International journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN:2313-626X

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 Volume 5, Issue 7 (July 2018), Pages: 46-52

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 Original Research Paper

 Title: The implications of linguistic diversity for the ERP implementation practices in multilingual contexts

 Author(s): Abdulfattah Omar *, Majed Ali Alqahtani

 Affiliation(s):

 Department of English, College of Science and Humanities, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, Alkharj, Saudi Arabia

 https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2018.07.006

 Full Text - PDF          XML

 Abstract:

This research study addressed the issue of the implications of language differences for the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation processes in Saudi public universities as a specimen of organizations where employees come from different linguistic backgrounds. In these universities, Arabic is the dominant language for different reasons including linguistic identity and accessibility. ERP units in these universities are required to use Arabic for all the ERP applications, screens, and practices for linguistic identity purposes. There are several employees in these universities who cannot understand Arabic and therefore cannot comprehend the ERP system resulting in problems and difficulties in their work delivery. This study designed a survey in order to investigate the impact of linguistic diversity on ERP implementation and data was collected from 788 participants in 7 Saudi public universities. The rationale of this study is that these Saudi universities have employees from different countries that speak different languages and at the same time require ERP applications, screens, and practices to be done in Arabic. Results clearly indicate that linguistic barriers pose a big challenge to ERP implementation processes and have a negative impact on various ERP implementation practices. It is suggested that universities should select ERP systems that include multi-language capabilities, encourage employees to adopt English as a foreign functional language, and provide opportunities for employees to improve their language skills for the successful implementation of ERP systems. 

 © 2018 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords: Linguistic diversity, Language barriers, Multilingual, Linguistic identity, ERP implementation

 Article History: Received 11 February 2018, Received in revised form 20 April 2018, Accepted 26 April 2018

 Digital Object Identifier: 

 https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2018.07.006

 Citation:

 Omar A and Alqahtani MA (2018). The implications of linguistic diversity for the ERP implementation practices in multilingual contexts. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 5(7): 46-52

 Permanent Link:

 http://www.science-gate.com/IJAAS/2018/V5I7/Omar.html

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