User Acceptance Testing in ERP Implementation: Examining its Impact on User Resistance and Psychological Involvement

Sammanfattning

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is formally defined as a technical validation phase, yet it represents a critical moment in system implementation, the point where users first confront the operational realities of a new system, examined here through a large-scale Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) migration. This study investigates this dual role within that context. Specifically, it explores how the testing phase functions as a mechanism to anticipate and prevent user resistance, and in what ways it acts as a sociotechnical arena where formal participation translates into psychological involvement. The study adopts a qualitative approach, drawing on semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants at a multinational Swedish manufacturing firm undergoing a migration from SAP R/3 to SAP S/4HANA. The findings demonstrate that UAT serves as a critical early indicator of future system acceptance. It actively reduces the risk of resistance by lowering uncertainty and providing informal training. However, it can simultaneously establish the emotional precursors to resistance when users encounter system flaws, structural testing issues, and increased administrative workload. Genuine psychological involvement emerged only when users were granted meaningful responsibility or operated within responsive support structures. These conditions proved far from universal under the constraints of standardization. The study contributes to existing literature on system implementation, and ERP migrations in particular, by treating UAT beyond its technical purpose, showing that the paradox of participation is likely to manifest during this phase.