Implementation Case on Information Technology - Coursework Example

?Question It seems that the top management was not communicating with the staff about the importance of implementing the project. As a result they were not motivated to cooperate with the management in project implementation. This led to a loss of confidence on both parties. Implementing the project involved managing change which was not conducted properly. As a result there was employee resistance. Because the management had not communicated with the employees about the importance of the project, the employees did not perceive the need for change. When it comes to managing change, the main problem that the management faces is employee resistance. This problem is addressed by involving all the employees in the process of managing change and by creating a communications structure which shows to the organization that the top management is committed to making a successful transition. These factors were not addressed in the case. And as a result, the project team members lost confidence in the project’s credibility. The critical success factor was to choose a project leader who had the right skills and experience. This did not appear to be the case as the chosen project leader was unable to resolve the conflicts between the different parties involved in the project. There was controversy as personnel from the department of accounting and finance felt excluded from project management (Bernier, Roy & Brunelle, 2006C). This indicates that there was lack of inter-departmental coordination. This led to difficulties in project management. It was the project manager’s responsibility to ensure that all the team members were equally represented. However he failed in this task. As a result the implementation process was held up. The project manager also did not have the right focus. He focused on project completion rather than on whether the implementation was being conducted in a manner which was strategically aligned to the business processes. As a result there were complaints from the team members. The implementation was focused too much on delivery times. In implementing ERP, the critical success factor is to ensure that the software functionalities are aligned to the business processes. It is more effective to change the software to suit the business processes than otherwise. However because the project leader’s only concern was to complete the implementation in time, the strategic alignment process was ignored. As a result the user groups began to question the credibility of the IT department. The user groups also complained that the project manager had become involved in political games which made him favor the IT department. Therefore the project manager had failed to involve all the departments in project management. The result was a confrontation between the IT department and the user groups and this led to difficulties in the implementation process. Although the user groups had been involved in the project management team, they did not know how their efforts were tied to the strategic focus of the company. One of the team members complained that he was constantly writing progress reports. Other team members felt that their time was not being used productively. Because the project manager was focusing too much on completion, the departmental requirements were not addressed. As a result the team members lost confidence in the implementation process and felt that the chosen software was not the right one for the organization. In these circumstances the project team members did not feel motivated to invest their time and efforts in implementing the project. This situation was jeopardizing the future of the project. Because of the defective communications process, there were conflicts between the user groups and the software experts. The user groups felt that the software functionalities did not address the business processes effectively while the software experts were convinced they had the right configuration of options. In this situation there were problems in various dimensions of the project. The project leader did not have the skills and experience. The functional managers were losing confidence. The credibility of the IT department was in question. These causes led to the difficulties with the project. Question 2 As stated in the case, a new project leader, Andre Gagne, was appointed. The new appointee had more advanced skills and experience in the functions which were affected by the project. With a view to restoring the project’s credibility and the confidence of all the parties involved, he reorganized the project team into multidisciplinary teams which would be able to specifically address the problems that were identified. As a result the implementation process became more strategically aligned. In the new organizational structure, intensive information sessions were held to communicate with the future users about the potential and features of ABC. As a result members of the project and the users could fully understand the importance of implementing the project. A key element of the project’s success was that the users were given a more active role in business process review. This would motivate the future users to complete the implementation more speedily as they saw how the software would enhance the efficiency of the business processes. The success of the project was due to the project team’s ability to provide proper follow-up and technical support. The people in the organization were also familiar with the new challenges that resulted from introducing a new information system since ABS had done so before (Bernier, Roy & Brunelle, 2006A). Therefore the employees already knew that they would have to face new challenges in implementing the new information system. If this had been the first time that the company had introduced a new information system, then employee resistance would have been much higher. However since ABS had already installed a new information system, the employees were already familiar with the basics of introducing new technology. This made the job much easier for the project team. Because the employees were not new to implementing advanced technology in their work environment, they had an idea about how to participate in the implementation process so that project plan, budgets, calendars and constraints of the company would be taken into account. There was some employee resistance because of the potential layoffs that would result from the implementation of the software. However the new project leader was able to arrange the budgets necessary to arrange the information sessions that would educate the future users about the software features and options. The future users were also given more active roles in reviewing their business processes. As a result they were more involved in the decision-making process. This resulted in ownership of the project on the part of the users. Because they could affect the outcomes of the implementation process, the users felt more involved in the implementation process. This had a positive effect on employee motivation. Because there was greater involvement from all the parties involved, the implementation process was made more effective in terms of greater alignment between software functionality and process review. This enabled the project team to reach the objective of installing a new information system that would have a significant impact on the evolution of business practices and efficiency. The new project leader had studied accounting, had a master’s degree in information systems and solid experience in the insurance industry (Bernier, Roy & Brunelle, 2006D). Therefore he had a strong grasp of the structural implications of project management in IT. The company had previously installed a new information system and this means that the employees were familiar with the new challenges that resulted from implementing such a project. The implementation process was reorganized giving more active roles to all the parties involved. As a result the future users were more confident about the project’s potential. Budgets were sanctioned from the management to arrange intensive information sessions which served as communication tools between all the parties. These were some of the key elements which ultimately led to the successful completion of the project as the new system goes live. References Bernier, C., Roy, V. and Brunelle, E. (2006). An ERP Story: Background (A). International Journal of Case Studies in Management. 4(1):March. Bernier, C., Roy, V. and Brunelle, E. (2006). An ERP Story: Troubles Ahead (C). International Journal of Case Studies in Management. 4(1):March. Bernier, C., Roy, V. and Brunelle, E. (2006). An ERP Story: Epilogue (D). International Journal of Case Studies in Management. 4(1):March. Read More