Research Proposal: Implementing an ERP System at Wesfarmers Limited

This report presents a research proposal focused on the implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system within Wesfarmers, an Australian conglomerate. It begins with an introduction to ERP systems and their benefits, followed by a brief background of Wesfarmers, highlighting its diverse operations in retail, chemicals, and mining. The core of the report discusses the implementation process of the ERP system, emphasizing improvements to existing systems, new business opportunities, and increased productivity. The report includes a letter to the management, an executive summary, a table of contents, and references. The report analyzes the benefits such as cost reduction, business model changes, integrated systems, corporate databases, and greater functionality. It also touches on the system development life cycle. The conclusion emphasizes that implementation of the system would eventually be of better helpful for the company for the management of their work as well as the process of completion of their manual work on a computational level.

Running head: Assessment 2: Research Proposal
Assessment 2: Research Proposal
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Cover Letter
Name
Address
Phone Number
Email Address
Date
Name: Michael Chaney
Title: Non-executive Chairman
Company: Wesfarmers Limited
Address: Level 14, Brookfield Place Tower 2
123 St Georges Terrace
Perth 6000, Western Australia
Mr. / Ms. Last Name,
This letter is to inform you about the implementation of the new procedure which
would be implemented into your company. The new information system which is going to be
executed in your organization. This would be helpful for the management of the working
procedure of the company as well as the information of the company. The report provides the
overview of the working of the company as well as the process of implementation of ERP
system inside the company.
Respectfully yours,
Signature
[NAME]

2
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Executive summary
This report deals with the evaluation of an Enterprise Resource Planning System in the
Wesfarmers. This system is for the making of working procedure of the company to be
reduced and to make most of the working automatic. The introduction process of the new
system has been discussed. Apart from this new opportunity of the ERP system that would be
helpful for the opportunity of the business. It can also be used for the improvement of the
organization productivity. A letter to the top management of the company has also been
provided in this report.

3
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................4
Brief working background:........................................................................................................5
ERP System:...............................................................................................................................6
Improvement of the existing system:.........................................................................................7
System development life cycle:.................................................................................................9
New System Introduction: Implementation...........................................................................9
New Business opportunity: Stabilization.............................................................................10
Improvement of the productivity: Utilization......................................................................11
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................12
References................................................................................................................................14
Appendix..................................................................................................................................18

4
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction:
Enterprise resource planning system can be defined as an integrated management
system, which is used for the management of core business. The system works in real time
working environment with the aid from different software and technology. Enterprise
resource planning software can be referred to as a category of different business software
mainly working for the management of the integrated application (Lin, Zhao and Wei 2014).
The software would be able to collect information and data, store them in the database and
then can be used for the interpretation of the data at the later stages of the working procedure.
The company that has been chosen for the implementation of the ERP system is Wesfarmers.
Wesfarmers can be said to be one of the leading Australian conglomerate, which has the main
working production of different chemicals and fertilizers for the farming industry as well as
keeping with the working of the coal mining and industrial and safety products.
This report is for the implementation of an ERP system in the company named
Wesfarmers. The report deals with the implementation process of the ERP system, which
would be able to help the company for the reduction of any type of manual working as well
as for the proper working of the system that would be developed for the company (Kilic,
Zaim and Delen 2015). There is the inclusion of a brief background of the company as well
as the working procedure of an ERP system. The introduction of the new system as well as
the new business opportunity, which will be opened up due to the implementation of the ERP
system in the company, has also been discussed (Nwankpa 2015). Apart from this, there has
been the inclusion of the improvement, which can be used for the improvement of the
productivity of the working process in the company as well as the benefits, which the
company will be facing for use of the system (Al-Ghofaili and Al-Mashari 2014). At the end
the report can be concluded with the prospect that implementation of the system would

5
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
eventually be of better helpful for the company for the management of their work as well as
the process of completion of their manual work on a computational level (Kilic, Zaim and
Delen 2014).
Brief working background:
Wesfarmers can be said to be one of the top working Australian conglomerate
working from their headquarters in Perth. The company has a predominant working in the
retail chain, chemical manufacturing, fertilizer production, coal mining as well as industrial
and safety products. The company had first set up its working ground based on the process of
providing cooperation to the farmers and the settlers of the western Australian union. They
had been able to set their first public radio in 1924 (Kilroy and Schneider 2017). The modern
aspect of the working of the company is the provision of work to an approximately 530,000
workers and shareholders from all around the world. The company also provides the largest
private sector working in Australia (Campbell 2017). The company follows the main
objective of providing the most satisfactory return to the shareholders of the company. the
company also follows an open and honesty process in the process of valuing feedback form
the clients as well as while taking in ideas for the improvement of their working environment
(Campbell 2017). The company also works for the enhancement of the reputation with the
help of taking into account the work that they are doing in the company and for their clients.
The managers of the company follow the process of having a special decision making
division in their organization, which helps in the solving of the problems, which are being
faced by them. The implementation of an ERP System would help in the process of making
the working of the managers as well as the other employees better. All kinds of information
will be available to them for the working at any point of time. However, the information
would be made visible by the following of a basic form of hierarchical leveling in the

6
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
company (Kilroy and Schneider 2017). The employees would also be able to reduce the
amount of manual work that is to be done at the company. This process would also help in
the management of the working of the employees as well as the managers who require a lot
of information for the completion of their decision-making procedures.
ERP System:
An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a form of integrated system, which
has the main usability of an information system for the acquisition of a commercial software
packages (Nwankpa and Roumani 2014). The main objective, which the ERP system has, is
for the supporting of the major working operations of the company. The definition of an ERP
System can be said to be a commercial package with the process of integrating a data
processing system (Chou et al. 2014). The system would be then able to be work on the data
collected from the transaction processing system of the ERP system as well as various
business processes throughout the entire company. Many companies are able to develop the
system with their own specification ad working criteria but the term ERP can be said to be
associated with the collection of a commercial package in the market (Shen, Chen and Wang
2016). The main characteristic of the company can be summarized in the form of commercial
software packages that includes standard models of business procedures. The systems are
also integrated into an information system, which is used for the incorporation of databases
with a large functional scope (Efe 2016). Most of the system that are used are often changed
as per the requirement of the given company.
When the system is implemented into the company, they have the hope to achieve a
large manifold of the working process of their business (Zach, Munkvold and Olsen 2014).
The improvement can be easily achieved if the main working of the company with the
changing of the work as per the working possibility of the company. The possibility of the

7
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
use of an ERP system are company operations procedure, the technology updating of the
company, maintenance of the cost reduction mechanism and the process of access to quality
information in real time basis (Chang et al. 2014). The system can also be used for the
process of making real time decision making by the managers.
For the report, an ERP system is to be implemented into the company, Wesfarmers.
The life cycle for the implementation of an ERP system where many stages of the project
development and the proper utilization of the system is to be followed for the system to be
implemented (Tenhiälä and Helkiö 2015). In the traditional format of the working of a
system, development life cycle follows the definition of the project, study of the system in
use and to be implemented, designing of the system to be implemented, programming of the
system and then installing the system into the company. The later stages of the process of
post implementation is to be taken care by the developers of the system (Abdinnour and
Saeed 2015).
Improvement of the existing system:
The improvement of the existing system can be discussed in the form of delivering of
the work that is related to the working procedure of the process for the company (Rajan and
Baral 2015). The company would be able to work with better fluidity as well as keep the
working possibility of the managers and the employees would help in the clearing of the
process as well as keeping with the past pace of work that is required for the company. The
improvement can be judged based on the benefits of using an ERP system in the company:
 Commercial package: It would help in the reduction of the cost used for the management
of the system in the company. The system would be able to help in the focus of the
company’s core activities in the company (Jenatabadi and Noudoostbeni 2014). The
system would also be able to complete the automation of the technological updating. The

8
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
system would also be able to provide a positivity in the process of backlog reduction in
the system.
 Use of business models for the company: With the use of the knowledge in the best
practices in the company would help in the changing of the business process model. The
system would be able to help in the experiencing of the other company’s working
procedure (Maas, Fenema and Soeters 2014). The system would also be able to
reengineer the complete business process that is being followed by the company.
Improvement of the business process model would help the company to manage the
working of the company in a new format.
 Integrated system: Use of an integrated system in the form of greater stability on the
company’s operational standardization. The system would help the managers to access
information in real time basis as well as the information would get updated as soon as the
information in uploaded on the system (Wei and Ma 2014). This helps in a systematic
flow of information over a large area of working procedure. The system would also be
able to help in the synchronization of the value chain in the company for the benefit of the
company.
 The corporate database: Use of a single database in the company for the storing of all the
information in them would help the company to maintain a steady working of the
company as well as the managers (Ifinedo and Olsen 2015). The database would also help
in the proper management of the proper information system in the as well as the quality of
the information in the company. The information would be made available to all the
employees of the company based on their working level in the company.
 Greater scope for functionality: The use of the ERP system would help in the
maintenance of a lot of system in the company. The system would also be able to provide
a standardization in the working practices that is being followed by the company (Shatat

9
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
2015). There is also the reduction of the training cost for the new joining employees. The
use of this system would also help in the improvement of the interaction with the
suppliers of the company.
System development life cycle:
Figure 1: Software Development Life Cycle
(Source: Supramaniam, Abdullah and Ponnan 2014, pp – 72)
New System Introduction: Implementation
The process of implementation comprises of the representation of the complete cycle
in a single stage which decides the success of the project to be completed. The
implementation of an ERP system can be defined as one of the process which helps in the
processing of the system modules for the operation of the company. The implementation as
well as the adjustment of the business process that is being followed by the company help sin
the customization of the system for the loading and the conversion of the initial data to be
used in the system as well as the hardware and the software configuration in the company
(Supramaniam, Abdullah and Ponnan 2014). To encompass the use of new system to be used
in the company the system needs to be made compatible with the working of the new system.

10
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
There also needs to be provision of training as well as the working process of the support and
help after the completion of the software and the database into the system of the company.
The difficulties which are faced by the organization imply the changing of the system in use.
The system implementation is generally pursued for the optimization of the global procedures
of the company that is being followed by the company. The activities has to be changed for
the most department of the company (Leyh and Sander 2015). For the implementation of the
system there needs to be the top most priority from the company as well as the huge amount
of communication that is required for the sharing of all the information among the high levels
of the management (Supramaniam, Abdullah and Ponnan 2014). The stage is achieved with
the help if adjustment of a series of parameters in the customization of the system for the
company as well as for the provision of the starting procedure of the implementation of the
system inside the company.
New Business opportunity: Stabilization
After the initiation of the ERP system implementation there needs to be the follow up
of some of the most critical stages of the software development life cycle in the project. At
this stage, there would be the use of stabilization of the company as well as the development
of the abstraction of the ERP system that is to be developed (Ajit, Donker and Patnaik 2014).
As the system is to be the high productivity of the company there is the implementation of the
system at a faster rate that it was previously established. The length of time required for this
process is as low as eight weeks in length (Leyh and Sander 2015). The process can also
highlight two critical stages in the development of the ERP system. Regardless of the use of
the system and the training that is to be provided to the company employees that needs to be
the use of a process which would help the new users of the system to learn the basic of the
working system for the completion of the work without any drawbacks. While the users face
certain difficulties during the use of the system, the drawbacks in the system and the bugs can

11
ASSESSMENT 2: RESEARCH PROPOSAL
be found easily and eventually removed (Shatat and Dana 2016). The simultaneous finding of
the difficulties and the faults in the system force the developers to find the bugs easier and
clear them out. The exact mode of operation of the stabilization is to provide the system that
has been developed for the company to be clear of any kind of drawbacks in it. This needs to
be done in order to minimize the risk of the failing of the system hen it is being used by the
company employees. The system needs to be free of any type of bugs and drawbacks so that
the employees who are incompatible with the working of such a system does not face many
problems during the usage of the system.
Improvement of the productivity: Utilization
The final stage for the development of a system in the life cycle is the utilization. This
process can be said to be the process where the company is providing the employees of the
company to use the system that has been developed in the full scale for the benefit of the
company. This process starts after the system, which has been developed, has been in use for
a certain amount of time (Ajit, Donker and Patnaik 2014). This time delay in the process
would help in the process of understanding any kind of drawback in the system as well as the
process of implementation of the system that has been followed. The testers to find any kind
of drawback in the system, which can be resolved easily, can again review the
implementation then. The drawbacks, which are found, are then discussed with all the users
of the system in the company so that the proper solution can be found for the problem. This
process would help in making the repetition of this stage to be minimum in number (Sykes,
Venkatesh and Johnson 2014). According to the model, the knowledge of the functionalities
and the possibilities can be consolidated for the development of an ERP system after the
initiation of the operation. It has been found that many of the companies often have problem
with the process of implementation of new ideas in the system of their company (Sykes,
Venkatesh and Johnson 2014). This becomes a problem for the developers, as they would not