Artículo 4: MICs and minimum fungicidal concentrations of posaconazole, voriconazole

Empirical research suggests that there are close links between the effectiveness of ERP consultants which are recruited to implement ERP systems within corporations, and the overall success of the ERP system. The majority of companies which choose to implement a new ERP system do not have suitable levels of in house expertise and are therefore forced to rely on the expertise which can be obtained by recruiting an external ERP consultant. Wang et al (2008) comment that the effectiveness with which a company is able to engage external expertise is a fundamental attribute in determining the success of the ERP implementation. According to Wang et al (2008), the key roles which are played by an ERP consultant is the provision of technical expertise, the provision of business expertise, the configuration of the

ERP systems which are deemed to be most appropriate, and the training of the eventual end users of the ERP system. The overall effect of fulfilling all of these functions is to lessen the learning burden of clients which is typically associated with the adoption of a new system. A survey which was conducted by Li, Xu, Tjoa and Chaudhry (2009) examined a sample of 85 corporations within the Taiwanese manufacturing industry within which ERP projects were implemented. The results of the research revealed that consultants who were more effective at resolving conflict and at enabling communication within the process of ERP consultation were significantly more effective at increasing the quality of ERP system which were implemented. Indeed, the results of the multiple regression which were conducted in this study revealed that the role which was played by ERP consultants in determining the success of the ERP implementation was even more significant than the role which was played by senior organisational managers. The outcomes of the study also revealed that the extent to which continued support is provided by the ERP consultant to the organisation after the initial go live of the project is likely to have a significant impact on the effectiveness of the new system, suggesting that in order to ensure the effective implementation of an ERP system, the engagement of the ERP consultant with the company needs to be long term in nature.

Aside from outlining the desirable factors which need to be present in any ERP consultant in order to ensure an effective ERP implementation, much research has been conducted which examines the various instances of companies in which the actions taken by ERP consultants have restricted the success of the ERP implementation. In particular, Ifinedo and Nahar (2009) comment that the key reasons why many companies are not satisfied with the outcomes which are associated with the hiring of an ERP consultant are related to the fact that the ERP consultant did not properly understand the requirements of the client; the ERP consultants failed to provide a solution for the company‟s needs which adequately reflected their requirements, and was instead a generic package; the ERP consultants did not properly understand the organisational culture of the client company and failed to provide an ERP solution which took into account such key cultural factors; and many consultants simply aimed to get more work from the client company rather than genuinely trying to address their needs.

In summary, therefore, it appears that in many cases ERP consultants have not fully focused on the needs of the company and have failed to act in the interests of the client – rather, they

have simply provided clients with a standard solution which is not adequately tailored to the client‟s needs. Wenrich and Ahmad (2009) claim that the reason for the disappointing contributions which are made by many ERP consultants can be explained by means of agency theory – in particular, it is suggested that the aforementioned issues arise as the result of a fundamental conflict which exists between the goals of the client (the principal) and those of the consultant (the agent). Essentially, the way in which such conflicts of goals is to be managed is only through the implementation of control mechanisms which can act either to increase the extent to which managers are able to supervise the actions of the agents, or which can act to incentivise the consultants to work more closely to meet the desired objectives of the client. This is emphasised by Li et al (2009) who argues that, in order to result in the effective implementation of an ERP system, it is essential to ensure that the relationship between the client and the ERP consultant is such that they are able to closely cooperate in order to meet all of their specified objectives. It is therefore important to ensure that controls are in place which enforce such cooperation – an example of such controls could include the introduction of greater coordination between the client and the consultant so that they can come to a common agreement about the goals that they are both working towards.

An effective way of solidifying such coordination could be through the formulation of a contract between the client and the ERP consultant which outlines the terms which have been agreed upon, although empirical research which has been conducted by Partharasathy (2010) suggests that such client consultant contracts are rare.

Research which has been conducted by Stair and Reynolds (2011) also comments that the role which is played by the ERP consultant should also reflect the fact that ERP systems are implemented in a variety of interdependent models. It is important for the ERP consultant to ensure that they effectively coordinate and manage the interdependencies which are related to the various ERP modules, especially given their disparate nature. Indeed, Pabedinskaite (2010) goes so far as to suggest that the effectiveness of ERP implementation is directly correlated to the extent to which integration between these different modules is achieved. It is also argued that, in most cases, instances of failed ERP implementation can be traced to the lack of suitable coordination and communication between different modules of ERP which is in turn due to a failure of the ERP consultants to fully acknowledge the complexity which is associated with the implementation of an ERP system.

Finally, a study which was conducted by Stair and Reynolds (2011) suggests that a key error which was made by many ERP consultants when they are recruited to implement a new ERP system is to focus solely on the technical issues which are related to the implementation. In contrast, it is advisable for ERP consultants to focus equally, if not more, on building a consensus within the organisation about the new ERP system, and getting the stakeholders within the organisation to commit to change.

Indeed, Lytras and Ordonez de Pablos (2009) argue that being able to achieve functional coordination within the company is a task which it is significantly more important for the ERP manager to undertake than issues which are related to the functionality and configuration of the ERP system itself. This is emphasised by a case study which was conducted by Lytras and Ordonez de Pablos (2009) focusing on the case of a Mexican company which had recently implemented a new ERP system. It was found that the new ERP system failed to result in the expected benefits for the company due to the fact that the organisation was not adequately prepared for the change which was related to the new system, so that, even though the technical issues which were related to the implementation of the information system were managed adequately, this was not sufficient to result in an effective system implementation. Indeed, those companies which were most likely to experience successful ERP system implementations were those companies in which the initial specifications of the ERP project were continuously modified in response to various obstacles and organisational changes which occurred over time. Those companies which were less successful in the implementation of their ERP systems were typically characterised by the ambiguity of their objectives, the lack of commitment and support by senior managers, and the failure of the ERP managers to unite the objectives of the ERP project with the values and motivations of the employees working within the organisation (Olson & Kesharwani, 2009).