Lesson 3

Today we spent half of the class working in our ERP business case. It was helpful because we got to see the real reasons why a company would want to implement an ERP system and, since the companies we chose are big worldwide and they’ve already implemented some sort of system already, we got to see the before & after. Unfortunately we had to make up the situation for the company, since it was difficult to find up to date information on the systems the companies were using, plus they usually don’t make this public seeing as it is probably the key of their success and they wouldn’t want others to know.

We went on discussing some pointers on how to avoid failure when implementing an ERP system. In my opinion the most important ones are training and communication. There has to be an effective communicate within all levels of the company when an ERP is being put in place. There has to be an involvement from top to bottom since everyone will be part of the change. I think it’s important to make the end users feel part of the process, and convince them that the change is in the better interest of all.

We ended discussing the readings we had for today and yesterday. Since the two reading that were for today where about cultural differences and how they became an important issue when implementing an ERP system, the whole class gave their thoughts on the subject and, the fact that the group is international, made the discussion very interesting. ERP software companies such as SAP and Oracle must be aware of the role culture plays in the implementation of the system in order for it to succeed. Each company in its corresponding country has to be approached in different ways, in order to understand their needs. Not all companies can be approached in the same way, even if they’re in the same country. Each one’s different and unique, and that’s something that has to be understood when implementing such systems.