1 Information and Business Process Equality: The Case of SAP R/3 Implementation

The emergence of SAP R/3 technology has created an opportunity to ensure information and business process equality both at organisational and global levels. SAP R/3 serves as a catalyst for information integration within and beyond the organisational scope through its standardised software modules, while at the same time working as a vehicle for transferring best practice business processes. This paper reports on a case study of a failed implementation of SAP R/3, in conjunction with business process reengineering (BPR) efforts, at a major Middle-Eastern manufacturing company. Both situational and contextual climates of implementation are described and analysed. Lessons in terms of factors that led to failure and their future implications are discussed in the light of the contrasting experiences of several best practice companies. The central theme of the paper argues that establishing process and information equality through SAP R/3 is highly dependent upon the approach followed to redesign core business processes, as well as the extent to which they have been integrated with other business components. 1