Beyond ERP Implementation: The Moderating Effect of Knowledge Management on Business Performance

Abstract

The implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is known to be time consuming and resource demanding. The success rate of implementation has been notoriously low. This may be attributed to the contextual factors of an implementing organization. Previous studies of the success factors of ERP system implementation often overlook the contextual factors of post-implementation maintenance and knowledge management. This study intends to examine the extent to which these two contextual factors affect the performance of a business. In this study, we classify post-implementation into system maintenance and data maintenance. A sample of 600 large firms in Taiwan was surveyed and 110 usable questionnaires were collected. Using regression analysis to test the hypotheses, we found that post-implementation maintenance of an ERP system has significant influence on the performance of a business. Furthermore, system maintenance has a significant direct effect on business performance and the moderating effect of knowledge management strengthens the relationship between data maintenance and business performance.