Day 4 - Elif

Hi,

Today we have made a brief summary of what we have learned yesterday and we have started to compare and contrast different ERP implementation methods such as Big Bang, Phased, Outsourcing, In-House, Decentralized and Centralized implementation methods. Each of them has different advantages and disadvantages. It was again a lively discussion environment where we had a chance to get different point of views from each other. We saw that each implementation method can differ according to the place where a company conduct a business and according to the cultural differences. For example, outsourcing can be riskier because of the unawareness of people of the corporate culture which can result some problems. This was also the same problem in the Harley Davidson case. Some of the providers were not paying attention on the cultural issues and were much more focusing on technical and functional features. Although these are also important issues (we have learned that Harley chose the Provider which was involved in functional issues) culture has a great impact on the business that are conducted.

We have also organized different teams where we were trying to deal with cultural problems and differences that we can face because of the different countries in which our company is operating. Every team member was representing the country that s/he was coming from but I think it was difficult to make strict comments on the business environment of our countries since we do not have a serious work experience and a chance to know thoroughly this business environment.

Finally, I can say that I liked very much your teaching method. I think it was a great chance for us to see different point of views about this ERP implementation strategies, learn from each other and discuss in a very enjoyfull course. Thank you.

See you in the exam