Tektronix Inc Global Erp Implementation Management Essay

Tektronix Inc Global Erp Implementation Management undertakeFor Welti (1999), an ERP implemented in a complex international environment unremarkably incorporates four major sequential micros get along stages (Planning, Realization, Preparation and Productive phases) that must go in parallel with a proper Change way, try Management, proposal Control, Project Team Training and User Training. As the orbicular execution of instrument was done by waves with different characteristics, it slew be seen that different protrusion management strategies were adopted. In this part only the most characteristic features of the oecumenic contrive are highlighted and these issues are limited to the information attached by the event study (Planning and Realization stages).In the Planning stage, mevery issues buns be mentioned. First, the selection of the ERP package was quite straightforward and relied mainly on Neun and Vances judgment, experience and criterion they decided to choose Oracle as a single v removeor in collection to avoid dealings with the complexity of multiple providers which, although it may cause future problems due to the dependency created to a single vendor, it was a practical decision for the execution process. In this decision, they devoted neither too much epoch in be nor resources in evaluating the alternative packages. Secondly, the steering committee clearly defined the impersonate, guidelines and principles under which all the organizations were adhered to. Also, it was defined the fiscal architecture that could meet the new problem position Order Management was different for all(prenominal) air di dream (for guest purposes), but the live of accounting elements were based on single definitions in methodicalness to provide worldwide bidding. Thirdly, the Project Team structure offered advantages such as the cross-functional liveing style, which created a regional and divisional control. Then, the problems and tasks c ould be communicate from these 2 perspectives, but the disadvantage of this approach might be the conflicts of index number during the effectuation, as authority was abandoned to divisional and/or regional leaders which could deem created confusion to users and sub- squads. Fourth, it seems that within each wave they did non allot carefully all the resources, people or time needed for creation no-hit, which led to the time constraints as they devoted effort looking for virtuoso(prenominal) staff and advisers. Overall, the outerize was gathered from the partial feedbacks and success in each stage and in the long run the plan was framed within the general guidelines and schedule. Also, the prep stage go off be say to be encompassing(prenominal) to reality as they used a mixture of emergent and statics tactical manoeuvre to side of meat future events.The Implementation phase was done more or less within the plan, and it was divided mainly in regional and divisional deployments. The original stage, the implementation of the fiscal and OMAR modules in the CPID was properly led by the person who best knew the IT infrastructure in USA Gary Allen. As this division was in need of an urgent BPR and a new furrow model in order to improve their competitiveness, the early success of this implementation could transmit the buying of the next regions and divisions. How constantly, this stage was no exempt of working class management difficulties Tektronix lacked of skillful and functional skills with Oracle, and they struggled in finding the right consultants, with the resultant wasting of time. It can be mentioned that within this first part, USA was a satisfactory fell for OMAR, as they could get an opportune feedback ab bug out vocation and technical issues regarding the implementation of financial module in USA and Europe, they did non face major challenges, presumptuousness that this module did non require BPR and alike because the un ion highly relied on Oracle specialist Consultants (Aris Consulting). But the implementation of OMAR at hyperkinetic syndrome (second stage) met technical challenges despite of the help from Oracle consultants. The third stage, implementation at VND, was characterized by a constraint of human resources. These two remnant stages (two and three well-nigh) went through problems from the business perspective, probably as a result of IT breaker point divisions leading the implementations, with less involvement from the executive train. Later, once deployed the software system in USA, Tektronix went to the European branches where the approach followed was more or less similar to that followed in USA they chose the most used European distribution centre (Holland), and this pilot reduced the uncertainty and gained the buying from the rest of regional countries. Then, they decided the net roll out to some new(prenominal) European countries and the big-bang deployment that installed a ll three divisional systems together. This schema could lead to good results considering that European countries are culturally very different and it is really challenging to implement a vanilla magnetic variation program. When introducing the ERP system into Asia, a similar plan was followed, which was wise given the expression issues that could bemuse represented a technical and cultural boundary if non addressed properly. America and Australia seemed to be easier waves in comparison with the rest of the pick up.Although the monitoring and feedback had a positive impact on the effectiveness of control (Mudimigh, 2001 Bancroft, et al., 1998) and the deadlines were timely met, it is clear that the weakest point of the implementation stage and partially of the planning stage was the poor Change Management, Project Team training and Risk Management (they are not mentioned in the case). For example, the complete absence of a proper Change Management propose led to the resistan ce ground when implementing OMAR at MBD. Also, the absence of attention from the managerial and business level in the allocation of the initial resources (staff, training, and consultants) led the waste of time when selecting consultants, when doing testing, incorporating technical changes, language customizations and new business processes. One of the good points of the hold was the training given to Power users and Sub-Teams across the world(a) enterprise. Overall, the conservative approach (waves of roll out and big-bang) followed by Tektronix really helped in mitigating many of the characteristic perils for a global ERP implementation.2.- IDENTIFYING TEKTRONIXS PROJECT RISKSIn terms of risk, it can be said that Tektronix had tolerance for risk (Hirsch and Ezingeard, 2008) as managers were willing to accept variations during the project in order to obtain high returns (time and efficiency).This bearing towards risk might fuddle an explanation by using the Willcocks and Grif fiths (1994) framework, we can see that due to some key managers previous experience with ERP technology, considering the project as a elephantine one and regarding project structure as medium or low, and so the risk can be classified as Low or Medium. Then, it can be said that leaders of the implementation drove the project without a highly structured plan because their knowledge about ERP implementations gave them bountiful confidence to improvise tactics in order to obtain successful results.Keil et. al (1998) proposed a risk categorization framework that can be used here to classify the risks that Tektronix faced. Furthermore, this model gives the opportunity of clearly finalize those events that could have happened and that could be prevented if addressing the events on time. Complementing this framework, specific risk factors (Sumner M., 2000) for enterprise-wide ERP projects are include within the four quadrants.Quadrant 1 Customer MandateIn this quadrant there are risks associated with the commitment obtained or lack of buying from senior management, users and different stakeholders. The first concern noticed in the case studied was that the project clearly had the financial backup man from the Board of Directors and alike the CFO and CIO were willing to introduce changes and improvements for the party, all which reduced the risks related with financial support or assistance needed during the implementation. Secondly, the commitment from the company HQ and divisions was quickly gained because the high rate company growth and Tektronixs inability to cope with the market shoves had created a sense of dissatisfaction among managers and top employees who ready in this project the opportunity to improve. Thirdly, there was a highly motivated champion of the project (Carl Neun) who was supported in his idea by the CIO and CPIDs president. Furthermore, some other leaders were designated across the different regions and business units in order to strain the champions directives. Fourth, the management structure of the project was built upon a number of key roles with business and technical expertise this structure consisted of a central project leader (CFO with unlimited authority from the CEO) and strong business divisional or regional leaders supporting the champions authority. The clear roles allocated at different levels reduced the efforts done along the top-down structure, but the lack of involvement of the CEO and other senior managers in Change management can be considered a risky attitude which ended up in occasional resistance from some users. Lastly, it seems that end-users expectations were not considered at all firstly, because the CFO relied mainly on his experience and light and did not spend time in doing a proper project abridgment second, the vanilla approach proposed by Neun implied adapting users operations and routines to software and not vice versa. An instance of this weakness arose when doing BPR at MBD, where there was users resistance and time was wasted explaining to users the reasons behind the new processes.Quadrant 2 Scope and RequirementsIn general, there were no major misunderstandings in requirements or disruptive changes in requirements the scope was clearly defined as global, the elements implemented were limited to the Financial and OMAR systems, and the company followed the best practices embedded in the system and recommended by the vendor. Furthermore, as a vanilla implementation approach was deployed as a global solution, only in cases of extreme need modifications took place, which clearly reduced the risks problematic when doing local or national customizations (Sheu, et al., 2004).Quadrant 3 ExecutionIn this Quadrant, it can be assessed risk factors and many of the traditional pitfalls associated with poor project management. The pitfalls can fall into the business or technical field.As examples of first mistakes done by Tektronix, it can be mentioned an in adequate change management, project management and risk control They neer did any feasibility analysis and risk analysis before embarking in this huge project, and this neglect prevented them from see the reality in some subsidiaries. As a consequence, customization of the ERP for business processes-that were erratic for some competitive local branches- had to be made alike, Multilanguage settings were programmed at get going minute. The lack of skills in project management resulted in assigning this province to inexperienced consultants, with the corresponding wasted money and delays when choosing a new consultancy dissipated. Tektronix also faced resistance that was not expected for instance, when doing the implementation at the VND division, they found difficulties that only could be overcome by increasing the working pressure and the level of resources (order entry people, item maintenance people). With regard to the transfer of knowledge, the company relied mainly on a c ombination of large and small consulting firms (particularly with Aris Consulting) as well as independent consultants, but it is not clear whether a correct program for transfer of skills was in place. The Change Control team actually worked as a communication or monitoring team and no Change management team or program was ever mentioned.Regarding the technical realization, there are some points to highlight. First, the risk of Oracle versions world obsolete before the roll out completes was diminished with the concept of waves and each time a new version was released the company used updated versions of the software. However, in CPID, Tektronix wrongly decided to install a beta version of the software which resulted in much time of debugging, instead of waiting for the final version that was later released or for a more tested version. Secondly, the lack of technical expertise made the firm to rely mainly on external consultants as Tektronixs employees did not have proper training in the technical area. Furthermore, this lack of expertise resulted in much time and resources wasted, such as the excessive training and testing done in the MBD division when implementing OMAR. Thirdly, there was also the risk of integration with the manufacturing legacy system that was kept in place and even when an interface was installed between the two systems, there might be a possibility of future failure. Finally, in spite of the fact that the implementation included building a selective information ware housing functionality, it seems there were no plans or considerations of the high risks touch in data migration. If the new software did not work properly with the existing infrastructure or database, the only outcome would be adding the software to the collection of obsolete legacy systems.Quadrant 4 EnvironmentTektronix never considered the risks associated with changes in scope/objectives due to changes in the senior management hierarchy or political problems within th e firm itself. Hopefully, the project did not young lady their key team or management members and it could finally reach the end with a constant objective. It helped the fact that the global objectives were met in less than 3 years, a period of time relatively short that avoided the risks associated with managers moving and ever-changing plans or directives. With regard to internal problems, it was not considered that potential conflicts between the business units or departments could erode the proceeding of the plan. However, the leadership and corporate culture seems to have helped subsidiaries to strictly follow the HQ guidelines, which in turn streamlined the implementation process.3.-CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS AND GLOBAL CHALLENGESFor Tektronix, some of the following critical factors and challenges (Plant and Willcocks, 2007 Sheu, et al., 2004 Hoffman, T., 2007 Bingi, et al., 1999) permitted to reach a fairly successful implementationCommunicating and persuading project goals t o constituents from different cultures (Hoffman, T., 2007)The vision and project goals were adequately communicated and reached thanks to two factors The strong leadership of Carl Neun, who was given the whole support from the CEO, and the steering committee whose main activity was to excogitate and ensure that enterprise-wide implementation guidelines and principles were followed. Also, the presidents of each division were key contributors because they made hardened decisions in order to meet the deadlines imposed and reduce the cultural problems.Change, Customization and concern Process Reengineering (Plant and Willcocks, 2007)The implementation approach followed by Tektronix was probably the best risk management initiative itself because the global deployment was done in a legitimate order to reduce disruptive changes and to increase the learning and feedback.Also, the vanilla model suggested as the standard for the entire organisation helped in diminish the level of customiza tion, although some minor changes were necessarily made.The implementation of the financial model did not require BPR, but the OMAR module was modified and customized in order to support both the corporate functionalities and the best practices embedded within the system. Then, BPR was done to the purpose of preserving the competitive and core capabilities of the regional business units.Internal Technical strength/Resource/Labor Skills (Sheu, et al., 2004)Although Tektronix did not have handy personnel in project management or in technical knowledge, they opted for buying consultants know-how, which could give them the capabilities to go forward with the implementation. At some points they were competent to find enough human resources to back critical stages. Overall, the company did not have economical limitations for easily obtain the adequate staff and for belongings the plan within the deadlines.Selection of ERP Vendors (Bingi, et al., 1999)Global ERP rollout requires that the software is designed to work in different countries and that the ERP vendor has the same package version obtainable in the countries or regions where the system is being implemented (Bingi, et al., 1999).In the Tektronix case, Neun and Vance both had already experience with ERP solutions offered by Oracle, and this let them move quickly and take a justified fast selection of the ERP vendor.4.-LESSONS LEARNED AND RECOMMENDATIONS1.-The first learning from this global ERP implementation is the deployment strategy used a snowball approach (Ogundipe, O., 2010) in which the project is broken into manageable chunks, beginning with appropriate locations in order to cope with business or technological challenges, running parallel implementations and whence doing the big-bang stage at the end, when there is enough confidence (more learning and feedback). At the same time it can be said that an emergent strategy (Nandhakumar, et al., 2005) was used for every wave introduced. Perhaps the same methodology can be used in the future for IT infrastructure projects or any other disruptive project.2.-It is clear that the ERP brought many benefits, but Tektronix can quiet down leverage IT as a strategic advantage. They could incorporate Procurement, HR, SCM modules and CRM packages in order to make a customer-centric organization.3.-In the final part, there is no evidence of affection of ROI or real financial analysis that can show the concrete financial benefits of the investment. Of course, it is mentioned improvements in terms of time or efficiency, but it would have been essential to have an initial budget beforehand, especially considering that the company was toward the financial recovery.4.-Tektronix faced many difficulties because of the lack of Oracle in-house specialists, so they had to rely on external consultants (Aris Consulting) however, it seems that the transfer of knowledge was not properly organized. In a next project, there must be a plan that can ens ure that employees and users can gain the best learning experience from the Consultants. It is decisive that in-house staff can get the skills, otherwise even when the ERP implementation is successful, the performance and use can be poor if there is not trained staff. For a future implementation, if there is lack of trained staff, Tektronix can also consider the option of IT outsourcing, which is a solutions that have worked perfectly for some other big companies.5.-In order to obtain the best benefits from the IT incorporated capabilities and make them sustainable in the medium and long term, the company should have followed the Strategic confederation Model presented in Cooper, et al. (2001) which was adapted from Henderson and Venkatram (1993). By following this model, Tektronix can benefit from holistic technical and organizational changes that are properly aligned to the firms business strategies.