Abstract
ERP implementation problems often occur due to cultural problems that lie deep within the organizational structure. Highly departmentalized (referred to as “stove-piped”) organizations are averse to the open flow of information and to process oriented management solutions. Nowhere are these problems more evident than in our public sector institutions. To increase the success of future public ERP initiatives, this paper focuses on the important role of middle management to proactively support and advocate an ERP project in the pre-planning and requirements definition phase of a project. The research identifies high value middle management attributes that need to be identified by ERP project managers to co-opt these individuals into the role of “trusted intermediaries” to act as managerial bridges between traditional, and often adversarial organizational “stovepipes”. Existing project work by the author and interviews with former public sector, project managers and implementation consultants show that the role of middle management is much more critical to the success of a public sector ERP implementation than in a corresponding private sector effort.