Integrating ERP with e-commerce: A new dimension toward growth for micro, small and medium-scale enterprises in india

Abstract

In the developing economy like India Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a very important role as they are the engines of growth in development, upliftment, and transition of economy to the next level. The MSME’s in India have played a critical role in generation of employment, providing goods and services at affordable costs by offering innovative solutions in very unstructured and unorganized manner. With the increase in the growing competition and its complexity it is essential for today’s business enterprises to work in structured manner by changing its functioning environment dynamically by integrating internal information resourses to the platform of ERP systems which will assist in optimizing potential of utilizing resources efficiently and determining growth. Moreover, with the exponential growth of Internet technology and the emergence of e-business, MSME’s can unify the external information resources with internal functional areas within an organization. Use of e-commerce solutions will help enterprises to expand their business through broader product exposure, better customer service, accurate order entry processes and faster product fulfillment. It is expected that in MSME’s implementation of an ERP system can facilitate an e-business effort of an organization to optimize its overall functioning. In order to serve as a platform for e-business, it is essential that an ERP system must also be able to be extended to support a range of external constituents for a firm. This paper focuses on that how the challenges faced by MSME’s can be overcome by implementing ERP system in an organisation with the efficient integration of e-commerce to optimize its functioning. Further, the paper will highlight the add-on benefits to the companies for using integrated e-commerce platforms with ERP systems. The paper is based on the in-depth study of publically available information collected from the published articles, journals, reports, websites, blogs, and academic literatures in context with the economy of India.