Information Technology for Management Assignment-

In the text, the authors describe Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems and the risks and benefits involved with their implementation. I have posted two additional journal articles that relate to ERP system implementation:

1) "Avoiding ERP Implementation Failure" from Industrial Management.

2) "Enterprise resource planning: Implementation procedures and critical success factors" from the European Journal of Operational Research.

Read both of these articles and use them to answer the questions below. Ensure that you cite references using MLA  (7th edition) format: http://library.csustan.edu/guides/citation-style/mla/MLA7.pdf.

Submit your typewritten answers using 12-point font, double-spaced. Your answers should total approximately 800- 1,000 words in length. Submit a hard copy of your assignment as well as a digital copy to the Blackboard. Ensure that the pages are stapled.

1. In your own words, what is an ERP system? How do ERP systems relate to stand-alone functional business systems?

2. What are the typical financial costs of an ERP system? Based on the text, what are the activities behind these costs (data conversion, training, etc.)? Why do companies attempt to implement ERP systems even when the costs and risks of such systems are well known?

3. In your own words (no long quotations from the articles or text), describe the main reason ERP implementations are prone to failure. While the article and book may list reasons, look for a common thread that exists across all of the examples the provided in the article or book.

4. In your own words (no long quotations from the articles or text), describe the things that help ensure successful ERP implementation. The book and article may list specific reasons, but look for one or two common threads that exist across all of the examples.