Summarise the conclusions on Learning Outcomes of the Keda Case Study

ERP was all about people more than technology.

Top level management involvement is critical.

There is always going to be opposition.

Specifications for system to be taken from key users for reduction of

complications.

When implementing, there should be buffer time (to adjust) and time of
implementation should be selected carefully.

Culture plays an important role in any project implementation. How was Keda's cultural
characteristics leveraged in bringing about project success?

Cultural Characteri
Dimension stic Issues for management

1.
Familiarity
with requireme
Chinese nt based
culture on country ERP systems were developed with North America and Western Europe in mind.
Use of unrecognised performance metrics would lead to opposition.

2.
Organisatio
nal culture In China, those in authority are looked upon to provide direction.
Opposition by middle management in ERP implementation would lead to endless
Those who opposed were the people who gave system specifications. "So they ha

Problems of ERP implementations in any other industries and companies with examples

Nikes Supply Chain Issues

Back in 2000 and 2001, Nike spent $400 million dollars updating their supply chain system and ERP
implementation. They were surprised to find that what it got them was a ghastly 20 percent dip in
their stock, $100 million dollars in lost revenues and a myriad of class action lawsuits. Where did
they go wrong? They implemented a new demand-planning software solution without testing it, and
everything went awry. Rather than helping Nike match their supply with demand, narrowing their
sneaker manufacturing cycle, they ended up ordering low-selling sneakers in place of high demand
ones, collapsing the supply chain.

The Navys $1 Billion Dollar Blunder

Perhaps most startling, the United States Navy has sunk $1 billion dollars into four different ERP pilot
projects since 1998, and all four have failed. These projects were based on SAP AG software. All four
installations turned out to be incompatible and redundant, ultimately failing to meet the requirements
of the Navy. While in this case the only cost was the money spent on purchasing the programs, this is
an ERP implementation failure of epic proportions.

A New Type of Freshman Hazing

Pity the college freshman at the University of Massachusetts in fall 2004: The last thing they needed
was some computer program to haunt their lives and make their new collegiate experience even more
uncertain.

But more than 27,000 students at the University of Massachusetts as well as Stanford and Indiana
University were forced to do battle with buggy portals and ERP applications that left them at best
unable to find their classes and at worst unable to collect their financial aid checks. Said one UMass
senior at the time: "The freshmen were going crazy because they didn't know where to go." After a
couple of tense days and weeks, however, everyone eventually got their checks and class schedules.