Unleashing process orientation : A comparative study of enterprise system implementation in Canadian and US firms

Purpose – In the past few years, process orientation (PO) as an integral part of enterprise system (ES) implementation has been the center of attention among practitioners and academics. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the role of PO in ES implementation through an empirical study of Canadian and US firms. Design/methodology/approach – A comparative analysis of ES implementation was performed based on the data collected from a sample of large Canadian and US firms. Exploratory factor analyses were conducted to identify the factors associated with constructs of the research model. Moreover, path analysis approach was employed to conduct comparative analysis across the two samples. Findings – The findings indicate that PO significantly reduces the challenges of ES implementation. Moreover, PO has been shown to have a positive effect on the successful implementation and utilization of ES under certain conditions. However, the level of PO at different phases is observed to have diverse effects on different aspects of ES implementation as a result of opposite forces of change. In addition, the path analysis confirms the validity of measurement of PO at three phases of ES implementation. Research limitations/implications – No database of managers who have been involved in all three phases of ES implementation exists; hence, the respondents are asked to answer the questionnaire only if they are involved in all three phases of ES implementation. This places a limitation on the respond rate. Originality/value – This paper is the first paper that measures PO at three phases of ES implementation and explores the effect of PO on different dimensions of ES implementation. This approach provides a novel insight into understanding of the role of PO in ES implementation. This paper offers two major contributions toward a further understanding of the business processes in organizations. The first contribution of this paper is the development of measurement systems for assessing the level of PO and various dimensions of ES implementation. The second major contribution of this paper is unveiling the role of PO in ES implementation through the comparative analysis across Canadian and US firms.