How do firms benefit from integrated enterprise systems (IES), and how does the IES implementation strategy influence the returns from IES? We investigated the implementation strategy that firms should follow to integrate multiple enterprise systems regarding the timing of adoption and the richness of modules. Borrowing theories from software development literature and enterprise system implementation literature, we developed two IES implementation strategies, i.e., the agile strategy (simple, quick, and flexible) and the phased strategy (rich, phased, and pre-determined). We collected a sample of 675 public firms from 1997 to 2004 at the module level, enabling us to distinguish enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems from customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) systems. Our data contained the timing of purchase and “go-live” events of these system modules, helping us understand firms’ detailed implementation decisions. We found that IES returns depend on the choices of ERP and CRM/SCM module foundation, ERP-CRM/SCM sequential connection, and the continued adoption of ERP and CRM/SCM modules. Fewer ERP or CRM/SCM modules at CRM/SCM go-live events, a quicker connection between ERP and CRM/SCM go-live events, and the continued adoption of ERP or CRM/SCM modules all were found to enhance IES returns. Our findings show that the agile strategy leads to more returns from IES than the phased strategy and suggest that firms should integrate multiple enterprise systems by going live with advanced system modules quickly after going live with basic enterprise system modules and by continually adding new modules.

中文翻译：

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了解集成企业系统的回报：敏捷和分阶段实施策略的影响


企业如何从集成企业系统 (IES) 中受益？ IES 实施策略如何影响 IES 的回报？我们研究了企业在集成多个企业系统时应遵循的实施策略，包括采用的时机和模块的丰富程度。借鉴软件开发文献和企业系统实施文献的理论，我们制定了两种IES实施策略，即敏捷策略（简单、快速、灵活）和阶段性策略（丰富、分阶段、预先确定）。我们在模块层面收集了 1997 年至 2004 年 675 家上市公司的样本，使我们能够区分企业资源规划 (ERP) 系统与客户关系管理 (CRM) 和供应链管理 (SCM) 系统。我们的数据包含这些系统模块的购买时间和“上线”事件，帮助我们了解公司的详细实施决策。我们发现IES回报取决于ERP和CRM/SCM模块基础的选择、ERP-CRM/SCM顺序连接以及ERP和CRM/SCM模块的持续采用。 CRM/SCM 上线活动中较少的 ERP 或 CRM/SCM 模块、ERP 和 CRM/SCM 上线活动之间更快的连接以及持续采用 ERP 或 CRM/SCM 模块都被发现可以提高 IES 回报。我们的研究结果表明，敏捷战略比分阶段战略能带来更多的IES回报，并建议企业在基本企业系统模块上线后迅速上线高级系统模块，并不断添加新模块，从而集成多个企业系统。