Evaluating the success of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP) for adopting organizations is an emerging area of study. Many organizations both large and small have been victims of unsuccessful ERP implementations. Recently the value of ERP systems has been extensively debated in academic literature and public press. This study attempts to complement the ongoing research dedicated to better understanding ERP systems and what drives its’ success. Knowledge is more and more recognized as a strategic tool within organizations for sustaining competitive advantage and companies are now beginning to manage organizational knowledge. Many studies have been focused on knowledge management and its’ relationship to overall organizational performance. The emphasis of this study is on knowledge creation and factors that enable its’ use and how it relates to ERP success. The model proposed in this study includes organizational culture, structure, IT support, knowledge creation and ERP success.
This research study uses information gathered from managers and employees within the footwear and apparel industry. This industry is unique due to product demand challenges and supply chain inefficiencies. 187 respondents provided information in the form of an electronic questionnaire to assess the impact of knowledge creation on the success of their ERP system.
Results indicate that knowledge creation does have an impact on ERP success. Specifically organizational culture was found to be a significant of knowledge creation, while knowledge creation demonstrated a strong relationship to the success of an ERP system.

Al-Mashari, M., & Zairi, M. (2000). The effective application of SAP R/3: A proposed model of best practice Logistics Information Management, 13(3), 156-166.
Alavi, M., & Leidner, D. E. (2001). Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues. [Article]. MIS Quarterly, 25, 107-136.
Axline, J. E., & Lebl, B. J. (2007). Leveraging downstream data in the footwear/apparel Industry Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Sabherwal, R. (2001). Organization Knowledge Management: A Contingency Perspective. [Article]. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18, 23-55.
Bennett, R., & Gabriel, H. (1999). Organizational factors and knowledge management within large marketing departments: an empirical study. Journal of Knowledge Management 3(3), 212-225.
Bingi, P., Sharma, M. K., & Godla, J. K. (1999). Critical Issues Affecting an ERP Implementation. Information Systems Management, 16(3), 7.
Caruana, A., Morris, M. H., & Vella, A. J. (1998). The effect of centralization and formalization on entrepreneurship in export firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 36(1), 16-29.
Damanpour, F. (1991). A meta-analysis of effect of determinants and moderators. Academy of Management Journal, 34(3), 555-590.
Davenport, T. H. (1998). Putting the Enterprise into the Enterprise System. [Article]. Harvard Business Review, 76, 121-131.
Davenport, T. H., Long, D. W. D., & Beers, M. C. (1998). Successful Knowlege Management Projects. Sloan Management Review.
De Long, D. W., & Fahey, L. (2000). Diagnosing cultural barriers to knowledge management. [Article]. Academy of Management Executive, 14, 113-127.
DeLone, W. H., & McLean, E. R. (1992). Information Systems Success: The Quest for the Dependent Variable. [Article]. Information Systems Research, 3, 60-95.
Gold, A. H., Malhotra, A., & Segars, A. H. (2001). Knowledge Management: An Organizational Capabilities Perspective. [Article]. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18, 185-214.
Gupta, A. K., & Govindarajan, V. (2000). Knowledge management's social dimension: Lessons from Nucor steel. Sloan Management Review, 42(1), 71-80.
Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black (1998). Multivariate Data Analysis (5 ed.): Prentice Hall.
Hofstede, G. (1994). The Business of International Business is Culture. International Business Review, 3(1), 1-14.
Holsapple, C. W., & Joshi, K. D. (2001). Organizational knowledge resources. Decision Support Systems, 31(1), 39-54.
Hong, K.-K., & Kim, Y.-G. (2002). The critical success factors for ERP implementation: an organizational fit perspective. Information & Management, 40(1), 25-40.
Hopper, M. D. (1990). Rattling SABRE - new ways to compete on information. Harvard Business Review, 68(3), 118-125.
Hurley, & Green (2005). Knowledge Management AND The Nonprofit Industry: A Within And Between Approach. Journal of Knowledge Management Practice.
Hurley, & Hult (1998). Innovation, market orientation, and organizational learning: An integration and empircal examination. Journal of Marketing, 62(3), 42-54.
ICMR (Producer). (2005) SCM and ERP Software Implemenation at Nike: From Failure to Success.
Ifinedo, P. (2006). Extending the Gable et al. Enterprise Systems Success Measurement Model: A Premilinary Study. Journal of Information Technolgy Management, 17(1).
Jones, M. C., Cline, M., & Ryan, S. (2006). Exploring knowledge sharing in ERP implementation: an organizational culture framework. [Article]. Decision Support Systems, 41, 411-434.
Kim, Y., Lee, Z., & Gosain, S. (2005). Impediments to successful ERP implementation process. Business Process Management Journal, 11(2), 158-170.
Krogh, G. (1998). Care in Knowledge Creation. [Article]. California Management Review, 40, 133-153.
Krogh, G., Nonaka, I., & Aben, M. (2001). Making the most of your company's knowledge: A strategic framework Long Range Planning, 34(4), 421-439.
Lee, H., & Choi, B. (2003). Knowledge Management Enablers, Processes, and Organizational Performance: An Integrative View and Empirical Examination. [Article]. Journal of Management Information Systems, 20, 179-228.
Leonard, D., & Sensiper, S. (1998). The role of tacit knowledge in group innovation. California Management Review, 40(3), 112-132.
Liang, H., Saraf, N., Hu, Q., & Xue, Y. (2007). Assimilation of Enterprise Systems: The Effect of institutional Pressures and The Mediating Role of Top Management [Article]. MIS Quarterly, 31, 59-87.
Markus, M. L., Axline, S., Petrie, D., & Tanis, S. C. (2000). Learning from adopters' experiences with ERP: problems encountered and success achieved. [Article]. Journal of Information Technology (Routledge, Ltd.), 15, 245-265.
Miller, D. A. (1996). A preliminary typlogy of organizational learning: Synthesizing the literature Academy of Management Review, 23(2), 242-266.
Motwani, J., Subramanian, R., & Gopalakrishna, P. (2005). Critical factors for successful ERP implementation: Exploratory findings from four case studies. Computers in Industry, 56(6), 529-544.
Nah, F. F.-H., Janet Lee-Shang Lau (2001). Critical factors for successful implementation of enterprise systems. Business Process Management Journal, 7(3), 285-296.
Nahapiet, J., & Ghoshal, S. (1998). Social Capital, Intellectual Capital, and The Organizational Advantage [Article]. Academy of Management Review, 23, 242-266.
Nelson, K. M., & Cooprider, J. G. (1996). The contribution of shared knowledge to IS group performance. MIS Quarterly, 20(4), 409-429.
Newell, S., Huang, J. C., Galliers, R. D., & Pan, S. L. (2003). Implementing enterprise resource planning and knowledge management systems in tandem: fostering efficiency and innovation complementarity. Information and Organization, 13(1), 25-52.
Nonaka, I. (1994). A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. [Article]. Organization Science, 5, 14-37.
Nonaka, I. (2006). Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory: Evolutionary Paths and Future Advances. Organizational Studies, 27(8), 1179-1208.
Nonaka, I., Byosiere, P., & Konno, N. (1994). Organizational knowledge creation theory: A first comprehensive test. International Business Review, 3(4), 337-351.
Nonaka, I., & Noboru, K. (1998). The Concept of "Ba": BUILDING A FOUNDATION FOR KNOWLEDGE CREATION. [Article]. California Management Review, 40, 40-54.
Nonaka, I., Reinmoller, P., & Toyama, R. (2001). Integrated Information Technology Systems for Knowledge Creation Handbook of Organizational Learning & Knowledge (pp. 827-848): Meinolf Dierkes 2001.
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The Knowledge-Creating Company.
O'Dell, C., & Grayson, C. (1998). If only we knew what we know: identification and transfer of internal best practices California Management Review, 40(3), 154-174.
O'Leary, D. (2002). Knowledge management across enterprise resource planning systems life cycle. International Journal of Accounting Information Systems(3).
Palanisamy, R. (2006). A Knowledge-Based Framwork to Manage Flexibility in ERP Systems. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 5(1), 39-53.
Palanisamy, R. (2007). Capturing Users' Tacit Knowledge in ERP Implementation: An Exploratory Multi-Site Case Study. Journal of Information and Knowledge Management, 6(1), 9-23.
Palanisamy, R. (2008). Organizational Culture and Knowledge Management in ERP Implementation: An Empirical Study. Journal of Computer Information Systems.
Panorama (2009). ERP Implementations Take Longer, Cost More and Yield Less Satisfaction than Expected. from Supply & Demand Chain Executive: www.panorama-consulting.com/2008ERPReport.html
Quinn, J. B., Anderson, P., & Finkelstein, S. (1996). Leveraging Intellect. Academy of Management Executive, 10(3), 7-27.
Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior (12 ed.): Pearson.
Robinson, J. P., & Shaver, P. R. (1973). Measures of social psychological attitudes. Ann Arbor, MI: Institute for Social Research.
Schein, E. H. (1996). Three Cultures of Management: The Key to Organizational Learning. Sloan Management Review, 38(1), 9-20.
Scott, J. E. (2000). Facilitating interorganizational learning with information technology. Journal of Management Information Systems, 17(2), 81-113.
Sedera, D., Gable, G., & Chan, T. (2003). Knowledge Management for ERP Success. Paper presented at the 7th Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems
Sedera, D., Gable, G., & Chan, T. (2004). Knowledge Management as an Antecedent of Enterprise System Success. Paper presented at the Americas Conference on Information Systems, New York, USA.
Somers, T. M., & Nelson, K. (2001). The Impact of Critical Success Factors across the Stages of Enterprise Resource Planning Implementations. Paper presented at the 34th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Hawaii.
Stiffler, D. (Producer). (2008) ERP Global Rollouts Continue Hot Streak, With Openness to Lite Apps and SaaS Increasing. Podcast retrieved from www.amrresearch.com.
Szulanski, G. (1996). Impediments to the transfer of best practice within the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(10), 27-43.
Wong, K. Y. (2005). Critical success factors for implementing knowledge management in small and medium enterprises. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(3), 261-279.
Wu, J., & Wang, Y. (2006). Measuring KMS Success: A Respecfication of the DeLone and McLean's Model. Information & Management, 43(6), 728-739.
ZDNet (Producer). (2008) Did Levi's use failed IT as a 'convenient scapegoat'?