User Involvement in the Implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Public Universities.

Abstract

In a close examination of previous studies on whether the implementation of ERP systems in universities has been successful or a failure, most of the studies revealed that it was a success while a few indicated that the implementation was below average. This study sought to evaluate user involvement in implementing ERP systems in public universities. This research was guided by the Information Systems Success Model and the Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The researcher adopted a survey research design and the area of the study was at Kisii University. The target population comprised of 930 respondents. The researcher used questionnaires for data collection from the sample size of 76 respondents who were picked randomly and 64 questionnaires were returned. The collected data was analyzed using descriptive statistics methods of mean and standard deviation and inferential statistics methods of correlation and regression analysis. Then the results were presented in the form of tables. The overall result showed that the extent of user involvement was to a large extent achieved (M=2.09; SD=.802) in the implementation of the ERP systems in public universities in Kenya. The study concluded that the extent of user involvement had a statistically significant influence on the ERP system implementations in public universities in Kenya. The study recommended that there was a need for improved quality user involvement and commitment level on the ERP system implementations because they lead to quality information systems.