...· r & Fr a nci s G ro SAP implementation at Metalica: an organizational drama in two acts M ICH EL AVIT AL and BETTY VANDENBOSCH Department of Information Systems, Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7235 USA This play attempts to reconstruct the social reality of key players at Metalica during the ® rst couple of years of SAP implementation. Rather than adopting one perspective about the SAP project, we provide the views of different participants using their own words, arguments and ideas as much as possible. The play is constructed from summaries of systematic interviews which were changed only to suit scholarly objectives and a dramatic presentation. At the request of the company involved, the names and locations in this case have been disguised. Act 1 describes the company’ s vision concerning the implementation of an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, a crisis which emerged during the initial phase of implementation and the actions taken to remedy the shortfalls. Act 2 describes the project management, the dynamics between the implementation team members and the organizational implications of an ERP system implementation. The actual performance of the play and a subsequent discussion among the participants enable students to re-create and experience the thrills, frustrations, dilemmas and concerns originally expressed by the people who inspired this account of SAP implementation. Using theatre in an academic...
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...FULFILS BUSINESS OPTIMISATION GOALS WITH SAP QUICK FACTS “With SAP NetWeaver PI, we have finally streamlined, advanced and integrated our process capability. This goes a long way in enhancing HUL’s ability to meet the demands of the modern trade.” KS Arunkumar, IT Group Manager, Hindustan Unilever Limited Summary Name: Hindustan Unilever Limited Location: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India Industry: Consumer Products Employees: 15,000 Website www.hll.com Key Challenges Arrival of modern trade in India Legacy systems and business infrastructure were unable to meet transaction and process capability requirements of the modern trade Project Objectives Optimise business operation and simplify IT management Achieve process consolidation internally and across the value chain Preserve investment of legacy inventory and cash-to-order management system for business partners Integrate with business partners’ IT infrastructure quickly and seamlessly Solutions and Services Phase 1: SAP ERP Central Component 5.0, SAP NetWeaver Process Integration (SAP NetWeaver PI), SAP NetWeaver Portal, SAP Supply Chain Management (SAP SCM), SAP Solution Manager, SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence (SAP NetWeaver BI), SAP NetWeaver Composition Environment (SAP NetWeaver CE) Phase 2: SAP Customer Relationship Management, SAP Advanced Planning & Optimisation Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling, SAP Transportation Planning and Vehicle Scheduling Implementation Highlights Rollout in two phases. Phase...
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...a good example of how leadership plays a pivotal role in the success of IS project. The strategy employed by the senior IT manager at Keda can be summarized by the following points: 1) In 2000, Keda began the process of computerizing the organization, but Keda’s decentralized decision making culture failed to design a sound roadmap for the IT projects. Dr. Fan Zhu, the vice general manager, the then in-charge of the IT department, first designed a five-year computerization plan aligning with company’s strategic goals and prioritized ERP implementation to integrate the organizational structure. 2) Dr. Fan Zhu involved senior management in the vendor selection process, and in decision making. He ensured that the management was kept in the loop on the project progress, and technical and strategic challenges. In doing so, he was able to garner the leadership support to make this project successful. 3) During ERP implementation, managers of various departments collaborated and were held responsible to meet the milestones for their own departments to make the project successful. 4) As departmental managers had to work long hours, senior management started a reward system. Employees were awarded incentives for their contribution to the project. Culture plays an important role in development of the information system and its use (Pearlson & Saunders, pg.89). As ERP systems originally developed for users in North America and Western Europe...
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...Deloitte: Alleges fraud on SAP project The success or failure of implementing ERP software depends on a number of factors. I will look at the case Marin County sues Deloitte: Alleges fraud on SAP project. Marin County filed a complaint against Deloitte Consulting for its role in an over-budget SAP implementation. The lawsuit alleges Deloitte committed fraud and misrepresented its skills and experience. One of the reasons why this ERP system failed was Deloitte knew the County didn’t have any prior ERP or SAP implementation experience and knew it would be depending on Deloitte to guide and manage the project. The complaint also states that Deloitte mishandled staffing, project management, risk management, and testing. When implementing ERP software customers, software vendors, and system integrators typically share responsibility for project success of failure. However, customers purchasing complex systems, such as ERP software, do have a high responsibility that their own projects outcome is successful. In Marin’s contract suggested the County was concerned about its own ability to manage the project properly. Being concerned with your own company’s ability to manage a project in the early stage of implementation is not a good thing and Marin County should’ve controlled the conversation with their system integrators and lead from that premise. It’s up to the customer such as Marin County to lead and drive the result of their ERP implementation project and can’t rely on their...
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...the company, making any recommendation for change extremely daunting. Coupled with the fact that most people are change averse, no one wanted to run over the legacy systems Cisco already had in place so they just tried to continue to Band-Aid the issues with system replacements. Managers were not eager to take on this project Although it was clear by 1993 that there was a significant misalignment between the capability of the legacy UNIX-based system and the business demand based on growth, no one within the company had led an effort to replace the old system. One reason was likely due to the lack of direction for such a project, as the CIO had originally instructed each business unit to select their own application and timing of implementation. This type of decentralized decision-making was unfamiliar at Cisco, a company who thrived on standardization and centralization. As such, no one manager of a business unit was eager to be the first to go to the board for approval to invest a large amount of time and money to replace the legacy system with an application for...
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...Comp3120 Assignment 1 SAP Implementation Review Yuan Tan, u4571547 V1.0 Final Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 1 Introduction 2 2 Business Context 2 2.1 Client Background 2 2.2 Operational Context 2 2.3 The Need for Change 3 2.4 Description of SAP 3 3 Business Investment Decision 3 3.1 The Case for SAP 3 3.2 Evaluation 4 4 Implementation 4 4.1 Approach & Rationale 4 4.2 Key Business Events 4 4.3 Key Implementation Events Affecting Performance 5 4.4 Status at Time of Go-Live Decision 5 4.5 Evaluation 5 5 The Go-Live Decision 6 5.1 Key Criteria 6 5.2 Recommendation 6 6 Expected Outcomes and Potential Takeover Impacts 6 6.1 Expected Outcomes 6 6.2 Potential Impacts of a Takeover 6 7 Lessons Learned 6 1 Introduction In 1997-1998, manufacturing company AMP of Canada implemented the Enterprise Resource Planning suite SAP to replace a critical business system, the heavily customised and Y2K non-compliant JBA( Harold Kerzner Project Management Case Studies, 3rd Edition, Wiley). By September 1998 AMP of Canada faced a critical decision-point: whether to go live with a basic SAP implementation which still faced problems in testing and training( Harold Kerzner, Instructor’s Manual Accompanying Project Management Case Studies, 3rd Edition, Wiley). This report reviews the case studies outlining AMP of Canada’s situation with a view to: Appraising the decision to invest in SAP; Evaluating the suitability of the implementation approach taken; Assessing...
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...is still increasing to this day. Why decide to use ERP implementation SAP? During the 1990’s, Nestle USA companies were operating as independents and were selling their vanilla product that was purchased from the same vendor 29 different prices. This became a concerning issue with the CIO and therefore something had to be done. In the year of 1997 the company made the decision to “standardize” their software systems to be all of one unit between its seven different divisions. In order to standardize the system, Nestle USA decided that the SAP modules would be based on: financials, sales and distributing, purchasing, accounts payable and accounts receivable. With these five SAP modules and using the Manugistic’s supply chain model, Nestle USA knew that implementing this ERP would take time but also benefit them in the long run. What issues may have caused concern with using the SAP model? During the phase of planning, the company realized that Y2K was soon approaching which caused a lot of worry in trying to get the standard software to be moved prior to January 1, 2000. Once the SAP began the stakeholder management team began to receive a lot of unwanted feedback, and this is when Jeri Dunn the VP and CIO of Nestle USA stepped in and expressed concern that the company did not fully comprehend the tasks it would take to completely change the culture and modify its business processes. These concerns on the SAP rolling out ultimately led to...
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...Case Study Kraft Foods Implementation of SAP Table of Contents INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . …. 3 INNOVATION………………. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ………………3-4 PEOPLE……………….. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .......5 STRATEGY………………….. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..5-7 SUCCESS………………………. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7-8 INTRODUCTION Kraft Foods was founded in 1903 by J.L. Kraft who began by buying cheese at wholesale markets in Chicago and then reselling it to local merchants in the area. Until 2012, Kraft Foods was primarily made up of three major businesses Kraft Foods, General Foods and Nabisco. Each of these businesses had gone through growth and mergers over the years and in 1995 the company was brought under the name of Kraft Foods and consolidated into one company. In 2004, Kraft Foods came to the realization that they needed one Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system to consolidate all of their business activities under one system for all locations within North America. Kraft Foods decided to implement SAP, which they had previously chosen for their manufacturing and distribution locations within Europe. SAP is a very popular ERP system that is generally used by large companies who are...
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...JACG Consulting Group JACG Consulting Group SAP ERP Implementation SAP ERP Implementation By Jonathan Deroza, Audry Vazquez, Crystal Wheeler and George Sergi By Jonathan Deroza, Audry Vazquez, Crystal Wheeler and George Sergi Abstract We are working on the implementation of an ERP system from SAP for our coop with a total of 51 member owners. We are under a compelling opinion that the SAP R/3 software package gives us the best opportunity to achieve our objectives by reducing reporting and invoicing errors, reducing labor and transition costs and increasing productivity throughout JACG and its membership companies. 1. Overview JACG is a consulting firm modeled a coop that provides innovation business solutions in the food industry for their member-owners and customers. Today JACG has 51 active members with sales totaling fourteen billion dollars. JACG leverages the total volume, knowledge and loyalty of their membership to establish a competitive advantage by reducing costs and offering business building competencies. The value proposition that JACG brings to the membership is defined in many area including procurement, sourcing, quality assurance and best in class consulting services for its member-owners. The AS400 system JACG has in place today is very antiquated. The system is more than 20 years old and has been customized to the juncture where the updates to the software suite provided by the manufacturer are no longer useful; it is not flexible...
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...run a SAP Netweaver team in a technical consulting company such as Deloitte, Ernest& Young or Accenture. Leading a team of 3-4 people in a small segment SAP implementation project will afford me complete understanding of project timeline as well as knowledge of the complete life-cycle of a SAP implementation. In turn, I will gain perspectives into architecture and people management in a fully functional SAP team. My role in Deloitte has familiarized me with the SAP Netweaver space. I became the primary resource for the entire team in both projects and operations in the Indian time zone, because of which my learning curve has been steep. But I need to learn strategy implementation for tasks and projects like creating project timelines and work allocation based on time. The Schulich MBA courses on Strategic management and Operations management would help me improve my analytical skills and will also enhance my SAP skills to a more managerial role. The program for strategy Field study would help me learn from case based and real time scenarios in actual situations, which would help me, get a firsthand experience of project planning and timelines. The Global Leadership program of the Schulich MBA is in itself a great opportunity to lead and develop one’s experience and be able to network across with people from different backgrounds. This would help me gain perspective on how different people function, on how various business functions and project implementations in various...
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...the time of the case, why has SAP America grown so rapidly? What challenges have been created by the company’s explosive growth? Growth due to Strategic reasons: * They decide to remain a product company rather than converting to a solutions company which lead to creating a beneficiary ecosystem for itself as well as for its consulting partners * Targeted the top tier companies which were believed to rely only on mainframes, but by having a good sales force they were able to close big deals efficiently. * Focus on manufacturing related industries which gave them the chance to generate revenue by licensing the product and pricing on the Licenses was according to the usage of the client. * Main aim was to make their product the de facto industry standard so that they had large number of users and hence high revenue. Market Forces: * R/3 was way ahead in technology than any product in the market at that time. It gave clients the option to tailor the product according to their needs without changing any code. * The scope of R/3’s reach was massive, it was open architecturally thus giving a lot freedom to the client in terms of database, hardware etc. * The timing of the product release was perfect because re-engineering and process redesign was on the rise. Organizational Factors: * Sales force was better organized and were given autonomy so that they could close deals faster. * Every step of the implementation was worked out to minute details...
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...case was to create a new business model that integrate all plants together and manage the same information. This will allow better management of the supply chain across all of its plants and quicker response in changes in the business environment. 2. What criteria are important to making this decision? • The first criteria that they need to consider on getting stated with the SAP was to define the cooperate standards for data, technical platforms and SAP implementation and tools. Also in what process areas would be implemented. • Second, they need it to create a team to implement PR2, they needed to consider the complexity due to the size of the plant and divided the implementation within multiple phases. 3. What implications and consequences does each of the options present? • The go live approach for the RTP production ramp down had some unresolved issues like; problems with the data DB2 data based, R/3 still being tested and end to end system testing was not completed. • The team had a very sort period of time to completed the implementation, under the time pressure exist the possibility of something going wrong, no meeting the deadlines and as a consequences a disruption of the project. • On of the implication was that in order for the PR2 to ramp up they had concentrated efforts and establish a ‘war room’ where the focus on any issues and meet constantly. 4. What data, facts or experiences can you use to support...
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...Technology since it has been privatized by MICT Berhad and ATLAM had overhauled its Information Technology (IT) in year 2000.gain The system had not been functioned to produce financial statement. After knowing the weakness, ATLAM has two alternatives which is ACCPAC and Petra’s group-wide SAP. ATLAM has been asked to upgrade its accounting system with the Petra group-wide SAP system. Zulkifli as ATLAM’s finance manager need to critically assess the risks associated with the decision on whether to or not to implement SAP in ATLAM. Zulkifli has arranged a meeting to discuss the new system upgrade. He had invited Sani (Project Manager), Gopal (User Project Manager), Lim (User Representative) and Kamal (Functional Analyst) to discuss about implementing SAP in ATLAM. As it shown in the case, the first meeting have not come to a mutual agreement on whether to implement SAP in ATLAM as Lim has pointed out that implement ACCPAC is a cheaper option compared to SAP that would be incurred a huge cost for ATLAM as it will becomes a financial constraint and burden to ATLAM. In second meeting, Lim stated that the SAP is impractical in ATLAM as the the company don’t even have enough computer to operate SAP and some of the ATLAM staff...
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...According to the book “Why ERP?: A Primer On SAP Implementation” by Jacobs and Whybark, the overall situation can be summarized into three main parts. First of all, the novel introduces us with a manufacturing manager of a furniture plant called Billy. His boss, Mr. McDougle, who owns the company, wants to buy his brother’s furniture plant in Ohio. Virtually, Ohio plant has already implemented SAP R/3, and MR. McDougle desires to run the same software at both company in order to get efficiency. Consequently, Billy learns about EPR systems, and he has some considerations of its implementation. Moreover, Billy feels deeply that his plant is operating well with its existing software system (MRP). Then, as a result, Mr. McDougle sends Billy to an SAP training seminar. He attends it to learn more about the system and to decide whether this system is appropriate for the plant. Finally, Billy goes to Ohio to evaluate the SAP R/3 installation in use at there which works successfully, and to learn about how the plant works depending on a comparison between the two companies. He ends up with several concerns about transferring the software from the Ohio plant to his. Finally, Billy presents his final recommendations to his boss, and he gives some guidelines for how ERP systems should be implemented. He agrees that the system will be useful only in accounting sector to provide integrated financial statement at both plants. Mr. McDougle insists the ERP should be implemented as the system...
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...Organisational Analysis of SAP Labs India Pvt. Ltd SECTION-D, GROUP-IV Archit Prasad (12 DM-037) Debaleena Biswas (12HR-007) Himanshu Garg (12 FN-054) Madhavi Verma (12 DM-081) Tapapriyo Maitra (12 DM-151) Yogaesh Sharda (12 FN-159) Yogesh Khanna (12 IB- 061) Introduction India has always been chosen as the preferred Research and Development centre by many multinational organisations; SAP Labs was no exception. SAP Labs India Pvt. Ltd is SAP AG's largest R& D center in the world. The functional areas of SAP Labs India are Research & Breakthrough Innovation, Product Development, Customer solutions and Operations, etc. Due to its excellent employee learning system, effective management control and state-of-the art infrastructure, SAP Labs India is rated among Top 5 Best workplaces in IT software industry. The next few Pages aims at analysing the Oragnisational structure, culture, life/cycle stage , size , business environment and finally the right “fit” of SAP Labs India Pvt. Ltd. About SAP Labs India Pvt Ltd SAP Labs is the research and development organization of the parent company. SAP has its development organization spread across the globe. SAP Labs India Pvt. Ltd was opened in the year 1998. Other labs are located in Germany, France, Bulgaria and Hungary in Europe; Palo Alto, USA; Bangalore and Gurgaon, India; São Leopoldo, Brazil; Ra'anana and Karmiel, Israel; Montreal and Vancouver, Canada and Shanghai, China. SAP Labs India is the largest development...
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