eThesis - School of Business electronic theses

Objectives of the Study

The objective of this study is to find out the best procurement framework that could be utilized by the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) in the future. The FDF implemented its new ERP system (PVSAP) during the past six years and in the late 2011, the system was in action throughout the organization. The process was not necessarily a success in multiple areas as the project exceeded its given period, budget and there were multiple issues with the system. This opened up a question fo this research, whether the procurement framework should be improved, or to replace it by existing foreign / standardized models. The target is to analyze frameworks and compare their fit with ERP implementation projects within the military environment.

Academic background and methodology

This research utilizes both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to organize frameworks in order of preference. First, existing IT governance, military command and ERP theories are discussed in depth. Next, the military procurement models are analyzed and expanded in order to understand the processes and methods. The issues are then discussed with some employees of the FDF and data is collected from the personnel using a survey to provide insight on their views by comparing various aspects. Using Analytical Hierarchy Process, which allows ranking of the frameworks based on the data collected, the frameworks are put in order of preference. Based on these answers, recommendations are given and conclusions are made.

Findings and conclusions

Based on the data collected and the analysis on the issue, the conclusion was that the Finnish Defence Forces should utilize more NATO AAP-48 / ISO/IEC 15288 like models. The current model lacks management and communication elements as well as technical aspects, which are necessary for ERP implementation projects.

However, due to the nature of the FDF with their neutral standing, a model utilizing standardized methods was generated to modernize the model as well as give room for future research.