Discuss about the Comparative Case Study Of Enterprise Resource Planning In Holmes Higher Education Institute.
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) in the most important part of IS implementation which helps the business to gain an advantage over its competitors by integrating every possible business process and optimizing and managing resources available (Yelken, 2005). ERP is a tool that not only provides automation to business activities but also helps in achieving business, a long term success. Quite a few advantages include enhanced customer service, improved efficiency, improved work flow and better data analysis and so on (Yelken, 2005).
Global trends are influencing the field of higher education at a steady pace and since the government has notified the institutions to improve and enhance their performances and efficiency, higher education providers are more concerned towards this agenda (Pollock and Cornford, 2015). For this reason Holmes institute in Australia is concerned and willing to adapt an ERP system solution into their university.
Implementing ICT in academic institutions has its own advantages and these advantages are not limited only to the research activities and point of education but from the business aspect view too, such as supporting accounting functions, organizational functions, and administrative functions and so on (Beekhuyzen, Goodwin and Nielsen, 2012). There has been a 75% rise in the number of higher education institutions who have introduced an ERP into their business practices and this has helped them a lot in business operations enhancement and a smooth flow. The activities for them are now more transparent and manageable (Calisir, 2014).
Vendors who develop such software are very much aware of the fact and they immensely work on the updates and enhancements required by a particular institution or any organization. They understand individual’s needs and tries to satisfy their requirements by aligning software characteristics to that of institution’s (Calisir, 2014).
In the sector of higher education there is a thorough need to investigate the basic factors that prompt a fruitful execution of an ERP framework. This paper investigates and evaluates current researches on ERP implemented to various higher education institutions and determines the best possible alternative for an ERP implementation for Holmes institution along with proper measures to handle all the potential risks associated with it(Pollock and Cornford, 2015).
The business processes at a university is different from that of organizations as the environment and circumstances at a university are different (Kositanurit, Ngwenyama and Osei-Bryson, 2016). The ERP model for any higher education institution is based on academic purposes and through ERP the members of the institution, such as staff members and faculty generally interacts with basic official activities while students requires much vast knowledge and information and enhanced e-learning atmosphere (Yelken, 2005).
In Australia universities are under immense pressure of government for reforming university’s infrastructure and achieving higher organizational efficiency. The level of funds for the universities has been reduced and institutions are in pressure to increase their funds by acting more like business now (Kositanurit, Ngwenyama and Osei-Bryson, 2016).
Viewing the current need of the universities to grow effectively and efficiently, the best solution to the problem is implementation of an ERP system into higher educational institutions in Australia (Bingi, Sharma and Godia, 2009). An ERP implementation will replace all the management and administrative old systems with modernized new systems which will provide automation to academic activities. Another reason and requirement to incorporate ERP systems is to gain sufficient efficiency in business operations at the institution and to improve learning practices for students (Abdinnour-Helm, Lengnick-Hall and Hall, 2013).
The ERP systems today are not only limited to these factors, in fact they support every department of an organization, from manufacturing activities to processes department such as managing orders, finances and accounts, human resource management and asset management. Some of the latest ERP models even support supply chain management, marketing automatisation, grant management and so on (Abdinnour-Helm, Lengnick-Hall and Hall, 2013). With the help of an ERP system, the process of student enrollment will require minimal assistance by the administration and a long hectic task will turn out to be easiest to handle (Bingi, Sharma and Godia, 2009).
According to ECAR organization, the primary benefits of accommodating ERP into higher education institutions are:
An analysis was conducted over business activities of higher education institute Holmes to determine the information support to plan a suitable ERP design for Homes higher education institution (Beekhuyzen, Goodwin and Nielsen, 2012). According to the results of the analysis:
Selection of software for the business activities requires consent with the person who possesses a good knowledge regarding this, because if the software results in a misfit with the business requirements, it can result in poor performance and evaluation process (Beekhuyzen, Goodwin and Nielsen, 2012). For example, on the off chance that the ERP programming is not in consistence with the authoritative condition, the renting organizations won’t have the capacity to give its clients exercises the privilege lawful system expecting is a charitable situation with – to some degree a bureaucratic approach (Baptiste, 2011).
Some of the results of the cases where software was a misfit are:
Hence the best software selection according to the requirements of an individual organization or institution is the primary goal while deciding on to incorporate ERP systems to the organization (Bruce, 2015).
As big ventures in the area of education struggles to in the era concentrated on commercializing advanced education, vendors see this as a big opportunity for them to grow in the market which could help them to earn millions of dollars. As a result, developing prevalence of ERP innovation surrounded by tentative educational surroundings has a capability to re-define operations and functions at an organization and transforming administrators’ functions (Campbell, 2013).
At present the most famous ERP vendors in the area of higher education are Datatel, Jenzabar, SAP, People Soft, SCT and Oracle (Ciborra, 2010).
According to a group, the solidification of merchants and the arrival to essential business operations, affected ERP arrangements in the territory of advanced education (Cohen, March and Olsen, 2012). A research has been conducted upon several ERP vendors and they have been categorized under four quadrants according to their expertise.
The software solutions provided by above discussed companies covers the larger part of principle elements of ERP framework such as managing human resources, handling process of study and accounts and so on. Benefits of individual solutions can be noticed in different areas. Oracle connects the back-office procedures and network with the use of E-business platform, SAP on the other hand favors user centered ERP frameworks such as if the software is designed for student part than it should be student oriented. PeopleSoft stresses upon the role of web tech and internet (Kimaro, and Nhampossa, 2015).
Deciding on one software vendor is a difficult task and may not be feasible too. Hence the better idea is to identify different department needs and match them with the appropriate vendor skills and implement.
In a case study while executing advanced education ERP, a little consideration was put on utilization of project administration standards, culture of the organization and strategic planning. Despite the fact that these were effective contextual analyses, they contained confirmation of the gigantic trouble of actualizing ERP arrangements (Friedman, 2008). The key to online education is strategic planning. In some of the cases results of implementation of ERP in higher education shows that considered planning for information technology in universities is in a state of crisis.
While evaluating a stumbled or fizzled ERP execution and deciding upon the conditions that prompted its fiasco, more often, administration will conclude that there is some ambiguity in the software itself or it is excessively mind boggling, making it impossible to execute in their one of a kind domain (Ellul, 2013). Administration additionally aggravates the disappointment by asserting that the wrong ERP framework was picked, and in the event that they had the “right” programming bundle they could recover their drive and accomplish their unique goals (Eisenhardt, 2009).
However, the study demonstrates that it’s a rare case when software is actually the reason for the failure. In fact, even if the right software has been chosen for the project, it will result in a failure at later stage which could be more drastic then the first case.
The actual realization of successful ERP implementation depends upon the proper integration of the ERP system and a manual exchange of data amidst ERP framework and the present legacy system of the organization. Improper exchange of data may result in mutilation or loss of data during export and it may result in number of complications (Eisenhardt, 2009).
The approaches utilized by other universities to overcome above discussed implementation problems and to employ technology efficiently into the field of higher education are as follows:
Integral Information Solutions or ERP design systems are often denoted as integrated application packages or connected information systems. They provide us with a unified architecture that enables us to manage and administer all the vital operations within an organization or university (Ihde, 2013). The primary goal of an ERP system is to connect all business operations, functions and activities into an integrated computer system that fulfills the necessities of the entire association. By executing such arrangements clients hope to enhance organization’s productivity, which in turn, enhance the quality, efficiency and productivity of organization’s activities.
Software packages are available in great number that empowers the connection business procedures and transaction-oriented data through the entire association, also inside the entire store network reaching out to a number of organizations (Greener, 2012).
In spite of guarantees for enhanced work procedures and more viable administration in the organization, various research exercises have demonstrated a high disappointment rate in the execution of incorporated data arrangements and in some of the cases, involvement of risk is very high. To know the reason behind this failure, a research was conducted through the entire history and strategies used for the creation of ERP systems. Based on the research results reference models were created by analyzing most successful organizations and their main business functions (Hossler and Pape, 2016).
Subsequently, this implied the execution of ERP frameworks included a high level of complexity and adjustment to diverse associations. The reasons for the failure of the project can be (not limited to):
The achievement of the actualized ERP framework relies upon various factors, as the ERP network is connected to all the business functions of an association. It includes involvement of the client administration, a proper advancement of the existing policies and procedures, the probability to interface the basic data arrangements with different business data frameworks, co-operation amidst employees and advisers, and highly trained and educated staff members (Hossler and Pape, 2016).
Conclusion
The benefits and impacts of implementing an ERP system in any organization require a demanding assessment. It is rather improbable that in a market like ERP system solutions in higher education institution, a small and unique department, there would be any financial difficulty for the implementation process.
Holmes has to adhere to rules and regulations and had to sustain a high-performing cross-functional group which can operate inside a relational database, to prevent the excessive costs of the implementation because conventionally, if universities possess a structure that is loosely coupled than it may not align with the ERP system and will result in extra implementation costs to set up an alignment with the ERP. While establishing these cross-functional teams for the Holmes, administrators are advised to consult registration supervision teams at MPU and LPS as these institutions have a highly experienced cross-functional team and may prove beneficial for the institution. It will help the staff to standardize and centralize business activities and tasks without any difficulty and they will be able to adapt the new integral software easily.
The environment at Holmes institute of Higher Education is extremely dynamic as the training framework has been in a general sense changed with the time. The desire of Holmes to build a modern ERP system might shift general level task performed by less skilled employees to tasks that will require specialized skills, knowledge and training. Hence institution might have to recruit new skilled staff to handle ERP system successfully (Beekhuyzen, Goodwin and Nielsen, 2012).
References
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