Title: Impact of leadership and power on successful ERP adoption

Authors: Eric Chan, Anthony Mills, Derek Walker

Addresses: School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne Victoria, Australia. ' School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne Victoria, Australia. ' School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University, Melbourne Victoria, Australia

Abstract: Case study research investigating the impact of culture upon a Hong Kong based construction contractor|s leadership in implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system unearthed rich data relating to the predominantly Hong Kong Chinese cultural perspective of power, leadership and followership. Intimately involved participants were surveyed using both structured and semi-structured interviews. The study|s focus was centred upon the interplay between culture, power and how people interact with the way that the ERP is used and how teams of people involved in the ERP implementation, perceived the supportive nature of the organisation|s leadership in deploying the ERP. A culturally sensitive empowering leadership style was a significant issue in successfully project managing and deploying the ERP. Understanding how teams and their leaders interact and how power and trust influences the facilitation role of leadership is also useful in gauging how an ERP can be most effectively deployed.

Keywords: leadership; power; culture; construction industry; project management; ERP adoption; enterprise resource planning; Hong Kong; project teams; team interaction; ERP implementation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJHRDM.2008.018788

International Journal of Human Resources Development and Management, 2008 Vol.8 No.3, pp.216 - 245

Published online: 18 Jun 2008 *

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