Peeking at the ERP Decline stage: Japanese empirical evidence

This research located and analyzed forty case studies in Japan related to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) switching, and specifically discussed the Decline stage of the ERP Life Cycle which has not been concerned enough in the academia. Qualitative data was mainly collected to answer the research questions fully. The results indicate the Decline stage does exist empirically. The prior studies explore the ERP failure cases which usually happen soon after the kickoff. This research finds empirical evident that both Large Enterprises (LEs) and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have experienced some kinds of declining in system performance and business performance, and had the urges and needs to retire or upgrade the current ERP system. Based on the findings, the causes of ERP termination, the two strategies which organizations adopted to deal with the current ERP systems, and the five events after the decision-making point were summarized and discussed. The findings also revealed three ambiguous issues that need more efforts. The results of this research fill up the blank in the ERP life cycle theory for more than one decade. The findings from a relatively large sample can also help practitioners and researchers to explore the shifting period more thoroughly and to build tools to solve current and potential problems in order to prepare and assist organizations.