Planning for the market? Enterprise resource planning systems and the contradictions of capital

Enterprise Resource Planning is the most overarchingattempt so far to control a firm's economic environmentusing information technology. An analysis of its functions, potential, and limitations thus requires aneconomic model that provides a conceptual framework for understanding the enterprise's goals, activities andenvironment. Marx's analysis of the processes of accumulation and circulation of capital is used here toassess ERP systems, with the conclusion that, rather than being a fad, ERPs attempt to answer certain general problems of capital accumulation that are particularly acute today. Their limitations are shown to be inherent in the capital form itself, in particular the dependence of capital on market relations in exchange