Question 16.20

16.20 ERP implementation.

Companies worldwide are investing in enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. ERP is an integrated business management software system that allows companies to share common data across all functional business areas. By linking areas of a company with a single system, the premise is that companies will reduce costs and improve efficiencies corporate-wide. In a study, researchers investigated if ERP implementation had positive impact on facility management (FM) services. A survey was conducted on companies with and without ERP systems. Data were collected by company on the number of FM-related areas that have had productivity improvements in the given calendar year. The researchers were interested in testing the alternative hypothesis that the number of FM-related productivity improvements was greater for ERP companies than non-ERP companies.8

erp

  1. Examine the data from each group. Explain why a two-sample test may not be the best choice for conducting a test between the two groups.
  2. There are many ties among the observations. Arrange the observations in order and assign ranks, assigning all tied values the average of the ranks they occupy.
  3. What is the rank sum for the ERP group?
  4. Perform the appropriate one-sided test at the level, making sure to report the test statistic and -value. What is your conclusion?