Unleashing the integration potential of ERP systems

Despite the large investments recently made in ERP systems, many companies are beginning to admit that the real impact of ERPs on management styles and practices is actually well below expectations, especially on the front of organizational integration. It is argued that ERP systems possess integrating capabilities only at a potential stage: their simple physical implementation is not enough to activate their inner potentialities. ERP systems can enact substantial organizational integration, only if they rely on a sound business process architecture. When the process dimension is absent from the implementation, the integration potential of ERP systems is frozen. It is argued that this situation can be unfrozen by making processes visible: the introduction of a process‐based performance measurement system can help to unleash the power of integration, by making the processes visible to people.