Nestl's ERP Odyssey - Essay Example

They chose to use part of the new program as Y2K code fixes, thus adding a deadline. Then they went on to set an arbitrary date for completion of the whole project. They did not inform managers of what was happening. They did not assess how the project was going, once it was under way. It is hard for me to think of any more ways they could have doomed their own project from the start! They really had it all covered! First, the Swiss company assembled a team of executives from the various departments: finance, purchasing, etc.

The article refers to them as "the key stakeholders" (The Proposal section, para. 1). These people devised their plan to reshape the worldwide corporation in its every facet, business systems and computer systems. The problem with that was they did not include anyone who was actually using the current system. The key stakeholders had many lofty plans, but no real way to make it happen and lacked the knowledge needed to do so. Next, the stakeholders decided that, since Y2K was looming, they would include code fixes in the first part of the rollout.

This rushed the huge undertaking. Because they were in such a hurry, they forgot, or overlooked, the fact that their systems needed to be integrated with each other so all the departments could communicate. Sales, for instance, could not communicate discounts to the billing department that they had promised certain customers. The stakeholders set an arbitrary end date for the whole project. With a snap of the fingers, it would be done! If only things worked that way. They should have developed a detailed implementation plan, figured out how long each phase would take, then projected an end date that could be fluid depending upon how things went.

I think this part of the fiasco stems, in part, from failure to involve people who were using the old system in the planning, and partly from being caught up in those lofty ideas of remaking the company. Once they had their plan and decided what types of software to purchase and from whom, the stakeholders failed to let manager in on it. Managers that are left out of the loop are not happy managers. They were not cooperative and, in fact would have been unable to cooperate if they had wanted to, since they did not know what the plan was or how it would be implemented.

I can only imagine how the workers below management level felt. I am sure there was enough anger and confusion for everyone. The employee turnover rate skyrocketed. Finally, the stakeholders made no plan to assess the huge project once it was in progress. They totally missed needed adjustments to their plan, apparently thinking it was perfect from the start. There were rollout date issues, training issues, and budgetary issues. In summary, I think these very important people, with a very important idea to reshape the company, concentrated so hard on their plan that they forgot to use the most valuable company asset of all: their employees.

The people who do the day-to-day work of the company, the ones that know how to make the business hum, were entirely left out. The stakeholders had their heads so high in the clouds that they could not see that their feet were not touching the ground. Once the company put someone in charge who had a grip on reality, a touch of humility, and a practical vision of how the whole should work, things started to turn around. It seems ridiculous to me that the stakeholders did not include the people who worked for