From: Jack Ring [mailto:
jring@amug.org]
On Mon, 22 Jan 2001
jcerva@kcc.com said Re: Cross Cultural ERP Acceptance
[...]>
> For me ERP (enterprise resource planning)- is A LOT of up front/input
work
> before any value is seen, people need to know why as well as how to input,
> and how to get the benefits once the system is 'up'.
> CHEERIO
> Jack
>
jcerva@kcc.com
I was not very clear in my earlier response to the quest for guidance
regarding cross-cultural adoption of ERP.
First, let me say that I am not opposed to ERP. I encourage all my
competitors to install ERP forthwith (actually, I have no competitors,
nobody else would want to do what I do) but for all others my altruistic
nature causes me to warn you.
Rather than installing an ERP you would be better off to have your clients
sit in a circle then pull the safety locking pin out of a grenade and
proceed to play "spin the bottle."
Be very clear about what change toward what new situationi you are about to
encourage your people to endure. Once you are clear, you should do
everything possible to get the project cancelled. Otherwise, you will end
up running the largest torture chamber of your career.
ERP (a one syllable word --- phonics is prescient) is a monstrous pile of
code that runs according to the directions in several hundred data tables.
The entries in the tables tell the software what to do, part of which is to
demand input from humans. The software executes in the sequence it pleases
and does the things in pleases largely regardless of how youall want to run
your business. This means three things.
First, you will become the messenger --- that tells them to forget much of
what they know and embrace operating habits that they can readily see do not
make sense. In cultures where people are accustomed to being cogs in a
machine this is grueling but not greatly emotional. However, if you are
sufficiently fortunate to work in a culture where people are not considered
"human resources" but are considered "the sources" of innovation and
enthusiam, this can be a very degrading process.
And in most cultures it is permissable to kill the messenger.
Second, the whole thing may work (actual statistics indicate about a 30%
chance). Great. Until you try to bring out your next product or service,
that is. Then youall will discover that NO ONE knows which of the several
thousand variables in the several hundred tables needs to be changed. The
successful implementation of ERP simply freezes your enterprise in time and
[market] space.
Third, because most managers operate in a constant state of denial regarding
the results of IT projects, they will proceed to install CRM, SFA, SRM, Data
Mining, EIA, and other employee torture machines of the ERP paradigm. Then
your beloved company that to which you gave your heart and soul goes broke
or restructures. Either way you are in career crisis.
The bottom line, as they say in business schools, is this; if you cannot
stop the project, find a decent job elsewhere, now.
But you don't have to believe me. Ask your contemplated ERP vendor for the
names of the Training and Development people at three of their previous
installations. Also, get involved in their User Group.
But keep working on your resume.
Good luck.