Effective Strategic Alignment for ERP Implementation Success

Today I would like to discuss the second factor required for implementation success – “effective strategic definition and alignment – the essence of the business” with a weight of 22%

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Effective Strategic Alignment – a Practical Example

I was once called in by the Executive Chairman and CEO of a freight forwarding and clearing company.? They were in the process of implementing a supposedly “best of breed” global ERP product geared to their industry.

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The project was a year behind schedule, they had retrenched a whole lot of staff against expected benefits that did not materialize, the staff were alienated and hostile.

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There were constant missed deadlines and sub-standard deliverables and the relationship with the International service provider and implementer was at breaking point.

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I undertook a standard two day “Pulse Measurement” interviewing each of the executive team face to face, one on one for an hour.? One of my key questions in such an intervention is “What is the essence of your business and HOW does it thrive? – what differentiates your business? why is it successful?”

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As always, some of the directors battled to answer that question but, eventually, after some coaxing to think outside the box they all reached one conclusion “we have a service promise that if we cause a customer to miss a time critical deadline we will make good their loss, our target market is the 10% of the market which deals with time critical deliveries.”

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I then interviewed the managing director of the global software company that had provided the software and was leading the implementation.? He proudly told me that his company was seeking to be the dominant provider in the freight forwarding and clearing industry worldwide and were succeeding.? As far as he was concerned my client was difficult and obstructive and this gentleman really could not understand what their issue was.

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It was immediately apparent to me what the problem was – this software company was focussed on the 90% of the industry where time was not of the essence!? They did not understand the requirements and service levels of the 10% of customer with time critical requirements.

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At the end of the day I sat with the Executive Chairman and reported my conclusion.? He immediately became animated and exclaimed “of course, the lights have just gone on, that is exactly the problem!”

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The next day he cancelled the contract -- both parties were relieved.

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I then facilitated the procurement of a new system working in close partnership with the Executive Chairman.

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We interviewed three local contenders to supply the required software.

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The third software vendor presented their product and closed by saying “we understand the need for exceptional service in this industry, in fact, we are so committed to supporting our customers that IF our software causes? you to miss a deadline for a customer we will make good your loss without questions!”

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My client and I looked at one another, we had a perfect fit, the buying decision was made at once and the system went in without difficulty – such is the importance of strategic alignment.

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If you find what I share of interest and desire more information please email me and I will share more detailed information.

Next week I plan to discuss the damage that is caused by lack of effective Strategic definition and alignment – the third factor causing failure.?

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For more information about the services I am offering please visit www.The-ERP-Doctor.com

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Context for Reference

For ease of reference the full list of factors is as follows:

Factors causing failure The seven factors causing failure are: ? 1.?????????? Mythology, hype and tradition – 30% 2.?????????? Inappropriate or ineffective executive custody, governance and corporate policy – 19% 3.?????????? Lack of effective strategic alignment and strategic solution architecture – 16% 4.?????????? Lack of Precision Configuration – 14% 5.?????????? Failure to address soft issues, business engagement and change impacts – 12% 6.?????????? Lack of an Engineering Approach – 6% 7.?????????? Technology Issues – sub-optimal or defective software, hardware, network, etc – 3% ? The percentages represent the extent to which each of these factors has played a part in the investigations I have undertaken.? It is important to note that the factors with the lower weights are still very important but that if the higher weighted factors fail it does not help to get the lower weighted factors right. ? Critical factors for success The seven critical factors for success are: ? 1.?????????? Effective Executive Custody – 25% 2.?????????? Effective Strategic definition and alignment – the Essence of the business – 22% 3.?????????? Effective engineering solution design and implementation approach – 17% 4.?????????? Effective Precision Configuration – 16% 5.?????????? Effective Business Simulation Laboratory operation (war games) – 12% 6.?????????? Effective business integration, training, change facilitation, process specification – 6% 7.?????????? Reliable technology – 2% ?

Conclusion From consideration of the above it will be apparent that the real issue is not the ERP product, all the mainstream products are capable of delivering a quality outcome, it is the quality of the implementation and therefore the capabilities of the implementer that are critical. ? In the weeks ahead I plan to continue to share the headlines of my thoughts on each of the above and the lessons that I have learned in terms of?how to implement ERP and other business system projects in a manner that ensures a successful outcome. ? My offering I offer technology agnostic services in terms of: a.?Instruction and training in how to apply these methods.? b. Troubleshooting projects that are in difficulty and providing guidance to turn them around. c.?Strategic project leadership services achieving a high level of executive engagement and delivering high quality business relevant outcomes. d.?Guidance on “precision configuration” – a very rigorous approach to the detailed content of master data and other validation lists and other elements of the configuration.? This was a major factor in the above success, I will discuss in more detail in due course.

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e. Comprehensive robust, tender based ERP and other major systems procurement. If you would like further information please reply to this email and we can get on Zoom to discuss.

As stated previously I am very willing to pay a finders / referral fee for any work referred my way or to sub-contract where this is applicable.

I look forward to hearing from you.

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Dr James A Robertson

The ERP Doctor