HS2041 Enterprise Systems: Comp Group ERP Implementation Report

This report examines the unsuccessful ERP implementation at Comp Group, a manufacturing company that sought to improve business processes through SAP R/3. The paper delves into the factors contributing to the project's failure, including poor planning, inadequate implementation strategy, and a lack of effective change management. The report analyzes the implementation approach, highlighting the importance of a comprehensive plan that includes stakeholder analysis, data migration, user training, and post-implementation assessment. Furthermore, the report proposes a revised change management strategy emphasizing communication, stakeholder engagement, and end-user training to mitigate resistance and ensure successful ERP adoption. The paper concludes by providing recommendations for future ERP implementations, emphasizing the need for careful planning, agile methodologies, and a strong focus on change management to achieve desired outcomes.

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ERP Implementation
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Purpose and Scope of ERP.........................................................................................................3
Evaluate the Implementation Approach.....................................................................................4
Analyse change management.....................................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................6
List of References......................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The manufacturing industry is growing at a very fast rate, as a result, there is a need
for the manufacturers to automate their processes. The manufacturing processes have evolved
over the years and the traditional technology cannot be able to handle the numerous processes
involves in manufacturing (Yong, 2013). Therefore, there is a need to implement software
that will be able to automate all the manufacturing processes to allow the swift and smooth
flow of activities within the industry. One such software that is currently available in the
market and has been widely used in the manufacturing industry is Enterprise Resources
Planning (ERP) system. For the purpose of this paper, ERP will be defined as application
software that businesses and companies use to manage their daily activities and operations
such as supply chain activities, compliance and risk management, project management,
procurement, and accounting.
A comprehensive ERP solution also integrates enterprise performance management
which is a module that can be used to report, predict, budget, and plan on the financial needs
of a company (Supramaniam, Abdullah & Ponnan, 2014). ERP systems have been
specifically designed for every industry, for instance, the manufacturing ERP can be used to
solve different problems and offer valuable advantages to manufacturers who are trying to
streamline processes, manage growth, reduce cost, and achieve competitive advantage. This
paper will address several ERP implementation issues that Comp Group faced while
implementing a new information system to improve its business process management.
Additionally, it will cover three main sections including the purpose and scope of ERP,
evaluate the implementation approach, and analysis of change management.
Purpose and Scope of ERP
The objective of this paper will be to try and analyze the failed ERP implementation
approach that Comp Group encountered when they had hired ConsCo company to spearhead
the implementation of ERP through the Comp Operations Reengineering (CORE). The main
focus will be on the failed implementation of the SAP R/3 that was aimed at re-engineering
the business processes for Comp Group (Buck-Emden, 2000).
There are several factors that drove Comp towards implementing a new information
system including globalization opportunities and threats, changes in how business is done
around the world, the need to become customer-oriented industry, quality improvement, the

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need to reduce the cost of operations, to upgrade the outdated information technology (IT)
infrastructure, flow management, and the need to improve ownership, accountability, and
empowerment through decentralization of operations to achieve optimizations (Cooke and
Peterson, 1998). This prompted the company to hire a company that would be able to analyze
their needs, propose, and implement an ideal solution for them that would be able to meet all
their requirements.
However, the company hired, ConsCo, was unable to effectively implement the
solution. As a result, this paper will attempt to provide a guideline and propose what ConsCo
should have done in order to implement the ERP solution successfully. The scope of this
paper is on failed ERP implementation in Comps Group manufacturing company. The study
will cover the ERP implementation approach and change management activities.
Evaluate the Implementation Approach
Upon realizing that there was a need to implement a new information system that will
improve business processes and functions, Comp Group launched the Comp Operations
Reengineering (CORE) project that was aimed at meeting their objectives. Comp Group has
four branches including Comp1, Comp2, Comp3, and Comp4. However, the scope of the
project was only limited to Comp2. The approach taken by the company was a high-level
business approach which was aimed at allowing Comp2 to illustrate their processes and how
they would want to perform them (Al-Mudimigh, Zairi and Al-Mashari, 2001). The
implementation process was done in three stages: visioning and alignment, conceptual
design, and implementation. However, this approach failed and as such this section will
propose a new ERP implementation approach for Comps Group (Al‐Mashari and Al‐
Mudimigh, 2003).
Implementing an ERP solution is such a complex process because of a number of
reasons such as the dynamic business requirements (Nagpal, Khatri & Kumar, 2015).
Implementing SAP R/3 requires careful planning and consultation (Kim, Kang & Lee, 2016).
From the case study, the project failed because of poor planning and inappropriate
implementation strategy. It is important to first acknowledge that the manufacturing industry
is a complex environment that requires careful analysis (Ahmad & Pinedo Cuenca, 2013).
Therefore, the proposed implementation approach will follow the agile methodology because
of the dynamic nature of the manufacturing environment.

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Based on this methodology, this paper proposes the following steps to be taken during
the implementation of SAP R/3. They include: creating a project team that will be made up of
professionals and a representative from every department in order to provide an in-depth
analysis of the business scenario. Secondly, create an ERP implementation change
management plan to ensure that the manufacturing operations are not interfered with during
implementation and the duties have been delegated.
Change management ensures that the business processes are not interrupted even
during installation (Beeson, 2019). Thirdly, it is important to come up with an estimate of the
implementation budget to ensure that the available financial resources will be able to ensure
that the project is successfully completed. Fourthly, design data migration plan to make sure
that the company does not lose the critical data during the implementation process. Fifth,
conduct training for the users. Sixth, have a plan on what to do when the ERP goes live and
finally, assess if the project objectives were met and that the implementation process was
successful. The approach that was adopted by ConsCo missed many of these steps yet they
are very crucial.
Analyse change management
One of the main factors that contributed to the failure of the CORE project was lack
of change management. As a result, the company did not provide enough credibility to its
employees because their focus was on the cost that could be cut as a result of laying of some
manpower and this convinced the top management to re-engineer its operations without
paying attention to the reaction from its employees (Jesitus, 1997). This section will propose
a change management strategy that can be utilized by Comp Group while implementing their
ERP solution. The proposed change management strategy is made up of three steps:
communicate the change, conduct stakeholder analysis, and end-user training (Aladwani,
2011). These are crucial elements that ConsCo and Comp Group failed to do that resulted to
the failure of the CORE project.
The proposed strategy has been proven to be effective in ERP implementation.
Communicating the change is very important in preparing the employees and other
stakeholders to accept the change. This is because people naturally do not accept what they
don’t know. Constant, frequent, regular, and early communication should be done to explain
the need for change of implementing ERP (Roy & Sangle, 2016). Employees need to be
informed of the reasons as to why the company is implementing a new information or ERP

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system and how it will benefit the company and improve employee performance at large.
Additionally, the employees need to be told on the transitional process from functional-
oriented to a process-oriented organization and how their normal tasks will be changed after
the system has been implemented.
The second step is stakeholder analysis where the company need to define the people
who will be affected by the new system. this analysis is important as it will the
implementation team to determine the level at which each stakeholder will be involved and
the amount of training that is required. It will also help in identifying and documenting the
responsibilities and roles of every stakeholder. User training is an essential step in change
management where the employees are equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to
carry out their daily function using the ERP system (Schniederjans & Yadav, 2013). The
training process required investment of effort, money, and time but the outcome is worth as it
will help the employee execute their duties effectively and reduce their resistance to change.
Conclusion
In conclusion this paper has attempted to identify the various issues that lead to the failure of
the Comp CORE project and what the company should or need to do in order to implement e
new ERP system successfully. The paper has evaluated the implementation approach that
should be used by the company to implement the ERP system and the change management
strategy which is made up of communication, stakeholder analysis, and end user training. The
paper has recommended various strategies and approaches that can be used to implement the
ERP system successfully

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List of References
Ahmad, M. and Pinedo Cuenca, R. (2013). Critical success factors for ERP
implementation. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 29(3), pp.104-111.
Aladwani, A. (2011). Change management strategies for successful ERP
implementation. Business Process Management Journal, 7(3), pp.266-275.
Al‐Mashari, M. and Al‐Mudimigh, A. (2003). ERP implementation: lessons from a case
study. Information Technology & People, 16(1), pp.21-33.
Al-Mudimigh, A., Zairi, M. and Al-Mashari, M. (2001). ERP software implementation: an
integrative framework. European Journal of Information Systems, 10(4), pp.216-226.
Beeson, K. (2019). ERP implementation plan: the definitive 7 step methodology. [online]
Erpfocus.com. Available at: https://www.erpfocus.com/erp-implementation-plan.html
[Accessed 8 May 2019].
Buck-Emden, R. (2000). The SAP R/3 System: An Introduction to ERP and Business
Software Technology. Reading, MA.: Addison-Wesley.
Cooke, D. and Peterson, W. (1998). SAP Implementation: Strategies and Results. New York:
The Conference Board.
Jesitus, J. (1997). Change management: energy to the people. Industry Week, 246(16), pp.37-
41.
Kim, Y., Kang, T. and Lee, E. (2016). SAP R/3 System Interface Technologies Analysis and
VBA Applied Data Input Proposal. Journal of the Korea Industrial Information Systems
Research, 21(2), pp.93-105.
Nagpal, S., Khatri, S. and Kumar, A. (2015). Comparative study of ERP implementation
strategies. 2015 Long Island Systems, Applications and Technology.
Roy, S. and Sangle, P. (2016). Exploring Organization Change Management Techniques for
Successful ERP Implementation. Journal of Management Research and Analysis, 3(3), p.136.
Schniederjans, D. and Yadav, S. (2013). Successful ERP implementation: an integrative
model. Business Process Management Journal, 19(2), pp.364-398.

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Supramaniam, M., Abdullah, A. and Ponnan, R. (2014). Cost Analysis on ERP System
Implementation. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, pp.72-76.
Yong, S. (2013). Interoperability Challenges of ERP Implementation in a Collaborative
Manufacturing Environment. Advanced Materials Research, 813, pp.81-86.