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Applied Digital Humanities: Project Proposal

Project Focus

This project examines Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems as socio-technical infrastructures that reorganize knowledge, labor, and authority within large organizations. Rather than treating ERP as merely business software, this study frames it as a digital infrastructure that reshapes how disciplines communicate, how workflows are structured, and how institutional knowledge is produced and controlled.

Using the ongoing ERP implementation at Avista Corporation as a case study, this project analyzes whether ERP systems meaningfully integrate organizational functions or simply reorganize and redistribute existing silos under a centralized technological framework.

What is an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning System): 

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) refers to a type of software that organizations use to manage day-to-day business activities such as accounting, procurement, project management, risk management and compliance, and supply chain operations. 

ERP systems tie together a multitude of business processes and enable the flow of data between them. By collecting an organization’s shared transactional data from multiple sources, ERP systems eliminate data duplication and provide data integrity with a single source of truth.

- Oracle: What is ERP? (https://www.oracle.com/erp/what-is-erp/)

Methodology

This project will use a mixed qualitative approach:

  • Preliminary Research to study effects of ERP systems in the global scope

  • Semi-structured interviews with employees across departments involved in or affected by ERP implementation

  • Process documentation analysis, including workflow charts, implementation plans, and training materials

The goal is to map both:

  • Quantitative performance metrics tied to implementation goals

  • Qualitative expectations, anxieties, and narratives about technological change

Project Plan

The project will have four main phases. These phases will be fluid, and activities in each phase may take place simultaneously.

Phase 1: Research on ERP Systems:
This phase will focus on understanding ERP systems from a theoretical perspective and analyzing real industry implementations. It will include findings from academic research, company profiles, and other sources to examine the worldwide effects of these systems on organizational functions. The deliverable for this phase will be blog posts written in article format. My goal is to conduct an overall study while producing weekly reports, each focused on a specific business function.

Phase 2: Avista and Delaware Case Study:
This phase will focus on conducting semi-structured interviews with employees and partnering vendors involved in Avista’s ERP implementation. The goal is to understand the motivation behind the implementation, report on quantitative projections, and collect sentiment data from different business functions within Avista. The company is partnering with Delaware Consulting, an organization with decades of experience implementing ERP technology for large enterprise companies. Contractors from Delaware will also be prompted to share insights from their breadth of experience. The deliverables for this phase will be interview transcripts, analysis of findings, and any quantitative reports that are available.

Phase 3: Comparison with a Different Company:
While a case study on Avista is helpful, there is a uniqueness that comes with studying a utility company. Examining another company that has implemented an ERP system will help identify broader advantages and disadvantages and validate or challenge insights gained from Phase 2. As of now, I plan to leverage connections with F5 Inc. to collect similar data and contrast it with my Avista case study.

Phase 4: Data Curation and Presentation:
This phase will focus on the curation and presentation of all collected data and findings. This will likely include a comprehensive blog post summarizing the project results and a PowerPoint presentation to the class presenting my arguments for or against ERP system implementation.

Motivation

I have accepted an offer to work as a project coordinator in the ERP implementation effort at Avista Corporation. This dual position as both participant and researcher provides a unique opportunity to critically examine the system from within.

This project allows me to deepen my understanding of ERP implementation while also evaluating whether such systems produce meaningful interdisciplinary integration or simply reconfigure existing hierarchies and silos under a new technological framework.


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