Enterprise Resource Planning Software Implementation

Ved Basu
Project Director
+1 859 806 5764
Ved.Basu@uky.edu

Albert L. Lederer
Professor
+1 859 257 2536
Lederer@uky.edu


This survey seeks to study your organization’s interaction with your ERP consultant during the implementation of its ERP system. It is intended for an employee of your organization familiar with the selection of the consultant and with the management of the implementation project. If you have received it in error, please forward the e-mail requesting your participation in this survey to an appropriate person. All responses will be kept strictly confidential. Neither you nor your firm will ever be identified.



Is your ERP system currently operational?    Yes    No.    If not please go to Section 7

Did your organization investigate the use of a third party consulting firm to help implement the ERP system? Yes    No   

If Yes, how many such consulting firms did it investigate prior to final selection?   

Did it use the software vendor as an implementation consulting firm? Yes    No   

If your organization used either a third party consulting firm or the vendor (or both) for implementation support, please continue; otherwise please go to Section 7.

Please select the most appropriate response on the 1 to 7 scale, where 1 means very little and 7 means very much.

SECTION 1: Screening Consultants

Prior to final selection, to what extent did your organization investigate the candidate implementation firm’s or firms’:

Very
Little
Very
Much
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Initial proposal
- ERP implementation experience
- Financial position
- Experience in your own industry

- Technical skills
- Business process knowledge
- Infrastructure support
- Vendor certification

- Meeting of target dates
- After-sales service
- Reputation with prior clients
- Overall, to what extent did you screen the firm(s) before selection?

How many different firms (including subcontractors) provided consulting support for the ERP implementation?   

If multiple consulting firms supported the implementation, then please answer the following questions about the main firm (or about the vendor if it provided the major support). If only one consulting firm was chosen, then please answer about it.

SECTION 2: Knowledge Held by the Chosen Consultant

For each of the following items, to what extent did the chosen consulting firm represent having knowledge about the following before the project began:

Very
Little
Very
Much
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- The IS infrastructure required by the ERP package
- The programming language of the ERP
- The functionality of the ERP package
- The usage of the ERP package
- The integration of the ERP package with legacy systems
- The best practices in your industry

For each of the following items, to what extent did the chosen consulting firm actually have knowledge about the following before the project began:

Very
Little
Very
Much
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- The IS infrastructure required by the ERP package
- The programming language of the ERP
- The functionality of the ERP package
- The usage of the ERP package
- The integration of the ERP package with legacy systems
- The best practices in your industry

SECTION 3: Consultant Commitment

During the ERP implementation, to what extent did the consultants:
Very
Little
Very
Much
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Do what that they promised to do
- Perform the required tasks regardless of whether you checked on them
- Fulfill the contractual obligations regardless of possible profit opportunities from not doing so
- Accurately represent the difficulties they encountered (rather than under- or overstate them to get more resources)
- Accurately represent the facts (rather than under- or overstate them to get more resources)

SECTION 4: Monitoring

During ERP implementation, to what extent did your organization:

Very
Little
Very
Much
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Develop a detailed work plan with clearly defined deliverable
- Obtain consultants’ agreement for deadlines
- Require written progress reports by the consultants
- Require oral progress reports by the consultants

- Hold workshops to discuss project progress with project group members
- Oversee that the consultants exchanged information with relevant people in your organization
- Review consultants’ progress reports in a timely manner
- Review consultants’ progress reports thoroughly

- Check the consultants’ actual progress regularly against a work plan
- Check that the consultants did not sacrifice quality to meet deadlines
- Check that the consultants did not sacrifice scope to meet deadlines
- Check that weaknesses uncovered were subsequently corrected

- Check that the consulting firm maintained the same staff it had committed
- Generally monitor the consultants

SECTION 5: Incentives

To what extent did the contract between your organization and the consulting firm specify:

Very
Little
Very
Much
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- Clearly measurable deliverables
- Payments linked to completion of deliverables
- Incentives to the consultants for finishing before the target date

- Incentives to the consultants for finishing below budget
- Penalties to the consultants for target date overrun
- Penalties to the consultants for budget overrun

- Removal of a consultant for lacking the required competency
- Incentives tied to other pre-determined performance indicators
- To what extent did the compensation structure in the contract make the interests of the consulting firm similar to those of your firm?

SECTION 6: Project Evaluation

To what extent do you agree with the following?

Strongly
Disagree
Strongly
Agree
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
- The project came in on schedule
- The project came in on budget
- The project that has been developed works
- The project is used by its intended users

- This project has directly benefited the intended users either through increasing efficiency or employee effectiveness
- Given the problem for which it was developed, this project seems to do the best job of solving that problem, i.e., it was the best choice among the set of alternatives
- Important people, directly affected by this project, make use of it
- I was satisfied with the process by which this project was completed

- Start-up problems were minimal
- Use of this project has directly lead to improved performance for individuals
- This project has had a positive impact on those who make use of it
- The results of this project represent a definite improvement over the way users had performed their activities

- Overall, the project was successful

SECTION 7: General Information


What is your job title?   
For how many years have you worked for your current employer?   
In which area of your organization do you work?
IS Accounting/Finance
Manufacturing Marketing
Human Resources Other (Please specify)

For how many years of your career have you worked in that area?   
How many total employees report directly and indirectly to you?   
What is your highest level of education?  

For the ERP project described in this study:

Who was the vendor of the ERP package? Please check all that apply.
SAP    Oracle   
Peoplesoft    J D Edwards   
BAAN    Other (please specify)   

Which modules were implemented? Please check all that apply.
Purchasing    Materials Management   
Manufacturing    Sales and Distribution   
Finance and Accounting    Human Resources   
Other (please specify)   

How many employees in total from your organization worked full-time on the project?    
How many consultants worked on it? ?  
How much was its budgeted cost?   $
How much was its actual cost?   $
What was its planned duration?    months
What was its actual duration?    months
In what year did it become operational?   
What percent of the consultant’s total compensation was paid as a fixed-fee?    %
What was the name of the consulting firm?   
Did any employees of your organization join the consulting firm during the implementation?
Yes No If so how many?   

Did any employee of the consulting firm join your organization during the implementation?
Yes No If so how many?   

How many IS professionals work for your entire organization?   
How many total employees work for your entire organization?   
How much is the annual gross revenue of your organization?   $
What is your company's primary business activity?
Agriculture Government Real Estate
Banking Health Care Retail
Communication Insurance Telecommunications
Construction Legal Transportation
Consulting Manufacturing Utilities
Education Mining Other
Finance Publishing

To receive a summary of the results of the survey, please write your email address here:  or mail your name and address to Mr. Ved Basu, DSIS Area, School of Management, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40506-0034, USA.

Please this survey.

Thanks very much for your time and help!