Celeste See-Pui Ng

Intention to purchase on social commerce websites across cultures: A cross-regional study

This study investigates the moderating effect of culture and the mediating effect of trust in a social network community on the relationship between social interactions and purchase intention. Trust transference theory, social interactions, and Hofstedes cultural dimensions are considered. The findings from the research support the moderating effect of culture and the mediating role of trust in a social network community on the relationship between social interactions (in terms of closeness and familiarity) and intention to purchase in social commerce environments. In addition, the mediating effect of trust in a social network community is conditional on culture. The findings also suggest that trust in a social network community may be attributed to the closeness and familiarity developed among its members resulting from social interactions. The results presented herein are in line with the trust transference theory. The empirical study results also suggest that social commerce market penetration in East Asia may have relatively fewer barriers to overcome and be more likely to succeed than in the Latin America region.

A neural network with a case based dynamic window for stock trading prediction

Stock forecasting involves complex interactions between market-influencing factors and unknown random processes. In this study, an integrated system, CBDWNN by combining dynamic time windows, case based reasoning (CBR), and neural network for stock trading prediction is developed and it includes three different stages: (1) screening out potential stocks and the important influential factors; (2) using back propagation network (BPN) to predict the buy/sell points (wave peak and wave trough) of stock price and (3) adopting case based dynamic window (CBDW) to further improve the forecasting results from BPN. The system developed in this research is a first attempt in the literature to predict the sell/buy decision points instead of stock price itself. The empirical results show that the CBDW can assist the BPN to reduce the false alarm of buying or selling decisions. Nine different stocks with different trends, i.e., upward, downward and steady, are studied and one individual stock (AUO) will be studied as case example. The rates of return for upward, steady, and downward trend stocks are higher than 93.57%, 37.75%, and 46.62%, respectively. These results are all very promising and better than using CBR or BPN alone.

A decision framework for enterprise resource planning maintenance and upgrade: a client perspective

Over the last decade, many large organizations have been shifting from developing their own information system (IS) to licensing and installing large software packages known as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. These organizations now face the challenge of maintaining these costly systems and many are about to make their first upgrade decisions. The study reported herein aims to address the following research questions from the ERP-client perspective: (1) What are the fundamental factors driving ERP maintenance and upgrade decisions? (2) How do these factors differ from those for traditional custom, in-house software? and (3) Do existing software and hardware replacement models suffice for ERP maintenance and upgrade decision modeling? A single case study method and empirical data analysis were conducted and are presented here. We observe that ERP maintenance and upgrade characteristics are indeed unique in three ways: (1) most organizations maintain and upgrade their ERP systems in order to realize increased business benefits from the systems; (2) a new version upgrade reduces the number of ERP-client-done enhancement modifications; and (3) a new version upgrade potentially reduces future legal change patch (LCP) maintenance distributed by the ERP vendor. It was also found that on average LCP maintenance is almost as costly as user enhancements. Based on these findings, we conclude that the existing in-house software and hardware replacement models are insufficient for ERP situations. We propose a preliminary ERP decision model that overcomes the observed insufficiencies. Copyright

An ERP maintenance model

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) maintenance and upgrade activities are receiving much attention in ERP-using organizations. Annual maintenance costs approximate 25% of initial ERP implementation costs, and upgrade costs as much as 25-33% of the initial ERP implementation. Still, the area of ERP maintenance and upgrade is relatively new and understudied as compared to ERP implementation issues. Many organizations lack experience and expertise in managing ERP maintenance and upgrade effectively. This situation is not helped by the lack of a standard ERP maintenance model that could provide practitioners with guidelines on planning, implementing and upgrading an ERP. Although software maintenance model standards exist, they have been found in a recent study to be insufficient for ERP maintenance and upgrade processes. In order to bridge this gap in literature and practice, this study proposes a preliminary ERP maintenance model, reflecting fundamental ERP maintenance and upgrade activities. A detailed case study was conducted to gather empirical data for developing such an ERP maintenance model. Data analysis identified (potential) benefits of the maintenance model to ERP-using organizations generally, and to the case firm in particular.

An analysis of IT/IS outsourcing provider selection for small- and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan

Outsourcing is important in highly diversified business environments, but while there have been many studies on outsourcing, none have explicitly tackled the problem of how SMEs should assess and select their outsourcer. Numerous benefits might be gained if SMEs could utilize evaluation models to help select their IT/IS outsourcer effectively. Prejudices arising from selection through impartial analysis could be avoided and a more accurate and an objective decision could be made. We investigated the selection process of an enterprise needing an IT/IS outsourcing provider in Taiwan. Our recommended process quantitatively sorts the criteria using the AHP. An evaluation model was developed based on the needs of the SME who should use it to obtain a better outsourcing provider resulting from improved information vital to maintain outsourcing efficiency. Use of our model should reduce costs and potential risks in adopting new IT/IS applications and promote an objective standard with which to evaluate IT/IS outsourcing providers.

Maintaining ERP packaged software ― a revelatory case study

For many organizations, maintaining and upgrading enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems (large packaged application software) is often far more costly than the initial implementation. Systematic planning and knowledge of the fundamental maintenance processes and maintenance-related management data are required in order to effectively and efficiently administer maintenance activities. This paper reports a revelatory case study of Government Services Provider (GSP), a high-performing ERP service provider to government agencies in Australia. GSP ERP maintenance-process and maintenance-data standards are compared with the IEEE/EIA 12207 software engineering standard for custom software, also drawing upon published research, to identify how practices in the ERP context diverge from the IEEE standard. While the results show that many best practices reflected in the IEEE standard have broad relevance to software generally, divergent practices in the ERP context necessitate a shift in management focus, additional responsibilities, and different maintenance decision criteria. Study findings may provide useful guidance to practitioners, as well as input to the IEEE and other related standards.

An ERP system performance assessment model development based on the balanced scorecard approach

Previously completed research has not been significant when regarding the aspect of deriving a model for measuring the performance of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. Therefore, this research attempts to present an objective and quantitative assessment model based on the Balance Scorecard approach for the purpose of appraising the performance of the ERP system. The methodology used in this research involves the Grounded Theory, Expert Questionnaire, the Analytic Hierarchy Process, and the Fuzzy Theory to filter out and develop the KPIs for the ERP system performance assessment model. It is expected that such a model may be used by enterprises to assess the efficiency of the ERP system during the various stages of management and support within the system. Finally, this assessment model is verified in a case company through the examination of its unbiased and quantifiable assessment approach. This result allows us to further understand authentic efficiency, and explore if enterprises have fulfilled their proposed objectives after the introduction of the ERP system.

A Case on ERP Custom Add-On in Taiwan: Implications to System Fit, Acceptance and Maintenance Costs

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are complete and complex information systems that consist of firms’ business best practices. This study examines an ERP custom-made add-on/bolt-on system of a medium-sized computer memory producer with global business units around the world, and investigates implications of the customized system from the perspectives of system fit, user attitude and acceptance, and subsequent maintenance and upgrade costs. The authors adopted a rich descriptive case study method and conduct a cost and benefit analysis prediction of subsequent maintenance and upgrade costs on the system. The empirical data indicates that although developing an add-on may create integration problems and/or compatibility problems with the ERP system, in overall, the system users accept the system better as the add-on helps in improving their job performance. Also, even though having a custom development does create additional costs in this case study, this does not necessarily cost more than not having it. Instead, having an idiosyncratic system may actually transfer a lot of benefits to the company. This is the first empirical study showing why custom development is favored by SMEs. These results and implications can be valuable to IT managers and top management when making ERP customization decisions.

A Case Study on the Impact of Customization, Fitness, and Operational Characteristics on Enterprise-Wide System Success, User Satisfaction, and System Use

Enterprise resource planning ERP system success is of paramount importance for almost all organizations, as it is a prerequisite for improved and continuous benefit-realization. This study investigates the impact of ERP business dynamics i.e., system customization required, system fitness i.e., process fit, data fit, and user interface fit and functional area operational characteristics on ERP system success, user satisfaction and system use. The author draws on relevant theoretical background information to construct the research model. Surveys are administered to 91 ERP system users within a multinational food company; in-depth interviews are also conducted with some system users. Empirical results indicate that the amount of ERP system customizations and/or modifications does not have any substantial impact on ERP system use or user satisfaction. In terms of ERP system fitness, these systems are found to be more suitable for complex, functional-area operational environments. The results show that only user interface fit positively affects ERP system use, while only process fit positively influences ERP system user satisfaction. In addition, different degrees of information quality, system quality and service quality have diverse effects on some of the relationships investigated. Finally, the perceived net benefit from an ERP system depends on how the ERP system is used, rather than the management level of the users.

Exploring the Links between Competitive Advantage and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Upgrade Decision: A Case Study Approach

The complexities in making an ERP upgrade decision have been widely cited in the trade press. To the client-organizations, the issues of maintenance and upgrade are continuously existing and requiring extensive attentions and efforts as far as continuous business improvement and benefit-realization are concerned. However, there is very few studies dedicated to provide better understanding of how a firm considers an ERP upgrade decision. Competitive advantage has often been cited and associated with upgrade decision. To what degree and how an ERP upgrade is perceived as providing competitive advantage to a firm? In order to gain in-depth understanding of whether competitive advantage affects upgrade decision and how, an evaluative case study is conducted in a firm that is making an ERP upgrade decision. We find that out of the four characteristics of competitive advantage proposed in the resource view theory, value is perceived as the foremost important, and other characteristics as unimportant. With this, we suggest that the type of competitive advantage perceived and expected from an ERP upgrade is non-sustainable (in the long-run) cost leadership-oriented advantage. However, this finding is likely constrained by how the ERP is used and the scope of its implementation by this case.