Articulo 3 [en preparación]: Estudio de la variabilidad del gen CNLAC1 entre

Research which has been conducted by Longinidis and Gotzmani (2009) suggests that one of the most important roles which are played by ERP managers is project management, and that on a basic level, the success of an ERP project in terms of its budget and its timelines is dependent on the effectiveness of such project management. This is specified by Wagner and Monk (2008) who argue that ERP managers need to ensure that they have a suitable plan in place for available resources, the desired objectives of the project, a work plan and that the progress of the project is subjected to continuous monitoring. In addition, the ERP manager needs to ensure that the structures which are in place within the specialist team who is responsible for overseeing the ERP implementation is structured in a way which is likely to result in successful implementation. Specifically, key change concepts need to be fully understood by all members of the implementation team, progress reviews need to be scheduled, as do reviews and time scales, while the efficiency of the implementation is also dependent on the existence of a pre-defined hierarchy of decision making (Ganesh & Mehta, 2010).

Furthermore, the relevant people within the team need to be provided with the empowerment that they require to be able to make the necessary decisions. This is reiterated by Grabet, Mayere and Bazet (2008) who comment that one of the key roles of the ERP manager should be to ensure that all of the core business processes which typify the business are closely realigned with the requirements of the software and that there is a high level of integration between the technical division and the rest of the departments within the company. Furthermore, it is essential to ensure that, in his project managing capacity, the ERP manager establishes a realistic timeline for completion in order to ensure that employees are reassured about the time which will be taken for the completion of the project and to ensure that they have a higher degree of trust in the process.

The significant extent to which the ERP manager‟s role as a project manager is likely to affect the success of an ERP implementation is emphasised by Peng and Nunes (2008) who argue that it is not sufficient for an ERP manager to be simply „organised‟ in their approach to an ERP implementation. Rather, the success of system implementation requires the ERP manager to follow a very specific process. Firstly, it is necessary for the ERP manager to clearly decide upon what the scope of the ERP project is and to determine the way in which

the outcome of the ERP system will fit into the strategy of the overall organisation. This should then be followed by the appointment of relevant teams of individuals who have the expertise necessary for the implementation of the system. These teams should be responsible for outlining the key training needs and the requirements for documentation which are associated by the company which can be determined by an analysis of the existing systems of the company. These requirements can then be used as the basis for the development of a prototype system which will help to crystallise the key requirements of the organisation from the new system. The constructed prototype should incorporate all of the company‟s business processes which should be mapped onto the various functionalities of the ERP software; in order to ensure that the ERP system will be effective, it is suggested that the ERP manager should instigate field testing which will play the role of validating the relevant conversion programs and technical interfaces. This process of field testing will also be useful in highlighting any problems which arise with the system, and can proceed to form a useful basis for further amendments to be made to the system on the basis of feedback which is received from employees (Wagner & Monk, 2008). It is also suggested that the ERP manager should ensure that a wide range of quality assurance testing is carried out in order to produce different configurations of the ERP system; training of end users should also be provided and after the insertion of real data onto the system, it then should be implemented.

Aside from the need for efficient project management, Peng and Nunes (2008) argue that an important role which should be played by the ERP manager is to effectively manage the teams who are responsible for the project. Such team management is essential to ensure that people feel that they have ownership of the ERP project. This is reiterated by Pabedinskaite (2010) who argues that it is the responsibility of ERP managers to ensure that the way in which various teams are assembled is such that the differences between the employees working in the non technical and the technical areas of the organisation are bridged effectively. This will contribute to the sense of creation of a more holistic sense of ownership in the project and essentially signals a shift from a traditional, linear conceptualisation of IT project management which proceeds on the assumption that the only requirements for ERP success are clear budgeting, controls and planning.

Stair and Reynolds (2011) go so far as to argue that effective ERP managers need to embrace a new paradigm of management where they are expected to perform the role of moderating,

managing and interpreting organisational change. As a result of this new paradigm, ideally, the ERP manager should select teams which are comprised of people who are used to adopting more flexible modes of thought, who are able to effectively interpret different change related scenarios and who are adept at being able to communicate change to existing stakeholders. This could arguably be achieved by ensuring that the ERP managers select a range of key individuals who can act as project managers and who can use their influence to simultaneously obtain much needed support from the senior managers of the organisation while also ensuring that the end users of the system buy into the project and are suitably motivated. This will require such project champions to be able to fulfil a range of different roles, and most importantly, the ability to assume an empathetic role of counsellor when reacting to the concerns of employees and encouraging them to buy into the process (Stair & Reynolds, 2011). While the suggestion of electing project champions appears to be a useful way of bridging the gap which exists between the senior managers of the organisation and the end users, the extent to which these findings can be generalised to apply to all organisations is limited by the fact that all of the companies which featured in the secondary research are large corporations and are therefore more likely to have access to the necessary resources. The same issue applies to the role which is played by ERP consultants. It is eminently more feasible for larger corporations to be able to afford to recruit a specialised, external ERP consultant who is able to produce multiple configurations and prototypes of the ERP system. It is highly unlikely that a smaller organisation with more limited resources would have the capability to recruit such a consultant and it is more likely that they would be forced to rely on in house expertise.