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A publication of

CHEMICAL ENGINEERINGTRANSACTIONS
VOL. 61, 2017 The Italian Association
of Chemical Engineering
Online at www.aidic.it/cet
Guest Editors:PetarSVarbanov, Rongxin Su, Hon Loong Lam, Xia Liu, Jiří J Klemeš
Copyright © 2017, AIDIC ServiziS.r.l.
ISBN978-88-95608-51-8; ISSN 2283-9216 DOI: 10.3303/CET1761255

Development of a Framework for the Implementation of

Sustainable Enterprise Resource Planning
Abdoulmohammad Gholamzadeh Chofreha,*, Feybi Ariani Gonib, Jiří Jaromír
Klemešc
a
Department of Industrial Engineering, Ahvaz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran
b
Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia
c
Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory – SPIL, NETME Centre, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of
Technology - VUT Brno, Technická 2896/2, 616 69 Brno, Czech Republic
[email protected]

Sustainable Enterprise Resource Planning (S-ERP) is an enterprise system that designed to integrate
sustainability activitiesbetween corporate sustainable business functions. This system enables practitioners to
effectively practice sustainability in an organisation. Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (SAP), Oracle,
and Microsoft have designed the S-ERP system for various types of industry. However, a number of
organisations still have a problem of implementing the S-ERP system as it is a multifaceted system that needs
managerial and technical skills to implement. Therefore, they need a master plan that provides a comprehensive
guidance for practitioners to implement this system. According to a literature, there is no available master plan
that assists the organisations to implement the S-ERP system. This issue will obstruct the implementation
process. Therefore, this issue motivates the researchers to develop an S-ERP master plan that encompasses
three parts: roadmap, framework, and guidelines. A study focused on the development of an S-ERP roadmap
has been performed in the earlier work entitled “A master plan for the implementation of sustainable enterprise
resource planning systems (part II): development of a roadmap” (Chofreh et al., 2016b). In addition, the S-ERP
roadmap has been evaluated in the work entitled “A master plan for the implementation of sustainable enterprise
resource planning systems (part III): evaluation of a roadmap” (Chofreh et al., 2016c).
Subsequently, this study aimed to summarise the development process of the S-ERP framework. This
frameworkwould give a comprehensive perspective to implement the S-ERP system. A conceptual research
method is used to develop this framework by reviewing two related areas on sustainability and Enterprise
Resource Planning (ERP) system implementation and exposing the knowledge gap. The literature revealed that
there are diverse dimensions considered in the sustainability and ERP implementation frameworks. These
dimensions are generally considered two main paradigms including sustainability paradigm and decisional
paradigm. The sustainability paradigm consists of three sustainability dimensions including environment, social,
and economic. The decisional paradigm consists of three decision-making levels in an organisation including
strategic, tactical, and operational. The S-ERP framework is developed by integrating these two paradigms and
unites them into one holistic structure. The breakdown of each component and level of the paradigms is
identified according to the relevant literature. Concisely, this framework would be a potential guidance for
practitioners to distinguish various perspectives that need to be considered for the S-ERP system
implementation. The framework hopefully can assist the practitioners to mitigate the problems during the S-ERP
system implementation.

1. Introduction
Sustainability notion has emerged since early of the 20 th century to solve the economic, environmental, and
social issues (Goni et al., 2015). This concept becomes well recognised after several policy documents have
been produced by international and local government, such as Brundtland Report, to assert the importance of
sustainability (Čuček et al., 2015). Through enforcement from the international and local government, various
organisations embed sustainability idea into their business strategy (Küçüksayraç, 2015).

Please cite this article as: Chofreh A.G., Goni F.A., Klemeš J.J., 2017, Development of a framework for the implementation of sustainable
enterprise resource planning, Chemical Engineering Transactions, 61, 1543-1548 DOI:10.3303/CET1761255
1544

Chofreh et al. (2014) stated that organisations face to segregation issuerelated tosustainability data and
activities. This problem effects on the ineffectiveness of managing the sustainability practices. To solve this
problem, therefore, a Sustainable Enterprise Resource Planning (S-ERP) system is introduced as a new
generation of an enterprise system. This system facilitates the practitioners to integrate the sustainable data
and activities across different business functions in an organisation.
Systemanalyse und Programmentwicklung (SAP), Oracle, and Microsoft have designed the S-ERP system for
various industries (Chofreh, 2015). However, the practitioners in organisations still have difficulty in
implementing this system since it is a massive and multifaceted system. It needs a combination of technological
and managerial skills to be implemented. Therefore, there is a need of a master planwhich has a role to direct
the practitioners in implementing the S-ERP system in organisations.
Chofreh et al. (2016a) have introduced the S-ERP system master plan in their previous work. The structureof
the master plan consists of three interlocking parts including roadmap, framework, and guidelines. The S-ERP
roadmap “provides stages that involve effective processes that need to be completed throughout the life cycle
of the project”. The S-ERP framework “refers to an essential structure underlying the dimensions that
demonstrate a perspective of an issue that has to be considered in S-ERP system implementation”. The S-ERP
guidelines “provide steps that determine a course of action for the completion of the S-ERP system
implementation”.
Chofreh et al. (2016b) have developed the S-ERP implementation roadmap. To complete the structure of the
S-ERP master plan, therefore, this study intends to develop the S-ERP framework. The next section presents a
review of prior studies in the related field. The methodology used to develop the framework is provided in Section
3. Section 4 explains the development process of the S-ERP roadmap. A conclusion of the study and
recommendation of potential research is described in Section 5.

2. Literature review
A research in S-ERP system field requires a multi-disciplinary area of works. The S-ERP research is also a new
topic, which has limited source of literature references (Chofreh et al., 2014). To develop the S-ERP framework,
therefore, this study reviews literature in three related fields including sustainability implementation framework,
ERP implementation framework, and decision-making levels. The explanation of each field is presented in the
sub-sections.
2.1 Sustainability implementation framework
According to Kobryn (2000), a framework is a conceptual structure for managing multifaceted topic. It consists
of main components and their relationship that show a method for a system development. Practitioners in
organisations need to have a framework to implement the S-ERP system. It should combinevarious key
dimensions that need to be considered in the system implementation.
This study reviews a number of existing sustainability implementation framework. Heemskerk et al. (2002)
identified a framework that aimed to design and manage sustainability reporting. In their study, they underscored
the importance of integrated sustainability management and reporting for an advancement of sustainability
practices in organisations. They, in addition, introduced numerous benefits of sustainability reporting for
organisations. The outcome of their study is a framework that provides two main processes including integrated
management process and sustainability reporting process.
British Standards Institution (BSI) (2003)proposed a sustainability transformation framework, which is named
as SIGMA management framework,to direct practitioners for transforming their organisations towards
sustainable future. This framework consists of a four-phase cycle to manage and incorporate sustainability
issues within core organisational processes.
Loorbach et al. (2009) observed a method to analyse sustainability transformation, which culminated into a
transformation management framework. They used a transition management theory and argued that
practitioners need to consider three transition management levels for the transforming their organisations
towards sustainability. These three transition management levels including strategic, tactical, and operational.
Ahmed and Sundaram (2012) proposed a sustainability transformation and reporting framework that includes
five interacted components. These components consist of discovering and learning, strategizing, designing,
transforming, and monitoring/controlling.
From the existing literature, it shows that there are various dimensions identified in the
sustainabilityimplementation frameworks. These dimensions generally considered two main paradigms
including sustainability paradigm and decisional paradigm. The sustainability paradigm is adopted from the
concept of a triple bottom line that comprises of three dimensions including environment, social, and economic.
The decision-making paradigm is adopted from the concept of decision-making levels in an organisation that
consist of strategic, tactical, and operational.
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2.2 ERP implementation framework

This study reviews a literature on ERP system, which is considered as a root of S-ERP system. Chofreh et al.
(2014) highlighted that the ERP system was coined by Gartner in 1990s and it was progressively applied by
organisations to integrate business functions within internal and external value chain of an organisation. By
applying this system, the practitioners in an organisation enable to collect, proceed, and report the data and
information across all business functions into a single platform.
In order to get an idea to develop an S-ERP framework, numerous studies on ERP implementation framework
are reviewed. Al-Mashari et al. (2003) focused on the development of a framework that underscores critical
success factors for ERP system implementation. They defined the framework into three phases including
setting-up, implementation, and evaluation with each of their components. The expected outcome of the
framework is a successful ERP system implementation and the benefits realisation for organisations.
Bajwa et al. (2004) proposed an ERP implementation framework that considers an involvement of internal and
external stakeholders of an organisation. The framework consists of a number of implementation phases with
their business and technology constructs.
Yusuf et al. (2004) developed a framework for successful ERP system implementation according to their
observation in a famous automotive manufacture. The framework consists of three main phases and each of
them has several key activities related to the system implementation.
Pellerin and Hadaya (2008) introduced an ERP framework by adopting business process reengineering (BPR)
concept. They combined the existing BPR framework and the AcceleratedSAP ERP implementation
methodology from SAP in order to develop their new ERP system implementation framework.
Sahran et al. (2010) formulated an ERP implementation framework for small and medium enterprises. They
developed a holistic framework by integrating three important components that need to be considered during
ERP system implementation include ERP critical success factors, ERP implementation methodology, and ERP
implementation activities into one cohesive framework. The applicability of the framework was then evaluated
through a case study.
Chofreh et al. (2011) developed a framework for the implementation of ERP system by adapting project
management concept. This concept is considered as an important method for completing a project. Therefore,
the authors integrate project management process groups, knowledge areas, and implementation activities into
one cohesive framework.
Goni et al. (2012) proposed an ERP implementation framework that includes four main capabilities including
functional, managerial, implementation, and technological. They argued that these capabilities are
crucialtoachieving ERP implementation success.
They have been found various concepts in the literature review that have been adopted by the researchers in
developing an ERP framework. The selection of the concept was generally based on the perspective of the
researchers in solving what issue in ERP implementation. For instance, Al-Mashari et al. (2003) highlighted
ERP critical success factors in developing the framework as it showed that many organisations experienced in
failure for implementing ERP system.
In addition,Pellering and Hadaya (2008) used BPR concept for developing the framework since the researchers
believed that implementing ERP system is about re-engineering an old system in an organisation with the ERP
system.
2.3 Decision-making levels
Decision-making levels arecommonly one of the fundamental conceptsadopted in developing the sustainability
implementation framework. The application of this concept can be seen in the work of Loorbach et al. (2009).
According to their point of view, the decision-making levels concept needs to be considered in the sustainability
implementation framework as it shows the managerial levels that should involve in the transformation process
towards a sustainable organisation.
Montana and Charnov (2008) stated that the decision-making levels in an organisation consist of three main
levels including strategic, tactical, and operational. Each level has its own responsibility in making a decision for
the organisation. The strategic decision is a complex decision made by top level management that is related to
strategic plans and goals of an organisation.
The tactical decision is a decision made by middle-level management that is related to the planning development
of the identified strategic plans and goals. The operational decision is a daily basis decision made by junior
managers. This decision is generally related to the technical decision of an organisation. Figure 1 illustrates an
overview of the decision-making levels concept of an organisation.
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Figure 1: Decision-making levels of an organisation (Chofreh and Goni, 2017)

3. Research methodology
This study applied a conceptual research method to develop an S-ERP implementation framework. This method
is generally used by numerous researchers in developing a conceptual framework. It relies mainly on the
literature including sustainability implementation framework, ERP implementation framework, and decision-
making levels to develop the structure of the S-ERP framework. The development process of the S-ERP
framework is provided in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Development process of S-ERP implementation framework

4. Development of the S-ERP implementation framework

The development process of the S-ERP framework begins with ageneral review of the literature in sustainability
and ERP implementation frameworks. The important dimensions from the related literature are collected and
reviewed in order to expose the knowledge gaps in the existing literature. Finally, the next phase is continued
with the formulation of the S-ERP implementation framework.
The structure of the S-ERP framework is composed of two main paradigms including sustainability paradigm
(environmental, economic, and social) and decisional paradigms (strategic, tactical, and operational).
The three dimensions in sustainability paradigm need to be considered in the S-ERP implementation framework
as they need to be managed and assessed toattain fully sustainability outcomes. This study uses sustainability
indicators that were identified by Fernández-Sánchez and Rodríguez-López (2010) for the detail of each
dimension.
For example, the environmental dimension consists of soil, water, and atmosphere. The economic dimension
consists of cost, technical requirements, and heritage. The social dimension consists of culture, responsibility,
and accessibility.
The decisional paradigm is adopted from the decision-making levels concept. It is generally considered in every
system implementation process as well as in S-ERP system implementation. The three levels in the decisional
paradigm indicate the involvement of all management levels in an organisation to implement the S-ERP system.
The strategic dimension consists of activities related to the strategic management formulation. The tactical
dimension consists of numerous activities for achieving the objectives of the strategic planning. The operational
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dimension consists of some areas that need to be considered in completing the strategic and tactical goals and
objectives.

5. Evaluation of the Framework

Numerous methods have been applied for the evaluation of sustainability and ERP implementation frameworks,
such as survey, case study, and peer review. Selection of the method used relies on the type of research
question that the study attempts to answer.
Owens (2002) stated that survey method generally involves quantitative feature. It uses a questionnaire to
collect the data from a sample of individuals in a population. The main disadvantage of this method is costly and
time-consuming.
Yin (2015) argued that case study method is applied to answer a research question that cannot be responded
using survey method. It engages thoroughly observation of similar circumstances in organisations, where the
similar problem happens. This method provides better perceptive to the researchers for creating a related theory.
However, the weakness of this method is a problem of accessibility and time consideration.
Tavakoli (2012) mentioned that peer review or expert review method is applied to improve the research findings
by engaging skilled and eligible experts from the related field of study. This method is generally performed to
evaluate the usability of the product and to advance the reliability of a project. It used formal interview, informal
conversation, or written report.
The evaluation of S-ERP framework was conducted by using peer review method. The selection of this method
was decided since the S-ERP system research field is still rarely studied and the pertinent information on similar
problem of research is still limited. The presented study needs data and information that revealed some
prototypes concerning the theoretical development that can be acquired via qualitative approach.
The purpose of the peer review in this study is to evaluate the content and the dimensions' interrelationship of
the framework and to define other important dimensions that could provide as inputs for the improvement of the
framework. This study involved numerous experts from sustainability and ERP fields. A formal interview was
conducted to obtain the required data and information. As a result, several modifications related to the
framework’s structure needs to be performed in order to advance its usability.

6. Conclusions
S-ERP system is necessary to be implemented by organisations in order to assist them in advancing
sustainability practices. This system enables the organisations to integrate sustainability data and activities
across all entities in the extended value chain. To implement this system, the practitioners need to be guided
by a coherent S-ERP system master plan. The master plan comprises of three interlocking components
including roadmap, framework, and guidelines. The aim of this study is to summarise the development process
of the S-ERP framework.
The development of the S-ERP framework was performed by applying a conceptual research method. In this
regard, numerous literature on sustainability implementation framework, ERP implementation framework, and
decision-making levels were reviewed in order to get an idea of formulating the structure of the framework. A
peer review method is applied to evaluate the usability of the framework.
Further studies need to be performed concerning the development and evaluation of S-ERP guidelines in order
to complete the formation of the S-ERP master plan. This master plan would benefit organisations in providing
guidance to implement the S-ERP system.

Acknowledgement
This research has been supported by the EUproject Sustainable Process Integration Laboratory – SPIL, funded
as project No. CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_003/0000456, by Czech Republic Operational Programme Research and
Development, Education, Priority 1: Strengthening capacity for quality research.

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