PepsiCos Main Business Objective - Assignment Example

System Development What was PepsiCo’s main business objective for this project? The system Purchase to Pay was implemented by Pepsi. Their main objective for this project was to manage their procurement processes across its divisions. The system was implemented because the company has to purchase raw material from hundred’s of vendors. To avoid cresting confusion and to ensure that the right order went to the right division and to make sure that the raw material was ordered timely from the right vendor at the right price. What factors were present to motivate the company to implement this project? The company was being overcharged for its orders with vendors. They needed to cut back on costs; they found that this was an efficient method to help them sort out these problems. PepsiCo wanted to get discounts on the purchase of large volumes and they wanted to be able to negotiate on price with individuals. These were above the negotiated price. Who were the main participants PepsiCo had to involve in developing the Purchase to Pay system? The company decided to get a system from Business Objects Corporation; they were the main participants in developing the system for PepsiCo. Their system would help PepsiCo in storing the data in a database and provide information through a web-based user interface which would operate on the intranet of the company. Business Objects Corporation was the developing team while PepsiCo themselves were the stakeholders of the project and was directly involved with the system. Which systems development life cycle approach would have been best used for PepsiCo’s project? Explain your answer. In my opinion the best systems development lifecycle approach for PepsiCo is the traditional approach. With this approach any type of program can be developed, whether it is a small program or a major program for the whole company. This approach has five phases and it might differ from company to company. It helps in tackling one thing at a time. The first thing under this approach as to identify the problem which PepsiCo has already done, they can now come up with a solution and see what they want the system to do. They can outline what exactly they are looking for. The programmers at Business Objects Corporation can then design software based on this data and come up with a design which best suits the organization. PepsiCo needs the system to be standardized across the company and to also produce reports. As they implement the system, training can be provided and it will be easier for the employees at PepsiCo to understand this software as it would not be using a specific computer language which they can’t figure out. It will be easy to use and with the maintenance and review of the software the company can analyze if they need to upgrade or not. Assuming that you were responsible for designing and implementing the new procurement system at PepsiCo, what problems and opportunities would you have considered in conducting your initial systems investigation? Before developing any system the company needs to carry out an investigation to see if the project is feasible or not. For this feasibility studies are carried out which help in studying the different aspects involved when developing a system. Opportunities from the new system would have been saving on costs, if a system was to be implemented it would reduce the chaos and help save on costs that were being spent on paying vendors who were charging higher prices and not being able to avail discounts. This would have brought down costs by $10 million in one year only and in the span of three years it would have helped save $43 million. Everything is becoming computerized and to keep up with competitors and to maintain a competitive edge, the company needs to accept and implement new technology. This would help keep pace with the market and become more efficient. The new software could help in making work easier for the employees and save time. Calling to place an order and making sure that the order is at the right price will all be easier. Everything will be on the screen and the user can easily decide which vendor to the place the order to. This way time spent on trying to figure out the lowest price and to check if the order has been sent or not would probably be only a click away. This is a major opportunity for the company to upgrade itself as raw materials are the basic component for them. The employees are used to the current system and introducing a change might scare them. The current system is not as efficient and fast as the new system. It is one of the reasons that the company is not able to get the best deals with vendors. The current system does not generate reports and is the reason the company is wasting money of raw material orders. The problems with the system would be that the employees currently employed by this division would feel threatened about their jobs and because of this they may not accept the new system. They may refuse to work on the new system and not want to get the training required. Making sure that the employees are on your side is a major part before implementing the system because if they refuse to use it then all your investment has gone to waste. The cost of the system may be too high or the return on the investment may not be as fast as PepsiCo wants it to be. Trying to find the right company to make the system for you is also a problem. We need to make sure that the company developing the system understands our needs and wants and develops a system accordingly. The implementation of the system can also be a problem. Since a system is already in place it may be difficult to decide how to introduce the new system. Many questions arise at this point, should the system be started alongside the current system and easily be phased out or should it just be introduced immediately. If the employees need training then they should be allowed to work on it a few days before it is actually launched, but if they are given time off for training then their work is affected and it may cost the company. All these are the problems and opportunities that I would have looked into when conducting the initial system investigation. Bibliography 1. Systems Development Life Cycle, Development and Acquisition http://www.ffiec.gov/ffiecinfobase/booklets/d_a/08.html Read More