Determinants Of Enterprise Resource Planning System Implementation In Ethiopia

Enterprise resource planning system is the type of software that organizations use to manage day-to-day business operations. The effective implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) enables business �rms to boost their overall performance. So, studying key determinants of ERP system implementation is a valuable issue. This study aimed to identify determinants of Enterprise resource planning implementation of Ethiotelecom Corporation of Ethiopia. The quantitative research approach was employed. To achieve the objective of this study, an explanatory research design where the effect caused by the independent variables on the dependent variable is observed through regression analysis. The simple random sampling technique was used to select respondents. A multiple regression analysis models was employed by the researcher. Accordingly, the result of regression analysis showed that top management support, con�ict resolution, business process reengineering, and knowledge transfer have positive and statistically signi�cant effects but independent variables i.e., lack of end-user involvement and lack of technical support to ERP system has a negative and statistically signi�cant effect on ERP implementation. Based on the �ndings of the study, the researcher forwarded possible recommendations for Ethiotelecom Corporation to work on statistically signi�cant variables due to fact that they have signi�cant in�uence in improving ERP system effective implementation an organization.


Introduction
Today the business environment is dramatically changing from time to time for increasing competition, expanding markets, and rising customer expectations. This increases the pressure on companies to lower total costs in the entire supply chain, shorten throughput times, drastically reduce inventories, expand product choice, provide more reliable delivery dates, provide better customer service, improve quality, improve e ciency, and coordinate global demand, supply and production. Organizations must improve their business practices by upgrading their capabilities and procedures; sharing their accurate information with suppliers, customers, and government to sustain their competitive advantage over their competitors.
ERP has been one of the most popular business management systems, providing the bene ts of real-time capabilities and seamless communication for businesses in large organizations. It enhances productivity and working quality by offering integration, standardization, and simpli cation of multiple business transactions.
At present, ERP plays an important role in the e ciency and effectiveness of private or public organizational performance. ERP system is one of the most important IT applications because it enables organizations to connect and interact with their administrative units to manage data and organize internal procedures. But, business or public organizations face challenges in implementing ERP due to factors such as top management commitment and support, ERP system matching organization, business process re-engineering, vendor support, and training users [1][2].
As stated in previous researches, unsuccessful implementations cause serious nancial costs or even bankruptcy for businesses or public organizations. Therefore, knowing what affects the effective implementation process of ERP is crucial for organizations that undertake the implementation of a system. Hence, studying determinants of ERP implementation has become an important issue and attracted the attention of researchers and academicians around the globe. So that studies by [10,12,14,16] were concluded that when implementing integrated and big ERP packages, assessing the factors that affect the implementation and sharing experience is very important for the reason ERP systems are complex, need huge budget investment, company re-arrangements and the implementation success depends on different organizational, people and technological factors of the companies.
Hence, the researcher is motivated to study the determinants of implementation in Ethiotelecom Corporation which intensively implements ERP in Ethiopia. A review of the literature on determinants of effective implementation of ERP reveals that there are many case studies undertaken by researchers, but very few have empirically examined the determinants of ERP implementation, while most of those empirical studies were undertaken in developed and other developing countries outside Ethiopia. For instance, empirical studies from [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] were found that top management support, con ict resolution, business process reengineering, effective communication, ERP system selection, end-user support, and knowledge transfer through training were signi cant determinants of ERP systems implementation. This study is different from the above empirical studies reviewed outside Ethiopia since the determinants of ERP implementation may change from time to time due to fast and continuous economic, political, technological, social, and cultural changes in the business environment and earlier time ERP implementation factors is not similar with determinants of ERP implementation in a present-day business environment. Besides, there is a geographical gap as far as the above studies conducted outside the boundary of Ethiopia.
Concerning empirical studies in Ethiopia, very few researchers have studied the issue. For instance, researches of [11][12][13][14][15] were concentrated on the assessment of ERP implementation practice other than studying factors in uencing ERP implementation in Ethiopia. But, this study is different from prior studies reviewed in Ethiopia by analyzing data using inferential statistics to scienti cally identify the determinants of ERP effective implementation in Ethiotelecom Corporation which is the methodological gap. As far as internet browse by the researcher is concerned, there were very limited studies conducted on ERP which focused on the assessment of ERP practice in different organizations in the country. But Previous studies ignored the exploration of key determinates of ERP implementation which is the most relevant issue for the Ethiotelecom Corporation. So, the ndings of this study would serve as an informative on determinants of ERP implementation to the Ethiotelecom Corporation and severed as policy guides for policymakers concerning enterprise resource planning.
The rest paper was organized into ve sections. The second section reviews different literature that relates to the topics of the study. In the third section, the research methodology was addressed. Section 4 covered the results and discussions and nally, section 5 concluded the paper.

Literature Review
A review of the literature on determinants of effective implementation of ERP reveals top management support, con ict resolution, business process reengineering, effective communication, lack of end-user involvement, and knowledge transfer were key determinants of enterprise resource planning implementation. Hence, the researcher has reviewed the relationship between a dependent variable and six independent variables as follow:

Top management support:
If there is enough support from top management in the ERP project in ERP effective implementation, it enhances the usage of the system. Hence, top management must be willing to be involved and commit to allocating valuable resources to the implementation effort. Inconsistent with this idea, study [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] evidenced that there is a positive relationship between top management support and ERP system implementation.
Accordingly, the researcher developed the tentative statement as follow: H1: Top management support has positive and statistically signi cant on ERP implementation 2.2 Con ict resolution: As a general principle, con icts will occur while implementing an ERP system because it is very complex and di cult to implement by the employees in an organization. But, solving con icts among the staff in implementing ERP systems have a positive in uence on ERP system implementation. Similarly to the above view, the study conducted [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] found out that con ict resolution has a positive and signi cant effect on ERP implementation. Therefore, the researcher developed the tentative statement as follow: H2: Con ict resolution has a positive and statistically signi cant relationship effect on ERP implementation 2.3 Business process reengineering: Changes in the work process that arise with ERP system implementation to t and adapt the functionality of the system package instead of trying to modify the ERP system to t the organization's current business processes. Hence, the existence of business process reengineering in an organization has a positive effect on ERP system effective implementation. In agreement with the above discussion, the empirical study by [12][13][14][15][16][17] suggested that business process reengineering has a positive in uence on ineffective ERP implementation. As the result, it is possible to hypothesize that a positive relationship exists between business process reengineering and ERP system effective implementation. Therefore, the researcher developed the tentative statement as follow: H3: Business process reengineering has positive and statistically signi cant on ERP implementation 2.4 Lack of end-user involvement: End-user involvement at the early stage of system implementation has a positive in uence on ERP system implementation and satis es the end-user. But, a lack of end-user involvement will distort the effective implementation of the ERP system. Accordingly, studies from [8-13] found out that lack of end-user involvement has a negative in uence on ERP so there would be a negative relationship exists between lack of end-user involvement and effective ERP implementation. Therefore, the researcher developed the tentative statement as follow: H4: Lack of end-user involvement has negative and statistically signi cant on ERP implementation 2.5 Lack of consultant technical support: Support ranging from technical assistance to training can reduce the cost of implementation; the organization can gain other bene ts from partnerships with the vendor and use the vendor's customization tools. But, lack of consultant technical support will negatively in uence ERP system effective implementation.
In agreement with this view [11][12][13][14] found out that lack of technical assistance from the vendor hurts ERP system effective implementation. So that, the researcher assumed that there would be a negative relationship exist between lack of technical assistance from the vendor and effective ERP implementation. Consequently, the researcher developed the hypothesis as follow: H5: Lack of technical assistance from the vendor has negative and statistically effect on ERP implementation 2.6 Knowledge transfer: Knowledge transfer in the ERP consulting process can be described as a gradual procedure in which knowledge is being transferred from external consultants and vendors to the internal environment of the organization. An increased level of knowledge concerning the ERP system will enable the corporation to exploit the new technology to its full potential and continue to achieve bene ts from the use of the system in the future. To this end, the studies conducted [5][6][7][8][9][10] were addressed that there is a positive relationship between knowledge transfer and ERP system effective implementation. Consequently, the researcher theorizes that a positive relationship exists between knowledge transfer and ERP implementation. So, to be proofed through regression analysis: H6: Knowledge transfer has a positive and statistically signi cant effect on ERP implementation

Conceptual Framework
The researcher has developed the conceptual framework based on six explanatory variables such as top management support, con ict resolution, business process reengineering, lack of end-user involvement, knowledge transfer, and dependent variable which is ERP implementation portrays the relationship of the study variables as shown as follow:

Research Approach and Design
By considering the research problem and objective, of the current study, the researcher used a quantitative research approach. The justi cation for using quantitative data is due to the quantitative nature of the data used to prepare the report of this research. This study is aimed to use an explanatory study design that enables us to explain the relationship between six independent variables such as top management support (TMS), con ict resolution (CR), business process reengineering (BPR); lack of end-user involvement (LEUI), lack of consultant technical support (LCTS), and knowledge transfer (KT) on enterprise resource planning implementation (ERPI)

Data Type, Methods of Data Collections, and Analysis
The data types the student researcher was used are both primary and secondary. Primary data was collected directly from the employees of ETC by distributing 5-point Likert-type scale questionnaires through the email addresses of districts. Whereas, secondary data was be gathered from report bulletins, journals, textbooks, and documents of the study organization. To collect primary data, structured questionnaires were used. And secondary data was collected through a review of different published and unpublished materials that are related to the topic. After the accomplishment of the data collection procedure, it was classi ed as per each variable; the qualitative data was coded to be measured quantitatively. In this research, data were analyzed with the help E-Views 9.0 to get a reliable nding.

Target Population, Sample Size, and Selection Techniques
According to Ethio-telecom (2020) annual report, there are about 36, 465 employees in all twelve (12) operational sites of the Ethiotelecom corporation. These are considered as the target population of the study by the researcher. The researcher employed the scienti c formula of Yamane which takes 95% of the con dence interval for the sample size selected for the population. This implies the sample data is 95% population data and the remaining 5% is error this is calculated as follows: Hence, the representative sample size for this study is 396 employees of Ethiotelecom who were selected using a simple random sampling method. Then, to select the sample proportion from (12) twelve sampling locations was shown in the following Table 1. This is: Where, NH = sample size from each site, Nh = total population in each area, Ns = target population, and n = sample proportion.

Econometrics Model Speci cation
In this study, ERP implementation is considered as a continuous variable that is measured through a questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale namely: strongly disagree 1 to strongly agree (SA) from very lower

Operational De nition of Variable and their Scale of Measurement
The summary of Variables de nition and scale of measurement has been shown in the following Table 2  Top management support: The support from top management in the ERP project in ERP effective implementation, enhances the usage of the system.

TS 5 Point
Likert scale + Con ict resolution: As a general principle, con icts will occur while implementing an ERP system because it is very complex and di cult to implement by the employees in an organization. But, solving con icts among the staff in implementing ERP systems have a positive in uence on ERP system implementation.

CR 5 Point
Likert scale + Business process reengineering: Changes in the work process that arise with ERP system implementation to t and adapt the functionality of the system package instead of trying to modify the ERP system to t the organization's current business processes.

BPR 5 Point
Likert scale + Lack of end-user involvement: End-user involvement at the early stage of system implementation has a positive in uence on ERP system implementation and satis es the end-user. But, a lack of end-user involvement will distort the effective implementation of the ERP system.

Classical Linear Regression Model Assumption
The following diagnostic tests were carried out to ensure that they suit the basic assumption of the classical linear model. Among the assumption, the researcher conducted four basic diagnostic tests to check if the data meet the requirement. Normality, Multicollinearity, autocorrelation, and heteroscedasticity tests were undertaken.

Reliability Test
The reliability test of the questionnaire was measured by using a pilot test to be carried out by the researchers before actual data analysis. Reliability refers to random errors in measurement. To measure the consistency of the questionnaire particularly the Likert-type-scale the reliability analysis is essential in re ecting the overall reliability of constructs that it is measuring. To carry out the reliability analysis, Cronbach's Alpha (α) is the most common measure of scale reliability and a value greater than 0.7 is very acceptable. In the current research, the researcher employed Cronbach's Alpha (α) which is the most common measure of scale reliability and a value greater than 0.7 is very acceptable. This has been tested as follows in Table 3:

Correlation Analysis
Correlation analysis measures the relationship between two items. The resulting value (called the "correlation coe cient) shows if changes in one item will result in changes in the other item. Correlation is a way to index the degree to which two or more variables are associated with or related to each other (Brooks, 2008). The correlation matrix for this study was computed as follow  other. The result shows that variables such as top management support, top management support, con ict resolution, business process reengineering, end-user involvement, technical support of end-user and Knowledge transfer have more respectively has a positive relationship with effective enterprise resource planning and statistically signi cant respectively since the p-value is more than 1% level of signi cance since the p-value is less than 0.01. The result shows the acceptable reliability of the research variables in which, the correlation among predictors was not high and more than 0.80 indicates there are no multicollinearity problems among variables which are best for analysis of the data for this study.

The Regression Analysis
For valid hypothesis testing and to make data available for reliable results, the test of assumption of the regression model is required. Accordingly, the study has gone through the most critical regression diagnostic tests consisting of normality, multicollinearity, heteroscedasticity, model speci cation, and autocorrelation test that have been tested and ful lled. Regression analysis is the statistical technique that identi es the relationship between two or more quantitative variables: a dependent variable, its value is to be predicted, and an independent or explanatory variable (or variables), about which knowledge is available or in uences the dependent variable.

Discussion
The result of this study shows that support from top management in ERP implementation with the unstandardized coe cient of regression [b= 0.635] has a positive and statistically signi cant at 1% level of signi cance since (p < 0.01). Hence, hypothesis H1 is accepted. This nding is consistent with the idea of studies from [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] were evidence that there is a positive relationship between top management support and ERP system implementation. This implies that top management support is positively contributing to the implementation of enterprise resource planning in Ethiotelecom.
The result of this study with regards to con ict resolution showed an unstandardized coe cient of regression [b= 0. 219] has positive and statistically signi cant at 1% level of signi cance since (p < 0.01). Hence, the researcher was forced to accept hypothesis H2. This nding is consistent with the nding of another study result of [9][10][11][12][13][14] found out that con ict resolution has a positive and signi cant effect on ERP implementation.
This implies that con ict resolution has a positive contribution to the implementation of ERP in Ethiotelecom.
Regarding the business processes reengineering, [β=0.632] is positive and more statistically signi cant with a (p< 1%), level of signi cance. Therefore, hypothesis H3 is accepted by the researcher. Hence, the existence of business process reengineering in an organization has a positive effect on ERP system effective implementation. In agreement with the above discussion, this nding is consistent with the empirical nding of [13][14][15][16][17] suggested that business process reengineering has a positive in uence on ineffective ERP implementation. This implies that business processes reengineering has a positive effect on ERP implementation The result of this study also shows that the coe cient of regression lack of end-user involvement in the implementation of ERP project is [b= -0.250] negative and statistically signi cant since (p-value < 0.01) Hence, hypothesis four is accepted. This nding is similar to ndings of [8][9][10][11] found out that lack of end-user involvement has a negative in uence on ERP system implementation. End-user involvement at the early stage of system implementation has a positive in uence on ERP system implementation and satis es the end-user.
But, a lack of end-user involvement will distort the implementation of ERP.
When comes to the lack of technical support for ERP users, the unstandardized coe cient of regression of variable is [b= -0.169] is negative and statistically signi cant with a (p < 1%), level of signi cance. Therefore, hypothesis ve is accepted by the researcher. Support ranging from technical assistance to training can reduce the cost of implementation; the organization can gain other bene ts from partnerships with the vendor and use the vendor's customization tools. But, lack of consultant technical support will negatively in uence ERP system effective implementation. In agreement with this view, [4][5][6][7][8] found out that lack of technical assistance from the vendor harms ERP system effective implementation. This implies that there is negative relationship exists between lack of technical assistance from the vendor and ERP implementation" Regarding the coe cient of regression of knowledge transfer, [b=0.101] is positive and statistically signi cant with a (p <1% level of signi cance. Therefore, hypothesis H6 is accepted. This is consistent with ndings of the studies conducted by [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] found that there is a positive relationship between knowledge transfer and ERP implementation. This implies that knowledge transfer has a positive effect on ERP implementation.
In this research work, the researcher explored the determinates of ERP implementation of Ethiotelecom Corporation. By keeping this objective in mind, the researcher collected the primary data through a selfadministrated questionnaire developed in the form of a ve-point Likert scale Based on the ndings from the regression analysis of the model, the researchers concluded that the enterprise resource planning system effective implementation was best explained by the explanatory variables included in the model. So, the researcher accepted the research hypotheses from one up to six. Firstly, the study showed that top management has positive and statistically signi cant ERPEI. This implies that a one-unit increase in top management support enables to improve implementation of ERP. Secondly, the study con rmed that there is a positive relationship between ERP implementation and con ict resolution. This implies that con ict resolution has a positive contribution to the effective implementation of ERP in Ethiotelecom. Thirdly, the paper evidenced that the existence of business process reengineering has a positive effect on ERP effective implementation. Also, regression results, lack of end-user involvement in the implementation of ERP, and lack of technical support have a negative in uence on ERP implementation. Lastly, the result of this study con rmed that knowledge transfer has a positive effect on the implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning.

Direction For The Future Research
Since any study cannot be free from limitations, accordingly there are some limitations in the current study.
This study only focused on identifying the determinants of ERP implementation in Ethiotelecom. The six explanatory variables incorporated in the model have only explained 69.2 % of the model. The remaining 30.8 % of changes in the ERP implementation were explained by other explanatory variables that were not included in the model. The other researcher should incorporate more variables to improve adjusted R2 with the same topic in the same study area. In another way, the ndings of this study may be di cult to generalize about countries in Africa in particular and in the world in general. Hence, this study can be improved if it will be done at the continental level by comparing factors affecting ERP implementation. The other study will be also, conducted on key determinants of ERP system implementation by comparing public and private entities since this study only focused on one public enterprise.
Abbreviations ERP-Enterprise Resource Planning ERPEI-Enterprise Resource Planning Effective Implementation

Declarations
Availability of data and materials The data is included in the manuscript.
Con ict of interest disclosure