Knowledge management as an antecedent of Enterprise System success

Abstract

Organisations invest substantial resources in Enterprise Systems (ES) expecting positive outcomes for the organisation and its functions. Yet, many ES projects have reported nil or detrimental impacts. The effective management of ES-related knowledge has been suggested as a critical success factor for these ES projects. This paper analyses the impact of managing knowledge on Enterprise System success and studies the relative importance of the knowledge management process (i.e. knowledge creation, retention, transformation and knowledge re-use). A path model is developed to test the above premise using the Adaptive Structuration Theory and a framework grounded in sociology of knowledge. Preliminary results indicate a strong relationship between effective knowledge management processes and Enterprise System success.