An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Project Communication on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Projects at UCS Solutions (Pty) Ltd, South Africa

Abstract

The business management focus of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of project communication as part of project management at UCS Solutions. It was inspired by the fact that effective project communication is a vital success factor for any project. Many projects in the information systems (IS) industry fail due to poor communication in the projects environment and many consultants lack formal training in project management and only learn soft skills on demand. The study is intended to gather data and test theory in the project management standards using project management best practices and personal experience. The study adopted a quantitative approach. It involved descriptive and analytical research designs. The study targeted Systems Application Products (SAP) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) projects that were undertaken by UCS Solutions.

Findings showed that there were significant gaps and shortcomings in the project communication process on the UCS Solutions ERP projects and perceived project performance. It was concluded that effective project communication, use of evaluation models and soft skills training for SAP Consultants are pre-requisites for better performance of SAP ERP projects at UCS Solutions Pty Ltd. It was recommended that for UCS Solutions to improve performance of ERP projects, commitment of individual stakeholders and effective communication need to be enhanced through designing communications tailored to the preferences of their varied stakeholders.