Research has shown that minimal customization and business process reengineering (BPR) are critical success factors when implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. In contrast, recent industry development suggests that an increasing number of companies prefer to customize their ERP system and fit it to their specific business processes.
This study aims at addressing the gap between research and industry by investigating underlying factors and implications of the two strategies. The study involves the development of an analysis model which looks at the issue through three perspectives in order to get a holistic point of view;
Market, Organization, System. Further, the paper involves a case study conducted at two Swedish manufacturing companies. The findings highlight several factors which may be used to distinguish if a company benefits from a particular strategy. The factors involved market conditions such as maturity, regulations, and competition. Organizational factors highlighted the impact of company offerings, while system factors emphasized the influence of business processes and demands on system capabilities. Finally, the long-term implications showed that the standardized strategy was too rigid in an expanding organization while the customization strategy put high demands on organizational involvement and commitment.