Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 13
The Needed Adaptability
for ERP Systems
Ricardo Almeida
Universidade do Porto, Portugal
Américo Azevedo
Universidade do Porto, Portugal
AbstrAct
The new market trends are forcing companies to constantly reorganize their business processes so that
they can react quickly to the new economic challenges. Although not always, enterprise information
systems provide an appropriate response to these situations due to several reasons, such as technology
failure, lack of adaptable configuration tools or even the financial investment required, which makes it
unaffordable to companies. This article presents a functional model for ERP Systems (called FME) that
would guarantee a baseline structure to build solutions which would provide a complete configuration
and, therefore, a timely reaction to market fluctuations. This model also summarizes some of the most
used functionalities of the available ERP Systems.
introduction
is often considered a veritable Babel Tower since
its maintenance is performed without a completely
“thought and organized” process. A simple change
in a process may lead to organizational restruc-
turing and, therefore, it requires for changes and
new configurations on the existing information
systems.
This new trend requires enterprise information
systems to be provided with tools for rapid cus-
tomization (and management) in order to enable
an effective and timely response to these needs. In
this context, there are several Enterprise Resource
Planning (ERP) systems in the market capable of
The last decades have been characterized by con-
stant market fluctuations in the global economy
stability, causing companies to face a pressing
need to restructure their strategic business pro-
cesses. These changes usually require tactical
decisions for quick and accurate responses over
companies working processes, heading for short-
term adaptation actions to face the new market
needs. However, this constant (and ill) adaptation
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