Executive Summary

The businesses in the contemporary society are recurrently witnessing a highly dynamic,

competitive, and sophisticated international trade arena. Besides, the businesses are also facing

tough economic times, high inflation, and currency volatility rates. As a result, managers are

continuously formulating policies to enhance their firm’s competitive advantage. The firms are

also embracing modern technology to enhance their firms’ service delivery process. For instance,

a large portion of firms in the contemporary society is installing ERP systems in the business

premises. Ideally, the installation of ERP systems enables an organization to handle various

challenges that result from the ineffectiveness of the existing information system. Therefore, the

study focuses on analyzing how the installation of ERP systems enhances the coordination of an

organization’s activities. The paper also comprehensively analyzes how the installation of ERP

systems helps in boosting a company’s competitive edge in the highly dynamic and intricate

global market arena.

Problem Identification

A large portion of companies in the contemporary society has been recording a decline in

productivity and profitability in the past few years. A comprehensive analysis on the companies

in the contemporary society indicates that the firm’s faces various internal challenges that hinder

the smooth flow of operations. According to (Adeniyi 2013, p.9), a large portion of the business

firms in modern society lacks an effective platform that facilitates products’ purchase. The

companies are also recording low sales due to the lack of an effective marketing strategy.

Besides, the company is also facing inefficient shipping and communication strategies. Barrett,

Sutcliffe & Key Centre in Strategic Management (2011, p.89 indicate that effective

communication helps in fulfilling the employees’ motivation and social needs. The lack of
effective communication within a large proportion of companies has led to a low working morale

among the company’s workforce. According to (Caprio, Arner, Beck, Calomiris, Neal & Véron

2013, p.22) the low working morale has led to a decline in productivity, profitability, and a high

rate of staffs’ turnover. Equally, inefficiency of the firms in the transaction of business with its

customers has led to an increase in its rival’s competitive edge.

As a result, the companies’ managements need to formulate a strategic plan of installing

ERP systems in various departments to facilitate the efficiency of operations. According to

(Costa, Ferreira, Bento & Aparicio 2016, p.72), the timely installation of the ERP systems will

enhance the firms’ competitive edge in the highly dynamic international trade arena. The

effective installation of the ERP systems will also enable the companies to remain responsive

and relevant to the dynamic and evolving changes in customers’ tastes and preferences (Bradford

& North Carolina State University 2015, p.34).

The Analysis of the Existing Technology

The available literature postulates that the ERP systems exist in diverse forms of software
implementations. Essentially, scholars categorize the various forms of ERP software
implementations into four groups. According to (Costa, Ferreira, Bento & Aparicio 2016, p.76)
the categorization of the implementation systems focuses on the flexibility and functionality with
a rating scale from low to high. For instance, the first tier comprises the most effective systems.
According to (Caprio, Arner, Beck, Calomiris, Neal & Véron 2013, p.22), the first tier
comprises of systems such as SAP, Oracle, and BAAN. The second tier consists of
implementation systems such as BPICS, Movex, and IFS. According to (Dawawala 2011, p.9)
the third tier of the implementation systems includes Max, International, and Forth Shift.
Dawawala (2011, p.9) also postulates that the fourth tier comprises of implementation systems
such as Navison, Swan, Micross, Sage, and Pegasus. Therefore, the management teams should
consider installing their companies with the first tier ERP systems. Ideally, the first tier systems
will enhance the company’s efficiency in activities such as marketing, procurement, and
accounting. According to (DelPico 2013, p.89) the first tier systems will also enhance the
company’s efficiency in data analysis.

The accurate feedback from the data analysis will enable the management in the modern

companies plan and coordinate activities within the firms. DelPico (2013, p.89) also postulates
that the accurate analysis will also enable the firms to facilitate the maximum utilization of the

financial and material resources. The subsequent diagram represents a summary of the four-tier

category of the ERP systems.

Tier I
SAP, ORACLE,
BAAN

Tier 2
BPICS, Movex, IFS

Tier 3
Max, International, Forth Shift

Tier 4
Navison, Swan, Micross, Sage, Pegasus

Analysis of the existing resources

According to (Harvard Business Review Press 2013, p.23) the term ERP innovation was

in the 1990’s by the Gartner Group. Essentially, a large number of companies had not yet

installed ERP systems. Ferraro (2012, p.8) postulates that the incoming of the millennium and

the introduction of the Euro, a large portion of multinational firms embraced the continuous and

dynamic changes in technology by installing ERP systems in their administrative offices. Ferraro

(2012, p.9) indicates that the main objective of the ERP systems was to facilitate the efficiency
of internal office operations. The dynamic changes in modern technology have led to the

adoption of ERP systems for an organizations external use. (Fryling 2010, p.18) argues that a

large portion of firm’s embraces the ERP systems to facilitate the smooth flow of operations

such as procurement, marketing, and accounting. According to (Caprio, Arner, Beck, Calomiris,

Neal & Véron 2013, p.21) ERP systems also facilitate the smooth flow of communication within

an organization. Caprio, Arner, In Beck, Calomiris, Neal & Véron (2013, p.24) indicate that

the adaption of the ERP systems enhances a firm’s competitive edge in the highly competitive

global market. Therefore, the effective and timely installation of the ERP systems in a large

portion of firms in the contemporary society will enhance the firms’ efficiency and competitive

advantage.

Besides, the available scholarly articles postulate different terms for the ERP systems

such as Intergraded Vendor, Enterprise wide, and Enterprise application systems. Ideally, the

ERP is software that facilitates the effective management of a business. According to (Grabski,

Leech & Sangster 2011, p.56) the ERP systems also facilitate the integration of activities within

various departments in an organization. For instance, the ERP systems facilitate the timely and

accurate data analysis of diverse organizational functions. Grabski, Leech & Sangster (2011,

p.56) also reveal that ERP systems facilitate the effective operations of activities such as

procurement, inventory management, and accounting analysis within a firm. Grabot, Mayère &

Bazet (2010, p.54) postulate that ERP systems also enhance the implementation of suitable

marketing strategies. Equally, the ERP systems facilitate the smooth flow of communication

within an organization. According to (Grabski, Leech & Sangster 2011, p.56) the installation of

ERP systems in modern companies will facilitate the organizations’ competitive edge in the

global market. The installation of the ERP systems will also enable the companies to remain
relevant and responsive to the evolving and highly dynamic changes in the customers’ tastes and

preferences.

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