Understanding of ERP systems in Chinese SOEs: A case study

Enterprises resource planning (ERP) systems are becoming more commonly applied by modern companies to manage and support the enterprise-wide business processes. This paper aimed to investigate the understanding of managers and staff on ERP systems in Chinese SOEs. The study took a case study approach and used chi-square tests to analyze the data derived from questionnaires. The analysis results show although the majority of respondents acknowledged the presence of ERP in the organization, they did not seem to be able to recognize the functional areas of the system that are used in practice. This apparent contradiction suggests that understanding of ERP systems by both managers and staff may not be fully developed. This lack of understanding may present risks for Chinese organizations and SOEs in general linked with both the maximization of ERP features and inadequate use of these features. © 2012 IEEE.