The influence of centrifugal and centripetal forces on ERP project success in small and medium-sized enterprises in China and Taiwan

Successful implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems has become a critical facilitator for efficient operations management in both developed and developing economies. The study presented in this paper uses a novel “Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces” (CCF) model developed in the context of global new product development projects, to examine the way that the interaction of factors relevant to project management contributes to successful ERP implementation processes. Based on regression analysis of responses from 244 small and medium-sized manufacturing firms in Taiwan and China collected in May 2006, we find that the balance of centrifugal and centripetal forces fosters ERP project success, a result which has significant impacts on ERP project management practice. The study also opens up a new direction for future research on ERP implementation processes in that it suggests a novel way to model the interaction of project management factors. In addition, the new measures regarding project success and project management developed and validated in this study should prove to be useful for researchers studying ERP implementation processes.