Business Intelligence During Times of Crisis: Adoption and Usage of ERP Systems by SMEs

Adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems is considered to be one of the most important technological and organizational innovation in modem enterprises and SMEs, that promote knowledge diffusion, and sound business decision making processes. Notwithstanding the importance of information and knowledge management, especially during periods of crisis, most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) still underestimate the application and the dynamics of Business Intelligence in their decision-making processes when adopting and implementing ERP systems and their marketing oriented subsystems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM). In this paper ERP systems adoption and implementation by SMEs in the region of Western Macedonia is examined. Special attention is given to the critical factors affecting adoption of ERPs by SMEs and the business intelligence potential of implementing and using ERP during a period of crisis. The factors identified are related with the economic and organizational characteristics of the SMEs surveyed. Our results indicate that although SMEs recognize the advantages and benefits gained by the application of these systems, especially in managing and summarizing heterogenous data, still the business intelligence capabilities of ERP systems are underutilized, as managers do not take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained from using them. The paper concludes with proposals for further research on the implementation of ERP systems and the expansion of business intelligence usage by SMEs.