Towards a framework of critical success factors for implementing supply chain information systems

•We build a framework of 13 CSFs for implementing supply chain information systems.•Important supply chain characteristics have been overlooked in CSF literature.•It is not easy for project managers to know how to apply CSFs in practice.

Supply chain information systems (SCISs) have emerged as the core of successful management in supply chains. However, the difficulties of SCIS implementations have been widely cited in the literature. Research on the critical success factors (CSFs) for SCIS implementation is rather scarce and fragmented. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to compile a framework of CSFs for implementing SCISs. Based on 10 key articles focusing on ERP implementations, we have built a list of critical success factors as a starting point for the SCIS literature search. Thereafter, based on 21 SCIS articles, CSFs for supply chain information system implementation have been defined. The analysis showed that some CSFs have been ignored and important supply chain characteristics have been overlooked. Moreover, it is not always easy for project managers to know how to implement and apply CSFs in practice.