Strategic Use of ERP Systems

Strategic Use of ERP Systems – Decision Making and Connectivity

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[Name of the Institute]

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 Strategic Use of ERP Systems

Strategic Use of ERP Systems – Decision Making and Connectivity

Decision Making
Enterprise Systems are gaining popularity all over the world due to its increasing usage in the business enterprises.
Today, it is not only providing us with accurate information but that information is being utilised in order to make
organizational decisions. The organizations have now moved from the average systems to the enterprise which has
streamlined the flow of information and a clearer picture of the organizational processes can be painted for the upper
hierarchy.

According to Hoit (2013), it has become a huge problem for organizations to actually keep a record of the data as
there is a lot of data and it needs to be kept in a systematic manner. He gave example of NC University which has to
share information with people all over the world, majorly different school, colleges, institutions, organizations and
other universities due to which it was essential that such a strong system was built that connection between the parties
was easier. This meant that decisions could be made with the help of more information and a better result could be
easily obtained.

He further stated that when there are different systems present to store and collect the information, there is a lot of
variation. This tends to confuse the masses due to which a lag in decision making can be witnessed by the
organizations. Thus, the gap is filled by Enterprise System as it streamlines the information in such a way that a better
sense of the information can be made by the decision makers be it students, college professors or organizational
employees (Hoit, 2013). So, it is important that clear information is provided to the decision maker.

On the other hand, in the case ‘Understanding the Impact of Enterprise Systems on Management Decision Making:
An Agenda for Future Research’, it is stated that Enterprise systems have increased the effectiveness of managers as
the flow of information is extremely is easy and keeps on increasing which helps them in making the right decisions
at the right times (Carton & Adam, 2005). This serves as a major factor for the success of an enterprise and for its
future growth.

Furthermore, it serves as a catalyst to decision making at three levels in the organization, being corporate level, core
implementation team and local site. First, Enterprise systems provide information for all the levels in an organization
in order to make sure that the whole corporation is functioning on proper decision making. This stage is vital for its
success and huge decisions are made with the help of the Enterprise Systems.

Secondly, the teams with in an organization also base their decision making upon the increasing flow of information
coming from the enterprise system in order to make sure that the right decisions are made collectively by the teams.
It not only provides the teams with greater information but also serves as a system to gather information in such a way
that it makes greater sense to the respective team members and thus helps in better decision making. Similarly, it is
also being used at the small organizational levels being the lower hierarchy in an organization in order to make sure
that right development takes place as proper decisions can be made based upon solid information.

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 Strategic Use of ERP Systems

Connectivity
Connectivity in the current world is extremely important for all businesses in order to makes sure that there is an easy
flow of information so that globalization can take place easily as well as rapidly. Although, initially connectivity was
linked with huge fixed costs, today the gap has been bridged by the Enterprise Systems. Such a network has been
established that there is proper information processing and that information is stored in the best possible manner,
making it easier for organizations to access such information from all parts of the world.

According to BA-Insight (2015), Enterprise Systems have found a way to connect the whole world together with the
flow of information. It has provided such a secure mechanism that important confidential data can be accessed from
anywhere in the world if the access has bene allowed. It has provided organizations with a proper platform to share
information amongst each other and this information can be stored upon the systems and only limited information can
also be shared with certain parties due to which globalization has become extremely easy.

Moreover, persistent security mapping, data connectivity, context mapping, and enrichment is provided by the
Enterprise Systems to the organizations and this helps in establishing a better connection with the world in any way
that the organizations wishes to connect (BA-Insight, 2015). It provides a lot of flexibility so that the systems can be
moulded according to specific needs of the organization.

Swamy (2014) states that managing an Enterprise System are not an easy job as it requires a lot of work and effort
and demand for new features keep on increasing day by day in the Enterprise Systems but this demand has inculcated
a lot of flexibility in to the system. Enterprise systems have been so effective for the organizational learning and
decision making that organizations have gained greater advantage through the use of these systems.

Due to its high connectivity, Enterprise Systems have been able to capture the market in such a way that their needs
are fulfilled and a proper system to store information is presented. This way, organizations all over the world are able
to store as well as share large sets of information in different geographical locations without a hitch (Swamy, 2014).
It has provided a clear platform to share not only data but information as well as applications so that the world can
easily connect together.

Furthermore, these Enterprise Systems are not only for the large organizations that are operating all over the world
but even the organizations that have a very small structure can use it as it not only assembles information in such a
way that it’s easier to understand but also connects the information in such a way that it saves time, energy and money
and then the information can be easily shared by one party to another which can provide a growth opportunity for the
small businesses.

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 Strategic Use of ERP Systems

References

BA-Insight, 2015. Secure Connectivity to Enterprise Systems Through Search. [Online]

Available at: http://bainsight.com/files/Whitepapers/Secure-Connectivity-to-Enterprise-Systems.pdf
[Accessed 4 October 2015].
Carton, F. & Adam, F., 2005. Understanding the impact of enterprise systems on management decision making: an
agenda for future research. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 8(2), pp. 99-106.
Hoit, M., 2013. Empowering Enterprise Decision Making: How North Carolina State University Makes Data
Available, Interconnected and Usable. [Online]
Available at: https://www.sas.com/content/dam/SAS/en_us/doc/conclusionpaper1/empowering-enterprise-
decision-making-106489.pdf
[Accessed 4 October 2015].
Swamy, S., 2014. Beyond Connectivity: Moving Enterprise ICT to the Operator Cloud. Ericsson Business Review,
Issue 4.

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