User Acceptance of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Nowadays, many higher education institutions (HEIs) replace existing computer systems with new ones to cope with the changing demands. At the top of these systems is enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems that integrate HEIs' business processes, functions, and data to improve their overall productivity and effectiveness. However, many studies on ERP adoption have shown that organizations frequently face several barriers, and the failure rate is high. This research aims to explore the factors that affect the behavioral adoption and acceptance of an ERP system in HEIs. Based on literature and authors' observations of the PeopleSoft system (ERP) implementation at Yanbu University College in Saudi Arabia (SA), a conceptual model of users' acceptance of ERP systems has been proposed. The framework is based on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. The study offers a theoretical contribution by extending the UTAUT model, and according to the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to address ERP users' adoption perspective in HEIs in SA.