Benefits tracking and realisation Research Papers (original) (raw)

Organizations are making large investments in package based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. While some organizations have achieved business improvement from their ERP systems, many still fail to realize the benefits identified at the project outset. One recommended approach to improve the likelihood of ERP system success and thereby delivery of benefits, is to avoid package customization. However, it appears that implementing a truly ‘vanilla’ system, although desirable, is rarely achieved. The type of customization may also be important in influencing the level of benefits realized from ERP systems. A more tailored system may provide a better fit with organizational processes and increased chances of benefit realization. Research that explores the relationship between ERP system customization and benefits realization is lacking. This study helps to fill this gap using an existing benefits management framework explicitly examining the role of customization in ERP projects. The research method will be exploratory research interviews followed by two in-depth case studies. It is anticipated that investigating the role of customization will significantly advance our understanding of the benefits realization process from ERP system projects.

In this study we report on the benefits achieved from enterprise systems implementations. Building on the existing research this paper uses the expectation-benefits framework as an analytical lens to identify and understand realised benefits. The study com- prises 14 empirical case studies that focus on projects to extend existing ERP and CRM implementations. The work serves two key objectives. First to gain greater insights into the range and scope of realised benefits and second to further validate the exp-ben framework. Benefits are identifed in all four areas of the exp-ben framework. Most notable is the continued focus on achieving integration and in the improvement of information quality and better business intelligence.

This thesis aims to shed light on two streams of project management research that are rapidly gaining importance: the first is project governance and the second is the emerging concept of Benefits Realization Management (BRM). Both concepts are at the forefront of the fairly recent drive to revisit and re-conceptualize the theory and practice of project management, as evidenced by comprehensive initiatives such as Rethinking Project Management, which was a two-year research program (2004-2006) funded by the UK Government that involved a research network of academicians and practitioners working to extend and enrich project management theory in accordance with the developing practice. A key recommendation of said initiative is to shift focus from product creation to value creation. This is fueled by the increasingly large body of evidence that the majority of projects fail to meet success criteria. Adding to the urgency is the increasing pressure from business managers for projects to justify their value contribution to the organization. In this context, project governance and BRM are vital for ensuring that projects deliver expected business benefits and value. In doing so, these concepts help align project outcomes with organizational strategy. This study aims to address an important gap in the literature: the relationships between project governance and BRM, and their effects on project success. These relationships were studied based on 326 responses from Pakistan’s burgeoning IT & Software sector, which is increasingly becoming vital for the country’s future economic growth as Pakistan transitions from an industrial to service-based economy. The findings of this study indicate that the aspects of project governance included in this study have a positive significant effect on both BRM and Project Success. Also, it is found that BRM mediates the relationship between two aspects of project governance, namely Relational Governance and Governance of Project Management (GoPM), and Project Success. The results supports the overall proposition of this study that strong project governance creates the context in which effective BRM can occur. For the theory of project management, specifically project governance and BRM, this study hopes to contribute much needed empirical evidence to the literature and responds to recent calls for research on BRM. Additionally, this study attempts to adapt a scale for the GoPM concept, which fills an important gap in the existing operationalizations of different aspects of project governance and may prove useful for future academic studies. For the practice of project management, this study hopes to initiate a discussion on how project governance and BRM may be integrated to support the achievement of organizational strategic objectives through projects and programs. Furthermore, this research aims to assess the current levels of, and create awareness of the developments in, project governance and BRM in Pakistan. This should help organizations to not only improve the success rates of their projects but also to extract business value from projects.

- by Ata Ul Musawir and +1
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- IS Benefits Management, Benefits realisation, Project Success, Benefits tracking and realisation

- by Umair Aslam
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- Computer Science, IS Benefits Management, Evolution of ERP, Benefits realisation
- by Terry Keefe
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- Information Science, Web 2.0, Digital Preservation, Social Media

The paper describes how the Project Management discipline of benefits realisation has been applied to an EU funded E-government initiative. It explores the benefits of using this approach, the challenges to be addressed, and suggest a framework for applying the approach to other local and national e-government initiatives. One of the key project objectives is to demonstrate through the pilot that implementation of the iSAC6? system will provide value for money by delivering the desired benefits both to government office users and citizens. The approach described here focuses on costs and benefits generated by use of the system. There are staff costs for training, support and operation, technical costs for integrating iSAC6? in to existing systems and websites, and more significantly organisational costs for designing and implementing new procedures and working practices. Citizens too will incur costs to access and use the service. In iSAC6? we have created a model of costs and benef...

- by Martin Beer and +1
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- Information Science, E Government, Digital Preservation, Social Media

The aim of our research project, described in this paper, was to develop a purpose-built clinical trials support system [CTSS], which would be sufficiently comprehensive, integrated and flexible, so as to support the vast majority of research studies that were to be managed and conducted by one UK-based health authority. Whilst at the start of this project, it was reasonably clear what major clinical activities the system would need to be able to support, it was less clear what benefits the system should be expected to deliver, nor how these benefits were related to specific aspects of the system’s functionality. Moreover, whilst it was recognised that the introduction of the CTSS would engender fairly significant organisational changes, it was less easy to articulate the nature of the changes, nor how they might ultimately relate to the realisation of benefits. Consequently, it was agreed at the project’s outset that an explicit benefits’ realisation approach should be integrated into the system’s development activity. The aims of this paper are threefold: 1] to describe the CTSS project, paying particular attention to why it justified the inclusion of a benefits realisation approach; 2] to provide a description of, and justification for, the benefits management approach adopted; 3] to provide a provisional assessment of the effectiveness of this approach. In addressing these objectives, it was envisaged that our paper would make an important contribution to the literature by providing one of the few first-hand accounts of the conduct of benefits’ management practices, and certainly the first in the context of clinical trials support systems. Moreover, the paper provides new insights into the integration of benefits realisation and structured development tools and practices: we describe how the benefits dependency network has been successfully related to use case diagrams.

- by Ron Summers and +2
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- KM Benefits Realization, IS Benefits Management, Benefits tracking and realisation