Question: When implementing ERP systems, most organizations will encounter different kinds of challenges. A problematic ERP implementation in early 2000s costs Agilent Technologies Inc. $105 million in revenue and $70 million in profits. A-DEC Inc., a dental equipment maker located in Newberg, Oregon, installed Baan’s ERP system to integrate manufacturing, distribution and financial information processing. Unfortunately, the company lost a lot of business because employees were falling behind on processing orders, building products, and shipping goods to dealers. Earlier in 1999, a failed companywide rollout installation of SAP AG’s ERP applications caused teddy bear maker Russ Berrie and Co. $10.3 million after three years. Subsequently, in 2002, Russ Berrie and Co. implemented a new departmental phased installation using J.D. Edwards & Co.’s OneWorld Xe suite of ERP, CRM, and financial applications.

Required:

a) Discuss in detail FOUR (4) lessons learned from Agilent’s ERP implementation. (16 marks)

b) Identify THREE (3) people-related problems that may affect the success of ERP implementation. (9 marks)