The data were collected from companies based in Australia, as this presented several potential
advantages. Australia has high penetration of information technology systems applications in
companies, many of which have installed ERP, so a potentially large sample would be obtainable (ABS,
2013a). As ERP vendors are focusing on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to accentuate ERP
uptake, this presented another opportunity because a sizeable percentage of businesses in Australia
are SMEs (ABS, 2013b; D’Aquila et al., 2009; Moad, 2009). Additionally, Australia has a reliable postal
service that would enable data collection via mail. Finally, Australia has a well-established research
culture, as the existence of many universities in the country has led to a supportive and understanding
culture for research, and it was believed that this would aid in gaining a satisfactory response from
company executives.