Implementing A New ERP System Into The Enterprise:
Best Practices in Project and Change Management
Introduction
The most significant costs and risks a company can take are in re-aligning its core business processes and systems to allow for greater responsiveness to market opportunities and threats. Increasingly Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are being used as the unifying platform for all systems throughout an enterprise. As a result, the project, implementation, training and support plans often must be carefully devised and implemented across nontechnical and technical personnel to ensure the overall project's success. ERP systems especially are fulfilling a critical role in the managing of enterprises, taking on the tasks of managing accounting, financial reporting, supply chain management, logistics and ongoing quality management of products, processes and the role of people in adding value to finished goods and services (Ash, Burn, 2003). ERP has become the catalyst of entirely new approaches to using information, including the ongoing development of analytics and business intelligence (BI) applications that are giving executives greater visibility into their operations than ever before (Ash, Burn, 2003). In addition to analytics and BI, companies are aggressively pursuing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems that give them the ability to more effectively track and evaluate the performance of marketing and selling strategies. CRM systems are
From an organizational and profitability standpoint, an efficient, easy to use, and unified CRM system, captures all key and critical data from sales and marketing to commercial operations, all the while focusing on sales process, sales efficiencies, and increasing sales, all contributing to the bottom-line profitability of the organization. Data has proven that CRM platforms increase the productivity and profitability of individual departments and subsidiaries, these same platforms and characteristics will have the same ramifications on a larger scale organization, especially an organization that spans the global footprint, such as
In today’s business environment, companies use integrated information systems to gain competitive advantages. The primary objective of senior management is to generate a 10% profit to reinvest into the enterprise and expand their divisions. Several of Bandon’s competitors have implemented ERP with integrated CRM solutions. In order for Bandon Group, Inc. to compete with businesses such as Xerox, it is necessary to integrate the business applications. According to Monk, Ellen, & Wagner, “increasing information system efficiency often results in the effective management of business processes, which is essential to maximizing profit and sustainable growth” (2009). Bandon Group has common critical problems and issues within the organization today; there are also opportunities and challenges that need to be addressed. The technology department is small and strained. With the range of various technical solutions that have been implemented across the divisions it has become very difficult to provide data migrations, network support, technical support and training (Sumner, 2005). An ERP system can dramatically reduce costs and improve operational efficiency as it removes feudal decision-making and facilitates data integration and transparency between business units
Ram, J., Corkindale, D., & Wu, M. (2013). Implementation critical success factors (CSFs) for ERP: Do they contribute to implementation success and post-implementation performance?. International Journal of Production Economics, 144(1), 157-174.
As a result of technological advancements, modern businesses seek new and improved methods of conducting their business processes. Systems have been designed to augment and manage core business functions such as production, accounting, procurement, and human resources. However, even with these systems in place, information is unreliable and inconsistent if they are on disparate platforms. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software tackles this problem by integrating business processes into a centralized system.
The role of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems in companies today is rapidly changing from just providing after-the-fact reporting of results to delivering analytics and intelligence on how to succeed with new products and services. ERP has in the past been relegated to just managing the interactions and interconnections between supplier, manufacturing operations and to a lesser extent, fulfillment. ERP is rapidly emerging as a viable framework for guiding the strategic decisions and directions of any manufacturing or service-related business globally with greater accuracy and profitability (Ash, Burn, 2003). With ERP being such a significant strategic platform for growth of companies, it is not surprising to see so many being upgraded and enhanced to help companies stay in step with their customers using SaaS-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM), predictive analytics and greater visibility through the entire value chain of a business as a result (Ash, Burn, 2003). With so much riding on the implementation of an ERP system from a customer relationship and analytics standpoint, effective project and change management is the most critical success factor there is in attaining strategic plans using these systems(Chen, Yang, 2009). The intent of this analysis is to define which information should and should not be shared with technical and
The focus of the Board’s decisions was on the attainment of educational goals, and in the enhancement of the research reputation of the university. Success measures for educational initiatives were normally expressed in terms of student achievements, enrollments, and applications to the university. Success measures for research efforts were counts of the numbers of articles published and research grants received. Financial measures of success, when they were used at all, mainly comprised summaries of budgeted expenditures versus actual expenditures. With his MBA training and long business experience, Allen Carpenter found these traditional methods of project evaluation incomplete at best, and superficial at worst. Carpenter had set out to change the approach, and largely he had succeeded. Now the university evaluated educational and research initiatives more like a
An ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, system is a business management software that integrates all levels of operations. It can include product planning, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing. The goal of a successful ERP is to improve the flow of all shared information and data across the entire organization. In the past, Johnson & Johnson have used an ERP developed by SAP, a German multinational software company and one of the worlds largest. More recently J&J took on a massive project to consolidate and harmonize their ERP landscape. J&J 's global enterprise supply chain included 120 manufacturing sites, over 500 external manufacturers, 450 distribution centers, and over 60 ERP systems that support about 275 operating companies (Dignan, 2013). This project was initiated because J&J was finding that they were having trouble keeping some products on shelves which affected sales. They saw an opportunity to better meet the evolving needs of customers and hopefully improve the cost of goods sold efficiently to
“In the mid-to-late 1990s, companies began implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to automate, standardize, and integrate their business processes for effective planning and control.” (Bradford, 2015) A major component of this ERP system is a single all-encompassing database that Bradford refers to as, “a single source of the truth.” (pg. 1) Essentially, what this means is that employees in various departments of an organization will input data essential to their core activities; and this data can be utilized to help other departments perform their activities faster and more efficiently. The idea is to have all aspects of an organization work from the same data. Organizations have abandoned the legacy systems of the past
When the implementation of a CRM means a tremendous change within the business, a robust technology becomes as important as much the training to make the best use of the software. This case study explores how the Siebel CRM developed by Cubastion for implementation in a general insurance company becomes a successful event.
Brief review of ERP has shown that in early versions, the system focused on functions of offices only and customer’s data were supposed to be managed by the company’s human resources. However, the recent model of ERP 2 included integrated functions of personnel and customer data, thereby, allowing to relate the information within the company more conveniently. Successfully installed ERP system might include forecasting options with improved efficiency and productivity. Accordingly, the company betters its customer relationship management and customer
The article entitled “Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Technology; Sales Demand, Manufacturing and Market Interface” (Sharma, 2013) begins by pointing out the importance of businesses being sensitive to customer demand across a variety of markets around the world in order to maintain competitiveness. The responses of increasing capacity or simplifying production are not proving as useful as the strategy of improving the integration of sales demand, manufacturing, and marketing (SDM&M), thus making the company more intimately and rapidly responsive to demand. This increased integration involves certain basic questions, such as what process to use to integrate and how to do so. Large companies use ERP technology to achieve SDM&M
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software items are business application, bundled software. They are utilized to run vast to medium-sized business ventures. The ERP software suppliers assert that their product can oblige each business movement of each class of business undertaking. As a rule, an endeavor depends on various databases to keep up its operations: to encourage the relocation, the ERP software underpins numerous databases for communication and include however depends fundamentally on a concentrated database for putting away all capacity module information. The ERPs incorporate the diverse business exercises of a business endeavor. They bolster various coin
Cisco System, Inc is a Computer Technologies company that was founded in 1984. The company’s primary product is the “router.” The router is hardware and software that control Intranet and Internet traffic. With the growth of the Internet, Cisco products became in high demand. In 1997 Cisco was ranked among the top five companies in return on revenues and on assets. Cisco has been
Introduction: Enterprise resource planning is a business process management tool to help business manage and automate many back office functions related to technology, services, accounting, supply chain, inventory, projects and human resources [1]. It is a system which integrates product planning, development, manufacturing, sales and marketing [1].
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