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Assignment IT109

Dunn faced resistance from employees when trying to implement new business processes and integrate seven separate companies onto one system at Nestle USA. A web-based ERP system would allow access across locations and be easier for employees to learn. While the technology implementation was successful, focusing only on the systems architecture without also changing business processes and communicating with employees led to initial difficulties. Including discussions of organizational structure, processes, and preparing stakeholders is crucial to the success of an ERP implementation beyond just the technology aspects.

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Nesty Sarsate
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58 views2 pages

Assignment IT109

Dunn faced resistance from employees when trying to implement new business processes and integrate seven separate companies onto one system at Nestle USA. A web-based ERP system would allow access across locations and be easier for employees to learn. While the technology implementation was successful, focusing only on the systems architecture without also changing business processes and communicating with employees led to initial difficulties. Including discussions of organizational structure, processes, and preparing stakeholders is crucial to the success of an ERP implementation beyond just the technology aspects.

Uploaded by

Nesty Sarsate
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Sarsate, Nesty Y.

IT109
BSIT-4B

1. What problems were faced by Jeri Dunn, CIO, and what do you think would be
the right systems architecture for Nestlé?

Dunn was faced with having to change the way Nestle USA did business and
facing employee resistance to the new business process he tried to push
through. he assembled a team of stakeholders that did not have a stake in the
new processes. He had a lack of communications with employees about future
changes and was thinking to much about the system architecture and not enough
about implementation across the board. For Dunn, a Web-based architecture
system would likely be most appropriate. His company is big, to say the least,
has thousands of employees and is spread many miles apart. His company has
many different products, and many different subsidiaries or corporate partners.
Dunn needs something that is easy to integrate with existing internal systems
and external trading partners. In other words Dunn needs an Internet platform
which can provide a wide range of end users with access to ERP applications
over many different locations through the net. Because his employees initially
resisted the change, he should also look to make the integration easy to learn
and adjust too, and most people are comfortable with Web based platforms.

As stated before, Dunn's main problem was trying to integrate "seven separate
companies" onto one main system. Since the products that Nestle sells are not
related, it was extremely hard to get everything in sync.

It is said that Dunn knew the technology very well and her main goal was to have
data sharing to enable group buying in return reducing costs.

"Dunn actually knew Nestlé technology unusually well because of her long
history with the company. In 1991, as associate director for application systems
at Nestlé-owned Stouffer's Hotels, she was sent to Switzerland to participate in
an effort to establish a common worldwide methodology for Nestlé projects. In
1995, she was promoted to assistant vice president of technology and standards
for Nestlé SA, and while there came to understand and agree with the value of
establishing common systems throughout global Nestlé because such a change
would enable group buying which in turn would reduce costs. Dunn also realized
that common systems would facilitate data sharing among subsidiaries. When
she was moved to Nestlé USA in 1997 at age 42, she found that her earlier
recommendations from Vevey were mostly ignored. "My team could name the
standards," Dunn said, "but the implementation rollout was at the whim of the
businesses."

2. Discuss the benefits and limitations of ERP implementation at Nestlé USA.

The project's initial objective or main aim was to use common business
processes or standardize, systems and organizational structures across the
autonomous divisions within the USA. These common systems across Nestle
USA would create savings through group buying power and facilitate data
sharing between the subsidiaries.

Nestle achieved its goals, after regrouping and starting again from scratch, with
SAP in place, Nestle USA achieved significant ROl. The common databases and
business processes lead to more trustworthy demand forecasts for the various
Nestle products.

This also allowed the company to reduce inventory and reduce the redistribution
expenses.

3. Why should ERP architecture include a discussion on organizational structure,


business processes, and people, instead of just information technology and
systems?

Technology should not be the only focus in ERP implementations. It is necessary


to focus on business process architecture, business requirements, budget,
project management, commitments from top management, andcontinuous
communication with employees informing them about future changes. A systems
value is determined by its usage or end-users.

If the ERP software is installed with a focus only on the system architecture, you
may have a successful installation of software but an unsuccessful
implementation. ERP implementation isn't just about the software. It's easy to
install a new system. The hard part is changing the business processes of the
people who will use the system. Nobody likes process change, particularly when
they do not know what is coming. This makes it even more important, and indeed
necessary to include a discussion on organization structure, business process
and people, instead of just information technology and system.

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