Implementation of ERP in university business education – a case study of a global software corporation. Michaël Le Duc, Division of Marketing, School of Business, Society and Technology, Mälardalen University, Sweden, michael.le.duc@mdh.seAbstractThis case study concerns how universities can successfully implement Enterprise Re-source Planning Systems (ERP) in business education, from an innovation perspect-ive, with a special focus on how a global software corporation supports universities and related networks. Theory about the diffusion and adoption of innovations, with a special focus on software (including ERP), is combined with theory on implementa-tion of ERP as well as Critical Success Factors (CSF) regarding project management in ERP. The approach employed is a case study method since the researcher has been given the opportunity to access online information and participate in meetings and conferences since 2007. Multiple sources of evidence are used. Data is composed mainly of meeting notes and downloaded documents from public as well as partner websites. The findings show that implementation principles and critical success factors stemming from business do not apply directly to university organisations. Business organisations are quite different from universities, e.g., university professors have high autonomy. In business top CSFs include Management Support, End-Users, Champions, Change Management, Education and training. One area that is high-lighted by the software corporation is benefits of using ERP in business education for students, university faculty and business partners of the case study corporation. Top implementation success factors in university courses include Champions, Networking, Curriculum availability, Learn and innovate, Research and publication (especially in the USA), Evaluate, Check compatibility, and Planning. Top Management Support is hardly mentioned for implementation success in university education. Obstacles re-garding adoption in university education include Acceptance issues, Lack of cloud solutions, Complexity, Lack of curriculum material, Lack of interest, Insufficient re-sources, Lack of time and Lack of cooperation. Findings cannot be generalised statist-ically. However the findings/themes can be of general interest and generalised themat-ically.

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