In 2001, McDonald’s Restaurants undertook a project called Innovate to create an intranet connecting headquarters with its 30,000 restaurants in 120 countries to provide detailed operational information in real time. The new system would, for instance, inform a manager at the company’s Oak Brook, Illinois, headquarters immediately if sales were slowing at a franchise in London, or if the grill temperature in a Rochester, Minnesota, restaurant wasn’t hot enough.

The idea was to create a global ERP application touching the workings of every McDonald’s restaurant. Some of these restaurants were in countries that lacked network infrastructures. After spending over $1 billion over several years, including $170 million on consultants and initial implementation planning, McDonalds terminated the project. What should management have known or done at the outset to prevent this outcome?