Lecture 9 (Deloitte Guest Lecture)

Question 1

What is “Enterprise Resource Planning” ?

Answer 1

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is a software system that integrates various business operations, including accounting, procurement, and supply chain, to streamline processes and centralise data within an organisation.

• Invented by Gartner Group
• Used by Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics etc
• Least transactions in ERP are used in the board
• SRM stands for: Supply Relationship Management

Question 2

What are “advantages” of ERP?

Answer 2

1. Integration -> changes have affect through the whole process as it is one integrated dataset.
2. Real Time Behaviour -> changes visible directly
3. Rich Functionality -> wide proven functionality
4. Single Vendor -> Single source of support

Question 3

What are “disadvantages” of ERP?

Answer 3

1. Introductory Cost -> high fixed costs
2. Maintenance -> mandatory legal changes, commercial changes are needed to stay competitive
3. Scope Control -> important to define a process in separate departments
4. Implementation time -> costs lot of time

Question 4

What have been the shifts in ERP?

Answer 4

1. Long-term ERP Implementation: leads to reliance, making it difficult to switch systems in the future
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2. Fit-to-Standard to Reduce TCO: adapting to standard processes to reduce TCO but challenging for businesses that don’t align with standard ERP functionalities.
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3. Short ERP Programs for Fast Value Delivery: shorter phases provides quick benefits but must balance inc in complexity and size of business processes.

Question 5

What are some challenges that affect timeline, budget or reputation?

Answer 5

1. Unrealistic project timeline
2. Organisational Issues
3. Resource constraints
4. Data issues

etc.