Mergers and Acquisitions - Elaborating Factors for Enterprise Interoperability in an ERP context

Abstract

In this paper, the authors discussed Enterprise Interoperability (EI) in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) transactions focusing on ERP systems. Essential connections to practice are drawn through a discussion of use cases with experts from the fields of M&A, IT, and ERP. The research questions are defined as: What are the core influencing factors determining interoperability profiles? What will the future look like regarding the ERP dimension? Based on eleven experts and qualitative content analysis, relevant findings on EI implementation scenarios are extracted. There are different approaches to achieve Enterprise Interoperability, depending on the context of the M&A transaction. Finally, the crucial decision factors are given in the findings and show the future development of ERP systems integrations. Current results suggest that fast and easy EI is a critical requirement to meet the increasing need for flexibility and ERP systems are at the core of these developments.