(02) Putting the Enterprise into Enterprise System

Question 1

A number of questions should be answered before any decision is made regarding the the implementation of an ES. State all 6 questions.

Answer 1

1. How might an ES strengthen our competitive position?
2. How might it erode them?
3. What will be the systems effect on our organization and culture?
4. Do we need to extend the system across all our functions, or should we implement only certain modules?
5. Would it be better to roll the system out globally or to restrict it to certain regional units?
6. Are there other alternatives for information management that might actually suit us better than an ES?

Question 2

Key message article

Answer 2

Many chief executives continue to view the installation of an ES as primarily a technological challenge. They push responsibility for it down to their information technology departments. Because of an ES’s profound business implications-and, in particular, the risk that the technology itself might undermine a company’s strategy, off-loading responsibility to technologists is particularly dangerous. Only a general manager is equipped to act as the mediator between the imperatives of the technology and the imperatives of the business. If the development of an enterprise system is not carefully controlled by management, management may soon find itself under the control of the system.