Enterprise system programs: Goal setting and cooperation in the integration team

Fully implemented enterprise systems (ESs) become valuable tools by enabling a variety of business functions critical to an organization. Adopting a program implementation approach improves the chances of delivering an ES in accordance with budget, resource, and scope considerations. The program approach is more likely to succeed in meeting expectations when united by an overarching goal, yet an integration team representing the multiple business functions in an ES implementation must ensure attainment of the overarching goal while still retaining local goals for each project. We know little about the theoretical relationship that considers working toward goals across functional areas simultaneously with an overarching goal for the same system. In particular, the integration team must cooperate effectively under differing goals to deliver the expected product efficiently, which is often difficult to accomplish. We build a research model rooted in goal-setting theory to consider the unique context of an overarching goal for the system as a whole with additional goals set for cross-functional purposes. We indicate achievement of essential cooperation and realization of expected benefits with essential goal commitment. Survey data from key informants in cross-functional integration teams support the model and indicate a direction to enable targeted business functions for an ES program implementation.