The decision making process concerning investments in ERP software - results of an empirical study in Austrian organizations

This paper describes the results of an empirical study of the decision making process concerning ERP software investments. The effects of several variables such as size or industry and the importance attributed to different criteria on the decision have been investigated. Furthermore, we discuss the methods to realize a decision as well as the groups of actors who are involved in the decision process. In addition, the costs for decision making and the following implementation have been examined with regard to correlations with other characteristics of the organization, e.g. size or a preceding business process reengineering initiative.