Implementing an ERP system at XYZ organization

This report explains the aim, project charter, goals and objectives of implementing the ERP system in the universities. It also elucidates about the stakeholders, their responsibilities and management strategies for stakeholder communication.

Title: Implementing an ERP system at XYZ organization
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Background............................................................................................................................3
2.0 Project Charter...........................................................................................................................3
2.1 Aim of the Project..................................................................................................................3
2.2 Scope of the Project...............................................................................................................4
2.3 Objective of the Project..........................................................................................................4
2.4 Acceptance criteria.................................................................................................................4
2.5 Assumptions and Constraints.................................................................................................5
2.6 Milestone List........................................................................................................................5
2.7 Time Frame............................................................................................................................6
3.0 Work Breakdown Structure.......................................................................................................6
4.0 Stakeholder Register..................................................................................................................7
4.1 Identifying the stakeholders and their responsibilities...........................................................7
5.0 Stakeholder Management Strategy............................................................................................8
5.1 Stakeholder Communication plan..........................................................................................9
6.0 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11
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1.0 Introduction
Enterprise Resource Planning, mainly abbreviated as ERP, is a multi-application integrated
system that allows an organisation to keep a steady record of its resources. This report will
explicate the aim, project charter, goals and objectives of implementing the ERP system in the
universities. The report will also elucidate about the stakeholders, their responsibilities and
management strategies for stakeholder communication (Lech, 2016).
Along with it, the reports will present the acceptance criteria, assumptions and constraints about
the ERP system and will illustrate a draft of work breakdown structure to explain better the
planning process for implementing an ERP system in the XYZ organization looking after the
academic needs of the company.
1.1 Background
Universities, unlike schools, have a large number of students and maintaining their information,
both personal and academicals are not possible with manual paperwork. Managing this vital data
is essential for safeguarding student privacy. Using the manual methods, like filing and
documentation, to store information is a time-consuming activity and challenging to keep up
with. Students often face problems like misplaced documents and incorrect information that
cannot be resolved right away. Instead, the staff and students have to physically look for the
misplaced documents and rectify the incorrect information. (Taniguchi and Onosato, 2017)
Also, the constant flow of information related to new students, staff, the accounts department and
the administrative department has been on the rise. (Tian and Xu, 2015)
Therefore, an ERP system needs to be implemented in the XYZ organization that will allow both
students and staff to store only the factual information anytime.
2.0 Project Charter
A project charter is a detailed statement of the objective, aim and the participants of the project.
2.1 Aim of the Project
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The project aims to discuss strategies, methodologies and participants necessary for the
Implementation of ERP system in the XYZ organization for satisfying the academic needs of its
clients i.e. different universities. (Harwood, 2017)
2.2 Scope of the Project
In-scope
The project scope is to identify problems and drawbacks with the current system of the
universities and explain the importance of an ERP system for the organization. The scope also
includes creating a project plan, identifying the stakeholders and their roles in the project.
(Blount et al. 2016)
Out of Scope
This report does not discuss the quantitative and qualitative analysis, quality control, testing,
implementation and documentation stages of the ERP system development
2.3 Objective of the Project
 The objective of the project is:
 To identify the drawbacks of the current circumstance of the XYZ organization
 To explain the importance of implementation of ERP system in the XYZ organization
 To identify the stakeholders, their responsibilities and communication management
between the stakeholders
2.4 Acceptance criteria
Once the project is completed, the project manager will evaluate the deliverable and review the
assigned criteria for the project, approve the final deliverable or send it back to the team in case
the criteria is not met. The final deliverables that are approved by the project manager will then
be presented to the organization’s President, who will then review it according to the criteria set
by the XYZ organization and once approved will sign the acceptance letter as an indication to
project completion.
2.5 Assumptions and Constraints
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Assumptions:
 The project will be completed without any issues.
 The team will perform their best and will not miss out on work that can cause delays.
 Timely availability of resources, material and human resources for the project to be
successful
 The XYZ organization is committed for future usage of the ERP system
Constraints:
 The project can face business constraints once the budget for the same is approved.
 Business constraints affect the profitability of the project caused due to time shortage,
significant delays, financial scarcity and management issues. The project planning should
consider the possibilities while charting down the plans.
2.6 Milestone List
Considering the project begins from 20th June 2019, following portion is the breakdown of the
project development process with tentative days for every element of the plan. According to this,
the final project delivery will be done in 54 days. The project is set to be completed by 13th
August 2019. (Sowan et al. 2017)
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2.7 Time Frame
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Time frame is the amount of time in days, weeks or hours that will be required by the project
development team to complete the project. Implementation of the ERP system for academic
needs is estimated to be completed in 54 days according to the milestone table. (Shen et al. 2016)
3.0 Work Breakdown Structure
Project planning and schedules are created in order to simplify the complex project. A work
breakdown structure is a resourceful tool for dividing the entire project into small components
making it easier for the project manager to keep up with the process of development and
implementation. Efficient utilisation of funds and resources is possible when a WBS is created
for project planning. (Sutrisna et al. 2018)
WBS is a tree structure diagram that allows every person on the team understands the process of
system development in a more straightforward manner excluding all the unwanted information to
be segregated from the critical information. WBS diagram is essential to achieve project
deliverables as the team effort, and work is divided evenly and into manageable components.
WBS provides a structure to the entire project assisting in the planning and cost accounting for
the project. It also facilitates the manager to chart requirements for every stage of project
development. (Polonski, 2015)
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ERP system
System Design and Analysis
Project Planning
Project Charter
Risk plan
Feasibility test
Analysis
SWOT analysis
Risk analysis
System requirements
Design:
User Interface
Database design
Program Design
System Development and
Implementation
Coding:
Programming
Integration
Testing:
Black box
testing
White box
testing
Performance testing
Integration testing
Implementation
Deployment
Installation
User training
Documentation
System-related
Documents
User-related
Documents

4.0 Stakeholder Register
Stakeholders, both internal and external, play an essential role in project planning and
development. (Schnackenberg and Tomilstone, 2016)
4.1 Identifying the stakeholders and their responsibilities
1. External Stakeholders
 XYZ organization President
o Role and Responsibility: The president’s job is to approve the final
product after assessing it to the set criteria and sign the project as
complete.
 Employees and students of the XYZ organization
o Role and Responsibility: These stakeholders are the end users of the
project once the system is made available for customer use.
 Vendors
o Role and Responsibility: This group of stakeholders will provide
improvements and new features for the final product.
 Technical and Legal Experts
o Role and Responsibility: These stakeholders provide technical and legal
opinions regarding the project (Jagoda and Samaranayake, 2017).
2. Internal Stakeholders
 Project Control Board
o Role and Responsibility: The board controls the entire process of project
development from planning to implementation.
 Project Manager
o Role and Responsibility: They are responsible for the management of the
project and the team.
 Project Team
o Role and Responsibility: These stakeholders look after the execution of
the project.
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5.0 Stakeholder Management Strategy
Stakeholders play a crucial role in project management, and hence it is crucial to managing
the stakeholders. If this management fails, there would be grave concerns regarding the
project like delays in delivery, political interference, resource mismanagement and others.
(Andriof and Waddock, 2017)
Mapping Stakeholders:
Identifying the stakeholders at an early stage and dividing them into groups according to their
proximity to the project will surely give the planning team an insight into the kind of
individuals that are to be dealt with. (Ben et al. 2016)
Trigger identification:
Identifying the trigger situation that would have a negative and positive influence on the project
will help the team to avoid the escapable situation. It will also aid the team to plan mitigation
responses towards the situations that cannot be avoided. (Tarhini et al. 2015)
5.1 Stakeholder Communication plan
It is vital to map out a chart to handle communications within the different groups of
stakeholders for effective and efficient project management and development.
Every stakeholder needs to be informed about the progress, risks and defects of the project with
the frequency depending on the type of stakeholders.
 Organization’s President - The risk, progress, defect and closure report will be shared
with the president.
 Employees and students-End users - A weekly progress report will be shared.
 Vendor - The contractual report will be shared once the planning stage of the project is
complete (Hirvonen, 2015).
 Technical and Legal Experts - A weekly progress report will be shared, and the technical
and legal experts will inform the team about any technical or legal issue the project might
face in the future.
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 Project Control Board - The PCB will be given a weekly update on the progress of the
project, the risks faced, defect reports and delays recorded, if any, every Friday evening.
 Project Manager - The project manager will share the progress report of the previous day
and the goals for that day.
 Project Team - The project team needs to share a daily progress report of the project
every morning (Sun et al .2017)
6.0 Conclusion
ERP system is vital for the XYZ organization for storing information and academic data of
students as doing it manually is not possible. The ERP system will simplify the complex
organizations’ methods and make it easier for students and employees to access educational
material by merely logging in using the student ID and password. The ERP system will also aid
the administrative department to keep track of student records and manage accounts. Parents too
can log in into the system to get a live update on their children's progress in the XYZ
organization.
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References
Andriof, J. and Waddock, S., 2017. Unfolding stakeholder engagement. In Unfolding stakeholder
thinking (pp. 19-42). Routledge.
Benn, S., O'Leary, B. and Abratt, R., 2016. Defining and identifying stakeholders: Views from
management and stakeholders. South African Journal of Business Management, 47(2), pp.1-11.
Blount, Y., Abedin, B., Vatanasakdakul, S. and Erfani, S., 2016. Integrating enterprise resource
planning (SAP) in the accounting curriculum: a systematic literature review and case
study. Accounting Education, 25(2), pp.185-202.
Harwood, S., 2017. ERP: The implementation cycle. Routledge.
Hirvonen, A., 2015. Identifying Stakeholders’ Expectations and Needs in the Development of a
Double Degree Programme in Social Services (BA).
Jagoda, K. and Samaranayake, P., 2017. An integrated framework for ERP system
Implementation. International Journal of Accounting & Information Management, 25(1), pp.91-
109.
Lech, P., 2016. Implementation of an ERP system: A case study of a full-scope SAP
project. Zarządzanie i Finanse. Journal of Management and Finance, 14(1), pp.49-64.
Połoński, M., 2015. Application of the work breakdown structure in determining cost buffers in
construction schedules. Archives of Civil Engineering, 61(1), pp.147-161.
Schnackenberg, A.K. and Tomlinson, E.C., 2016. Organizational transparency: A new
perspective on managing trust in organization-stakeholder relationships. Journal of
Management, 42(7), pp.1784-1810.
Shen, Y.C., Chen, P.S. and Wang, C.H., 2016. A study of enterprise resource planning (ERP)
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approach. Computers in Industry, 75, pp.127-139.
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Sowan, I.K., Tahboub, R. and Khamayseh, F., 2017. University ERP Preparation Analysis: A
PPU Case Study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE AND
APPLICATIONS, 8(11), pp.345-352.
Sun, Z., Strang, K. and Firmin, S., 2017. Business analytics-based enterprise information
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Sutrisna, M., Ramanayaka, C.D. and Goulding, J.S., 2018. Developing work breakdown
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