ERP and Information Systems

5Correlation Between Research Factors

This chapter studies the correlation between research factors. Based on the literature review and a logical deduction, we explored potential relationships between the research factors. Once relationships were illustrated, we assessed and determined the nature of the correlations between these factors. A correlation is the measurement of the relationship between two variables or more. We define two principal types of correlations: “positive correlation” (PC) is a direct relationship where, as the amount of one variable (factor) increases, the amount of a second variable also increases; “negative correlation” (NC) describes a relationship where, as the amount of one variable goes up, the amount of another variable goes down.

The study of the above research factors raised some questions to explore, for example:

1. – Could the Project management ERP (PMER) be easy if the enterprise resource planning (ERP) package is a complex product?
2. – Could a desired independence from the vendor (guaranteed by ERP package modularity) be affected by the lack of the interoperability of the ERP (INTE)?
3. – Would a total overhaul strategy be less expensive during a period of economic crisis and competitiveness (ECCO)?
4. – Could the competitiveness of firms within the framework of an economic crisis be affected by the total dependency on the ERP vendors (TDEV)?
5. – Would an evolution strategy of ERP system vendors from 1st to 2nd G that is based on an external acquisition ...