Integrating Competitive Strategy with Digital Core Systems: A Framework for ERP-Driven Enterprise Coherence

In an era of digitally integrated enterprises, competitive strategy can no longer be understood as a conceptual blueprint detached from organizational infrastructure. While firms invest heavily in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems to integrate processes and data, many continue to experience strategic fragmentation across business units, geographic regions, and functional domains. This article argues that the persistent gap between competitive positioning and organizational coherence stems from a failure to embed strategic logic within the digital core of the enterprise. Reframing ERP systems as strategic infrastructures rather than operational utilities, the study develops a conceptual framework explaining how competitive strategy can be translated into system-level governance parameters. It introduces the notion of ERP-driven enterprise coherence, defined as the structural alignment of decision rights, capital allocation discipline, performance measurement, and risk visibility within a unified digital architecture. Drawing on strategic management theory, enterprise architecture research, and organizational complexity perspectives, the article proposes a Strategy-to-System Integration Model that explains how digital core systems can institutionalize cost leadership, differentiation, or hybrid strategies through embedded workflows, authorization hierarchies, and real-time performance dashboards. The model further addresses the tension between standardization and adaptability, demonstrating how modular ERP architectures can sustain coherence while enabling strategic evolution. By bridging competitive strategy with digital system design, this study extends alignment theory and positions ERP configuration as a central mechanism of strategic governance. The findings offer both theoretical contributions and actionable guidance for executives seeking to transform ERP investments into durable sources of enterprise coherence and competitive advantage.