Enterprise Systems Tech. solutions, strategic persp. and org. considerations. TDEI13, Özgün Imre

Transcription

1 Enterprise Systems Tech. solutions, strategic persp. and org. considerations TDEI13, Özgün Imre

2 Agenda Report presenta=ons With candy as reward Literature Discussion Lee, Jinyoul; Keng Siau and Soongoo Honget (2003) Enterprise integra=on with ERP and EAI. Communica)ons of the ACM 46:2, pp Markus, M. Lynne; Cornelis Tanis and Paul C. van Fenema (2000) Mul=site ERP implementa=ons. Communica)ons of the ACM, Vol. 43, No. 4 pp Westelius, Alf (2006) Muddling through the life of a mul=na=onal, strategic enterprise systems venture at BT Industries. Linköping Electronic Ar)cles in Computer and Informa)on Science, Vol 10:1. Jones, Mary C.; Melinda Cline and Sherry Ryan (2006) Exploring knowledge sharing in ERP implementa=on: an organiza=onal culture framework. Decision Support Systems, Vol. 41, pp

3 Strategy and technical and organiza=onal solu=ons are more interconnected than we first assume. Today we live in the informa=on economy, thus we must be more aware of the issues. Informa=on economy is based on the premise of networks and thus we are increasingly affected by actors we have no influence on, and some=mes, have no business with. This uncertainty of the economy necessitates some kind of strategizing

4 Need for IT Lee et al. argues: The key to conquering a compe==ve and rapidly changing environment is agility and flexibility. Do ERP systems give companies a sense of these two promises. To rapidly respond to a changing environment, an enterprise must integrate business func6ons into a single system efficiently u6lizing IT, and share data with third- party vendors and customers.

5 But where to start? Strategic level, strategy formula=on: Goals, strategies, and policies Tac=cal level, management control: Strategy implementa=on Opera=ve level, task control: Efficient and effec=ve performance of individual tasks

6 What about multisite? Most organisa=ons today run in several loca=ons. Historically these might have very different systems. How to implement an IT solu=on in such a case? 4 levels of confusion business strategy, soaware configura)on, technical pladorm, management execu)on (Marcus et al)

7 Different levels of ERP implementations Business Strategy: BU rela=onship Total local autonomy Headquarters control only at the financial level Headquarters coordina=on of opera=ons Network coordina=on of opera=ons Total centraliza=on Solware configura=on Single financial/single opera=on Single financial/mul=ple opera=ons Mul=ple financial/single opera=on Mul=ple financial/ mul=ple opera=ons

8 A combina=on of a central database and one or more applica=on servers It is easier and olen cheaper to configure ERP systems for centralized architectures Big Bang deployment Phased rollout

9 Or one can go with EAI EAI: Plans, methods, and tools aimed at: modernizing consolida=ng coordina=ng, computer applica=ons in an enterprise. EAI automates the integra=on process with less effort than that required with ERP.

10 EAI is preferred because The premise of EAI is that it allows a business- oriented approach to map business processes rather than technology driven business process reengineering. EAI implementa=on involves an extensive long- term investment in design. Successful EAI implementa=on requires that there exist strong communica6on, coordina6on, and coopera6on between informa=on technology and business personnel. (Lee et al)

11 While ERP forces the adop=on of standard business process, EAI enables enterprise integra=on over business object levels. ERP thereby supports centralized business strategy while EAI naturally accommodates decentralized business processes

12 How to muddle through The IT project at BT began as a strategic venture But soon began to have a life of its own, and the strategic view was lost Different actors that came to play during the process Top managements commitment, and different roles the actors took during the process helped the project.

13 Muddling through The implementa=on is a social process, it shapes and reshapes the system, both the way it is et up, and the way its rou=nes work. Similarly, having a say in the process, being able to influence the development process is likely to affect acceptance. Back to square one, all change processes are cultural processes. Iden=ty plays a main role.

14 The case Case exercise

15 Pilot installa=on was chao=c, things didn t pan out as it was foreseen. Changes in project manager changed the climate in the project team much more aqen=ve to the social climate, exhibited lower power distance Implementa=on teams were created of people from different backgrouonds experienced BT employees, young academics recruited for the project and a few Inten=a employees The strategy was train the trainer. Each implementa=on team should train local key users, who would par=cipate in serng up the system

16 The end results of the project (?) Turnover per employee doubled during the same period increased produc=vity the Enterprise System is not the sole explana=on. Increased efficiency from re- structuring and consolida=on, and increased capacity u=liza=on also play a role. The close of books 2001 was the first =me ever that I and my staff did not work weekends to perform consolida=ons and complete the financial statements.

17 Things to keep in mind the impression of muddling through; a project with a life of its own, adap=ng and surviving, rather than somebody s planned and implemented vision. EMERGENT STRATEGY RATHER THAN PLANNED The project formed a culture of its own The strong local market orienta=on in the market companies (and among some corporate top managers) posed a problem for the idea of a shared informa=on system.

18 Another example (Jones et al) ERP enables organiza=ons to achieve decision support benefits such as improved knowledge processing, enhanced decision making reliability, and beqer ability to gather corporate evidence to support the decisions made In order for this to occur organiza=onal knowledge must be incorporated into an ERP system so that [it] has a sufficient underlying knowledge structure to achieve this support. Successful ERP implementa=on requires organiza=onal groups to break down barriers to knowledge sharing.

19 Eight dimensions of organizational culture Stability Concentrated Isola=on Hard data External Process Internal Short term Orienta6on to change Control, coordina6on Orienta6on to collabora6on Basis of truth, ra6onality Mo6va6on Orienta6on to work Orienta6on and focus Nature of 6me horizon Change Autonomous decision Collabora=on Personal experience Internal Results External Long term

20 Some results Company A and Company D encouraged knowledge sharing throughout the en=re implementa=on. Company B s knowledge sharing started out strong, but broke down later in the implementa=on. Company C team members felt inhibited to share knowledge from the start of their implementa=on Try to read the ar=cle to come up with a configura=on that yields the best results But don t forget things change in =me, and with culture and organisa=onal structure Would we find similar results in Sweden or in India?

21 Some concerns If you are stuck at one of these cultural dimensions, it doesn t mean that you admit defeat. There are ways to change the culture and overcome these problems Usually there is a pressure to see the results, if possible then extend the deadline, organise extra mee=ngs to rethink what doesn t seem to be working, go back to data. If members are not sharing experien=al data, use team building exercises to enable them to listen to eachother.

22 Don t forget that knowledge sharing doesn t happen on its own. There are factors that come into play. Aside from these cultural dimensions, others, such as leadership, technology, organiza=onal change, and the evalua=on and administra=on of knowledge management may also influence knowledge sharing. can and will influence the knowledge sharing.