Mark Sena

ERP plans and decision-support benefits

Management and implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have tended to concentrate on their transactional and record-keeping aspects, rather than on their decision-support capabilities. This paper explores connections between ERP systems and decision support based on the perceptions of 53 ERP system adopters. It offers new insights into the important objectives that are (and should be) considered in ERP plans, including decision-support objectives. It provides insights into the decision-support benefits of ERP systems. The study also examines relationships between the importance of various objectives in ERP planning and the subsequent realization of decision-support benefits from an ERP system.

Beyond transactions: the decision support benefits of ERP systems

Enterprise systems literature and practice has emphasized the transactional focus of ERP systems. Here, we report on an initial study that explores the potential decision-support benefits of an enterprise system. We begin by synthesizing a set of benefit dimensions from the decision support system literature. These form the basis for an instrument used to gather enterprise system managers’ perceptions about decision-support benefits achieved in their enterprise implementations, the importance of having those benefits, and obstacles to achieving them. The central finding is that enterprise systems do indeed furnish substantial decision-support benefits. However, the high level of importance attributed to the achievement of such benefits suggests that ERP adopters desire even greater support for decision making.

Technologies for Knowledge Derivation: On-Line Analytical Processing

This chapter focuses on a technology for knowledge derivation, On-line Analytical Processing (OLAP). Decision makers frequently need high-level knowledge in order to make their decisions. What they often have is an abundance of raw data from transaction processing databases. OLAP is one technology that transforms raw data into higher-level knowledge useful to decision makers, thereby deriving new knowledge. The chapter first lays out a theoretical framework for knowledge derivation in a decision support context and then locates OLAP technologies within that framework. How OLAP technologies can work is described in detail. Some of the current products on the market are categorized and presented along the dimensions of data storage and data manipulation. Results of a recent survey of OLAP adoption are discussed. Two case studies are then presented demonstrating OLAP usefulness in a business decision context. The chapter ends with a discussion of current trends in the OLAP market and some predictions based upon the theoretical framework discussed in the early part of the chapter.

Student perceptions on the benefits of audio conferencing in MBA distance learning courses

As businesses increasingly use collaboration tools with audio capabilities to support online meetings, it is important for universities to examine the potential value that similar tools can add to distance learning courses. This study reveals findings from MBA students regarding the perceived benefits of online meetings supported by Wimba Classroom, an online collaboration tool with audio capabilities. The results are benchmarked against the perceived benefits of students who participated in online meetings using Blackboard Virtual Classroom, an online collaboration tool that lacks audio capabilities. The central findings of the study provide evidence to suggest that collaboration tools with audio may be an important component in distance learning courses with synchronous online meetings.