Knowledge retention in ERP implementations: the context of UK SMEs

Jayawickrama, Uchitha; Liu, Shaofeng; Smith, Mel; Al Bashir, Mamoon; Akhtar, Pervaiz

Abstract

© 2019, © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Knowledge retention (k-retention) is vital for various enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), though it is a highly demanding and challenging task. The aim of this paper is to investigate different types of approaches to k-retention and factors influencing k-retention in SMEs. Our study adopts a grounded theory approach with cases based on 12 ERP implementations in UK SMEs. We analyze our data using thematic analysis. The findings reveal specific elements that support the k-retention of ERP package knowledge and business process knowledge. These elements are: k-retention tools, documentation, human capital and the understanding of k-retention challenges. In addition to insights from these aspects, our study reveals two additional factors (project management and organizational culture) that influence ERP package k-retention and business process k-retention. Based on these findings, we develop an ERP k-retention (EKR) framework that can be utilized by SMEs which are considering implementing ERP systems, to facilitate knowledge retention during implementation.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 10, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Jun 30, 2019
• Publication Date: Sep 10, 2019
• Deposit Date: May 14, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 1, 2020
• Journal: Production Planning and Control
• Print ISSN: 0953-7287
• Electronic ISSN: 1366-5871
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 10-12
• Pages: 1032-1047
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09537287.2019.1582107
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/874674
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Production Planning and Control on 30 Jun 2019, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537287.2019.1582107.
• Contract Date: May 14, 2018