Today we really analyse the issues of the implementation of an ERP in an organisation.
We used the example of Decathlon.
We analyse issues such as the implementation team. Who should it be composed of?
- a functional technical expert
o in house: you need someone very skilled. you set up a new role in the organisation. The person will know the needs of the organisation and will have the control o the implementation.
o Outsourced: the person will have the technical competence to do the job. It will use the resources of the ERP company.
- Key developer from each department: a person in house who will be in charge to adapt the software to the specific needs of the operational level of each department. He will make the decision. You will need to train him to make him able to handle the project.
- A trusted employee at all the hierarchical level of the organisation. He will assume the role of leader in the implementation. It has to be a person able to motivate its pair to accept the changes.
- Super user (or power user). These persons will be employees with the will to understand how it works and they will be the reference in the ERP for all the other users. This ability to know the system will give them a real power in the company as they will know techniques and the solutions to the basic issues the company will face: they will become specialists . They will be the contact point , closer to the direct users of the ERP than the IT manager.
- A person from the top management to support the project. It will make you sure that the direction of the company is with you, even if you face issues. He can use his influence to convince the employees or managers who are resistant to the change.
Outsource a part of the team will allows a better efficiency even though it can frustrate some IT managers.
You will have to train all the users: you will use outsourced specialists.
An ERP software need most of the time a customisation to be adapted to your needs.
It can be a process customisation or a technical customisation or both or none( when you didn’t have any system).
The process customisation consist in modifying the way you are doing things to adapt to the ERP.
Sometimes, the ERP needs to make a process more complex but the global benefits of the ERP worth it. It is then the role of the IT department to find solutions to readapt the process.
The software customisation consist in modifying functions of the software to adapt it with your way of doing things. The software customisation is needed in almost all the cases.
You can do 3 types of customisation:
The module selection (no customisation at all, you just load the program and use it as it is)
The table configuration: you change options on the program, add some of your old ones, delete some that was existed and are useless for you. ( eg: had or delete some bolt-on’s which are additional software for your ERP).
The code modification: is creating new thing on the program and changing it in a huge way to make it fit to your needs.
Customizing is useful but there are some con’t the code modification:
- it is costly as you need skilled people to do it and you need to buy other software to fit with so it will be efficient for you. Moreover, as you change things , you will have to maintenance it for a long time to check if it really works.
- If your technicians change everything and make errors, you won’t be able to come back to the old version and all the system can be destroy.
- As you make changes, the company of the ERP is no more responsible for the errors and won’t support you technically in case of mistakes or wrong utilisation.
You have to keep in mind that when you implement your ERP, to prevent from errors, your old system will be still in place. So all your employees will have to double enter the data (which is a loss of time). Your implementation has to be very fast, very organised and tested.
You can test the ERP as a mini big bang on a small part of your organisation to see what will happen, the mistake to avoid, the solution found to the possible issues and keep in mind all this analysis before implemented it on the whole organisation.
The decision of the area test depend of the way the organisation is formed. If it is centralised or decentralized.
In the computer room, we used the SAP software. This system is complex to get used to but is very efficient when it is well used. The training lessons are compulsory and stressful for the employees because they know that if they don’t understand how to use it, they will not be able to do their work.
We manage to enter a data in the software.
We try to fill and order and to search for a client and quantities he asks.
Employees use specific codes to each transaction they want to do (create an order, search a client...)
We saw that the program is totally integrated in the sense that anybody (if it is unlocked) can have access to any part of the software. It improve the communication within the company and avoid phone call between the different areas.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The customization: Various levels, types...
hi everyone!
the lecture today was separated in two parts. The first one occurs in class and the 2nd one was in front of our laptop, confronting to this, now famous, SAP!
Firstly we worked about our case: Decathlon. How should we implement an ERP in Decatlon, these multinational companies present in 14 countries and havng 350 shops?
Even if the head quarter is in Lille, if the most of the shops are in France do we need to implement first an ERP in France?
Or should we implement only one module in each countries? what about he culture?
We did not find one good solution to our case and thanks to the whole groups we found out more than 6 solutions!! We are going to work more about and make lot of assumptions to take our decision
Secondly, we worked about the customization to know how we have to implement the ERP system. In fact, some characteristic can be changed but various levels are proposed. If you just do a module selection, it will means that there is almost no cutsomization. Only few things will be changed. The table configuration means that you change the modules and fially, the more customized possible is the code modification: these one were the "background" is changed to fit as closed as possible the needs of the users. These are the 3 diferent levels.
To customize more deeply, bolt-on's can be used too. Thus, you can add various application on the system to reach your needs.
I remember that thanks to Workflow programming you can change the orders of things and ABAP is the programming language to change things onSAP.
One of the key question was about the people needed to implement a SAP. ONly a consulting firm and a complete outsourcing, half from the company and half from consultant or only It department of the company?
For eachsolution, key people are needed to get the acceptance of the employees.
There is two type of customization: the code modification or the process customization. The process customization is when you adapt your business to fit the software.
The technical customization is when you change the software to be sure it will fit to your business.
in the practical part, I did not really understand the goal. I was just following the instructions but I do not know how to o it again!
However, now we know what SAP is! It seems more concrete even if each actions do not seems all the time really logical..
Tomorrow maybe we will nderstand more about and find out a solution for our case....
the lecture today was separated in two parts. The first one occurs in class and the 2nd one was in front of our laptop, confronting to this, now famous, SAP!
Firstly we worked about our case: Decathlon. How should we implement an ERP in Decatlon, these multinational companies present in 14 countries and havng 350 shops?
Even if the head quarter is in Lille, if the most of the shops are in France do we need to implement first an ERP in France?
Or should we implement only one module in each countries? what about he culture?
We did not find one good solution to our case and thanks to the whole groups we found out more than 6 solutions!! We are going to work more about and make lot of assumptions to take our decision
Secondly, we worked about the customization to know how we have to implement the ERP system. In fact, some characteristic can be changed but various levels are proposed. If you just do a module selection, it will means that there is almost no cutsomization. Only few things will be changed. The table configuration means that you change the modules and fially, the more customized possible is the code modification: these one were the "background" is changed to fit as closed as possible the needs of the users. These are the 3 diferent levels.
To customize more deeply, bolt-on's can be used too. Thus, you can add various application on the system to reach your needs.
I remember that thanks to Workflow programming you can change the orders of things and ABAP is the programming language to change things onSAP.
One of the key question was about the people needed to implement a SAP. ONly a consulting firm and a complete outsourcing, half from the company and half from consultant or only It department of the company?
For eachsolution, key people are needed to get the acceptance of the employees.
There is two type of customization: the code modification or the process customization. The process customization is when you adapt your business to fit the software.
The technical customization is when you change the software to be sure it will fit to your business.
in the practical part, I did not really understand the goal. I was just following the instructions but I do not know how to o it again!
However, now we know what SAP is! It seems more concrete even if each actions do not seems all the time really logical..
Tomorrow maybe we will nderstand more about and find out a solution for our case....
Technical or practical parts: what do you prefer??
Hi everyone!
Lessons today were focused first on the implementation phase with the following questions: who will compose the implementation team, which modules you need to implement, is it a centralized or a decentralized organization and so on, what and how the company needs to customize. Secondly we had the lab session. Did you enjoy it?
Have a look at the lessons learned from our assignment.
The implementation team has to be composed of in-house and outsourcing people because expert people are not sufficient and companies that use only consultants will fail to implement ERP. Never forget that the management has to choose an IT company which will best fit the relationships between the consulting firms and the employees. Employees also have to be involved in this process because they will be the users of it and consultants have to take into account their considerations and their needs. A problem can happen because of this collaboration: employees can be jealous or they can think that these external persons will take their job and maybe they will be less confident because they will not understand why the managers have decided to use consultant skills rather than theirs. They will feel less powerful compared to the consultants and frustrated. The managers have to make them understood that it is required to have a mix of people to better implement and they have to change their attitude concerning this group project: the attitude they have to adopt is to wonder what they are going to learn, where they can be useful, how can they be involved and how they can learn as much as possible.
The implementation team is composed of functional technical experts (who have good competencies of the modules which the company is going to implement, excellent knowledge of the code phase …), a project manager, key manager from each department (they have the ability to know what the companies’ needs are, what it is the more considerable change to execute and so on), trusted employee (to be sure that they will be pledged in this process) and this teams needs the support of a powerful person who is seen as the “champion” of the team! What is funny is that every business people can pretend to be a project manager (even I!) but in practice (as I saw this morning during the lab session!) it is more complicated and you need to have much more competencies than an overview of this subject. I know what it is about but after to implement it is more complex! By the way, I am glad that this course is not so practical because I realized this morning that you have to be very patient and attentive and thus it would be boring. But the Lab session was a perfect occasion to understand that each company needs its own system because the whole organization is engaged with this system and as each company has its own manufacturing process, HR process and so on, it would be stupid to copy from your competitor.
Another issue concerns the distinction between technical and process customization. Each of these two steps has consequences on the implementation. A technical customization consists of a change in the software whereas the aim of a process customization is to change the way the company does things.
Finally, it was very interesting to go through all team assignments because I realize that lots of questions have to be raised in order to make the right decisions and it is very difficult when we don’t have the background of the company. The solution: to make assumptions! The subject is so complex because of its technical part of course but also the implementation of ERP has so much impact on the company: its employees, its system, its stakeholders, the motivation, the various multifaceted relationships, … I like it!
Lessons today were focused first on the implementation phase with the following questions: who will compose the implementation team, which modules you need to implement, is it a centralized or a decentralized organization and so on, what and how the company needs to customize. Secondly we had the lab session. Did you enjoy it?
Have a look at the lessons learned from our assignment.
The implementation team has to be composed of in-house and outsourcing people because expert people are not sufficient and companies that use only consultants will fail to implement ERP. Never forget that the management has to choose an IT company which will best fit the relationships between the consulting firms and the employees. Employees also have to be involved in this process because they will be the users of it and consultants have to take into account their considerations and their needs. A problem can happen because of this collaboration: employees can be jealous or they can think that these external persons will take their job and maybe they will be less confident because they will not understand why the managers have decided to use consultant skills rather than theirs. They will feel less powerful compared to the consultants and frustrated. The managers have to make them understood that it is required to have a mix of people to better implement and they have to change their attitude concerning this group project: the attitude they have to adopt is to wonder what they are going to learn, where they can be useful, how can they be involved and how they can learn as much as possible.
The implementation team is composed of functional technical experts (who have good competencies of the modules which the company is going to implement, excellent knowledge of the code phase …), a project manager, key manager from each department (they have the ability to know what the companies’ needs are, what it is the more considerable change to execute and so on), trusted employee (to be sure that they will be pledged in this process) and this teams needs the support of a powerful person who is seen as the “champion” of the team! What is funny is that every business people can pretend to be a project manager (even I!) but in practice (as I saw this morning during the lab session!) it is more complicated and you need to have much more competencies than an overview of this subject. I know what it is about but after to implement it is more complex! By the way, I am glad that this course is not so practical because I realized this morning that you have to be very patient and attentive and thus it would be boring. But the Lab session was a perfect occasion to understand that each company needs its own system because the whole organization is engaged with this system and as each company has its own manufacturing process, HR process and so on, it would be stupid to copy from your competitor.
Another issue concerns the distinction between technical and process customization. Each of these two steps has consequences on the implementation. A technical customization consists of a change in the software whereas the aim of a process customization is to change the way the company does things.
Finally, it was very interesting to go through all team assignments because I realize that lots of questions have to be raised in order to make the right decisions and it is very difficult when we don’t have the background of the company. The solution: to make assumptions! The subject is so complex because of its technical part of course but also the implementation of ERP has so much impact on the company: its employees, its system, its stakeholders, the motivation, the various multifaceted relationships, … I like it!
In? Out? In? Out?
Good day everybody!
(It's getting hard to find original ways to say "hi" as time passes by.)
Today's class had basically two big parts:
1) The discussion.
2) The labsession.
1) Every group has its own chosen company, and we have to decide: do we implement the ERP as an in-house operation or do we outsource?
The first important element to consider is to divide the ERP implementation in very specific elements:
-Functional technical experts
-Project manager
-Key managers from each department
-Trusted employees
-CEO/CFO ==> The Champion
So what are the possibilities? In the end, only the two first elements were designated as being potentially externalized.
-So what do I do now ?
-Well, it depends... ^^
... on the company, on its culture, on its I.T. service, etc etc.
Another interesting issue was about the I.T. department. I never thought about that before, but I guess they would really feel annoyed if consultants arrive, bringing their whole new set of softwares, telling them "OK, we do it this way". I would really be angry at those who took this decision.
Anyway, what I'll remember is that precious advice from Master Eseryel: "take part in the implementation you must do, and an ERP master you shall become. Essential to the company you shall be."
2) The labsession:
Despite the technical problems, and the short time available, I kind of enjoyed this session:
FINALLY, we get to encounter the St Graal of the ERP: SAP!
This was quite basic, but anyway, if I get to a job interview and that I'm asked:
"Have you ever been using SAP?", I'll be able to answer "Yes, I did!".
I wish there could be some tutorial about this software, or any useful software for ERP. I'm sure it can't be a loss of time.
Even though people tend to recall that we'll learn everything in the company, I just think that for me, using is the best way to understand. "Learning by doing".
Great evening to everyone!
(It's getting hard to find original ways to say "hi" as time passes by.)
Today's class had basically two big parts:
1) The discussion.
2) The labsession.
1) Every group has its own chosen company, and we have to decide: do we implement the ERP as an in-house operation or do we outsource?
The first important element to consider is to divide the ERP implementation in very specific elements:
-Functional technical experts
-Project manager
-Key managers from each department
-Trusted employees
-CEO/CFO ==> The Champion
So what are the possibilities? In the end, only the two first elements were designated as being potentially externalized.
-So what do I do now ?
-Well, it depends... ^^
... on the company, on its culture, on its I.T. service, etc etc.
Another interesting issue was about the I.T. department. I never thought about that before, but I guess they would really feel annoyed if consultants arrive, bringing their whole new set of softwares, telling them "OK, we do it this way". I would really be angry at those who took this decision.
Anyway, what I'll remember is that precious advice from Master Eseryel: "take part in the implementation you must do, and an ERP master you shall become. Essential to the company you shall be."
2) The labsession:
Despite the technical problems, and the short time available, I kind of enjoyed this session:
FINALLY, we get to encounter the St Graal of the ERP: SAP!
This was quite basic, but anyway, if I get to a job interview and that I'm asked:
"Have you ever been using SAP?", I'll be able to answer "Yes, I did!".
I wish there could be some tutorial about this software, or any useful software for ERP. I'm sure it can't be a loss of time.
Even though people tend to recall that we'll learn everything in the company, I just think that for me, using is the best way to understand. "Learning by doing".
Great evening to everyone!
Global ERP System Implementation
Hi everybody,
Well, In my first day of classes I didn't know exactly what was gonna be about the class, but for the end of the day I knew this was about a system that helps the companies to be more efficient and to don't loose time, with an ERP system, the companies can have the control over the organization.
But it is important to think about all the consequences that comes with the implementation of this system. In first place I should say that not all companies are ready to implement an ERP system, they need to think about their employees and the reaction this could have with the implementation of a new system, after the employees feel comfortable with this, the company need experts to train the people who will use this system. At the same time, they need to be sure what they want to implement and which part of the company want to be more productive. A really important factor is the cost, the company needs to be able to afford all cost that this means, from the cost of the system, to the cost of training. Finally they need to think about the time it requires to implement the system and to be ready to star working with it.
After all this is consider is possible to implement the ERP system and this will offer some advantages like:
* It is possible to share data with another departments of the organization.
* The system is integrated, this means all the information goes to the center of the system.
* The customers will feel satisfied because of the efficient service the company have.
* The company become more efficient
But as everything we can find some disadvantages from an ERP system like:
* The customization can be limited
* The company needs to go through a reeingineeration of the processes.
* It could be a sever impact for the employees.
After considering all that a system helps or can not help in an organization, the company is ready to implement an ERP system.
Well, In my first day of classes I didn't know exactly what was gonna be about the class, but for the end of the day I knew this was about a system that helps the companies to be more efficient and to don't loose time, with an ERP system, the companies can have the control over the organization.
But it is important to think about all the consequences that comes with the implementation of this system. In first place I should say that not all companies are ready to implement an ERP system, they need to think about their employees and the reaction this could have with the implementation of a new system, after the employees feel comfortable with this, the company need experts to train the people who will use this system. At the same time, they need to be sure what they want to implement and which part of the company want to be more productive. A really important factor is the cost, the company needs to be able to afford all cost that this means, from the cost of the system, to the cost of training. Finally they need to think about the time it requires to implement the system and to be ready to star working with it.
After all this is consider is possible to implement the ERP system and this will offer some advantages like:
* It is possible to share data with another departments of the organization.
* The system is integrated, this means all the information goes to the center of the system.
* The customers will feel satisfied because of the efficient service the company have.
* The company become more efficient
But as everything we can find some disadvantages from an ERP system like:
* The customization can be limited
* The company needs to go through a reeingineeration of the processes.
* It could be a sever impact for the employees.
After considering all that a system helps or can not help in an organization, the company is ready to implement an ERP system.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
ERP tools, SAP, implementation
Yesterday, was an introduction of ERP... So we asked some interesting questions:
- What is ERP?
- What are its benefits?
- What are its challenges?
- What are its potential reasons of failure?
- What do we have to take care about to implement an ERP?
Today, I learn that there are many kind of ERP tools. Before the course, I thought ERP are private tools and I just knew SAP, whereas there are 3 kinds of ERP systems :
- Major Players
with the 3 famous ERP : SAP, Oracle, SSA Global
- Smaller ones
-Open sources ones
ERP systems accessible online
The little work of specificities of each highlighted that there each systems are usefull and depend of the size of company, the money to invest and the number of departements focused.
In understood better what is SAP. SAP (System Application Products) comes from German company who has the same name. It is the ERP software the more used by company. Company like it because of its simplicity and interface.
This part was to theoritical, I am excited to be tomorrow and used it!
Finally, we talk about different ways to implement an ERP and balanced there Pros's and con's thanks to an exercice.
The ERP in entreprise can follow :
- a big bang implementation
- a phased implemention
- a mini big bang implementation
To chose a solution, its important to understand the culture of the company, if they are used to change or if they are flexible, the time to do it and the urgency of it.
Firm has to chose employees to implement it : internal (CIO, managers..) or external (consultant, IS manager...).
Finaly, it has to know the level of customization.
Theoritical part is done, now let's see what is a SAP!!!
Claire
- What is ERP?
- What are its benefits?
- What are its challenges?
- What are its potential reasons of failure?
- What do we have to take care about to implement an ERP?
Today, I learn that there are many kind of ERP tools. Before the course, I thought ERP are private tools and I just knew SAP, whereas there are 3 kinds of ERP systems :
- Major Players
with the 3 famous ERP : SAP, Oracle, SSA Global
- Smaller ones
-Open sources ones
ERP systems accessible online
The little work of specificities of each highlighted that there each systems are usefull and depend of the size of company, the money to invest and the number of departements focused.
In understood better what is SAP. SAP (System Application Products) comes from German company who has the same name. It is the ERP software the more used by company. Company like it because of its simplicity and interface.
This part was to theoritical, I am excited to be tomorrow and used it!
Finally, we talk about different ways to implement an ERP and balanced there Pros's and con's thanks to an exercice.
The ERP in entreprise can follow :
- a big bang implementation
- a phased implemention
- a mini big bang implementation
To chose a solution, its important to understand the culture of the company, if they are used to change or if they are flexible, the time to do it and the urgency of it.
Firm has to chose employees to implement it : internal (CIO, managers..) or external (consultant, IS manager...).
Finaly, it has to know the level of customization.
Theoritical part is done, now let's see what is a SAP!!!
Claire
When I arrived in class today , I didn't know anything about ERP system a part from that they were used in companies. I had heard about using it in the consultant or advices companies and as I wanted to work for one of them , I was interrested on the subject.
I learned that an ERP is a system which is set up to help companies in the way they deal with the information (internal communication, relation with clients, with customers...)
An ERP is a system that a company has to adapt to its particular needs. One of the most important thing on ERP is that it has to fit with the need of the company: having an ERP just to have one is totally useless. (and most of the time costly)
ERP were implemented in the first place in mass in the year 1999 when person from the IT department thought that all their system will turn off when it will pass to the year 2000; they decided to change everything in the same time.
At this time, most of the ERP implementations failed. Why? Because top managers of the companies let all the responsability of the change in the hands of the person of the IT department.They had to face alone, without the support of anyone, all the problems and difficulties that the changes created.
We know now that employees have a big resistance to change. That is why , there are two techniques of implementation of an ERP system:
-The big bang one
-The Rool out one
Each technique has its pro's and it's con's.
The big bang technique is the technique of radical change. All the system is change everywhere in the company at one moment.
This technique need to be really well organised.Everything need to be studied and prepared very carefully. The communication to the employee has to be very good to make them know exactly what will happen.
It is a risky technique because if the system fail (if it doesn't really fit the activity , if employees don't like it ) there will be no possibility to go back.
Moreover, it is a huge investment at the same time for companies.
In an other hand, this technique is efficient in the way of it is fast and let no choice.
The rool out technique consists in changing the system module by module . It allows the company to see the reactions of the employees and to adapt itself to those reactions and its needs. If there are issues, they can be solutionated more easily.
A con’s for this technique is that it takes a long time to implement all the ERP and sometimes it don’t go until the end.
A pro’s will be that the investment is spread on a long time view so it is easilier for companies to buy it.
Companies can choice to implement it in an outsourced way or in an in-house way .
The outsourced what has the advantage of the objectivity: consultant implement the system has it has to be implemented and don’t ocus on the internal issues. More over, consultant have the technical skills and the time to do it.
In an other hand, consultant in in house implementation allow the ERP to be more adapted to the real needs of the company . Moreover, they can support the implementing of the ERP in their own team and diminue the resistance to change.
In both case, you need fonctional expert to implement it at the operational level . And you need leaders to support the project.
ERP system are divided in 3 categories:
The major ERP systems such as Oracle, SAP
The little ERP systems
The open sources one
The major ERP systems represents a lower risk for company in the sense that they have been already tested before by severals companies. As they are serious, they have a competent after sales services and consultant will be there to help in case of an issue.
As they are famous, your customers and proveedors might have this system so having it will allows you to fit with them.
The only bad point is that it is very costly.
We insisted on SAP (Systems Aplications Products) a very know system. It is divided and many modules (one from each kind of activity in the company eg: mkt; rh, pp...)
It is composed in a three-tier architecture:
The operating system (the hardware), thaebasis (sap specifics) and the client-server Network ) in the vertical way.
The Application( the sofware itself), the data( acces to the data from the different applications) and the presentation (the bolt-on’s..) in the horizontal way.
The smaller one are cheaper than the first one. They have a good quality and if you find the one which fits with your need you will be satisfied.
As the ERP is small, the communication between the IT department and the consulting company is better.
The open sources system is the more interresting in my opinion because if it it well used, it can fit exaclty to the company needs and really improve the management of the information (which is one of the major aims of the ERP systems).
Moreover it is free.
You can benefit from the community support (anyone in the web can help you if you have a problem (the best thing is to have anyway an in house developping department).
With the open source sotfware, you can customize the system to have your own version. It is flexible and easi to develop. It avoid changing your system in its globality.
ERP is a huge subject, we will need all the minutes we have to cover it entierly!
I learned that an ERP is a system which is set up to help companies in the way they deal with the information (internal communication, relation with clients, with customers...)
An ERP is a system that a company has to adapt to its particular needs. One of the most important thing on ERP is that it has to fit with the need of the company: having an ERP just to have one is totally useless. (and most of the time costly)
ERP were implemented in the first place in mass in the year 1999 when person from the IT department thought that all their system will turn off when it will pass to the year 2000; they decided to change everything in the same time.
At this time, most of the ERP implementations failed. Why? Because top managers of the companies let all the responsability of the change in the hands of the person of the IT department.They had to face alone, without the support of anyone, all the problems and difficulties that the changes created.
We know now that employees have a big resistance to change. That is why , there are two techniques of implementation of an ERP system:
-The big bang one
-The Rool out one
Each technique has its pro's and it's con's.
The big bang technique is the technique of radical change. All the system is change everywhere in the company at one moment.
This technique need to be really well organised.Everything need to be studied and prepared very carefully. The communication to the employee has to be very good to make them know exactly what will happen.
It is a risky technique because if the system fail (if it doesn't really fit the activity , if employees don't like it ) there will be no possibility to go back.
Moreover, it is a huge investment at the same time for companies.
In an other hand, this technique is efficient in the way of it is fast and let no choice.
The rool out technique consists in changing the system module by module . It allows the company to see the reactions of the employees and to adapt itself to those reactions and its needs. If there are issues, they can be solutionated more easily.
A con’s for this technique is that it takes a long time to implement all the ERP and sometimes it don’t go until the end.
A pro’s will be that the investment is spread on a long time view so it is easilier for companies to buy it.
Companies can choice to implement it in an outsourced way or in an in-house way .
The outsourced what has the advantage of the objectivity: consultant implement the system has it has to be implemented and don’t ocus on the internal issues. More over, consultant have the technical skills and the time to do it.
In an other hand, consultant in in house implementation allow the ERP to be more adapted to the real needs of the company . Moreover, they can support the implementing of the ERP in their own team and diminue the resistance to change.
In both case, you need fonctional expert to implement it at the operational level . And you need leaders to support the project.
ERP system are divided in 3 categories:
The major ERP systems such as Oracle, SAP
The little ERP systems
The open sources one
The major ERP systems represents a lower risk for company in the sense that they have been already tested before by severals companies. As they are serious, they have a competent after sales services and consultant will be there to help in case of an issue.
As they are famous, your customers and proveedors might have this system so having it will allows you to fit with them.
The only bad point is that it is very costly.
We insisted on SAP (Systems Aplications Products) a very know system. It is divided and many modules (one from each kind of activity in the company eg: mkt; rh, pp...)
It is composed in a three-tier architecture:
The operating system (the hardware), thaebasis (sap specifics) and the client-server Network ) in the vertical way.
The Application( the sofware itself), the data( acces to the data from the different applications) and the presentation (the bolt-on’s..) in the horizontal way.
The smaller one are cheaper than the first one. They have a good quality and if you find the one which fits with your need you will be satisfied.
As the ERP is small, the communication between the IT department and the consulting company is better.
The open sources system is the more interresting in my opinion because if it it well used, it can fit exaclty to the company needs and really improve the management of the information (which is one of the major aims of the ERP systems).
Moreover it is free.
You can benefit from the community support (anyone in the web can help you if you have a problem (the best thing is to have anyway an in house developping department).
With the open source sotfware, you can customize the system to have your own version. It is flexible and easi to develop. It avoid changing your system in its globality.
ERP is a huge subject, we will need all the minutes we have to cover it entierly!
Overview of ERP system: First step in technical direction
Hi each of you!
Today was a course with a different target from yesterday. We begin to have a more technical point of view by having a look in various ERP system which can be implemented. We can divided them in 3 part: The major players, the smaller ones and the open sources.
The major players of the market is essentially proposed to large and even multinational companies. these one have a good financial health and need to have a good implementation. Moreover, the most of the time, big companies prefer to deal with big IT/ consultant company as well. They decrease the risk of being obliged to change their ERP because of repurchase. In fact, it happens that major players buy a smaller player to increase its performance, win some marketshares and to be more specified. In this case, the customers of the smaller player have to change their ERP system.
In addition, when you deal with major players it allows you to have various type of implementors: these one who know how modules work together and these who are expert in one of them and know deeply how it works.
Thanks to that, all your chances of good implementation are in the hands of customers.
Good trainings for employees are needed and can be provided by the IT company.
The last point about the these well known players is that it can provided a type of conformity with the other companies of the same sector... or a comparative advantage...everthing depending on the implementation!!
The differences between one ERP system to another is not only the branding and the image. It depends on what the comapny want, what are the feature of the ERP, the industry of the customers, their target but also, like every type of purchase from Business to Business it depends on the saler, the interface of the system.... these little “stuffs” which can change everything.
SAP is adapted for each countries and propose various languages, currencies, taxes issues and so on. We can deduce that it will be interesting for multi national companies.
Another feature which is crucial in frim is the audit trail which let transparency inside the enterprise: Everything can be checked as the name of who did what, when and so on...
But another key point which was relevant was about the limited access which is proposed by SAP. If employees do not have enough access to information, ERP system is useless!!!
....that was the first step of the technical point of view...let s wait for tomorrow to see how it is in real!!!
Have a good night and SAPly dreams!!
ERP...see what SAP is!
Today, the class was mainly focused on one famous ERP system: SAP and its implementation in an organisation.
I understood that the industry of ERP was composed of three different groups. Let's have a look on those three:
First, there are major players. Big companies are likely to use this kind of software, SAP is one of those. They usually use SAP, Oracle PeopleSoft because it is safer for them, it provides security for information transmitted from all the department of the company. Those softwares are known and accepted by expert. They have a good reputation. Using this SAP can increase the efficiency of the organisation thanks to an after-sale service. Most of companies using this kind of softwares have a financial support and are multinational.
Second, an organisation can decide by implementing a smaller ERP system for different reasons: because the corporation is smaller, because it will be cheaper, because it will be more adapted to specific needs of the company (better customization). Small company can choose this kind of software because there will be a better communication between the IT and the consulting firm and the company (exchange of needs).
Third, an organisation can decide to implement an Open Sources is a free software which everyone can use and provide advices to everyone (like firefox). The advantages of using an open sources is that it is free to start (but the implementation still has a cost....high cost! time, optional services). The organisation receives the community support which can prevent them using a consulting firm. The company will have its in house people who will develop the ERP system. This system is quicker to implement.
There many possibilities when an organisation wants to implement an ERP system, it can combine both system (a major player and an open sources one) but costs will be higher. Managers won't understand why using two different models.
However, ERP doesn't provide competitive advantage because it has to fit the organisation and can be adapted to one but not to the other.
The ERP system is customized according to the needs of the company, this is called BEST of BREED: a mix of best modules in the same ERP. One advantage of SAP is that it is a software that global companies can use because it supports different currencies and languages.
To implement an ERP there are three point to take into account: first is the human ressources one, who will implement the system? Will it be a consulting firm or directly the employees? Is it better to outsource and have an external and objective view? or if employees are in-house they might know exactly their needs. Then, it is important to define a time schedule for the implementation, will the implementation be a radical one or an incremental one? This depends on the strategy of the company, but a Big Bang is often difficult.
The third level concerns the degree of customization of the system, if it fits the needs of the company or sees what parameters should be changed to improve benefits.
The implementation of an ERP really depends on the motivation of employees to get involved in changes.
I understood that the industry of ERP was composed of three different groups. Let's have a look on those three:
First, there are major players. Big companies are likely to use this kind of software, SAP is one of those. They usually use SAP, Oracle PeopleSoft because it is safer for them, it provides security for information transmitted from all the department of the company. Those softwares are known and accepted by expert. They have a good reputation. Using this SAP can increase the efficiency of the organisation thanks to an after-sale service. Most of companies using this kind of softwares have a financial support and are multinational.
Second, an organisation can decide by implementing a smaller ERP system for different reasons: because the corporation is smaller, because it will be cheaper, because it will be more adapted to specific needs of the company (better customization). Small company can choose this kind of software because there will be a better communication between the IT and the consulting firm and the company (exchange of needs).
Third, an organisation can decide to implement an Open Sources is a free software which everyone can use and provide advices to everyone (like firefox). The advantages of using an open sources is that it is free to start (but the implementation still has a cost....high cost! time, optional services). The organisation receives the community support which can prevent them using a consulting firm. The company will have its in house people who will develop the ERP system. This system is quicker to implement.
There many possibilities when an organisation wants to implement an ERP system, it can combine both system (a major player and an open sources one) but costs will be higher. Managers won't understand why using two different models.
However, ERP doesn't provide competitive advantage because it has to fit the organisation and can be adapted to one but not to the other.
The ERP system is customized according to the needs of the company, this is called BEST of BREED: a mix of best modules in the same ERP. One advantage of SAP is that it is a software that global companies can use because it supports different currencies and languages.
To implement an ERP there are three point to take into account: first is the human ressources one, who will implement the system? Will it be a consulting firm or directly the employees? Is it better to outsource and have an external and objective view? or if employees are in-house they might know exactly their needs. Then, it is important to define a time schedule for the implementation, will the implementation be a radical one or an incremental one? This depends on the strategy of the company, but a Big Bang is often difficult.
The third level concerns the degree of customization of the system, if it fits the needs of the company or sees what parameters should be changed to improve benefits.
The implementation of an ERP really depends on the motivation of employees to get involved in changes.
ERP Implementation Choices
Today we learned what SAP is.
SAP is an ERP software product capable of integrating multiple business applications, with each application representing a specific business area. These applications update and process transactions in real time mode. It has the ability to be configured to meets the needs of the business.
Also we learned The ERP implementation choices such as Implementation Time line, Staff and resources and level of Customization.
Time line:
· Big Bang Implementation: All modules at the same time.
· Faces or rollout implementation: Modules or business sectors are put in play sequentially.
Staff and resources:
· Outsourcing such as External consultants
· In-house the company uses its best resources inside of the company.
Level of customization: The amount of changes in the company processes to meet the needs of the system.
SAPlementation
What we learnt today can be summed up in two words: SAP & implementation
SAP:
SAP is an ERP software based on a three-tier (application, data & presentation are different). This software consists of core activity functions (like finance & control, sale & marketing…) but also bolt-ons (additional applications connected to the ERP). It has several features including the possibility to track down what has been done (audit trail)
Implementation:
Before deciding to implement of an ERP, three major options must be considered: the time frame, the human resources and the level of customization. The implementation can be radical (bigbang) or more incremental (phased or mini bigbang). The human resources can come from inside or outside the company. And at last, you can choose the level of customization you want for the technical environment or the processes of your software. Every option depends on the type, the processes, the sector, the financial and human resources of the company.
As somebody asked on Monday, I had a look at some previous courses and found out some data concerning the potential costs of an ERP. This information provided here is a translation from a 2006 course of M.Saada. Take the figures as they are: approximations!
The minimum cost offered by the major ERP developers for the IT infrastructure, using licences of the softwares and staff training is $500 000 but cheaper packaging with simpler modules are available for SMEs.
Smaller suppliers offer softwares from $75 000 and $500 000
In average, large corporations spend US$ 15 million. This represents $ 53 000 for each users (for hardware, software, implementing & consulting staff, 2-years support). The implementation lasts from 6 months to several years depending on the width of the project.
These expenses can approximately be divided into hardware for 14%, software for 17,5%, internal staff for 23% and 45,5% for professional services.
Its S.A.P. and not Sap~~
Hi again everyone!
As I know everyone is soooo eager to know how instructive this morning could be to me, I thought it would be nice to share all this flow of knowledge that we have the chance to experience.
Well, before writing this comment, I ended up on two websites: SAP's website and OFBiz's one. I wanted to get a quick overview of the spirit of these two.
It appears that SAP's website clearly shows the way on the very home page and once you land there, you can choose either to be a:
and this is how you define your research for business solutions!
This illustrates on the lesson we should get from this class: any system has to suit to the specifities of the business.
As I entered the website of OFBiz (Open For Business), the first thing I wanted to do was download the software, its free after all!!
But not as easy as downloading Open Office, I encountered weird things such as "building from SVN " or "you will need to have a Java 1.5 series J2SDK" or "J2EE Containers" etc... All of these did sap my moral... So I just gave up, wandering on their website.
I have the feeling that OpenSource is really made for Geeks, I feel so excluded from this world. Maybe it just requires time to get into it.
However, it was kind of interesting to realise that the company 1800 flowers (http://ww12.1800flowers.com/) is currently using OFBiz. So if they can do it, I bet we could! This means they gather all the information: Customer database, addresses, tastes, names, etc... but also all the flower types, the stocks, the conservation period before the flowers fade, etc etc...
Now the next step is to be able to identify which software will therefore suit the company's structure. That seems to be a tough job.
As we saw today, they are other crucial choices such as:
-choosing the pace of implementation:
either everything in one shot (Big Bang)
-or a phased implementation.
Then, there should be no barriers whatsoever between departments during the ERP system design or re-design: everything is interrelated and we need a strong communication so as to avoid one's actions to disturb the equilibrium with others.
I hope we can get a clearer image of these interdependencies during the lab-session.
Also some concrete examples of bolt-ons would be nice, so as to really get what are these kind of external tools you can add on your system.
As a final advice I would highlight for this comment, I'd like to recall the huge importance(!!) of INCLUDING YOUR MANAGER in the design of the processes!!!
Otherwise, there will be no strategic use out of this new tool, and it may not even be able to operate properly! ==> If you miss the implementation, you may get into such a mess and sap the company's confidence in ERP system.
As I know everyone is soooo eager to know how instructive this morning could be to me, I thought it would be nice to share all this flow of knowledge that we have the chance to experience.
Well, before writing this comment, I ended up on two websites: SAP's website and OFBiz's one. I wanted to get a quick overview of the spirit of these two.
It appears that SAP's website clearly shows the way on the very home page and once you land there, you can choose either to be a:
and this is how you define your research for business solutions!
This illustrates on the lesson we should get from this class: any system has to suit to the specifities of the business.
As I entered the website of OFBiz (Open For Business), the first thing I wanted to do was download the software, its free after all!!
But not as easy as downloading Open Office, I encountered weird things such as "building from SVN " or "you will need to have a Java 1.5 series J2SDK" or "J2EE Containers" etc... All of these did sap my moral... So I just gave up, wandering on their website.
I have the feeling that OpenSource is really made for Geeks, I feel so excluded from this world. Maybe it just requires time to get into it.
However, it was kind of interesting to realise that the company 1800 flowers (http://ww12.1800flowers.com/) is currently using OFBiz. So if they can do it, I bet we could! This means they gather all the information: Customer database, addresses, tastes, names, etc... but also all the flower types, the stocks, the conservation period before the flowers fade, etc etc...
Now the next step is to be able to identify which software will therefore suit the company's structure. That seems to be a tough job.
As we saw today, they are other crucial choices such as:
-choosing the pace of implementation:
either everything in one shot (Big Bang)
-or a phased implementation.
Then, there should be no barriers whatsoever between departments during the ERP system design or re-design: everything is interrelated and we need a strong communication so as to avoid one's actions to disturb the equilibrium with others.
I hope we can get a clearer image of these interdependencies during the lab-session.
Also some concrete examples of bolt-ons would be nice, so as to really get what are these kind of external tools you can add on your system.
As a final advice I would highlight for this comment, I'd like to recall the huge importance(!!) of INCLUDING YOUR MANAGER in the design of the processes!!!
Otherwise, there will be no strategic use out of this new tool, and it may not even be able to operate properly! ==> If you miss the implementation, you may get into such a mess and sap the company's confidence in ERP system.
ERP and management issues
Second day!
This morning after a brief recap we studied the most important ERP systems. And I can now classify three different ERP systems: the major players, the smaller ones and the open source ones.
Why does a company decide to use major players? I would say that it is safer to use those because they have been used for a while and experts have solved many errors or problems concerning these systems; thus they are more confident. The after sale services can be more efficient than smaller companies but the problem is that as it will be a big company you will be a customer number 653 and I think this relationship will not be personal. But as these systems are frequently used by big companies with good financial results, employees don’t need as much friendship as some smaller companies want (not only be a customer number!).
Why is a company more interested in smaller systems? First, the initial cost is cheaper and it can have an impact on the top management (but I don’t forget that the costs that a company has to take into account when implementing such a system are not only the initial cost! Keep in mind that the implementation cost and maintenance cost are huge!). These systems are more set up in small companies because it can easily be customized to their needs.
Last but not least! The open source systems as Open office or Firefox can be popular because they are free, they can be simple to use, you can ask to community support. However, you need to have within your company IT specialists: in-house people will are able to customizable a system and they will be have the support of the community if they need some help to improve it.
Thus, it’s physically possible to use two of these systems but it doesn’t make sense because employees will have to manage two interfaces (it takes time, too much complicated). And as I said before you need additional support to implement SAP for example: in-house people are not sufficient to correctly implement ERP; the company needs to hire people who have some specific IT skills and competencies about this implementation and the different modules. However, key employees need to be involved in this process. If key managers are not involved this can be a reason of failure of the implementation. Thus if managers are engaged they will help IT people to make key decisions. First the company has to pick the managers who know what is necessary and never forget that communication should start at the beginning of the implementation across the departments. HR implementation therefore consists in engaging key persons to the project and companies have to avoid asking to less powerful people to do this step rather than to use key persons because it will not be a good solution to the prosperity of the company. Consequently, ERP implementation is not only an IT process but HR issues have to be considered as well.
In an IT or consulting companies, there are lots of jobs and each person has a specific role: when implementing ERP lost of persons intervene such as a project manager, a developer, a coder and so on.
The characteristics of a SAP are that SAP supports multiple languages and multiple currencies, everything done within the system can be trailed. In theory there is no specific SAP database and thus you can use ACCES but it will not fit your needs. But this is one benefit of this system: ERP system can be customized according to the needs of the company. This concept is called Best-of Breed (the best solution adapted to your needs, or the decision you make according to your needs).
Finally, I realized that copying the ERP system of your competitor is not the good solution to increase your market share because the most important is to fit the software to your needs. ERP systems don’t provide any competitive advantage by itself but the management of a company can lead to a better implementation.
This morning after a brief recap we studied the most important ERP systems. And I can now classify three different ERP systems: the major players, the smaller ones and the open source ones.
Why does a company decide to use major players? I would say that it is safer to use those because they have been used for a while and experts have solved many errors or problems concerning these systems; thus they are more confident. The after sale services can be more efficient than smaller companies but the problem is that as it will be a big company you will be a customer number 653 and I think this relationship will not be personal. But as these systems are frequently used by big companies with good financial results, employees don’t need as much friendship as some smaller companies want (not only be a customer number!).
Why is a company more interested in smaller systems? First, the initial cost is cheaper and it can have an impact on the top management (but I don’t forget that the costs that a company has to take into account when implementing such a system are not only the initial cost! Keep in mind that the implementation cost and maintenance cost are huge!). These systems are more set up in small companies because it can easily be customized to their needs.
Last but not least! The open source systems as Open office or Firefox can be popular because they are free, they can be simple to use, you can ask to community support. However, you need to have within your company IT specialists: in-house people will are able to customizable a system and they will be have the support of the community if they need some help to improve it.
Thus, it’s physically possible to use two of these systems but it doesn’t make sense because employees will have to manage two interfaces (it takes time, too much complicated). And as I said before you need additional support to implement SAP for example: in-house people are not sufficient to correctly implement ERP; the company needs to hire people who have some specific IT skills and competencies about this implementation and the different modules. However, key employees need to be involved in this process. If key managers are not involved this can be a reason of failure of the implementation. Thus if managers are engaged they will help IT people to make key decisions. First the company has to pick the managers who know what is necessary and never forget that communication should start at the beginning of the implementation across the departments. HR implementation therefore consists in engaging key persons to the project and companies have to avoid asking to less powerful people to do this step rather than to use key persons because it will not be a good solution to the prosperity of the company. Consequently, ERP implementation is not only an IT process but HR issues have to be considered as well.
In an IT or consulting companies, there are lots of jobs and each person has a specific role: when implementing ERP lost of persons intervene such as a project manager, a developer, a coder and so on.
The characteristics of a SAP are that SAP supports multiple languages and multiple currencies, everything done within the system can be trailed. In theory there is no specific SAP database and thus you can use ACCES but it will not fit your needs. But this is one benefit of this system: ERP system can be customized according to the needs of the company. This concept is called Best-of Breed (the best solution adapted to your needs, or the decision you make according to your needs).
Finally, I realized that copying the ERP system of your competitor is not the good solution to increase your market share because the most important is to fit the software to your needs. ERP systems don’t provide any competitive advantage by itself but the management of a company can lead to a better implementation.
Monday, April 07, 2008
What is a ERP System?
HI! I'm CArmeli.
Well, What I learned today was the concept of ERP system.
ERP is a way to put together the information and processes of a business into one system for various functions through the organization. Also I learned that by implementing this system we have to think about key points in order to have a success in the implementation of the ERP.
Well, What I learned today was the concept of ERP system.
ERP is a way to put together the information and processes of a business into one system for various functions through the organization. Also I learned that by implementing this system we have to think about key points in order to have a success in the implementation of the ERP.
- Initial cost,
- time,
- employees,
- how much to implement,
- internal culture,
- Change management
- Efficiency,
- error reduction
- increase customer satisfaction
- better data improvement of the information,
- Future growths
- Communication
- Bad training
- Change MGMT failure
- lack of MGMT process and technology
- solution doesn't match the company needs.
OMG it's so Powerful!
Hi there, it's Alban!
Well today was quite interesting class, combined with free breakfast, what could we ask more than that?
ERP is interesting topic: I have the feeling that it is such a powerful tool. So powerful that consultants and software designers can make a whole lot of money out of it! ^^
Risky, powerful, complex, tricky, expensive, convenient, dangerous, etc... It seems ERP has billions of faces, good ones and bad ones.
I think the most important part I'll focus on for today's class is that implementing it is not the most useful part: despite the fact that it can really ease data storage and information sharing, there is a second step in ERP that makes it worth all the pain: use it as a strategic tool!
It really looks POWERFUL if you use it that way to better orientate and implement your strategy and be the Winner! ^^
Good night!
PS: 16 "I know" appeared in the previous post :D
Well today was quite interesting class, combined with free breakfast, what could we ask more than that?
ERP is interesting topic: I have the feeling that it is such a powerful tool. So powerful that consultants and software designers can make a whole lot of money out of it! ^^
Risky, powerful, complex, tricky, expensive, convenient, dangerous, etc... It seems ERP has billions of faces, good ones and bad ones.
I think the most important part I'll focus on for today's class is that implementing it is not the most useful part: despite the fact that it can really ease data storage and information sharing, there is a second step in ERP that makes it worth all the pain: use it as a strategic tool!
It really looks POWERFUL if you use it that way to better orientate and implement your strategy and be the Winner! ^^
Good night!
PS: 16 "I know" appeared in the previous post :D
What I knew, what I know from this morning...
What did I learn today?
To introduce me and help you to remember who I am: Anne-Laure, the French short hair student!
So what did I learn today ... I knew already some of things thanks to the internship I did two years ago. I was looking for new customers and calling SME’s to know if they already has an ERP system, if yes which one, if not why and so on...
The main goal was to find new companies which did not know a lot about it but were ready and open to do the first step: Meet one of our commercial.
So I already knew what the goal of ERP was and what the benefits were.
However I did not know even what does ERP means. Now, I can speak about Enterprise Resources Planning!
I knew that it was a kind of software to link information. Today I know that the "system" links data of people, information, orders and processes.
I knew that it was time effective. But I did not realise that it was only after a long time of implementation, and time of adaptation from each type of employees.
I knew that it cost money but I did not realise that it was not only for the software but more abut the time "waste" of entire the information, trainings employees..
I imagined that it was not perfect but I had no ideas about failures. Now I understand that reticence from the employees, and mainly absence of good processes can be causes of failures.
I knew I knew that it was really efficient but I did not know that a simple "click" let the supplier receive an email to order new raw materials regarding to stocks
I expect that thanks to ERP, companies were able to save money, but I did not realise that job security can decrease.
I knew that all employees did not agree to implement an ERP but I was not aware of the fact that they prefer to keep data and did not want to share information to be sure hat their tips will be only for them for instance.
I knew that reticence exist in companies and especially trade-unions but I did not realise that if you do not explain the goal and that it could be better for them they can not guess it.
I knew that it was made of modules and you can implement one or another. But I did not know that you can implement to different ERP in the same firm (Oracle and SAP for instance)
I knew that it was useful for a company which have a long term view but I did not expect that it can help you to change all your strategies: for instance, thanks to report you can notice which product you have to sell more, or sell with an lower price and so on thanks to statistic and curves which can help you!
I knew that you can avoid doubloon but I did not imagine that you can get all the information of each customers from one department to another. (Accounting from After Sales Services)
I knew that ERP can improve communication but I did not imagine that it was also to improve the transparency in a company.
I knew that ERP has to be customizing for each type of company but I did not though about the cultural aspect.
I knew that it was to have an idea of what you have in your stocks but I did not expect that it let you to forecast your sales too.
I knew that Syracuse was a city of Sicily, island of Italy but I did not expect that it was also in New York State!
But there are some ideas that I did not really understand...for instance about the Three-Tier Architecture and I wrote the word "Best of Breed" without any comments I do not know remember what it was for!
That is why I am coming tomorrow!
To introduce me and help you to remember who I am: Anne-Laure, the French short hair student!
So what did I learn today ... I knew already some of things thanks to the internship I did two years ago. I was looking for new customers and calling SME’s to know if they already has an ERP system, if yes which one, if not why and so on...
The main goal was to find new companies which did not know a lot about it but were ready and open to do the first step: Meet one of our commercial.
So I already knew what the goal of ERP was and what the benefits were.
However I did not know even what does ERP means. Now, I can speak about Enterprise Resources Planning!
I knew that it was a kind of software to link information. Today I know that the "system" links data of people, information, orders and processes.
I knew that it was time effective. But I did not realise that it was only after a long time of implementation, and time of adaptation from each type of employees.
I knew that it cost money but I did not realise that it was not only for the software but more abut the time "waste" of entire the information, trainings employees..
I imagined that it was not perfect but I had no ideas about failures. Now I understand that reticence from the employees, and mainly absence of good processes can be causes of failures.
I knew I knew that it was really efficient but I did not know that a simple "click" let the supplier receive an email to order new raw materials regarding to stocks
I expect that thanks to ERP, companies were able to save money, but I did not realise that job security can decrease.
I knew that all employees did not agree to implement an ERP but I was not aware of the fact that they prefer to keep data and did not want to share information to be sure hat their tips will be only for them for instance.
I knew that reticence exist in companies and especially trade-unions but I did not realise that if you do not explain the goal and that it could be better for them they can not guess it.
I knew that it was made of modules and you can implement one or another. But I did not know that you can implement to different ERP in the same firm (Oracle and SAP for instance)
I knew that it was useful for a company which have a long term view but I did not expect that it can help you to change all your strategies: for instance, thanks to report you can notice which product you have to sell more, or sell with an lower price and so on thanks to statistic and curves which can help you!
I knew that you can avoid doubloon but I did not imagine that you can get all the information of each customers from one department to another. (Accounting from After Sales Services)
I knew that ERP can improve communication but I did not imagine that it was also to improve the transparency in a company.
I knew that ERP has to be customizing for each type of company but I did not though about the cultural aspect.
I knew that it was to have an idea of what you have in your stocks but I did not expect that it let you to forecast your sales too.
I knew that Syracuse was a city of Sicily, island of Italy but I did not expect that it was also in New York State!
But there are some ideas that I did not really understand...for instance about the Three-Tier Architecture and I wrote the word "Best of Breed" without any comments I do not know remember what it was for!
That is why I am coming tomorrow!
Beginner ERP student!
When I decided to take this class, I had a look at the definition of ERP in Wikipedia, and I remember that I was truly perplexed. This morning the first hour was so confusing to me because I asked myself lots of questions concerning the implementation of the ERP system in companies. My questions were about the ERP systems nowadays and what its characteristics are. I recognize that my questions concerning the contemporaneous ERP were too practical since I didn’t know what exactly ERP stands for! So since this morning I promise I will never ask practical questions without thinking about technical part!
This morning, I realized that during my internship the company asked to a consulting company to implement this kind of tools within the company and I didn’t know exactly what it was about. I understood as well why it was crucial for the company. The system they wanted to implement was necessary to the prosperity of the company because the firm was not well organized and all data was occasionally collected twice and sometimes data were missing. It will collect data from different departments of the company and key persons will have access to the right data. I am curious and would like to come back to China to see how it works today!
I believe that even if somebody convinces me to take this class this subject is a lot more interesting than I was thinking before coming. To me it is so exciting to use various issues as HR issues or finance issues when implementing this kind of system. I do not regret!
This morning, I realized that during my internship the company asked to a consulting company to implement this kind of tools within the company and I didn’t know exactly what it was about. I understood as well why it was crucial for the company. The system they wanted to implement was necessary to the prosperity of the company because the firm was not well organized and all data was occasionally collected twice and sometimes data were missing. It will collect data from different departments of the company and key persons will have access to the right data. I am curious and would like to come back to China to see how it works today!
I believe that even if somebody convinces me to take this class this subject is a lot more interesting than I was thinking before coming. To me it is so exciting to use various issues as HR issues or finance issues when implementing this kind of system. I do not regret!
ERP.....what is ERP?
Well....first impressions of this tough day!
Originally I planned to attend another class named "luxury marketing", completely different with where I am this week! I am specializing myself in Audit and Management Control.
I decided to take this class because I am curious! Before today I didn't know much about ERP, only that it is a usefull tool for companies and that being able to use SAP when you are management controller is a plus!
This morning was nice and not boring! Not like some class of management control. I liked the way it was taught, going forward then going back and going forward! It might not be the best way to always follow the idea but it is more dynamic and makes us more thinking.
So, what is an ERP system? What are the benefits/failure of this system? What considerations should be taken into account? Lot's of questions that I am wondering about this Information System.
Actually, ERP is what I thought to be but my definition was to narrow at 8:OO pm this morning(a tool for company to be more efficient by gathering data)
ERP is indeed more than a tool, it is a system that gather all data that a company needs to work. Data coming from every department of the organisation, data can be orders, information, processes and sometimes people. ERP can be implemented totally (in all the company) or partially (just one part of the organisation).
Implementing an ERP system is a long term work, it easier said than done. It requires time and money. Stakeholders (employees and managers) have to be trained and accept the huge project. In case, communication isn't done, employees might be reluctant to change and won't be efficient.
ERP can be useful for the strategy of the company, the loss of information will be reduced, managers will have a better overview of the needs of the organisation and so will be able to readjust their strategy.
ERP system aims at improving the communication between each service of the organisation, it will save time for employees.
However, ERP can't work if employees aren't enough trained and involved in changing their habit. A bad diagnosis of the needs of the organisation can lead the implementation to failure or won't match the organisation's expectation.
I think that to implement this kind of system, there are several dimensions that managers have to take into account, the individual dimension (employees), the industry / sector dimension (services or manufacturing company), the number of stakeholders, the time scale, the cost, the culture of the organisation. Implementing an ERP system can be a great JUMP for organisations but it can worth it in case it is done correctly.
Tomorrow Tuesday, I still have lots of question:
How long does it take to implement this kind of system? In which kind of organisation? Does it fit exactly the organisation or it is the same for every kind of industry?
Originally I planned to attend another class named "luxury marketing", completely different with where I am this week! I am specializing myself in Audit and Management Control.
I decided to take this class because I am curious! Before today I didn't know much about ERP, only that it is a usefull tool for companies and that being able to use SAP when you are management controller is a plus!
This morning was nice and not boring! Not like some class of management control. I liked the way it was taught, going forward then going back and going forward! It might not be the best way to always follow the idea but it is more dynamic and makes us more thinking.
So, what is an ERP system? What are the benefits/failure of this system? What considerations should be taken into account? Lot's of questions that I am wondering about this Information System.
Actually, ERP is what I thought to be but my definition was to narrow at 8:OO pm this morning(a tool for company to be more efficient by gathering data)
ERP is indeed more than a tool, it is a system that gather all data that a company needs to work. Data coming from every department of the organisation, data can be orders, information, processes and sometimes people. ERP can be implemented totally (in all the company) or partially (just one part of the organisation).
Implementing an ERP system is a long term work, it easier said than done. It requires time and money. Stakeholders (employees and managers) have to be trained and accept the huge project. In case, communication isn't done, employees might be reluctant to change and won't be efficient.
ERP can be useful for the strategy of the company, the loss of information will be reduced, managers will have a better overview of the needs of the organisation and so will be able to readjust their strategy.
ERP system aims at improving the communication between each service of the organisation, it will save time for employees.
However, ERP can't work if employees aren't enough trained and involved in changing their habit. A bad diagnosis of the needs of the organisation can lead the implementation to failure or won't match the organisation's expectation.
I think that to implement this kind of system, there are several dimensions that managers have to take into account, the individual dimension (employees), the industry / sector dimension (services or manufacturing company), the number of stakeholders, the time scale, the cost, the culture of the organisation. Implementing an ERP system can be a great JUMP for organisations but it can worth it in case it is done correctly.
Tomorrow Tuesday, I still have lots of question:
How long does it take to implement this kind of system? In which kind of organisation? Does it fit exactly the organisation or it is the same for every kind of industry?
What is an ERP system? But most of all, what is a system?
This morning, somebody asked for the definition of a system on the whiteboard. I thought for myself: “No problem, let’s have a look at Wikipedia, it will do it!”
Here it is:
“A system is a set of interacting or interdependent entities, real or abstract, forming an integrated whole. The concept of an 'integrated whole' can also be stated in terms of a system embodying a set of relationships which are differentiated from relationships of the set to other elements, and from relationships between an element of the set and elements not a part of the relational regime.”
…
I spent a bit more than one hour an a half to figure out what they want to mean by “integrated whole”. Here is the result of my reflection:
An “integrated whole” is a set of relationships which is more than:
1. The relationships between this set of elements and other sets of elements
2. The relationships between an element of the set and other elements from other sets
… Like a cake is more than the result of the mix of flour, eggs, sugar and butter!
So, an ERP system is a set of interacting modules (such as finance, customer service, accounting, marketing, HR, manufacturing, etc.) which is more than strictly the combination of the relationships between these modules. But what is included inside this “more”?
In fact, an ERP is also characterised by the concept of a single database, the idea of “best practices”, the possibilities of real-time updates…
Saturday, November 17, 2007
Teaching a New Course in April and in Summer
Well, since this blog is mainly a teaching tool for me now, not much content has been added lately.
Yet, more content will soon come..
I am getting ready to teach again at IESEG in Lille, France on the second week of April 2008.
I will also teach at Syracuse University School of Information Studies in Syracuse, NY in the summer. (This one will be basically a summer-long online course).
A couple of months back, I did an 1,5 hour long ERP/SAP talk for Syracuse University students and it was well-received. Students really demand this course, for some reason this year more than ever before..
Yet, more content will soon come..
I am getting ready to teach again at IESEG in Lille, France on the second week of April 2008.
I will also teach at Syracuse University School of Information Studies in Syracuse, NY in the summer. (This one will be basically a summer-long online course).
A couple of months back, I did an 1,5 hour long ERP/SAP talk for Syracuse University students and it was well-received. Students really demand this course, for some reason this year more than ever before..
Friday, May 11, 2007
Organizing an Open Source Workshop!!!
"Open Source, Open Ideas"
Hosted by Politechnic of Bari (Italy), May 29th 2007
Hosted by Politechnic of Bari (Italy), May 29th 2007
A workshop entitled "Open Source, Open Ideas" will be held on Tuesday
May 29th at the Politecnico di Bari campus sponsored jointly by
Politecnico di Bari, OrgLab (University of Cassino), Syracuse
University and IESEG School of Management. The workshop aims at
bringing together researchers from social, legal, business, political,
and technical areas to debate current Open Source Software issues and
to build a collaboration network for future common initiatives. The
workshop activities will include presenting current free/libre open
source software research, sharing future research ideas, and social
events.
Tentative schedule
28 May
Welcome dinner
29th May
9.00-9.15 Welcome from Politecnico of Bari
9.15-9.45 FLOSS Research - State of the art
9.45-13.30 Current and future research - participant presentations
13.15-14.30 Lunch
14.30-15.45 Current and future research - participant presentations
15.45-17.00 Discussion on the possibility to create a collaboration
network + discussion to access to EU projects
The meeting is free and open to all faculty as well as the broader OSS
community. More information on the workshop are available at
http://floss.syr.edu/conferences/2007OSSworkshop/
To register for the workshop, please email Yeliz Eseryel
(yeliz2002@gmail.com) with the subject line "Open Source Open Ideas".
Please mention which aspect of Open Source Software your research
focuses on.
To get more information the workshop and how to get to Bari, please
email Barbara Scozzi (bscozzi@poliba.it) with the subject line "Open
Source Open Ideas".
PLEASE PREREGISTER BY MAY 15, SO THAT WE CAN GET A HEADCOUNT FOR THE
EVENT. This will also allow you to receive updates on the workshop.
Best Regards
Francesco Bolici, OrgLab - University of Cassino, IT
Andrea Carugati, IESEG School of Management, FR
Kevin Crowston & Yeliz Eseryel, Syracuse University, USA
Barbara Scozzi, Politecnico di Bari, IT
Friday, March 09, 2007
about Wednesday 7
about Wednesday 7
A few things about Culture:
A few things about Culture:
First I need to say that I know there are more than... maybe 100 definitions of Culture.Obviously i cant ennumerate each one of them but I can say that Culture is a constant moving concept that can even be called Process. This means that every group can be influenced by the culture but at the same time influence the culture. Culture is integrated by peobple behaviour or likes, places, space, time and all factors that afect human behaviour. Then, Psychological or personal factors afect people at the same time that the places, time and the existing culture do. What I mean with this statements is that when trying yo analyze the culture of a small group it tends to be more important the personal culture or individual characteristics rather than a bigger culture, like country culture.
It is an error to think that you are ahead on the way of understanding a culture just by knowing the BIG culture they belong.
In a small group, like in an organization, there are a lot of different types of people. Some of them can have a strong influence in its friends and colaborators. As I said, culture influence and is influenced by its integrants at the same time. This means that when trying to understand smaller groups, we should better aim to personal factors more than a nation view. In other words, dont blame the culture of a nation whenever you see negative (or positive) things in a person, and so, I would not recomend trying to fix a personal problem with a Nation-Culture perspective.
What I would do is to get everyones profile, scan work-groups, networks and groups of friends, in order to know power relations, and detect conflictive people. With that information it would be easier to find problems or even define the culture of that company. The best we know people, the best we can know how to make them "move".
Yet, the BIG culture is very important, as you may know. But as I said it is just a little part of the way on understanding a group of people.
If interested on culture stuff (long and boring literature...) review Stuart Hall or Pierre Bourdieu firstly cause is more related to this subject I think.
Ahi nos vemos, görüşürüz.
Andrzej
Day 4
Well, honestly I have to admit that the fourth day was the most difficult for me. I didn't really feel the diffrence between centralized and decentralized implementation. I was a bit lost. Instead of it I liked very much our team work and final discussion about the case study.
Well, honestly I have to admit that the fourth day was the most difficult for me. I didn't really feel the diffrence between centralized and decentralized implementation. I was a bit lost. Instead of it I liked very much our team work and final discussion about the case study.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Culture issues - lessons Day 3 + 4
Hi,
as yesterday my day was unfortunately way to busy, I also will have to summarize the "lessons learned" part in one post for two days.
In both days we discussed the impact of culture on the implementatinon of ERP systems. Even if I am aware, that quoting wikipedia might be scientifically doubtatif, I'd really like to use a sentence I found there to define the term culture I'll use:
Regional culutres can have a deep impact on the implementation of ERP systems. As the implementation of an ERP is not only simply "buying a new software system" but more or less changing the way business has to be done, the attitudes of the people involved play an important role, one of them being the willingness to change. Different cultures have different ways to cope with that. Geert Hofstede (Bio), a Dutch scientific that did a lot of research about both types of culture, has some publishes some interesting values and their definitions one one of his websites. Taking this kind of information is crucial to develop an implementation strategy. Taking some articles to account, we learned, that ERPs tended to fail in chinese State Owned Enterprises (SOE) because of some social aspects; as a loss of authority would be involved in case the senior executives of those enterprises would actually spend a lot of time on insalling a "software system", they tend to declare it a usual IT project, which is - as research shows - not a very successful strategy.
We also discussed different ways to build a team as well for planning, implementing and training users for a new system. Not wanting to repeat my fellow's posts I summarize that involvement from all parts of the organizational structure is important; involvment from descision makers as well as from lowest-level end-users. An ERP might radically change the way people think: Employees have to get rid of thinking strictly functionally for the sake of understanding procedural aspects of their work to enable the system to streamline production (or service) proceses.
Even inside a corporate culture there are - of course - different characters of persons. The implementation and the coaching/teaching/training team have to be well-selected, so that they are able to understand, accept, influence and teach the new procedures the system imposes. This is especially critical as we have talked about that number one reason of IT project failure is not out of technical issues, but accesptance and usage of the concernd company members.
Today's lesson was more focussed on the corporate culture. Stuying a Harvard businnes case about Harley-Davidson's choise of an ERP system, we addressed the issues that can emergie if there is an incompatibility between ERP provieder, client enterprise and extended the discussion to consulting firms. I personally figured that "soft factors" like corporate culture may be as important as "hard facts" like the functionalities of the provided software system. Finally in the Harley case there were huge problems because of a cultural misfit.
The last part consited of building groups of diverse nationalities and cultures. Whereas we were initially supposed to finish on the same day, describing and debating out cultures (in my personal case China, Germany, France and Poland) took way to long; I think everyone of us had partially to confirm but also to moderate clichés about our nations, whereas we all were aware that we could only give kind of a subjective point of view.
So... tomorrow's exam is getting closer! I am pretty courious what task we are going to discuss, but after restructuring the knowledge we gained in the mindmap I feel more or less prepared for this challenge.
Everyone: Good luck for tomorrow.
Thierry
as yesterday my day was unfortunately way to busy, I also will have to summarize the "lessons learned" part in one post for two days.
In both days we discussed the impact of culture on the implementatinon of ERP systems. Even if I am aware, that quoting wikipedia might be scientifically doubtatif, I'd really like to use a sentence I found there to define the term culture I'll use:
[...]The term culture denotes whole product of an individual, group or society of intelligent beings. It includes, technology, art, science, as well as moral systems and characteristic behaviours and habits of the selected intelligent entities.Whereas on day 3 we focussed on national cultures and their impact on possible implementation projects of ERP, day 4 was more about organizational culture.
Regional culutres can have a deep impact on the implementation of ERP systems. As the implementation of an ERP is not only simply "buying a new software system" but more or less changing the way business has to be done, the attitudes of the people involved play an important role, one of them being the willingness to change. Different cultures have different ways to cope with that. Geert Hofstede (Bio), a Dutch scientific that did a lot of research about both types of culture, has some publishes some interesting values and their definitions one one of his websites. Taking this kind of information is crucial to develop an implementation strategy. Taking some articles to account, we learned, that ERPs tended to fail in chinese State Owned Enterprises (SOE) because of some social aspects; as a loss of authority would be involved in case the senior executives of those enterprises would actually spend a lot of time on insalling a "software system", they tend to declare it a usual IT project, which is - as research shows - not a very successful strategy.
We also discussed different ways to build a team as well for planning, implementing and training users for a new system. Not wanting to repeat my fellow's posts I summarize that involvement from all parts of the organizational structure is important; involvment from descision makers as well as from lowest-level end-users. An ERP might radically change the way people think: Employees have to get rid of thinking strictly functionally for the sake of understanding procedural aspects of their work to enable the system to streamline production (or service) proceses.
Even inside a corporate culture there are - of course - different characters of persons. The implementation and the coaching/teaching/training team have to be well-selected, so that they are able to understand, accept, influence and teach the new procedures the system imposes. This is especially critical as we have talked about that number one reason of IT project failure is not out of technical issues, but accesptance and usage of the concernd company members.
Today's lesson was more focussed on the corporate culture. Stuying a Harvard businnes case about Harley-Davidson's choise of an ERP system, we addressed the issues that can emergie if there is an incompatibility between ERP provieder, client enterprise and extended the discussion to consulting firms. I personally figured that "soft factors" like corporate culture may be as important as "hard facts" like the functionalities of the provided software system. Finally in the Harley case there were huge problems because of a cultural misfit.
The last part consited of building groups of diverse nationalities and cultures. Whereas we were initially supposed to finish on the same day, describing and debating out cultures (in my personal case China, Germany, France and Poland) took way to long; I think everyone of us had partially to confirm but also to moderate clichés about our nations, whereas we all were aware that we could only give kind of a subjective point of view.
So... tomorrow's exam is getting closer! I am pretty courious what task we are going to discuss, but after restructuring the knowledge we gained in the mindmap I feel more or less prepared for this challenge.
Everyone: Good luck for tomorrow.
Thierry
Day 4 - Juan REYNOSO
Today, one of the interesting things for me was the fact of frequently the process of the whole business have to be modified in order to create a structure able to fit in an ERP. This means that the ERP, beside of the advantages that it provides, allow us to improve our structure of processes.
This is why it is important the Core Team have the knowledge of the whole business and the authority to modify it if necessary.
It was interesting too that when we took the decision of the supplier for Harley Davidson we change, generally speaking, our decision when we made a more analytical thought. Perhaps, we made it in rough terms, but it is important that we kept always in mind what characteristics are the most important and gave them weights in order to not let us impress for another characteristics.
This is why it is important the Core Team have the knowledge of the whole business and the authority to modify it if necessary.
It was interesting too that when we took the decision of the supplier for Harley Davidson we change, generally speaking, our decision when we made a more analytical thought. Perhaps, we made it in rough terms, but it is important that we kept always in mind what characteristics are the most important and gave them weights in order to not let us impress for another characteristics.
Day 4
In today’s class we learned the implementation choices we have. And I think it was very productive to know the advantages and disadvantages of each one because we will might decide it in the future.
As the professor said, I think there is not one effectively formula of choices. It will depend on the situation we face in the future.
With the group project I learned that some times there are more similarities than differences between cultures. Sometimes we can use it to group it and work with groups of similarities than with each different country.
Also it was very interesting to know how to choose a supplier. The brain storming and the rating is very important because I think that in the real world, there might be some people that present really well and ended influencing you to choose them. And if we make that kind of decisions, at the end we might be choosing something that doesn’t go really with our strategies. I mean we can reevaluate our rating choices, but to choose someone just because its presentation can be the same as implementing one software just because is the newest one.
As the professor said, I think there is not one effectively formula of choices. It will depend on the situation we face in the future.
With the group project I learned that some times there are more similarities than differences between cultures. Sometimes we can use it to group it and work with groups of similarities than with each different country.
Also it was very interesting to know how to choose a supplier. The brain storming and the rating is very important because I think that in the real world, there might be some people that present really well and ended influencing you to choose them. And if we make that kind of decisions, at the end we might be choosing something that doesn’t go really with our strategies. I mean we can reevaluate our rating choices, but to choose someone just because its presentation can be the same as implementing one software just because is the newest one.
Summary Mindmap
Hi all!
I tried to make a mindmap summarizing most of what we learned in a (more or less) structured way. Klick on the nods of the mindmap to open further parts. I know it is now well-designed, but as a matter of fact it's a lack of time that makes it difficult to design a balanced, neat, colored and linked mindmap right now. I might edit it later on - if somebody wants to contribute, please feel free; if you need technical help feel free to contact me.
Yeliz: As I used some parts of your slides, I'd like you to briefly click through it and tell me, if you're okay with that - the information might be organized a little differently in some places. If you mind anything (e.g. of copyright issues), I'll take the map offline!
Good luck tomorrow,
Thierry
I tried to make a mindmap summarizing most of what we learned in a (more or less) structured way. Klick on the nods of the mindmap to open further parts. I know it is now well-designed, but as a matter of fact it's a lack of time that makes it difficult to design a balanced, neat, colored and linked mindmap right now. I might edit it later on - if somebody wants to contribute, please feel free; if you need technical help feel free to contact me.
Yeliz: As I used some parts of your slides, I'd like you to briefly click through it and tell me, if you're okay with that - the information might be organized a little differently in some places. If you mind anything (e.g. of copyright issues), I'll take the map offline!
Good luck tomorrow,
Thierry
Lesson 4
As in the other past two days, we started by having a small recap of what had been seen the previous day. We went on talking about the qualities that had to be considered when selecting a Super User. They’ve got to have good communication, teaching and learning skills, they have to be master the process in which they’ll be assessing, they’ve got to be well respected within their working group and, they’ve got to be leaders among other qualities. Related to this matter we discussed which criteria on which one would select a core ERP team, and we all agreed that they should have experience in projects and that they should have a good successful career, not only this but the team should be composed of people representing the several departments of the company, and very important they have to be willing to learn.
We saw the pro’s and con´s of the Big Bang and Phased implementation. We did outsourcing vs. inhouse training pro´s and con’s, and centralized and decentralized pro’s and con’s as well. We came up with several pro’s and con’s for each, and this led me to the conclusion that there’s no right or wrong answer here, each company has to evaluate which is the right choice for them, which is the one that fits the best to their needs and structure.
Later on we formed teams based in our nationalities and pretended being the global ERP project executives (all from different places). We discussed the challenges of working together since we where all from different nationalities, and we shared our weaknesses and strengths, which I thought was very enriching since we got to see the our similarities and differences. We got to the conclusion that we had to focus in our similarities (as in we’re from different countries) when working together, and work in our differences so they wouldn’t become a big problem in the future.
At the end we got to discuss on the Harley Davidson Motor company case, which gave us an inside perspective of how the decisions are made in all its satages when implementing an ERP system.
I have to say that I enjoyed taking this class very much, it was very interesting and dynamic.
Good luck to you all in the exam tomorrow!
We saw the pro’s and con´s of the Big Bang and Phased implementation. We did outsourcing vs. inhouse training pro´s and con’s, and centralized and decentralized pro’s and con’s as well. We came up with several pro’s and con’s for each, and this led me to the conclusion that there’s no right or wrong answer here, each company has to evaluate which is the right choice for them, which is the one that fits the best to their needs and structure.
Later on we formed teams based in our nationalities and pretended being the global ERP project executives (all from different places). We discussed the challenges of working together since we where all from different nationalities, and we shared our weaknesses and strengths, which I thought was very enriching since we got to see the our similarities and differences. We got to the conclusion that we had to focus in our similarities (as in we’re from different countries) when working together, and work in our differences so they wouldn’t become a big problem in the future.
At the end we got to discuss on the Harley Davidson Motor company case, which gave us an inside perspective of how the decisions are made in all its satages when implementing an ERP system.
I have to say that I enjoyed taking this class very much, it was very interesting and dynamic.
Good luck to you all in the exam tomorrow!
4th Day-
Hi guys,
The week nearly comes to an end..
I had too much fun and learning today. I think it is because I personally got more involved and had a better understanding of the subject. At the beginning, quick review was good. We emphasized one more time the importance of cultural differences. Actually, I understood that no software implementation is really about software. It is about change management. Because you are changing the way people work. You are challenging their principles, beliefs and the way they have done things for many many years. That's why all implementation process success depends on the organization's structure, culture etc. It is something more than being technical.
Moreover to that, we have covered Strategic ERP Implementation choices such as Big Bang vs Phased implementation, Outsourcing vs In-house, centralization vs decentralization and knowledge management. Actually most of the strategies have some pros and cons according to the organization structure and the function which we implement ERP. For example, it is better to use Big Bang for key modules I think otherwise it might be a confusing process to use phase strategy. Because it allows us to make the changes step by step and the modules which relies on information from other modules may get wrong messages due to incompatibility between systems.
By the way, I searched for the cost of decentralization vs centralization and according to one source, decentralization is more costly in terms of extra time and resources to implement and maintain the system. It also has cost of reinventing many other database, storage, software etc.
What I can tell more is about our group work. We found out many similarities between Mexico, Turkey and France ( except some differences of France which can be handled ). It was interesting for me because I expected some big cultural differences due to being different parts of the world. Perhaps it was because of globalisation, we are getting similar in terms of doing business style and people's reaction to new things etc.
ps: I didn't forget Julien:)---Thierry, we should celebrate Harley Davidson case some day;)
and Yeliz Hocam, hope to see you in the party as well..
The week nearly comes to an end..
I had too much fun and learning today. I think it is because I personally got more involved and had a better understanding of the subject. At the beginning, quick review was good. We emphasized one more time the importance of cultural differences. Actually, I understood that no software implementation is really about software. It is about change management. Because you are changing the way people work. You are challenging their principles, beliefs and the way they have done things for many many years. That's why all implementation process success depends on the organization's structure, culture etc. It is something more than being technical.
Moreover to that, we have covered Strategic ERP Implementation choices such as Big Bang vs Phased implementation, Outsourcing vs In-house, centralization vs decentralization and knowledge management. Actually most of the strategies have some pros and cons according to the organization structure and the function which we implement ERP. For example, it is better to use Big Bang for key modules I think otherwise it might be a confusing process to use phase strategy. Because it allows us to make the changes step by step and the modules which relies on information from other modules may get wrong messages due to incompatibility between systems.
By the way, I searched for the cost of decentralization vs centralization and according to one source, decentralization is more costly in terms of extra time and resources to implement and maintain the system. It also has cost of reinventing many other database, storage, software etc.
What I can tell more is about our group work. We found out many similarities between Mexico, Turkey and France ( except some differences of France which can be handled ). It was interesting for me because I expected some big cultural differences due to being different parts of the world. Perhaps it was because of globalisation, we are getting similar in terms of doing business style and people's reaction to new things etc.
Hope to see some of you guys in the party tonight..
Goodluck you all for the exam...
ps: I didn't forget Julien:)---Thierry, we should celebrate Harley Davidson case some day;)
and Yeliz Hocam, hope to see you in the party as well..
MISI169E - Day 4
Culture differenciation is important in ERP implementation and we saw that today. Being in group to see how things could go in managing a project in 3 different countries, Turquey (Derya) Mexico (Marco) and France. (Laurent and I) I was happy to discuss with them but it confirm there are some differences.
If we have to remember a thing for today, there are the classical categorization to do:
See you mates
If we have to remember a thing for today, there are the classical categorization to do:
- Timeline: Big bang (everything at one time) / Phased (a little bit each time) / Mini big bang (big bang at lower level)
- Resources: Outsourcing / In house
- Type of implementation: Centralised (Eg: a decision for all countries) / Decentralised
- Training: Outsourcing / Internal
- Management of knowledge: Outsourcing (Consultants) / Internal
See you mates
Lecture 4 - Sangyoun Han
Today’s class introduced the concept on Strategic ERP Implementation choices. There are several issues which need to be addressed when implementing ERP systems. They include;
- Timeline
o Big Bang, Phased, Mini Big Bang
- Staff/Resourcing
o Outsourcing
o In-house
- Customization level
- Centralized Implementation
- Decentralized Implementation
- Training
o Internal, Outsourced
o Combination
- Managing Knowledge
o Consultants or internal experts
During the case, the importance of culture was again emphasized. Although technical and functional issues are very important, so are the qualitative aspects. A balance is therefore needed between both quantitative and qualitative factors.
Anyways, good luck on the exams everyone. See you tomorrow.
- SangyounDuygu Becermen Day 3 and Day 4
Herkese merhaba (hi everyone),
I am sending my lesson learned post for day 3 and 4 at the same time because yesterday I was in some kind of a crisis with myself. I couldn't really adapt myself well to the class. Thus, I couldn't participate. But in the morning when we do the review of yesterday everything was clear. So I'm starting with day 3. This will be a little long. I hope you don't get bored when you read.
Day 3
Mostly we discussed the three articles.
- We started with "Decision Making in the Evaluation, Selection, and Implementation of ERP Systems". We learned some decision making models for selecting and implementing an ERP system.
- Secondly, we talked about "Potential Impact of Cultural Differences on Enterprise Resource Planning Projects". When we were talking about this article we made a great discussion about how culture effects the decision making process. Since we are coming from different countries we were able to analyse the subject with many points of view avoiding the stereotypes. We saw that generally power distance, hierarchy, and authority issues influence implementing an ERP system, and most cultures are resistant to change.
- Finally we talked about "ERP in China: One Package, Two Profiles". This article was also related to the previous one. But this time we looked to two different company cultures in the same cultural environment. We understand the differences by the way of thinking between private vendors (PVs) and state owned enterprises (SOEs) in China. For example; PVs form cross funcional teams for implementing the system and this team is more involved in the process while the SOEs have a team formed by the senior management that is more likely to control the system, without much involvement. Somehow the system failed in China. The reasons of its failure are business processes, lack of involvement of senior management or key people of the organisation, no improvement of business.
Besides the articles, we talked about super user selection. We concluded that a super user should have high communication, teaching, and leadership skills, knows about the processes and information systems, have a long-term career planning in the organization and well respected. And in the selection of the core ERP team experience with projects, success, authority to change management, being in different departments (to understand the different needs of all departments in the company) issues should be considered.
Day 4
Today we talked about strategic ERP implementation choices. Today was mostly dedicated to the analysis of pros and cons of several things. :)
First we analysied pros and cons of Big Bang and phased implementations. We concluded that the advantages of Big Bang implementations are; being easier and faster to implement and its disadvantages are being more risky and the need of big training initiative. The advantages of phased implementation are being able to learn about the system, cash management, and stability while the disadvantages are being costly and time consuming.
While we are implementing an ERP system we can face some problems like decrease of productivity, bugs in the system, and resistance to change in the organisation.
Second we talked about the pros and cons of outsourcing and in house. Outsourcing can be useful because the people are more experienced about the subject and they can look from a different point of view to the company and they sometimes have more credibility in the eyes of employees (I think this was a very bad translation but I couldn't say it in another way. Sorry for my poor english) as it can be more costly, people can feel less responsible for the consequences, and they may not fit in the company culture. On the other hand, in-house has its own advantages like better understanding of the company needs, higher credibility among employees, and they have the advantage of existing work relationships.
Last, we talked about two different implementation styles: centralised and decentralised implementations. During our discussion about this subject we faced some conflicting ideas. Like we couldn't exactle figured out which could be more costly. In my opinion centralised implementation is likely to be more costly because we are thinking globally and when an office needs to make a decision they have to wait for the response of the head office which takes time and it can have an effect on the work done, and for the implementation process traveling costs can be high.
After a large pros and cons discussion we made a team work which was about the implementation of the system in different countries. We looked at the differences of management styles, strengths and challanges of doing business in different countries. This helped us understand the different cultures and so we realised that it is important to understand the structure and needs of different cultures before making a change.
During the last hour of todays class we had a discussion about Harley Davidson Company's software selection process. Everybody specified their choices of providers and why they would choose them. We wrote down the advantages of each provider on the board and defined the most important issues to consider. Than we made some calculations and select provider 2 which was the same decision that Harley Davidson made. But then we learned that even provider 2 was the most useful one according to the functionality of the system, problems occurred because during the implementation process they couldn't really fit in the company culture.
Todays class was so fun. I want to thank everyone for the lovely environment of the course. Of course our tutor played a big role. Her teaching style was effective and very satisfying. I learned many things about implementation of ERP systems. I am really flattered to see how a turkish teacher can make such a great job.
That's all for today.
Hope to see you all tonight at the party. If you are not coming I have to tell you that you are goint to miss so much. After a hard week I think we deserved to have fun. If you are still not coming I'll see you tomorow in the exam.
Ciao ciao...
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
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
DAY 4
Hi
Today we had an interesting class, first we did braistorming of yesturdays class, so it was good to refresh our learnings. Then we had an introduction of the diferent ways of implementing an ERP system: Big Bang, Mini Big Bang, and by Phases. We did pros and cos of each ones, and it got interesting to deeply analyze why should we do Big Bang or mini Big Bang or by phases, that for some companies or some countries is better to di it some way, and for other the other way.
We also did pros and cons of how to implement the system, if centralized or un-centralized.
Then we did a group work, we analyzed how we could implement the same ERP system for the same company,in 3 different countries.
At the end we discuss about the case study of How Harly-Davidson choose their ERP system, what were the steps and principal aspects of evaluating, etc. then we did pros and cons of the last 3 candidates. A very interesting point is that we all though that candidate number 1 was defenetly the best one, but qfter the evaluation of the main 4 aspects, candidate number 2 was the winning candidate, the one the HD choose.
Thanks
Today we had an interesting class, first we did braistorming of yesturdays class, so it was good to refresh our learnings. Then we had an introduction of the diferent ways of implementing an ERP system: Big Bang, Mini Big Bang, and by Phases. We did pros and cos of each ones, and it got interesting to deeply analyze why should we do Big Bang or mini Big Bang or by phases, that for some companies or some countries is better to di it some way, and for other the other way.
We also did pros and cons of how to implement the system, if centralized or un-centralized.
Then we did a group work, we analyzed how we could implement the same ERP system for the same company,in 3 different countries.
At the end we discuss about the case study of How Harly-Davidson choose their ERP system, what were the steps and principal aspects of evaluating, etc. then we did pros and cons of the last 3 candidates. A very interesting point is that we all though that candidate number 1 was defenetly the best one, but qfter the evaluation of the main 4 aspects, candidate number 2 was the winning candidate, the one the HD choose.
Thanks
Day 4 learning -- Dan HUA
Hello everyone,
I like today's course for our group discussion, for the analysis we have done together for different ways of ERP implementation as well as for the case study.
It's really a good idea for us from different nationalities to discuss many aspects pertaining to ERP, we have exchanged lots of ideas and tomorrow we have got to continue after exam, the case study is also a quite good one which reveiled to us how the case company was doing to prepare and also to choose a most suitable supplier.
As we usually say a good beginning is half of the success, how we prepare for an ERP, or a software, and then how we compare among different suppliers, and how to make the choice is so significantly important for the final outcome of system implementation that each step, we have to work together with adequate consideration and tactics.
The criteria the case company utlized for analyzing the pros and cons of 3 suppliers could also be views as good reference when we are facing a likewise situation as this one.
Alors, I am truely grateful for our courses, for our communications everyday along this week with our friend Yeliz who has gone out of her way to enable our courses such insightful onesas well as an interesting ones also greatful for this blog platform from which we began online communication and through which we are to continue our fun learning with ERP in days and maybe years to come in the future!
Tomorrow, wish we all have nice success in exam!
HUA Dan
I like today's course for our group discussion, for the analysis we have done together for different ways of ERP implementation as well as for the case study.
It's really a good idea for us from different nationalities to discuss many aspects pertaining to ERP, we have exchanged lots of ideas and tomorrow we have got to continue after exam, the case study is also a quite good one which reveiled to us how the case company was doing to prepare and also to choose a most suitable supplier.
As we usually say a good beginning is half of the success, how we prepare for an ERP, or a software, and then how we compare among different suppliers, and how to make the choice is so significantly important for the final outcome of system implementation that each step, we have to work together with adequate consideration and tactics.
The criteria the case company utlized for analyzing the pros and cons of 3 suppliers could also be views as good reference when we are facing a likewise situation as this one.
Alors, I am truely grateful for our courses, for our communications everyday along this week with our friend Yeliz who has gone out of her way to enable our courses such insightful onesas well as an interesting ones also greatful for this blog platform from which we began online communication and through which we are to continue our fun learning with ERP in days and maybe years to come in the future!
Tomorrow, wish we all have nice success in exam!
HUA Dan
DAY 3
HI
Today we had a very interesting class, with a lot of discusion and learning.
We reviewd the 3 articles that we had to read for homework:
The fiest one its called " Decision Making in the evaluation, Selection and Implementation of ERP systems" Its about how can companies decide in wich ERP system to have, there are a lot of types, prices, efficiency, and tough its a very huge inversion, we have to analyze and evaluate wich ERP system.
The second article we discuss on is called " Potential Impact of Cultural Differences on ERP Projects " I found this article quite interesting because somethimes we ignor how important are the cultural differences between countires, how they work, lenguage, education, etc. so its good to point out that we have to handle cultural diferences before implemetating the same ERP company system in different countries.
The third article was mostly about how in China beeing such a huge county, there are two ways of doing business because of Hong Kong beeing part of the U.K. before 1997.
In class we had discusion between students from diferent countries, how their country use to do business, or how an ERP system could be implemented, etc. so it was very interesting.
Thanks
Today we had a very interesting class, with a lot of discusion and learning.
We reviewd the 3 articles that we had to read for homework:
The fiest one its called " Decision Making in the evaluation, Selection and Implementation of ERP systems" Its about how can companies decide in wich ERP system to have, there are a lot of types, prices, efficiency, and tough its a very huge inversion, we have to analyze and evaluate wich ERP system.
The second article we discuss on is called " Potential Impact of Cultural Differences on ERP Projects " I found this article quite interesting because somethimes we ignor how important are the cultural differences between countires, how they work, lenguage, education, etc. so its good to point out that we have to handle cultural diferences before implemetating the same ERP company system in different countries.
The third article was mostly about how in China beeing such a huge county, there are two ways of doing business because of Hong Kong beeing part of the U.K. before 1997.
In class we had discusion between students from diferent countries, how their country use to do business, or how an ERP system could be implemented, etc. so it was very interesting.
Thanks
day 4
Today’s lecture was about ERP implementation, the different methods that can be used to implement ERP but also the resources needed and the customization level. The 2 different methods of implementation of an ERP system (Big bang and phased) are quiet similar. Big bang implies a radical change for whole company at the same time. Phased approached implies a radical change but only for one department at the same time. From an individual point view, it is still a radical change (for big bang and phased approach). What can help to succeed in the implementation are the resources (time, people, training, space to work, more generally MONEY…) you grant to your project. Moreover the way you use is also an important factor. Finally as we saw, the type of organization, culture has also a huge importance. The big approach has some advantages for American companies because there are always at the top of the technology, so they are used to change and they are probably less afraid about it. About the phased approach, it suits better to conservative companies like in
Then we talked about outsourcing and in house staff used to implement such a project. For me a mix of both is important in order for consultants to transmit their knowledge to the in house workers so the knowledge is present in the company. Then the ratio of consultants compared to in house worker must be adapted to the type and culture of the organization.
Finally about the customization, it is something to adjust according to future updates, customers needs and staff needs. With major and small player small customization are possible easily and external help from them is not needed. Nevertheless for big customizations that require a big change in the code, it is quite difficult to do it without their help… Open source ERP have this possibility, so level of customization and its cost must taken into account when choosing an ERP.
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