4.4.1.1 Results of the Qualitative Analysis
When we presented the observed challenges of doing ICT business with Russian manufacturing enterprises we mentioned about the buying center complexity in these enterprises. The IS buying center comprises different members whose roles in it can differs or be the same. The identified members of the ERP system buying center of a Russian industrial enterprise and their roles in accordance to the theoretical frame work (chapter 2.3.3) are listed in Table 26 (next page). Whereas the aim of this chapter is to present the findings on the member of the studied buying center, their involvement in the buying decision making process of an ERP system will be addressed in more details in chapter 4.4.2.
As Table 26 reveals, the process of buying an ERP system could be initiated by many different members of the buying center. Several different scenarios of initiating this process and involving the presented in the table initiators will be given in the following chapter. It was also observed that whereas shareholders are the actual decision makers, the acquisition is made (i.e. the contract is signed) by the general director.
Table 26: A typical buying center of a Russian industrial enterprise when considering and ERP system acquisition.
Role Member
Initiator User Influencer Gatekeeper Buyer Decider Controller
1 Shareholders (headquarter) 2 General Director (CEO) 3 Board of Directors12 4 Finance Director (CFO) 5 IT director (CIO)
6 Business development manager 7 Functional managers (director) 8 Secretary
9 Ordinary office employees
The data presented in Table 26 also suggests that the process of an ERP system buying decision making can be influenced by several different members of the buying center. In chapter 2.3.3 we defined influencers as those who provide the needed information such as technical specifications. However, here we expand their role also by the ability to influence on the decision making process by their attitudes such as unwillingness to adopt a new system and actions such as sabotage and resistance, as it was explored in the interviewees data. We will have a closer look at how the identified influencers can affect the buying decision making process of an ERP system in chapter 4.4.2.
Based on the qualitative analysis of the interviews data, we could also identify some characteristics of the members of the studied buying center. These findings are now summarized in Table 27 on the next page, and they are addressed and discussed in more details in the following chapter.
12 According to the interviewed IT director of a Russian manufacturing company, in a Russian industrial organization, the board of directors usually includes the top management, shareholders and directors of linear divisions.
Table 27: Characteristics of some members of the buying center of a typical Russian industrial enterprise when considering an ERP system acquisition.
Buying center member Characteristics
Shareholder General Director Finance Director IT Director Functional manager
Would be highly involved in buying center Could be probably corrupted
Could probably sabotage or resist the process of buying decision making Would probably not have enough understanding of information systems of his/her business domain
Would be probably able to communicate in English
4.4.1.2 Results of the Quantitative Analysis
The developed questionnaire asked the responders to assess two different issues related to the identified in qualitative research members of the IS buying center of a typical Russian manufacturing company. The first issue was the involvement of the members in company’s IT needs identification. The second issue was the influence of the members on the decision making process related to the acquisition of an IS. The corresponding results are presented in Table 28 and Table 29.
Table 28: The involvement of different members of the buying center in IT needs identification. 1 = not involved at all, 2 = little involved, 3 = involved to some extent, 4 = quite much involved, 5 = very much involved.
Reported value Measure Q: How much are the following buying center members of your
organization involved in identifying the needs related to your
company’s IT? R1 R2 R3 R4 x s s
As we can see in Table 28, according to the responders, general and managing directors, IT director and finance director are considerably involved in identification of their company’s IT needs. It is interesting to observe that the financial director is also taking part in this technical job even though that was not identified during the qualitative research (Table 26).
In three cases out of four, shareholders were also reported as being important in IT needs identification. This probably depends on whether a shareholder holds some position in the organization or he/she is only an external investor, as in the case of the company represented by respondent R1.
In turn, Table 29 illustrates the degree of influence of the IS buying center members of Russian manufacturing enterprises on the buying decision making process as it is perceived by the responders. As the table reveals, in every case the influence of shareholders was reported very strong. The general director came next also with a rather strong influence.
Instead, the managing director, financial director and IT director belong to the group of the considerably lower power of influence. Once again, it is interesting to see that the financial director is in this context more influential than the IT director who is usually responsible for selecting and proposing the system. Thus, individuals how do not have a straight connection to IT or hold a top position can still be influential in the process of IS buying decision making.
Table 29: The influence of different members of the buying center on decision making related to the acquisition of an IS. 1 = not strong at all, 2 = little, 3 = strong to some extent, 4 = quite strong, 5 = very strong.
Reported value Measure Q: How strong is the influence of the following buying center
members of your organization on the decision making process
related to the acquisition of an information system? R1 R2 R3 R4 x s s