ERP implementation: an integrated process of radical change and continuous learning

This paper seeks to develop management theory that can be used to increase the likelihood of ERP implementation success. The paper argues and demonstrates that an ERP implementation can be understood as an intended radical change that can be managed to some extent. But during the use of the system, incremental changes are bound to take place, which are unintended and difficult to manage. Using, therefore, and combining positivist and constructivist viewpoints, six different propositions on ERP implementation are developed. The paper reasons that organisations that understand these propositions are more likely to implement and use ERP successfully. The findings of a longitudinal case study of the implementation and use of BaaN in a Danish company support the propositions put forward in the paper.