Case study 3

E-Business System Implementation

College of Computer and Information sciences
Prince Sultan University

Student Name: Lubna AlGwaiz Student ID: 218410346

Implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning System

Introduction

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are enterprise software systems that allow
companies to automate business processes, share data and practices across the enterprise, and
produce and access real-time information (Sumner 2005). The main objective of ERP
systems is to integrate all departments and functional information flows across an enterprise
onto a single computer system that serves all the company's needs (Turban and Volonino
2010). ERP systems are widely used by organizations of all sizes and in many industries
because their potential benefits are too significant to disregard. The Banner system at the U of
M is an example of an ERP. It is a collection of software modules - each module supports a
different functional area of the organization such as accounting, human resources, supply
chain management, scheduling, and facilities management. All modules can access one
centralized, integrated database. Companies implementing ERP solutions can choose which
modules they want to install, and the modularity of the system allows them the opportunity to
acquire additional modules as needed. SAP and Oracle are major providers of ERP systems
that provide solutions for organizations of all sizes. When rolling out an ERP system,
companies can choose to install a module as "off the shelf" software or they can have it
customized by asking the software developer to modify the program so that it aligns with
their current business processes. Customizing a module is very expensive and time
consuming however, and in most cases, a company will change its business process to fit the
software rather than change the software to fit the business process. The problem that often
occurs when implementing ERP system "off the shelf" is that the end-users resent having to
change the way they do their jobs. Workers get comfortable with their current ways of
conducting their jobs and may feel threatened when they are required to abandon their old
ways of doing things and are required to learn new ways. The resistance to change is
identified as a considerable reason for the failure of information systems implementations and
therefore it is an issue that needs to be understood and managed (Hee-Woong and
Kankanhalli 2009). The business processes that the ERP systems are designed to support are
considered”best practices". Although best practices may actually be better than a company's
"current practices", the best practice may replace unique or traditional practices that were the
source of competitive advantage for a company. Implementing a ERP solution could lead to
loss of competitive advantage. (Fuß, Gmeiner, Schiereck and Strahringer 2007) In addition,
forcing workers to adopt the best practices of an ERP system may be counter-productive and
inappropriate for a particular company's corporate culture, which leads to "culture clash" and
creates further problems (Parthasarthy 2007: 5). 
Please read the write-up and answer the questions below. Answers to each question
should be a paragraph of at least three sentences. Sentences can cite facts from the
write-up however should conclude with a sentence or two expressing your own thoughts
and conclusions. 

1. What are the pre-requisites for implementing an ERP solution? (0.5 mark)
ERP systems make use of a common shared database and offer a spectrum of
industry-leading procedures. ERP systems, which are a core feature of an ERP, employ a
single shared database and provide a set of industry-leading procedures.

2. Why are ERP systems are more difficult to implement throughout an

organization than a standard; software installation? (0.5 mark)
ERP stands for enterprise resource planning. Enterprise resource planning tools avoid
data duplication and meticulously manage changes across many business departments.

3. (a) What is competitive advantage? (b) How can implementation of an ERP lead
to loss of competitive advantage of the company? (1 mark)
a. CRM. CRM is one of the most prevalent ERP partial installations.
b. Hardware. A firm installs the ERP product's software and database on the company's
hardware to create an ERP system.

4. (a) Search internet for one success and one failure real case of ERP
implementation. (b) List 2 reasons for success/failure of each case. (1 mark)
a. Success: Fulton & Roark
 Get a more accurate picture of margins and inventory, which helped grow
its ecommerce operation.
 Catch and correct bookkeeping mistakes related to inventory.
b. Failure: Nike’s Supply Chain Issues
 The i2 demand-planning software it employed was too slow, it had bugs,
and its employees weren’t adequately trained before the system went live.
 The software had created extraneous orders for the “Air Garnett” sneaker,
thousands more than the market called for at the time. That “glitch” sent
ripples through the company, putting extra pressure on product delivery
and factory teams.

References:

NetSuite.com. (n.d.). 3 companies, 3 successful ERP implementations. Oracle NetSuite.

Retrieved April 2, 2022, from
https://www.netsuite.com/portal/resource/articles/erp/erp-implementation-case-
study.shtml

Cozens, P. (n.d.). Top 6 ERP implementation failures [and what they cost]. Top 6 ERP
Implementation Failures [and What They Cost]. Retrieved April 2, 2022, from
https://blog.360cloudsolutions.com/resources/top-six-erp-implementation-failures