The direct and positive effect of environmental assessment on achievement of competitive
advantage signifies the importance of assessing the environment in which the organisation exists (see
Table 4). The environment comprises of, but is not limited to, competitors, customers, regulators,
partners, other relevant stakeholders and their activities resulting in opportunities or threats for the
participants (Liang et al., 2007).
Prior studies have found that consistency of internal and external factors, such as vendor support
and consultant competence, influence decision making and control, efficiency and profitability
significantly (Wang et al., 2008). Our current study extends this by establishing the role of the
environment in the achievement of competitive advantage in ERP projects empirically