management (SRM). The ERP has received significant attention in academia during the year 2000, and the ERP has been considered as an important method for gaining real time access to information of organisation (Somers and Nelson, 2001). The resource optimisation capability of the organisation has mainly assisted the organisations in gaining effectiveness and this is the reason of increasing reliance on ERP.

The enterprise resource planning has been recognised as the method to foster the flow of information within organisation (Al-Mashari, Al-Mudimigh and Zairi, 2003). Along with this, the ERP also assists in managing connection with stake holders which are both inside and outside of organisation.  The new generation ERP systems have been implemented by number of organisations, specifically by multinational organisations and it has evidently enhance the level of efficiency and effectiveness of those organisations. The usage of ERP is expanding in almost all major sectors of economy including; production, manufacturing, services, finance, transportation and public utilisation (Yang and Liang, 2003). The ERP is being implied by for maintaining relationship with suppliers and it also assists in procurement activities within organisation which range from acquisition of raw material to distribution of goods in the market.

The implementation of ERP may take two different paths within an organisation including; standardisation and customisation. The standardised ERP follows ready to use system and very minimum adjustments are carried out and it has been wisely found to be implemented by organisations (Ji and Liu, 2010). The former is associated with lower level of cost and it is easier to imply within the organisation. Whereas, the latter is more effective in the situation, when there is minimum compliance between the standardised ERP systems and existing structure o