1 ERP Systems Business Value: A Critical Review of Empirical Literature

Abstract: The business value generated by information and communication technologies (ICT) has been for long time a major research topic of high interest to both researchers and practitioners. Recently there is a growing research interest in the business value generated by particular types of information systems (IS). One of them is the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, which are increasingly adopted by organizations for supporting and integrating key business and management processes within and beyond their boundaries. The current paper initially presents a critical review of the existing empirical literature concerning the business value of the ERP systems, which investigates the impact of ERP systems adoption on various measures of organizational performance. Then is critically reviewed the literature concerning the related topic of critical success factors (CSFs) in ERP systems implementation, which aims at identifying and investigating factors that result in more successful ERP systems implementation that generate higher levels of value for organizations. Finally, based on the conclusions of the above literature reviews, future directions of research concerning ERP systems business value are proposed