Analyzing Woolworths' Enterprise System Adoption: Challenges & Success

This case study delves into Woolworths' adoption of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system, highlighting the challenges and opportunities the company faced. It begins by providing an overview of Woolworths, including its mission, vision, and the specific problems it encountered, such as a weak customer cycle, high taxation, competition, and degrading product quality. The report then details the nature of the ERP system adopted, the selection process, and implementation strategies, emphasizing the importance of top management support, thorough requirements analysis, and adequate training. It further analyzes the difficulties in adopting the system, including commitment from top management, adequate training, implementation time, project management, and cost considerations. Finally, the study assesses the success of the ERP implementation using key performance indicators (KPIs) related to people, processes, and organization, providing a comprehensive evaluation of Woolworths' enterprise system journey. Desklib provides similar solved assignments for students.

Enterprise Systems – case study
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1. Describe the subject organisation and explain the problem or opportunity it faced...............4
2. Describe the nature of the enterprise system that it adopted and the process by which it was
selected and implemented............................................................................................................7
3.Explain and analyse any difficulties the organisation may have faced in adopting the system,
or preparatory steps that were taken to facilitate implementation.............................................10
4.Provide an assessment of how successful was the adoption of the enterprise system and any
success metrics that were used..................................................................................................13
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................16
Reference list.................................................................................................................................17
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Executive summary
Enterprise system is the software package that supports the large scale business operations and
processes. The software helps the organisations to maintain the information flow and to keep
large scale data in an effective manner. This report shows the difficulties which are faced by the
company in adopting the enterprise system and the preparatory steps which were taken to enable
effective and efficient implementation. Finally, this report examines the success metrics used by
the company and an evaluation regarding the success of adopting the enterprise system
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Introduction
This report introduces to the concept of Enterprise Systems for Management. This report
examines the business functions performed by Woolworth. Woolworth is the major supermarket
in Australia. This report also highlights the problem or opportunity which is faced by the
company in the global business background. In addition to this, the report shows the nature of
enterprise system which is adopted and the procedure by which it was carefully chosen and
applied..
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1. Describe the subject organization and explain the problem or opportunity it faced.
Figure: Logo of Woolworths
Source: (Woolworths Group, 2018).
About Woolworths: Woolworths is an Australian company which is situated in Sydney .the
Company started its business in the year 1924. It is one of the topmost recognized global
supermarket chains which are running its business operations in more than 961 departments .the
Company is at the second largest business in Australia by revenue after Wesfarmers which is a
Perth-based retail company. The company is focusing on building innovation and serving to the
needs of the consumers in an effective and efficient manner. the main products which are
supplied by the company consist of Fruits and vegetables, Meat, deli and seafood, Liquor,
Bakery, Pantry, Household, electronic products and numerous varieties of daily use products.The
company proclaimed a damage of $1.235 billion for the year 2016. Woolworths aims at
realizing and meeting the requirements and needs of its consumers through its product mixture.
Woolworths is a multinational company which is operating in various countries. The business
operations of the company are managed and controlled by a group of effective team members.
Slogan: The Company uses the slogan “The fresh food people”
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Figure: The slogan of Woolworths-“The fresh food people”
Source: (Woolworths Group, 2018).
Mission: the prime mission of the customer is to serve the needs and requirements of the
consumers. The company provides a good working atmosphere so that the employees can work
effectively and efficiently. The mission of the company is to adopt innovative business ideas so
that the business of Woolworths can be expanded to global levels.
Vision: the vision of the company is to deliver good quality products and services to the
consumers. The company is focusing on transforming its business procedure in an innovative
manner. Another vision for the company is to be passionate and inspiring so that employees
work in the effective and efficient manner. Further, the vision for the company is to build a
healthier future.
The problem faced by the company:
There are numerous problems which are faced by the Woolworths. The main problems which are
faced by Woolworth's consist of:
 A week customer cycle
 The company faces high taxation issues and leasing cost
 The New Zealand supermarket faces a greater level of competition(Keith, 2012)
 The quality of the product is degrading day by day
 Poor software are damaging the information and data of the company
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 A lower Australian dollar
 Decreasing return on the equity without de-rating
 Deleverage in an Australian supermarket
Opportunities identified for the company:
Australian being a supermarket chain performs several activities. The company is running its
operation on a global scale and hence gets serval business opportunities
 Promising growth and expansion of the retail segment in the year 2016.
 Global partnerships
 Expanding its retail market in the developing countries
 The company is adopting modern marketing tools to pull in the consumers
 Utilizing the social media as a business tool for attracting consumers from numerous
parts of the world
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2. Describe the nature of the enterprise system that it adopted and the process by which it was
selected and implemented.
Woolworths adopted ERP system. ERP systems are continuously evolving and varying to deliver
the business with a novel way of observing at business procedures and decision making.
Woolworth is continually altering to counterpart their surroundings. Both require the springiness
to familiarize with each other in an order to be fruitful. ERP technology turned out to be
successful in incorporating business procedures across a functional continuum of Woolworths
and in offering the fundamental repository of all business knowledge, data, and information.
Enet4erpsie System applications are usually very time to consume, resource intensive and
complex. Due to its size and influence on business an ERP system only intensify this difficulty;
so, before applying ERP, company has to understand and plan the life cycle of these enterprise
systems
Figure: ERP life cycle
Source: (Motiwalla and Thompson, 2012).
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Figure: Product lifecycle
Source: (Motiwalla and Thompson, 2012).
The procedure for selecting and implementing ERP system:
Choosing an ERP system is the multifaceted responsibility; there are a lot of things which are
required to be kept in mind. The goal of the company is to pick an ERP software package which
is good and fit the company’s functions and nature. Because an ERP selection procedure and
an application of an ERP system “needs persons to perform their duties in a different way" it is
very significant to comprehend the customer necessities, not only for present procedures but also
for future procedures. Without thorough user necessities, appraisal of enterprise systems for
useful best-fit rarely prospers. The necessities should go into adequate detail for multifaceted
procedures or procedures which may be exclusive to a specific occupation. The procedure of
selecting and implementing ERP system is specified underneath:
Acquire support of upper management:
For implementing the ERP system it is important that the top management takes active
participation in the selection and implementation of the ERP system
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Make a vibrant and wide list of necessities before jumping to the looking:
Before selecting the vendor the company should look into the place where ERP system is
required to be implemented. Understanding the nature of business and users is important.
Do not forget the mobile users:
As BYOD and mobility are increasing across the industries, retrieving ERP systems from the
desktops only is no longer a choice (Jinno, et. al., 2017). Selecting the ERP system which
permits users to be productive on tablet and smartphone is essential.
Prudently assessing the options before choosing ERP system:
Ill-defined and Poorly running assessment projects can result in the poor implementation of ERP
system.it is important for the company to evaluate all the portions valuable in the market beefier
adopting the required enterprise system
Reasoning before the customization:
It is important for the company to plan and think before implementing an ERP system. Good
participation by upper management and staff is essential
Appointing an in-house ERP merchandise champion:
It is important for the company to select a person who is known to the nature of the business so
that implementation of ERP can be done in a well-organized manner.
Providing the essential resources and time for training on the ERP system:
Irregular training and education on the EPR system are important for the effective
implementation of ERP system (Lasisi, et. al., 2017). The company should also provide for
required resources to implement the ERP system.
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3. Explain and analyses any difficulties the organization may have faced in adopting the system,
or preparatory steps that were taken to facilitate implementation.
In the context of Woolworths, the difficulties or the preparatory steps which are faced by the
organization in adopting enterprise system or ERP system are mentioned underneath:
Figure: Integrated system- ERP
Source: (Motiwalla and Thompson, 2012).
Commitment from the Top Management
It is important for the top management to be committed towards the implementation of enterprise
resource planning system. Their participation is very important for the project. Ignorance from
the top management will result in effective decisions and failed operations.
Adequate Training
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After successfully implementing the enterprise system, the employees protest and go against the
implementation. This creates a direct impact on the productivity. Good motivation and training is
very important immediately after the implementation of the ERP system
Implementation Time
Various companies do not realize the time occupied in the enterprise system implementation
procedure. An enterprise system is implemented by following sequential procedure and because
it is very unique, it is required to be designed to a specific business, to handle the procedure just
the manner in which the company requires them.
Proper Project Management
For the successful implementation of enterprise system, the company is required to assign best
employees. Generally, Woolworths hires both internal and external employees for the effective
implementation of an enterprise system
Implementation Cost
The whole price of an ERP system application is considerably more than the original costs. The
entire cost is reliant on the cost of customization. Better the customization more will be the
absolute application cost.
Sufficient Testing
Testing the enterprise system is not limited to the fact that whether the system is working or not,
but it is considering the performance so that the business needs can be fulfilled. Insufficient
testing of the enterprise system can attract heavy expenses
Investment in Internal Hardware
Working in a system, which is slow is really frustrating and unproductive. Enterprise system
applications require high work performance and sufficient storage. Low investment in the
internal hardware may result in numerous software problems
Maintenance Cost
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