摘要： ► ERP consultants provide expertise not present to the installing organization. ► Successful ERP implementations require effective controls over consultants. ► Client organizations control consultants by matching outcomes to expectations. ► Vendor firms employ behavioral, outcome, and clan controls over individual consultants. Hiring consultants to implement the multiple components of an ERP installation is a common practice for securing expertise not found in client organizations. Ensuring the consultants work to the benefit of their client is potentially problematic as the consultants must adopt the goals of the client, coordinate with stakeholders within the client organization, and coordinate with those installing other components of the ERP. Controls are mechanisms that keep consultants on track with the objectives of client organizations. Control forms vary depending on the nature of the activity and the levels of expertise across clients and consultants. Just what forms of control are typically employed over consultants to promote the likelihood of a successful ERP implementation is not identified in the prior literature. Control theory is employed by this study to formulate an expectation of control, which is then examined through a multiple case study. Interviews of consultants, project managers in the client organizations, and project managers in the consulting firms confirm that client organizations employ performance controls on specified outcomes while the provider firms employ both outcome controls and behavioral controls to keep the ERP implementation project in line with client goals. 出版者： New York: Elsevier Inc 出版日期： 2013-05 出處： The Journal of systems and software, 2013-05, Vol.86 (5), p.1453-1461 資源來源： Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals Complete 版權： 2013 Elsevier Inc. 版權： Copyright Elsevier Sequoia S.A. May 2013 識別號： ISSN: 0164-1212 識別號： EISSN: 1873-1228 識別號： DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2013.01.030 識別號： CODEN: JSSODM
