Keda’s ERP project is 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, Dr. Zhu and Mr. Zhang were uncertain about how the Chinese employees at Keda would perceive it. A tough decision that Dr. Zhu had to take was to decide who might be more suitable to implement the ERP system at Keda, in the sense that the local vendors could have been more suitable in the cultural context but the global vendors could have brought more experience. To