Veränderungen der Unternehmenskultur im Rahmen von ERP-Projekten bei globalen Unternehmen

Changes of ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems are usually triggered by technological and/or company-specific reasons and implemented through projects. Such ERP-projects can be large, and as such, present major organizational and financial challenges, especially for global companies, confronted with cultural differences and varying degrees of local requirements. While research studies propose success factors for ERP-projects including managing change of corporate culture, there is a lack of research on how corporate culture changes in the context of ERP-projects.

The aim of this study is to address this gap. It shall increase the understanding around how corporate culture changes in the context of ERP-projects in global companies. Relevant research material on the related topics of ERP-projects, such as ERP-Systems, corporate culture, achieving project success, multinational/global companies and change management were examined. From an empirical perspective, changes in corporate culture over the last 20 years were qualitatively assessed using a case study at a global industrial company. Internal experts were interviewed, who had experienced four large ERP-projects and cultural changes during this period. Furthermore, former internal as well as external experts were interviewed to achieve a triangulation of perspectives.

The results have shown that ERP-relevant cultural dimension changes are mainly triggered by the company's priority portfolio, CEOs, business models and the power dynamics within the organization. When these items change, so does corporate culture. Moreover, external influences and especially generational changes trigger ERP-relevant cultural value shifts. These developments lead for example to more transparency and openness in global companies, which usually has a positive effect on ERP-projects. The results did not reveal a proven set of ERP-culture values, which will make an ERP-project successful. Instead, it is more the compatibility of an ERP-project with the business model, CEO perception, power distribution, change-ab-sorption capability, and the priority portfolio of the company, that correlates to better ERP-projects.

Based on the research results, the Culture Fit Framework for ERP-projects was developed. It shall provide a structured thinking model regarding compatibility of ERP-projects with the respective company context. Further, a list of success factors for change management was developed, whereby, it is recommended that change management, considering these success factors, should be viewed as a permanent task in global companies.

Further research is recommended to explore change in corporate culture in the context of ERP-projects to substantiate the results of this study. It is also recommended to examine the extent to which corporate cultures have become globally assimilated and the impact of this consolidation on ERP-projects. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a present, highly topical and pertinent subject, also recommended to be studied in respect of ERP-projects.