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Chapter 1 • Introduction to Enterprise Systems for Management 23

Before trying to implement a major ERP system, organizations must assess their ability
to be successful. There is a model that exists to help organizations understand and assess that
ability: the Capability Maturity Model. This model has five levels of organizational capability,
with level one being the least capable and level five the most capable. If an organization’s assess-
ment criterion is on the lower end of the model, the organization should look seriously at hiring
a consulting company as an implementation partner to assist and possibly lead the organization
through the implementation.
As stated, it is often the case for organizations without much ERP implementation experi-
ence to use implementation partners. The use of consultants may appear to increase the project
cost, but in most cases it does not. In the case where an organization does have the experience,
the need for consulting should only be considered to address gaps in skills.

Change Management

For major system implementations, the change management role is essential because it prepares an
organization for changes to how its business is done. In implementing any new system,
communicating, preparing, and setting expectations are just as important as training and supporting
the implementation. Effective communication of expectations will reduce risk and better insure that
the system is accepted once it is implemented. Change management was historically always thought
of as important, but it was rarely funded or staffed appropriately. Today that is changing, and there is
an increased awareness that the success of a project is the result of a well planned and thorough
change management process. Research has shown that many projects fail due to lack of communi-
cation between technical staff and customers, and this one factor is often cited as a component
overlooked in implementations. It is essential to develop, understand, and communicate the return on
investment, business processes, and the need for change. It is rare that an ERP system implementa-
tion failure is based on hardware or software not working appropriately.

Business Process Reengineering

While the phrase business process reengineering is overused, it is often the case that current
business processes will need to be changed to use the functionality of an ERP system fully. It is
best to make it clear to clients and users that processes will need to be changed, adjusted, or
adapted as the ERP system is implemented. A business process is a group of activities or tasks
that are coordinated for achieving a business goal. A business process can be ordering supplies or
designing a new product for the market. Most organizations have defined policies or procedures
for a business process. For example, in order to buy office supplies the administrative assistant
has to collect order requests from the department members, consolidate them into one order, find
prices from the vendor manuals, fill out purchase order forms, get manager’s approval, and so on.
The business process task for ordering supplies may not work in the same way after the ERP
system is installed. The way decisions on ordering supplies are made may also change after the
installation of the system; therefore, an organization has to prepare its employees, IT staff,
suppliers, managers, and other affected parties for the arrival of the new system.

Global, Ethical, and Security Management
Between the years 1997 and 2007, the IT industry has experienced massive globalization of its
services. Outsourcing and offshoring have become common themes across all industries when
it comes to IT development, maintenance, and support. Whereas large companies have been