Vijayakumar Bharathi

A Fuzzy Petri-Net Based Conceptual Model for Risk Prediction in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Acquisition Decisions for Small and Medium Enterprises

This study identifies and evaluates certain critical pitfalls in the acquisition phase of ERP adoption in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and develops a model for evaluating the risk of failure. On the acquisition stage a set of risks has been identified based on past research work and each of these risks have been explained through a set of well-defined risk factors or pitfalls. An evaluation model based on the concept of Fuzzy Petri Nets (FPN) is proposed in this study. FPN is used because it is simple and efficient and can quantitatively evaluate the risks inherent in the acquisition stage of ERP adoption by SMEs.

A Unified Theory of Critical Success Factors for ERP Adoption by SMEs

Based on various researches on the ERP implementation by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) this paper has identified 5 decision areas which have a strategic impact on the success of ERP adoption by the SMEs. These decision areas are planning, acquisition, implementation, usage and percolation and extension. Planning decision includes analyzing the intra and inter-organizational factors influencing adoption, and the proprietor’s commitment and involvement. The Acquisition decision will address issues on identification, scrutiny, selection and finalization of ERP. The user acceptance and the perceived benefits of ERP for SMEs will be studied in the Usage and Percolation Decision. Finally, extension decision will research on the need for process alignment of SMEs to fit into the highly computerized business processes of the large-scale businesses.The Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in each of these five decision areas is identified and explained in relevance to the SMEs in this paper. The outcome of this paper would lay a foundation for evolving a framework for the SMEs to refer during their ERP Adoption process.

A Study on Mobile Phone Buying Behavior Using an Image-Based Survey

Realizing the significance of customer buying behavior in today’s market scenario it is very appropriate to analyze the drivers that trigger the purchasing decision. This research paper identifies and analyses certain critical drivers of mobile phone purchasing decisions and explaining their relevance. Empirical research was conducted in this study through an image-based survey amongst college students in Pune city. In this paper three critical drivers to pu rchasing decision namely price, brand and brand ambassador were considered. The study adopted text based questions and image based questions to solicit the responses to find whether it had an impact on the responses. The study also ascertained how effectively an image-based survey can be administered to compliment the conventional tex t-based question survey.