Multi-Criteria Decision Making for ERP Software Selection
Summary
Selecting an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system represents a critical strategic decision for organisations seeking to integrate and optimise core business functions. Given the complexity of ERP implementations and the wide variety of available platforms, decision makers must evaluate multiple, often conflicting criteria, including functional scope, technical architecture, total cost of ownership, vendor support and alignment with business strategy. Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) frameworks provide a systematic approach to decompose this complexity into hierarchical decision structures, assign relative weights to criteria through pairwise comparisons or expert judgement, and rank alternatives according to aggregated scores. Over the past decade, advances in fuzzy logic, rough set theory and hybrid analytical techniques have enhanced the ability to accommodate uncertainty and inconsistency in expert assessments. These methods facilitate transparent, repeatable decision processes, support sensitivity analysis and help organisations tailor ERP selection to sector-specific requirements, from manufacturing supply chains to service-oriented enterprises. The global significance of rigorous ERP selection extends from improved operational efficiency and risk mitigation to enhanced agility in responding to digital transformation imperatives.
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Multi-Criteria Decision Making for ERP Software Selection publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in multi-criteria decision making for erp software selection across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP): Integrated software suite that automates core business processes across functional domains.
Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM): A set of methodologies for evaluating and ranking alternatives based on multiple, often conflicting criteria.
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP): A structured pairwise comparison technique to derive relative weights of decision criteria.
Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS): A ranking method that identifies alternatives closest to the ideal solution and furthest from the nadir solution.
Best Worst Method (BWM): An approach to elicit criteria weights by comparing the most and least important criteria against all others.
Weighted Sum Product (WISP): A ranking algorithm that combines additive and multiplicative aggregation of weighted criteria.
Fuzzy Logic: A mathematical framework for modelling imprecision and vagueness in expert judgements using membership functions.
References
- A new integrated rough multi-criteria decision-making model for enterprise resource planning software selection. PeerJ Computer Science (2024).
- Designing a MCDM Model for Selection of an Optimal ERP Software in Organization. Systems (2022).
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