Business strategies and the adoption of ERP: Evidence from Taiwan's communications industry

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between business strategies and the adoption of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in Taiwan's communications industry. This sector has experienced astounding growth in production over the past three years. Design/methodology/approach - Data are collected from 100 organizations through face-to-face interviews. A discriminant analysis is used to test the hypotheses pertaining to the ERP adoption decision. Findings - The results show that a number of identified variables among the key internal and external descriptors of the firm's business strategies are the chief factors that determine whether ERP is adopted or not. Another variable, organization size, is also important, indicating that companies of different size approach the adoption of ERP differently. These variables correctly classify 78 percent of the decisions made with respect to the adoption of ERP. Originality/value - This is the first empirical research study that examines the relationship between a firm's business strategy and the adoption of ERP in the rapidly expanding communications industry in Taiwan. With an increased understanding and better insight into this relationship, it should be possible for managers to be more proactive in their planning of the future adoption of an ERP system. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT