Abstract:
The research efforts up to date have not been directed towards the study of the role of
communication during an implementation of an enterprise system. However, some
efforts are noted which stress communication as a critical factor and a problem in
general during the implementation. During the scoping phase of this research,
communication was proved to be of significance as a process in the realisation of
embedding of an enterprise system into the business. Considering the complexity of an
implementation of a system and consequently the complexity of its study, the research
method based on processual approach was developed to enable a better understanding
of the dynamics of this process. Three case studies have been conducted with the focus
on the understanding of the role and significance of communication. They included
interviews with the employees involved in the project or affected by the new system:
project managers, top managers, system specialists, and users. The findings focus on
the elements important to realise the communication process: communication strategy,
management activities such as announcements, motivation to communicate, resources
such as time, how informed the people who are involved are, communication across the
project, communication structure and process, facilitators as people who enable the
communication process, and communication about the technical issues. Special focus
was on the effect of communication on the transfer of psychological ownership of the
system, concerns about change and employee commitment. Additionally, several
themes are found to affect communication. These are: organisational structure, team
cohesion and trust. The role of communication confirms that all the parties need to use
the same language to enable common understanding. The communication process is
found to have direct and indirect influence on development of common organisational
goals, positive attitude towards the new system, and embedding of the new system in
current organisational functioning.