It amazes me to read about how a major corporation’s executive management ignores the value of planning for changes, supporting and including their own managers and front line staff. Anytime the executive management realizes that changes need to occur to the business operations, it appears that they ignore the very people who can provide them with the insight, the expertise and the knowledge necessary to make those changes for the betterment of the business and its customers.
In the case study, “The Relation Between BPR and ERP Systems: A Failed Project,” once again, executive management and the Board of Directors decide that things need to change in order to turn the business around. They relied on a potential vendor’s salesperson’s advice to “save the day” and provide the Silver Bullet to magically transform the company into something they didn’t even define. But! It was going to be better!!!
Were they really that stupid? Apparently so. After spending over $280 million dollars and a couple of years, the only positive thing that this company has to show for its investment is a very expensive version of Quickbooks and only for Accounts Payable.
Mistakes made include:
a. Failure to define exactly what changes needed to made
b. Failure to fully support the project manager by giving him the political power, clear definitions and two-way open lines of communication
c. Relying upon the new computer system to redesign business practices ignoring current processes and company culture
d. Forcing the new ERP system into the company, even in places where it was clearly not needed
e. Not including or consulting any middle management or front line staff
f. Continuing to throw money at the problem rather than determining what the problem was
g. Bringing a couple hundred outside consultants to implement the system without including any in-house staff at any level
Even recent research suggests that as a company grows, so should its’ information system. Just as a company brings on additional staff, new product offerings, opens new offices or outsources any of its practices, a company must consider how their information technology system will adapt and grow with the company’s changes. “The selection of system development model and processes should support frequent change requirements, software reuse and controlled maintainability of information systems. … Changes occurring in organizations need to change information systems.” (Manchanda et al, 2009, page 2). However, this research supports the fact that referencing the current processes are essential to continue to grow and prosper.
In addition, companies must incorporate coping skills for all levels of staff to help ensure a successful large-scale change. The authors of “Abating the Consequences of Managerialism on the Forgotten Employees: The Issues of Support, Control, Coping and Pay” concluded that overlooking inclusion, coping techniques, social welfare and other emotional factors will have an impact on organizational commitment, job satisfaction and psychological health. Any movement, either positive or negative, in one area will heavily influence the others as they are strongly correlated. (Noblet, McWilliams, 2006, page 13). Take care of the human element and the system will follow.
Any executive manager would be very wise to include members of each employment level. Not one person or group of people knows everything about a company. Bring in other voices and avoid group think. Otherwise, why even be in business?
Works Cited
Manchanda, Sanjeev, S. B. Singh, and Mayank Dave. “Change Management and Software Reuse Supportive ‘Genetic Information System Development and Maintenance’ Model.” International Journal of Software Engineering & Knowledge Engineering 19.1 (2009): 113-136. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.
Noblet, Andrew J., John H. McWilliams, and John J. Rodwell. “Abating the Consequences of Managerialism on the Forgotten Employees: The Issues of Support, Control, Coping, and Pay.” International Journal of Public Administration 29.10/11 (2006): 911-930. Business Source Complete. EBSCO. Web. 22 Nov. 2010.
