Symbolic processes in ERP versus legacy system usage

Abstract

Being hailed as possessing the ability to drive effective business reengineering and management of core and support processes, it is not surprising that enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have been adopted by more than 60 percent of Fortune 500 companies at the turn of the century. In contrast, legacy systems have frequently been attached with negative connotations. Yet at the same time, it is common knowledge that some legacy systems are not replaced when companies adopt ERP solutions, while new in-house systems still continue to be developed. While risks and time involved have been highlighted as possible reasons for the non-replacement of legacy systems, little attention has been paid to process issues as well as the symbolic meanings attached to the ERP vis-à-vis the other coexisting information systems. This research employs symbolic interactionism as the informing theoretical perspective in an ethnographic study of a large government authority in Singapore. Our findings surprisingly indicate that contrary to popular belief, the end-users in that organization tend to attach rather favorable symbols to their legacy and new in-house developed systems, while displaying relatively negative sentiments towards their ERP package. In this paper, we first discuss the different symbolism attached over the years to the coexisting systems. Next, we highlight how certain symbols gradually got sedimented over time. Finally, we demonstrate how the consequent manifestations of these symbolic realities influenced certain organizational actions that impacted the usage and perpetuation of the coexisting systems. © 2004 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.