The role of absorptive capacity, communication and trust in ERP adoption

The use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is proven to be valuable in several ways and it is considered a necessity in today's business. However, despite the high cost and efforts required in implementing ERPs, the success rate is reported unsatisfactory in Iranian organizations. It is argued that the success of ERP implementation is significantly related to the users' adoption behavior. As one of the most important predictors of adoption behavior, this study investigates factors affecting the intention to use ERP systems. In particular, using Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), we examined the effects of absorptive capacity, communication and trust on the intention to use ERP systems. A questionnaire was sent to ERP users in 7 organizations in Iran, and 184 responses were used for the analysis. The findings suggest that trust, together with perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, have a positive significant relationship with intention to use ERP. Furthermore, absorptive capacity and communication have a direct effect on the perceived ease of use which, in turn, impacts the intention to use ERP. As such, this study advances the current knowledge of adoption behavior by investigating the role of trust, communication and absorptive capacity on the intention to use.