At the core of most enterprise application software packages are numerous assumptions about how organizational processes should work. The assumptions may match some of the company's needs, but such packaged software is rarely a perfect organizational fit, even with careful configuration. As needs change and the software evolves, the fit gets even looser, which means that managers must strive to improve the enterprise system continuously — the software and the organizational processes it supports — if they hope to achieve and maintain the best fit.In the May 2002 working paper “Maximizing the Benefits of an Enterprise System,” co-authors Shari Shang, a research fellow in the information systems department at the University of Melbourne (Australia), and associate professor Peter Seddon of the same department, report the results of a three-year study on how four organizations handled enterprise system projects. The authors identify four strategies for achieving fit that reflect an organization's preparedness to change processes, on the one hand, and to customize the software, on the other. (The full paper is available by contacting Seddon at p.seddon@unimelb.edu.au.)Process replication uses the software to duplicate or automate existing business processes.
