What difficulties do organizations face for implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system?

What will be an ideal response?


Enterprise resource planning (ERP) packages are quite complex. Because they are not tailored to the needs of specific clients, they often require adjustment and fine-tuning for specific organizations. Therefore, their installation and testing involve experts who are usually employees of the software vendor or  professionals who are certified for such work by the vendor.?Even with adjustments-often called "tweaking"-potential adopters must remember that the system was designed for an entire industry, not for the way an individual organization does business. If the organization has a competitive advantage thanks to a unique set of business processes, this advantage may diminish or disappear when the system is installed, because to a large degree the system dictates how business processes should be conducted. The system requirements are quite rigid, and therefore customization of ERP systems is limited.?ERP applications are expensive; modules cost millions of dollars. Buyers usually must allocate several more million dollars to pay for  installation and modifications. Installation often takes many months to complete, and budget and time overruns are common.?Implementation of ERP systems can fail because of formidable challenges: the gap between system capabilities and business needs, lack of expertise on the consultant's part, and mismanagement of the implementation project. The business research firm Standish Group found that only 10 percent of ERP implementation projects are completed as planned, on time, and within budget. Fifty-five percent are completed late or over budget (which usually means loss of business and revenue), and the other 35 percent of such projects are canceled because of difficulties. At Hewlett-Packard, one of the world's largest computer and IT equipment makers, a $400 million loss in the third quarter of  2004 was blamed on poorly managed migration to a new ERP system.

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Limitations of e-mail surveys include all of the following EXCEPT:

A) Questionnaires cannot utilize programmed skip patterns, logic checks, or randomization. B) Skipping instructions (e.g., "If the answer to question 5 is yes, go to question 9") must appear explicitly, just as on paper. C) There is inherent self-selection bias. D) Some e-mail software products limit the length of the body of an e-mail message.

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Which of the following statements is false?

a. The Statement of Cash Flow helps a company to determine whether or not budgeted cash flows are consistent with the company's strategic plan. b. Budgeted COGS statements are prepared by manufacturing companies but not retailers or service companies. c. When preparing budgeted financial statements , the income statement must be prepared before the Cost of Goods Manufactured Statement(COGM). d. Budgeted financial statements are the last step in the budgeting process.

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Which of the following statements is true of a company's right over its employees' electronic communication??

A) ?A company cannot intercept its employees' electronic communications. B) ?A company cannot use its employees' electronic communication to determine legitimate business use. C) ?A company can monitor its employees' electronic communications without consent. D) ?A company technically owns its employees' electronic communications.

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The present value of an annuity table can be used to determine the value today of a series of payments to be received in the future.

Answer the following statement true (T) or false (F)

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