Analysis of Pirelli's Drive Toward a Global Strategy

The case shows the implementation of SAP ERP solution in NIBCO, a manufacturer of pipe and fittings, a mid-size manufacturer with about 3,000 employees and revenue over 460 million USD. The company

“The World of Ducati”: Minoli wanted to develop a global brand “The World of Ducati” that could appeal to a broader spectrum of customers. Minoli’s initiative was “moving from the mechanical to entertainment”. Supply of product that is differentiated [Grant p 222]

The IT staffs were certain that the existing SAP software will provide all necessary computer support. They believed that even if the SAP would not fit their business processes precisely, it may be an investment that provides greater long-term flexibility and better solutions to the company’s problem.

It is a concept that has evolved from a manufacturing perspective to a strategic perspective, which views the concept as a way for organizations to focus and be more competitive. The basic premise of outsourcing is that a specialist organization can perform a particular service more efficiently than can internal operations because a specialist organization has an inherent advantage in producing and delivering a service. Superior technology, management skills, or economies of scale may contribute to this perception. The type of sourcing relationship depends on whether a long-term or short-term need exists. To save funds used for benefits for regular employees, temporary workers are hired. In this case, the organization (outsourcer) provides all necessary resources except the workers, who are provided by the vendor. For long-term services, the vendor has full responsibility for delivering the service; the outsourcer provides only a liaison.

NIBCO has 100 years history and $ 400 million revenues. The main product is flow control like valves, fitting, and hangers so on. Compare to other same types of manufacturers, NIBCO wants to provide low price and differentiation of flow control products. In these days, the product quality is not only a requirement among the commodity markets. The value-added services also are good ways to attract more customers. However, when NIBCO wants to give value-added services to customers, the old system cannot suit their needs. The managers of NIBCO decided to use SAP R/3 implementation project, which helps them to deal with issues. From 1998 to 2001, SAP R/3 implementation has run smoothly in NIBCO. As a supply chain business processes, the

Once the requirements are determined what the system must do, an analysis can be conducted to determine if it is more cost effective to develop the software in house or purchase commercial off the shelf software. In the analysis, both options should include the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. If it is determined to develop the system in house each component of the system can be refined in detail in layers until they are detailed enough to validate the model of the new system. Utilizing a top-down approach can take advantage of new technology and development of the new system will help control development and cost and deliver a system faster, but the disadvantage of this approach is the system cannot be used until it is fully developed and tested. A bottom-up approach may take longer to develop but the system can be used after completion and testing of the first component, which the organization can see immediate results of the project and the new system can benefit the organization earlier on their

Outsourcing is a process of a company obtaining the services from an outside vendor. These services can be of different forms like IT services for a software company, voice services for a customer support industry, legal services for companies and small part suppliers for manufacturing companies etc. The main reason for a company to outsource its services is cost savings

SAP provides businesses scalable and customizable solutions for all aspects of your clients' businesses, from production to marketing and Human Resources to finance reporting. Moreover, SAP products and applications will allow your clients to operate at peak efficiency levels, with better communication and faster decision-making. Therefore, the

Used SAP tools with the project team and created a centralized system for inventory, finance and sales areas within a supply store system.

In response to the company's growing needs, Hansen made the decision to adopt a new and integrated enterprise resource planning system (ERP) to manage its current workflow as well as prepare the company for future growth. The company selected a software package offered by Microsoft Business Solutions called Axapta. The implementation of this system took roughly six months for the financial and inventory modules and the manufacturing module went live about two months later. As a result of the new ERP system, the company benefited from a wide array of

The project was conducted into four large phases, preparation, analysis, design and implementation. IS teams were capable of building scripting tools to assist with the project. NIBCO team members learned to apply an R/3 big bang implementation because IBM changed management approach was not ERP-specific. NIBCO’s also faced some problems implementing ERP SAP.

In terms of business, outsourcing can be defined as the process of assigning company’s business processes to external agencies in order to develop the firm’s performance and to avoid business’s high expenses. These expenses may include energy costs, production and labour costs, high taxes and excessive government regulation. From strategic management point of view, outsourcing is used to reduce the operational costs so that the organisation can focus more on the core business and gain competitive advantage. The outsourcing principle was fundamentally applied by PRCM in order to fund the mine design and operation processes. This sort of strategy had large impacts on the company’s performance hence, the next paragraphs will highlight some of these influences.

Outsourcing refers to hiring an outside, independent firm to perform a business function that internal employees might otherwise perform. Many organizations outsource jobs to specialized service companies, which frequently operate abroad. The outsourcing trend stands to continue; the latest wave of outsourcing impacts the information technology field. IT outsourcing includes data center operations, desktop and help desk support, software development, e-commerce outsourcing, software applications services, network operations and disaster recovery.2

Additionally, the perception of the end user's towards the newly implemented technology. Positive perception of the implementation as having a significant effect on

First, the aspiring team started off the transformation of Ducati’s strategic plan by creating what was called the ‘World of Ducati’, to support and develop the brand. This started with the decision to build a museum, in order to show that Ducati was more than a motorcycle company; Ducati was a dream and a passion. Through this Ducati was able to