The integrating and disciplining tendencies of ERPs: evidence from Australian organizations

There is relatively little research on the impact of Enterprise Resource Planning systems (ERPs) on the organization of work. This paper uses evidence drawn from five case studies to examine the impact of ERPs on the way that organizations are structured, the content of jobs, the distribution of control and authority throughout the organization and the types of skills needed by organizations. Evidence from the case studies suggests that the standardization of business processes associated with ERPs helps produce considerable changes in work organization, which have both disciplining and integrating tendencies.