Look before you leap into ERP implementation: An object-oriented approach to business process modeling

Abstract

Procedural due diligence is critical for effective adoption and use of enterprise systems. Such procedural review needs to be holistic, capturing both the mechanistic aspects of process workflows as well as the human behavioral influences. Traditional methodologies offer little guidance on how to capture the human dimension of business processes. This article draws upon the Object Oriented (OO) concepts to propose and validate an approach that simultaneously models the content of the process flows and the human behavioral context. The two companies that served as test sites greatly benefited from using this process modeling approach. The analysis results gave these companiesthat were on the verge of full-scale Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) implementationreason to pause and reevaluate their current state of affairs. © 2011 by the Association for Information Systems.