A Framework for Stakeholder Analysis in ERP Project : A Case Study on SAP Implementation Using SNA (Social Network Analysis)

This research is an exploratory in nature and by conducting a case study in one automotive corporation in Middle East, the influence of stakeholders' network on ERP project decision-making processes are studied. The result of this research revealed that in the stakeholder network certain persons playing the gateway role for transferring information to decision-maker. Since, these people are often out of project stakeholder list, they usually are not considered by project manager. Based on the results of this research a guidance framework for identifying and analyzing the effect of stakeholder network on decision-making processes in an ERP implementation is developed.According to this model, the stakeholders are not limited to the people who have formal relationship with the project, the informal relationships between stakeholders as well as the stakeholders' relationship with other people or organizations make another layer of stakeholders which are often concealed to stakeholder analysis efforts