ACCEPTANCE OF ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING

SYSTEMS BY SMALL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES

Rubina Adam

1,3

, Paula Kotzé

2,4

and Alta van der Merwe

2,3

SAP Research Pretoria/Meraka Unit of Technology Development, Boardwalk Office Park , Faerie Glen, South Africa

Meraka Institute of the CSIR, PO Box 395, 0001, Pretoria, South Africa

School of Computing, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

Institute for ICT Advancement, Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Keywords: Enterprise resource planning systems, Small and medium enterprises, Technology acceptance.

Abstract: ERP systems are widely used by large enterprises for managing functional areas of the enterprise. However,

recently ERP systems have also been introduced to the small enterprise market. ERP systems are now

considered an important small enterprise management aid that may contribute to the sustainability and

growth of the small enterprise. Although there are several acceptance factors that may impact on the

acceptance of ERP systems, limited research has been done to understand the acceptance of ERP systems by

small enterprises. This paper addresses this gap by considering the strategic, business, technical and human

factors that influence the acceptance of ERP systems in small manufacturing enterprises in South Africa.

The consultative list of acceptance factors flowing from this research may guide future initiatives aiming to

ensure the acceptance of ERP systems by small manufacturing enterprises.

1 INTRODUCTION

Traditionally ERP systems were synonymous with

large enterprises. This trend is changing as small and

medium enterprises (SMEs) have started to use ERP

systems in order to become more competitive and

responsive to business demands and to improve

operational performance (Deep et al., 2008).

According to Buonanno et al. (2005), the use of ERP

systems within small enterprises also leverages

enterprise growth. The market for ERP systems for

large enterprises has become saturated and ERP

system vendors are increasingly competing in

developing and marketing ERP systems that cater to

the needs of small and medium enterprises (Equey

and Fragnière, 2008).

Although a substantial body of research has been

carried out on ERP system acceptance and adoption

in larger enterprises research reports related to the

acceptance of ERP systems within small enterprises

are scarce. This lack of research can be attributed to

the fact that ERP systems were rarely used by small

enterprises in the past, mainly due to knowledge and

resource constraints (Malhotra and Temponi, 2010).

Laforet and Tann (2006) also emphasize that there

is a lack of industry specific literature on ERP

system acceptance.

For ERP developers, it is important to understand

what the factors are that influence adoption of ERP

systems. There is no consultative list of ERP system

acceptance factors for small enterprises. An

understanding of the factors that influence the

acceptance of ERP systems in small enterprises

could assist researchers and industry to develop and

distribute appropriate ERP systems that are

acceptable to the small enterprise market.

We used the small manufacturing industry in

South Africa as a case study to investigate the

factors that influence the acceptance of ERP systems

in small enterprises. The outcome of this

investigation is a list of strategic, business, technical

and human factors that influence the acceptance of

ERP systems in small manufacturing enterprises in

South Africa. This list is the first step in compiling a

more generic list for other industry domains.

In section 2 we provide an overview of

applicable key concepts related to our investigation,

namely acceptance and adoption, ERP systems,

small manufacturing enterprises, and the

manufacturing industry. In section 3 the research

design is presented. In section 4 we focus on the data

collection from the literature study, survey of small

229

Adam R., Kotzé P. and van der Merwe A..

ACCEPTANCE OF ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEMS BY SMALL MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES.

DOI: 10.5220/0003500302290238

In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS-2011), pages 229-238

ISBN: 978-989-8425-53-9

 2011 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

manufacturing enterprises (both currently using and

not using ERP systems) and interviews with ERP

consultants. Section 5 presents key findings from the

research. Section 6 reflects on the research

conducted and presents recommendations for future

research.

2 BACKGROUND

In this section, we first introduce background on

some key concepts related to our research, including

acceptance and adoption (section 2.1), ERP systems

(section 2.2), small enterprises (section 2.3), and the

manufacturing industry, as the application domain

for our research (section 2.4). In section 2.5 we

provide a synopsis of the current standing of ERP

systems in small manufacturing enterprises and

emphasize what the gap in the current literature is

with regard to ERP system acceptance in small

manufacturing enterprises.

2.1 Acceptance and Adoption

Numerous studies investigated the concept of

technology acceptance and technology adoption

(Venkatesh and Davis, 2000, Davis, 1989, Malhotra

and Galletta, 1999). The diversity within the

technology acceptance field, specifically in terms of

successful acceptance of information systems,

makes it difficult to define and distinguish the

concept of technology acceptance from technology

adoption.

According to Renaud and Van Biljon (2008:211)

technology acceptance can be seen as ‘an attitude

towards a technology’, influenced by various

factors. Technology acceptance is considered as a

process initiated when a user of technology becomes

aware of the technology and has an intention to use

that technology.

Technology adoption stems from acceptance and

results in the actual use of the technology

(Premkumar and Bhattacherjee, 2008). Through the

process of adoption, the user’s intention to use the

technology may change and affect both the adoption

and acceptance of the technology. Thus, technology

Several technology acceptance and adoption

models have been put forward over time. One of the

most prominent of these models is the Unified

Theory of Technology Acceptance and Use of

Technology (UTAUT) model formulated by

Venkatesh, et al. (2003). UTAUT unified eight

previous models and theories on technology

acceptance and technology adoption, namely theory

of reasoned action (TRA), theory of planned

behaviour (TPB), technology acceptance model

(TAM), combined TPB and TAM, motivational

model, model of personal computer utilisation,

innovation diffusion theory, and social cognitive

theory. The aim of the UTAUT model is to assist

managers to understand factors impacting on an

individual’s acceptance of new technology in an

enterprise. As illustrated in Figure 1, UTAUT

defines four determinants that influence intention of

usage and behaviour (Venkatesh et al., 2003):

• Performance expectancy refers to ‘the degree to

which an individual believes that using the

system will help him or her to attain gains in job

performance’ (Venkatesh et al., 2003:447). It is

a direct determinant of intention to use a

technology and ‘the strength of the relationship

varies with gender and age such that it is more

significant for men and younger workers’

(Venkatesh et al., 2003:467).

• Effort expectancy refers to ‘the degree of ease

associated with the use of the system’

(Venkatesh et al., 2003:450). It was found that

‘the effect of effort expectancy on intention is

also moderated by gender and age such that it is

more significant for women and older workers,

and those effects decrease with experience’

(Venkatesh et al., 2003:467).

• Social influence refers to ‘the degree to which

an individual perceives that important others

believe he or she should use the new

system’(Venkatesh et al., 2003:451). For

example, this can relate to value chain partners

or competitors influencing the use of a

technology. Social influence is moderated by

gender, age, experience and voluntariness

factors that together influence intention to use a

technology.

• Facilitating conditions refer to ‘the degree to

which an individual believes that an

organisational and technical infrastructure exist

to support use of the system’ (Venkatesh et al.,

2003:453). It was found that facilitating

conditions are ‘only significant when examined

in conjunction with the moderating effects of

age and experience, i.e. they only matter for

older workers in later stages of experience’

(Venkatesh et al., 2003:467).

The impact of these four key determinants is

influenced by gender, age, experience, and

voluntariness.

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Behavioural

Intention

VoluntarinessExperienceAgeGender

Performance

Expectancy

Effort

Expectancy

Social

Influence

Facilitating

Conditions

Use

Behaviour

Figure 1: UTAUT Model (Venkatesh et al., 2003).

2.2 ERP Systems

During the 1990s, ERP systems emanated from

extended materials resource planning (MRP-II)

systems (Klaus et al., 2000). A new term was

required to differentiate these new systems from

MRPs and Gartner labelled it enterprise resource

planning - commonly referred to as ERP systems

(Wylie, 1990). There are several definitions for ERP

systems. The characteristic integration feature of

ERP systems is evident in all definitions reviewed.

For the purpose of this paper, we define ERP

systems as integrated, holistic, enterprise-wide

business management systems that provide constant

information across and within different business

functions. An ERP system enables efficient and

effective communication and collaboration between

the enterprise and its suppliers, as well as the

enterprise and its clients.

We limit our investigation of ERP systems to

those applicable to small enterprises. Section 2.3

briefly introduces the concept of small enterprises.

2.3 Small Enterprises

A formal understanding of small enterprises in South

Africa is presented in the National Small Business

Amendment Act, 2004, (SA, 2004:2) The South

African government defines small enterprises as: ‘a

separate and distinct business entity, together with

its branches or subsidiaries, if any, including co-

operative enterprises and non-governmental

organisations, managed by one owner or more

which, including its branches or subsidiaries, if any,

is predominantly carried on in any sector or

subsector of the economy mentioned in column 1 of

the Schedule and which can be classified as a micro,

a very small, a small or a medium enterprise by

satisfying the factors mentioned in columns 3 [the

total full-time equivalent of paid employees], 4 [total

turn-over] and 5 [total gross asset value (Fixed

property excluded)] of the Schedule’.

Table 1 presents an excerpt of the classification

of medium, small, very small and micro

manufacturing enterprises found in this Act, where

C represents Column and [m] represents a million of

South African Rands (currency).

Table 1: Medium, small, very small and micro

manufacturing enterprises (SA, 2003).

‘SCHEDULE’

C1 C2 C3 C4 [m] C5 [m]

Manufacturing

Medium 200 R 51 R 19

Small 50 R 13 R 5

Very

small

20 R 5 R 2

Micro 5 R0,20 R0,10

If one uses Table 1 as a guideline, the small

manufacturing enterprise can be regarded as an

enterprise with a total annual turnover of 13 million

South African Rand and 50 people working in the

enterprise. Since this paper focuses on the small

manufacturing industry in South Africa, the nature

of the South African manufacturing industry is

briefly introduced in section 2.4.

2.4 Manufacturing Industry

According to a report by Statistics South Africa

(2009), the manufacturing industry is considered one

of South Africa’s most prolific industries,

contributing a total income of R1 508 667 million to

national income in 2008. Many governments,

including the South African government, encourage

the development of a diverse and resilient

manufacturing industry, which can compete within

the global community. In one of the few academic

works that explore the manufacturing industry in

South Africa, Tregenna (2008) emphasizes that the

manufacturing industry enables sustainability and

ACCEPTANCE OF ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEMS BY SMALL MANUFACTURING

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231

contributes to employment creation and the

structuring of both government policy and corporate

strategy.

It is thus due to the nature of the manufacturing

industry in South Africa, and the fact that ERP

systems have emanated from MRP systems within

the manufacturing industry, that this specific

industry was selected as a case study environment in

our research.

Bourque (2007) points out that the

manufacturing industry, which is a secondary

industry, faces numerous challenges. One concern is

that many products are manufactured in

environments where supplies are sourced from

different locations, both within and outside the

borders of the country of operation. An intricate

network of relationships between suppliers,

manufacturers and distributors needs to be managed.

Many small manufacturing enterprises are

confronted with the challenge of tracking

procurement and production costs and the costs

associated to these activities. The ever changing

demands of clients also requires manufacturing

enterprises to be agile in order to meet customer

demands in terms of right quantity, quality, time and

cost (Kettunen, 2009). It is believed that the stated

challenges can be addressed through novel systems,

such as ERP systems (Bourque, 2007). Although

ERP systems are widely used in larger enterprises it

does not necessarily mean that smaller enterprises

will believe that it may benefit their enterprises, and

it is therefore necessary to address the issues related

to the acceptance and adoption of ERP systems in

the smaller enterprise.

Section 2.5 focuses on the acceptance of ERP

systems in small (manufacturing) enterprises.

2.5 ERP System Acceptance in Small

Enterprises

Often, there is a tendency to group small and

medium enterprises together in a homogenous

group, even though these enterprises have different

characteristics and unique requirements (Iskanius et

al., 2009). However, enterprise size does affect ERP

adoption (Laukkanen et al., 2007, Bernroider and

Koch, 2000) and, by implication, acceptance.

The work by Iskanius et al. (2009), exploring the

experience of ERP system use in small enterprises,

is a recent example of small enterprise ERP system

research. The study on motivation for using ERP

systems within small enterprises resulted in findings

stating small enterprises motivation ‘to improve

planning procedures and customer-specific

flexibility’(Iskanius et al., 2009:9).Additionally, it

was found that ERP systems in small enterprises

(and small manufacturing enterprises) are still

relatively less utilised compared to use of ERP

systems by large enterprises. Iskanius et al. concur

with the findings of Koh and Simpson (2005) that a

lack of knowledge could be attributed to the lack of

ERP system use within this category of enterprise.

No literature was found on applying the UTAUT

model to assess the intention to use and the

acceptance of ERP systems within a small enterprise

environment. Xiaoping and Jing (2008) recommend

further research that focuses on the application of

UTAUT to assess small enterprise acceptance of

technology. Xiaoping and Jing argue that small

businesses are predominantly individualistic with

‘highly centralized ... structures’(Xiaoping and Jing,

2008:326). They affirm that more research is

required to test ‘the individual adoption in the small

business environment’ (Xiaoping and Jing,

2008:326).

The comprehensive literature review determined

the state of research and practice, with regards to

acceptance factors related to ERP systems in the

small manufacturing enterprise domain, to be

limited. The identified limitations included:

• The use of the holistic UTAUT model in

assessing the acceptance of a specific

technology, i.e. ERP systems.

• The acceptance of ERP systems amongst small

enterprises only, and not small and medium

enterprises combined as a single grouping.

• Industry specific research related to acceptance

factors, in our case, the manufacturing industry.

• Field study assessment and not only laboratory-

based assessment of the acceptance of ERP

systems.

This paper addresses some of these limitations

and focuses on the identification of acceptance

factors that influence the use and acceptance of ERP

systems in the small manufacturing enterprises,

using the UTAUT model as the primary theory base

in determining these factors in the environment in

which the small manufacturing enterprises operate.

Section 3 addresses the research design adopted.

3 RESEARCH DESIGN

A mixed method qualitative approach using textual,

theme, and descriptive data analysis was followed to

investigate the factors that influence the acceptance

of ERP system in small manufacturing enterprises.

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Figure 2: Process used for identifying ERP system

acceptance factors for small manufacturing enterprises.

The research design, as illustrated in Figure 2,

consisted of four steps below:

1. Questionnaire statements that were used to

estimate the original UTAUT model was

adapted and included in the survey (Part B)

questions. The questions further were

customised for (a) small manufacturing

enterprises that have experience in using ERP

systems, as well as (b) for small manufacturing

enterprises that do not have experience in using

ERP systems.

2. Appropriate ERP system specific acceptance

factors were identified through a textual

analysis of existing research literature.

Questions related to the identified factors were

formulated and included in the survey to

determine whether the factors affect the

acceptance of ERP systems by the small

manufacturing enterprise participants.

3. Using the inputs from Part A, a cross-sectional,

interpretive field survey was conducted among

small manufacturing enterprises to determine

the meaning of multiple research participant

perceptions regarding ERP system acceptance

in small manufacturing enterprises. Deductive

reasoning was used to confirm, refute or

comment on the small manufacturing enterprise

ERP system acceptance factors explored from

literature. The small manufacturing enterprises

were selected by consulting business databases

and other directories of small manufacturing

enterprises in Gauteng, South Africa. This

survey used a non-probability purposive

sampling technique, as it enabled more freedom

in terms of the number of issues that could be

investigated, such as instances that may be

different, extreme, unusual or somehow atypical

(Oates, 2006:98).

4. As a triangulation exercise Part C involved

interviews with two ERP consultants (from

companies selected from ERP system use as

identified through the survey) to obtain their

view and comment on the survey findings.

4 DATA COLLECTION

This section presents data collected from three

sources, the literature study (section 4.1), the survey

of small manufacturing enterprises (section 4.2) and

interviews conducted with ERP system consultants

(section 4.3).

4.1 Literature Study

The topics investigated included technology

acceptance factors, ERP system selection and

acquisition factors and ERP system implementation

and use in large, medium, and small enterprises.

Following an analysis of the results, the factors

influencing the acceptance of ERP systems were

categorized into four identified categories:

•

Strategic acceptance factors refers to how an

ERP system should promote and fit into an

enterprise’s long term vision, goals, and

business plans in order to achieve enhanced

decision-making (Poba-Nzaou et al., 2008) and

sustainability of the enterprise. The strategic

acceptance factors identified in the different

resources analyzed ranged from aspects relating

to industry use of ERP systems, the enablement

and management of business growth, and

complexity to long term investment

sustainability.

•

ERP systems should, ideally, support

operational efficiencies within an enterprise

(Shang and Seddon, 2002). Business acceptance

factors relate to how an ERP system can be used

to manage the day-to-day operations of the

enterprises and how an ERP system can support

business processes. The business acceptance

factors identified in the different resources

analyzed ranged from aspects relating to

advancing business operations, improving

operational efficiencies, following best business

practices, cost savings, and to support

analytically-aided decision making.

•

Technical acceptance factors refer to how ERP



A. Literature Study:

Understand current ERP system acceptance factors

a. UTAUT

acceptance factors

and questionnaire

b. Categorised

ERP system specific

acceptance factors

B. Survey Questionnaire:

Assess Small manufacturing enterprises‘

Acceptance of ERP systems.

C. Interview questions:

Assess ERP system consultants’ view on

acceptance of ERP systems by small enterprises

ACCEPTANCE OF ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEMS BY SMALL MANUFACTURING

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233

systems are understood to operate in terms of

integration and expected performance. The

technical acceptance factors identified in the

different resources analyzed ranged from

aspects relating to the provision of business

functionality, to integration of business

functionality, access to business functionality

and timely implementation periods.

•

Human acceptance factors refer to non-

functional aspects of ERP systems that are

important factors that impact on end-user

satisfaction with using ERP systems. User

experience and training are two important

human acceptance factors identified in

literature.

These categories are specific to the use of ERP

systems and we do not claim that these categories

are definitive. Other categories may be applicable in

other domains or other industries.

4.2 Small Manufacturing Enterprises

Survey

The manufacturing sectors surveyed included

various small manufacturers ranging from food

products, textiles, furniture, to basic metals. The

purpose of this study was not to generalise, but to

explore this relatively young research domain. The

sample of sixteen small manufacturing enterprises

included young enterprises (between 1 and 5 years

of operation) and more mature enterprises (over 20

years of operation). Although the sample size may

not yield significant statistical results, it provided

important qualitative insights into ERP system

acceptance by small manufacturing enterprises. The

questionnaires used as part of the survey were filled

in on-site in the work environment of the small

manufacturing enterprises. Owners or managers

were asked to complete the questionnaire on behalf

of the enterprise. Seven of the small manufacturers

had experience in using ERP systems and 9

manufacturers had no experience in using ERP

systems.

The survey results indicated that small

manufacturing enterprises that use ERP systems

accept and make use of an ERP system if it supports

day-to-day business operations and assists with the

strategic development of their enterprise. There is

also an indication these enterprises expect ERP

systems to aid in fulfilling business activities with

minimal effort, in terms of meeting their needs on a

performance and effort expectancy level.

It was found that small manufacturing enterprises

that do not use ERP systems would accept and use

an ERP system if it supported the advancement of

their business operations. There is also an indication

that our sample of small manufacturing enterprises

expects ERP systems to provide a cost-effective

solution to manage business functions, with on-

demand web access, including mobile access. Brand

name is also seen as an important factor to consider

when purchasing of an ERP system is considered.

All these small manufacturing enterprises also

believe they are ready to purchase and use ERP

systems, provided the ERP system supports their

enterprise in terms of performance and effort

expectancy.

All small manufacturing enterprises surveyed

believe that, although the enterprise can be

influenced by others to accept and make use of ERP

systems, it is not a seen as a key influence on

acceptance. In terms of facilitating conditions, the

small manufacturing enterprises, in general, also

believe they are knowledge-and-resource ready to

accept ERP systems.

The results indicate that all four of the direct

determinants of the UTAUT model, namely

performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social

influence, and facilitating conditions, affect the

acceptance of ERP systems.

4.3 Interviews with ERP Consultants

The findings from both the literature study and the

survey conducted were then used as a basis for

reflective interviews by two ERP consultants. The

consultants confirmed all the findings.

The consultants were of the opinion that ERP

systems should be used as a harness to support the

strategic and business objectives of small

enterprisers, and thus promote the growth and

general operations of the enterprise. Furthermore,

making use of ERP systems should be an easy to

use, seamless process with minimal effort.

According to the consultants, ERP systems should

leverage technological advancements and make

access to enterprise systems and information easier.

The consultants, however, expressed caution and

advise that small enterprise maturity and change

management processes should be carefully

considered when making a decision to acquire,

implement, use and accept ERP systems.

Some of the comments made by ERP system

consultants are provided in Table 2.

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Table 2: ERP system consultants’ comments.

1. “… small manufacturing enterprises in South Africa

have not reached the maturity of medium and large

manufacturing enterprises to purchase and use

specialised software such as ERP. The smaller

companies can suffice using standard off-the-shelf

accounting and payroll packages.”

2. “If a simpler, cheaper system can perform what is

required, then consider the option and re-evaluate

your need for a more advanced system such as ERP at

a later, more mature stage of your enterprise growth.”

3. “... let us help you to decide if you are ready for a

new switch. We will go through a process to assess

readiness. Why spend when you are not yet ready to

explore the full potential of an ERP system.”

4. “Using systems such as ERP is a mind shift. There

are lots of changes involved ...”

5. “... one must be careful of unscrupulous vendors gift-

wrapping systems that don’t suit the small enterprise.

Small enterprises must be smart and spend wisely.

They must know what they are buying themselves

into.”

5 OVERALL FINDINGS

The acceptance factors identified during the initial

phases were perceived to be important. It was found

that ERP systems should support strategic planning,

and daily operations of the enterprise as key

considerations. ERP system should therefore support

the efficient and effective functioning of the

enterprise. A notable technical factor, as identified

from small manufacturing enterprises that have

expectations of using ERP systems, is to have the

ability to access functionality and information from

any location, including mobile and web access. The

findings also suggest that the small manufacturing

enterprises are in general optimistic about the

capabilities of ERP systems.

Table 3 summarises the significant strategic

acceptance. In the second column, a list of

references to the literature source that lead to the

inclusion of the factor is provided, as well as a

comment on whether the factor was confirmed

during the data collection (survey and interviews) in

column 3. Table 4 summarises the business

acceptance factors, Table 5 the technical acceptance

factors, and Table 6 the human acceptance factors.

Table 3: Strategic acceptance factors.

Factors Literature Field Research

Competition in

industry

(Koh and

Simpson, 2007)

Confirmed

Industry

necessitates the

use of an ERP

system

(Muscatello et

al., 2003)

Partially confirmed

Manage

complexity and

cost efficiently

adapt to changes

(Tagliavini et al.,

2002)

Confirmed

Enable business

growth and

strategic

alignment

(Poba-Nzaou et

al., 2008)

Confirmed, Important to

small enterprises

Better business

planning and

consolidation

(Marnewick and

Labuschagne,

2005)

Confirmed, Important to

small enterprises

Improve

stakeholder

relationship and

trust

(Iskanius et al.,

2009)

Confirmed, Important to

small enterprises

Long term

investment

sustainability

(Davenport,

2000, Häkkinen

and Hilmola,

2008)

Confirmed

Intelligent aware

to alert to market

force changes

(Robert Jacobs

and Ted' Weston,

2007)

Partially confirmed

Table 4: Business acceptance factors.

Factors Literature Field Research

Advance business

operations

(Marnewick and

Labuschagne, 2005)

Confirmed,

Important to

small enterprises

Follow industry

best practice

(Somers and Nelson,

2003)

Partially

confirmed

Promote

transparent

governance and

improve

operational

efficiency

(Lim et al., 2005,

Häkkinen and

Hilmola, 2008, Chou

and Tripuramallu,

2005)

Confirmed

Manage cash,

liquidity and

financial risk

better

(Klaus et al., 2000) Confirmed

Manage the

workforce through

rapid change

(Amoako-Gyampah

and Salam, 2004,

Davenport, 1998a)

Partially

confirmed

Low total cost of

ownership –

maintenance,

upgrades,

consultation,

training, etc

(Sledgianowski and

Tafti, 2007, Ngai et

al., 2008)

Confirmed,

Important to

small enterprises

Cost saving

through

optimisation of IT

(information

technology)

(Ziaee et al., 2006) Confirmed

Timely analytical-

supported

decision-making

ability

(Loh and Koh, 2004) Confirmed

ACCEPTANCE OF ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING SYSTEMS BY SMALL MANUFACTURING

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235

Table 5: Technical acceptance factors.

Factors Literature Field Research

Provision of

functionality on-

demand with the

ability to ‘switch

on and switch

off’ functionality

(Dreiling et al.,

2005)

Confirmed

Integration with

other business

systems

(Bernroider and

Leseure, 2005,

Elbertsen et al.,

2006)

Confirmed

Accessibility:

anytime,

anywhere,

including mobile

and web

accessibility

(Hofmann, 2008,

Equey and

Fragnière, 2008,

Yang et al.,

2007)

Confirmed, Important to

small enterprises

Quick

implementation

time

(Markus and

Tanis, 2000,

Buonanno et al.,

2005, Tagliavini

et al., 2002)

Confirmed

Table 6: Human acceptance factors.

Factors Literature Field Research

User experience

should be satisfying

– using the ERP

system should be

simple, easy to use,

quick and meet

expectation to get

the work done

(Marnewick and

Labuschagne, 2005,

Calisir and Calisir,

2004, Scott and

Walczak, 2009,

Markus and Tanis,

2000)

Confirmed,

Important to small

enterprises

“Start and go” self-

learning – minimal

training costs

(Scott, 2008, Al-

Mashari et al., 2003)

Confirmed

6 CONCLUSIONS

The concept of ERP systems is not new to larger

enterprises. Recently there have also been several

initiatives from ERP vendors to adapt existing ERP

functionality to support the smaller enterprise. Both

researchers and ERP developers are interested in the

factors that influence the small enterprise to accept

ERP systems into the enterprise.

In this paper the focus was on the strategic,

business, technical and human factors that influence

the acceptance of ERP systems in small

manufacturing enterprises in South Africa. A mixed-

method approach was followed where both the

literature and existing small enterprises were

consulted to derive a list of acceptance factors.

Although it was not the focus of the research to

investigate how ERP systems are perceived by small

enterprises, there was evidence that small

manufacturing enterprises have a positive and

optimistic view of ERP system use. From the

research it was also significant that small

manufacturing enterprises that currently use ERP

systems and small manufacturing enterprises that

intend to implement ERP systems both want a

system that can perform and work for them.

Furthermore, a technically sound system does

not necessarily translate to acceptance, a number of

diverse factors should be considered. Although the

various ERP system acceptance factors as identified

from this study may not be exhaustive, absolute or

optimally applicable to all small enterprises across

the various economic industries, this paper

contributes as a foundation for further research.

A number of recommendations can be made for

future work, including refining the proposed

acceptance factors, correlating the proposed

acceptance factors with ERP system adoption

factors, analysing various moderating effects on

acceptance factors and researching the aspect of

‘fun’ in relation to the use of ERP systems.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The support of SAP Research Pretoria/Meraka Unit

of Technology Development towards this research is

hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and

conclusions arrived at are solely those of the authors

and cannot necessarily be attributed to SAP

Research/Meraka UTD.

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