International Journal of Higher Education Management (IJHEM), Vol. 6 Number 1 August 2019 67 A Journal of the Centre for Business & Economic Research (CBER) www.cberuk.com An empirical study on user acceptance of ERP system by international students in Chinese HEIs: A TAM approach Rupesh Regmi Zhuo Zhang Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China Shradha Khanal Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China Hongpeng Zhang Jongkwan Kim Pusan National University, Busan, South Korea This study tries to make a theoretical framework for the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system through an empirical study of the explanatory capacity of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) concerning the intention of use by international students in Chinese HEIs. An online questionnaire yielding 363 valid responses was collected from the international students in Chinese HEIs and the quantitative analysis was performed using the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Model (SEM) framework verifying the research model and hypothesis. The statistical analysis evaluated and analyzed the behavioral intentions and patterns, and the consequent factor for the use of the ERP system. The study suggests resource optimization, the trust of the ERP system, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and attitude towards using to have a significant impact on international students’ behavioral intention to use the ERP system. Results from the analysis provide a crucial reference for Chinese HEIs while implementing ERP systems for the management of international students. Corresponding author: Rupesh Regmi Email address for corresponding author: regmi@nuaa.edu.cn First submission received: 26 th June 2019 Revised submission received: 28 th July 2019 Accepted: 30 th July 2019 1. Introduction The present-day world is dominated by the culture of innovation and productivity. The global economy is now predominately moving away from traditional industrial structure towards service sector and emerging economies. In this scenario, the role of human capital or human resources has become very crucial. It is human talent that is the driving force behind the present milieu of innovation and efficient execution across the globe. The mobility of human talent across borders has emerged as an important field of study. Different nations and organizations are now attaching great importance to it. The increasing pace of globalization has accelerated the international flow of the factors of production. The flow of talent or human capital, as an important component of the factors of production, is emerging as the most crucial resource and has become prevalent around the globe. Wei (2013) emphasized that since international students of higher education level (service trade of higher education) is an important part of the international talent flow, any country should attach great importance to this phenomenon and capitalize on it to attract talents, so as to transform its economic growth pattern, optimize its trade structure and strengthen its economic status in the world. Previously, there was a one-way flow of talent from the emerging to advanced countries. However, lately the trend is changing and has gradually become a two- Keywords Behavioral Intention, Chinese Higher Secondary Institutions (HEIs), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), International Students, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)