Abstract
The opportunities of technology investment to unlock improvements in productivity are widely anticipated, but there is plentiful evidence that this is not always achieved in practice. In this paper we explore one of the key reasons behind this – the role of leadership in shaping the scope of the project, understanding the expected benefits, and leading the actual introduction and embedding into use of the technologies. The role of leadership is critical and forms the focus of this study. We first outline details of a project to develop a mentoring scheme for SME leaders, to understand the challenges of technology investment decision making, and provide support for leaders. The paper then focuses on a case study from the project where an ERP system failed to deliver the anticipated benefits, and was eventually abandoned, which exposes the impact of the way in which the project had been led in the organisation.