The Sample Selection of Case Studies

The interpretivist philosophy and the case study strategy did not rely on large samples, as a consequence of the investigation comprising an in-depth examination of the phenomenon.

A non-probability purposive sample model was therefore appropriate to this thesis (Yin, 2009; Saunders et al. 2009). The participants were employed in roles at different organisational levels in the companies implementing ERP systems, were consultants advising those companies and ERP software vendors supplying the firms; the participants also had diverse lengths of service or relationship with the organisations on which the cases were based.

The case studies aimed to investigate how stakeholders were attracted, involved and interrelated, and how they participated and contributed to the success or the failure of the implementation process. The issues of interest to the case studies were related to the operationalisation of key elements of ERP implementation; a major focus was placed on the soft elements that included human aspects, structural and cultural change. A further focus was placed on the way in which these elements interrelate

with roles and responsibilities management to achieve a higher return of the ERP investment.

The organisations selected had different ERP implementation issues from a stakeholder perspective, which could be assessed and, since accomplishing data richness is an aim of the thesis, success and failure experiences had to be embraced.

In order to ensure strong bonds between the potential data that are to be gathered from the case studies in achieving the research aims and objectives, a number of dimensions have been suggested that should differentiate the selected organisations for case studies. On the other hand, to allow proper comparative analysis after gathering adequate data from the cases a number of criteria have been also suggested, that each organisation must meet in order to be selected for the study.

Dimensions to differentiate chosen organisations

Firstly, as the main user of the targeted model is the ERP sponsor, the nominated cases need to have different types of ownership. Such variety in the nature of ownership is expected to cover a wider span of the issues that can face ERP sponsors in different ownership setups. The authorisation power in family businesses for example is not expected to be similar to the power that ERP sponsors have in publicly traded organisations. Such variety from the ownership perspective can be expected to cover more of the issues the ERP sponsors face during the ERP implementation, leading to better findings that can enrich research results. Secondly, the nature of business also plays a remarkable role in exposing the issues that affect the process of managing roles and responsibilities among stakeholders. If all chosen organisations fall into the same business sectors, the findings from the research might be viewed as industry-specific, which is not the intention of this research. The diversity in the business sectors of the chosen organisations can lead the research to address a wider and more varied range of scenarios in the management of roles and responsibilities among the stakeholders. It is expected to highlight different areas where ERP success can be increased and to suggest common areas where the management of roles and responsibilities can either be defined or amended.

Another dimension in nominating organisations for the case studies is the size of the organisation. It is widely cited in the literature that SME’s face different problems in implementing ERP in comparison to large ones.

Last but not least, the culture of the organisation in terms of the influence by western business practices has been taken into account while nominating the samples. This is due to the fact that it has been widely cited that in the literature that western organisations in Europe and US faces fewer problems compared to the organisations in developing countries.

Common criteria for the nominated organisations

Eight cross-industry companies were identified as meeting the criteria and four were selected for the study based on fulfilment of the following criteria:

 The selected ERP product was one of the top 10 ERP packages (based on world class consulting ERP indices, such as Gartner, Meta)

 A minimum of three core ERP modules must be implemented

 The ‘go-live’ stage must have been reached for at least three modules  Two years must have passed since the ‘go-live; stage

 ERP remained as the main business application system

The Selection of Case Studies

In order to gain such insights and meet the aims of the case studies, the organisations selected agreed to share the details of matters related to their ERP implementation and to allow the researcher access to documented data that might support the study. In addition, permission had to be granted for research interviews with relevant personnel at different levels of the organisation.

Hence self-selection was the fundamental approach, rather than a particular industry, product, or service (Saunders et al., 2009).

These conditions facilitated the examination of the elements that the research required, but each case had unique features, which represented the opportunity to enrich the research findings by exploring several scenarios and practices that could be subject to further investigations and discussions. This strategy, which mirrored the

exploratory, inductive enquiry, was expected to lead to valuable outputs for the proposed framework.

The differences between the selected organisations are exemplified by:

1. Nature of the business: the first organisation is a project manufacturing company; the second a mix of discrete manufacturing and retail; the third company is a mixture of contracting, retail and manufacturing and the fourth organisation provides services and utilities.

2. Ownership varied, ranging from a Limited Liability Company, to Holding Company (shares traded publicly), family business and government ownership.

3. Size: three of the organisations are classified as large corporations. A fourth corporation is classified as medium to large.

4. ERP software: three companies had implemented one of the top two ranked ERP software while the fourth implemented one of the top ten ranked ERP

5. Cultural influences: one of the companies was heavily influenced by Western business culture, whereas three others had only experience of local culture

The diversity of issues represented by the four case studies had the advantage of enriching the data collected (Swanson and Beath, 1989; Yin, 1989). This richness of data facilitated comparative analysis between the cases, and led to theory improvement. The family business case study was expected to demonstrate how local, family owned and medium size organisations tackled ERP initiatives; facilitated by observing how implementation issues arose and were handled in their cultural context. The agriculture company had almost executed three implementation projects at the time of this study; the first was a total disaster; the second was highly successful, and the third was partially successful. The service company also experienced varying success rates: of the three implementation projects executed, the first was a failure and the other two were very successful. The service and agriculture companies shared similar experiences, particularly in terms of turning the difficulties and failures into success, which represented a substantial opportunity to enrich the research observations and findings. The electronic manufacturing company, which was based on western culture and standards, did not experience implementation failure. However, many other aspects of interest were observed in this case which were expected to add value to this thesis.

Since the researcher had worked in the ERP field for many years, he utilised his strong network to reach the best contacts, those individuals who had key roles in ERP implementation. The researcher sent an initial informal request for participation before making an official approach, as this process met the ethical procedures of requesting research data. Initially one company was reluctant to participate, since it would have preferred an approach after its ERP application had been enhanced but the researcher convinced the CEO that the issues and errors represented a major opportunity from a research perspective. The demonstration that the university's ethical procedures would underpin the information gathering from participants, provided the company with the assurances required to agree to be one of the cases.