Introduction
The report is based on analyzing the alignment of business strategy and process along with information systems goals. Woolworth is selected for this assignment which is an Australian retailing company and they offer a variety of products and services to the customers. The main focus of the report is to identify Woolworth failed implementation of an ERP system that creates issues in their business operations.
The original goals of the Woolworth project
In 2016, CEO Brad Banducci announces certain changes in their operational sector and it involves removal of the unnecessary price and bureaucracy. So that the reconstruction of the Woolworth Company is started and its goal is to improve the culture of an organization correctly. For this, they are trying to use SAP solution which helps them in getting rid of payroll systems. SAP is the system of ERP which help in managing business activities (inspirage, 2018). Woolworth looks forward to the SAP system which makes sure about the regular functioning of the human capital management system. Some other units are also involved in this such as talent and success, performance objectives, learning and rewarding and payroll system.
The root cause of the failure of Woolworth project
In an organization, implementation of ERP systems is common but it also caused some major impact for Woolworth and its customers in 2015. In this project, the real cause of the failure arises which creates a major impact on Woolworth’s business operations (Chanticleer, 2020). The company had definite to update the modern solution at the cost of $200 million over 6 years, but when the transition was done, there was a certain issue occurs. Along with this, the go-live platform of Woolworth subsidiary Big W has caused the major sales loss in retailing and after that, it was unable for the company is to submit or deliver the main orders to suppliers and leaving shelves empty. This was the main cause due to this Woolworth had face availability issues in store (dfsm, 2020). At the same time, an organization also lost visibility on profits and sales performance of the business. The main failure arising while the SAP implementation procedure was lacking attention was provided to documenting a specific process that is used by employees in regular operations of the business.
The consequences of the failure for the business Woolworth
This failure majorly impacts Woolworth’s processes, cost, end-users, management commitment, project management, and software and hardware selection. It may cause a major loss of sales and suppliers also frustrated with the business systems (novacura, 2019). It will create a loss of corporate memory that is important to maintaining company functions. The failure will reduce the number of customers buying company products.
Conclusion
From the above-described report, it can be concluded that Woolworth needs to give property to all the processes related to ERP execution. This data is required while developing a new ERP system. Also, an organization should make a plan for providing knowledge to their staffs so that information does not vanish when they are leaving the company.
References
inspirage, 2018. Three of the Biggest Disasters in ERP History. inspirage. [Online]. Available at: https://www.inspirage.com/2018/12/three-of-the-biggest-disasters-in-erp-history/ [Accessed: 30th August 2020].
Chanticleer, 2020. Anatomy of an IT disaster or how Woolies spent $200 million on SAP. Chanticleer. [Online]. Available at: https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/anatomy-of-an-it-disaster-or-how-woolies-spent-200-million-on-sap-20160609-gpfowf [Accessed: 30th August 2020].
dfsm, 2020. ERP implementation failure A Case Study (Woolworth Australia). dfsm. [Online]. Available at: https://www.dfsm.com.au/erp-implementation-failure-a-case-study-woolworths-australia/ [Accessed: 30th August 2020].
novacura, 2019. 4 ERP Implementation Failures with Valuable Lessons. novacura. [Online]. Available at: https://www2.novacura.com/blog/why-do-erp-implementations-fail#:~:text=After%206%20years%20of%20planning,their%20new%20ERP%20in%202015.&text=One%20of%20the%20key%20failings,day%20running%20of%20the%20business. [Accessed: 30th August 2020].