Public Sector Enterprise Resource Planning

Book excerpt: Worldwide, public sector organizations are implementing commercial packaged software solutions, or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, to increase productivity and customer service as well as to deploy manageable business processes. To that end, this book provides workable solutions from experienced public sector program and project managers, consulting leaders and academic researchers who have proven expertise in large scale public sector ERP implementation. Existing research shows that while public sector enterprises generally agree by consensus, and thus have different management cultures than their private sector counterparts, their management practices are driven by a private sector model. Given the tremendous growth in public sector ERP spending and the risks associated with such politically-charged projects, new approaches to change management must be explored. The contributors present expertly researched federal, commercial and academic views on how public sector organizations are integrating their business processes, and how they relate to the private sector experience. The discussion covers all aspects of the new private sector management paradigm, including strategic planning, change management, process change, and information system implementation. The contributors provide details on the implementation steps, and make suggestions for how public sector program managers and contractor teams should plan change management and ERP initiatives. Researchers and students in the areas of management, public sector enterprises and public policy will find the volume's insights of great value. Managers with oversight in public sector organizations will find the volume of great practical interest.