UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

HIMACHAL PRADESH UNIVERSITY

Project Report
ON
ERP
Implementation In Organization

B.TECH ( COMPUTER SCIENCE )

Submitted By:

Naveta Sood:64024

Diksha Jariyal:64022

B.Tech (CSE) 4thYear

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 INDEX

TOPIC PAGE NUMBER

CERTIFICATE 3

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 4

INTRODUCTION TO ERP 5-21

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES 22-27

OF ERP

28
ABSTRACT

29
INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT

30-34
PMBOK FRAMEWORK

36
METHODOLOGY

37-47
ERP PROJECT MANAGEMENT AT
PHARMA INC

48-49
CONCLUSION

50
REFERENCES

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 CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the project work “Enterprise Resorce Planning in a Pharma Inc.” is
abonafide record of work done by Naveta Sood, roll no. 64024 and Diksha Jariyal, roll no. 64022
under the guidance of Er.Akshay Bhardwaj in fulfillment of the requirements for the project.

Signature of the guide

Er. AkshayBhardwaj
Asst. Prof.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are indebted to all those who, helped us in this project. Firstly, We are thankful to Prof.
P.L.Sharma, Director UIIT, to guide and encourage us to accomplish this project and to give his
valuable time, suggestions and blessings that gave us the motivation to work on this project. We
are also thankful to our project guide Er. Akshay Bhardwaj, who allow us to carry out this
project . We would like to thank him for having faith in us. He helped us in understanding the
requirements and technical specifications of the project. We thank him for being such a great
support.

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 Introduction to ERP

The initials ERP originated as an extension of MRP (material requirements planning; later
manufacturing resource planning) and CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing). It was
introduced by research and analysis firm Gartner in 1990. ERP systems now attempt to cover all
core functions of an enterprise, regardless of the organization's business or charter. These
systems can now be found in non-manufacturing businesses, non-profit organizations and
governments.

To be considered an ERP system, a software package must provide the function of at least two
systems. For example, a software package that provides both payroll and accounting functions
could technically be considered an ERP software package

Examples of modules in an ERP which formerly would have been stand-alone applications
include: Product lifecycle management, Supply chain management (e.g. Purchasing,
Manufacturing and Distribution), Warehouse Management, Customer Relationship Management
(CRM), Sales Order Processing, Online Sales, Financials, Human Resources, and Decision
Support System.

Some organizations — typically those with sufficient in-house IT skills to integrate multiple
software products — choose to implement only portions of an ERP system and develop an
external interface to other ERP or stand-alone systems for their other application needs. For
example, one may choose to use human resource management system from one vendor, and
perform the integration between the systems themselves.

This is common to retailers, where even a mid-sized retailer will have a discrete Point-of-Sale
(POS) product and financials application, then a series of specialized applications to handle
business requirements such as warehouse management, staff rostering, merchandising and
logistics.
Ideally, ERP delivers a single database that contains all data for the software modules, which
would include:

 Manufacturing: Manufacturing is the making of goods by hand or by machine that

upon completion the business sells to a customer. Items used in manufacture may be raw
materials or component parts of a larger product. The manufacturing usually happens on
a large-scale production line of machinery and skilled labor.

Types of Manufacturing Processes:

Manufacturing is a very simple business; the owner buys the raw material or component parts to
manufacture a finished product. To function as a business the manufacturer needs to cover costs,
meet demand and make a product to supply the market.

A factory operates one of three types of manufacturing production:

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 Make-To-Stock (MTS) – A factory produces goods to stock stores and showrooms. By
predicting the market for their goods, the manufacturer will plan production activity in
advance. If they produce too much they may need to sell surplus at a loss and in producing too
little they may miss the market and not sell enough to cover costs.
 Make-To-Order (MTO) – The producer waits for orders before manufacturing stock.
Inventory is easier to control and the owner does not need to rely as much on market demand.
Customer waiting time is longer though and the manufacturer needs a constant stream of
orders to keep the factory in production.
 Make-To-Assemble (MTA) – The factory produces component parts in anticipation of
orders for assembly. By doing this, the manufacturer is ready to fulfil customer orders but if
orders do not materialize, the producer will have a stock of unwanted parts.

Keeping Risks Under Control is Key:

With all three types of manufacturing there are risks. Supply too much and you flood the market,
causing a drop in price and a drop in profits. By not meeting demand, the customer may go
elsewhere with a drop in sales for the manufacturer. Quality control is also a big factor in
successful manufacturing. The manufacturer will need to keep a close eye on quality of product
from beginning to end, with many tests along the way. If mistakes happen, the long-term
consequences may be serious.

A manufacturing business may need many parts for the complicated assembly of a quality
product or just the few for making a simple good. Keeping production costs to a minimum,
having good quality control and excellent sales management are key to reducing the risk in any
type of manufacturing.(shopify.in)

 Supply chain management: Order to cash, inventory, order entry, purchasing,

product configurator, supply chain planning, supplier scheduling, inspection of goods,
claim processing, commission calculation

How Supply Chain Management Works:

Typically, SCM attempts to centrally control or link the production, shipment, and distribution of
a product. By managing the supply chain, companies are able to cut excess costs and deliver
products to the consumer faster. This is done by keeping tighter control of internal inventories,
internal production, distribution, sales, and the inventories of company vendors.

SCM is based on the idea that nearly every product that comes to market results from the efforts
of various organizations that make up a supply chain. Although supply chains have existed for
ages, most companies have only recently paid attention to them as a value-add to their
operations.

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In SCM, the supply chain manager coordinates the logistics of all aspects of the supply chain
which consists of five parts:

 The plan or strategy

 The source (of raw materials or services)
 Manufacturing (focused on productivity and efficiency)
 Delivery and logistics
 The return system (for defective or unwanted products)

The supply chain manager tries to minimize shortages and keep costs down. The job is not only
about logistics and purchasing inventory. According to Salary.com, supply chain managers,
“make recommendations to improve productivity, quality, and efficiency of operations.”

Improvements in productivity and efficiency go straight to the bottom line of a company and
have a real and lasting impact. Good supply chain management keeps companies out of the
headlines and away from expensive recalls and lawsuits. Supply Chains
A supply chain is the connected network of individuals, organizations, resources, activities, and
technologies involved in the manufacture and sale of a product or service. A supply chain starts
with the delivery of raw materials from a supplier to a manufacturer and ends with the delivery
of the finished product or service to the end consumer.

SCM oversees each touchpoint of a company's product or service, from initial creation to the
final sale. With so many places along the supply chain that can add value through efficiencies or
lose value through increased expenses, proper SCM can increase revenues, decrease costs, and
impact a company's bottom line.(investopedia.com)

 Financials :General ledger, cash management, accounts payable, accounts receivable,

fixed assets Financial statements are written records that convey the business activities
and the financial performance of a company. Financial statements are often audited by
government agencies, accountants, firms, etc. to ensure accuracy and for tax, financing,
or investing purposes. Financial statements include:

 Balance sheet
 Income statement
 Cash flow statement.

Using Financial Statement Information:

Investors and financial analysts rely on financial data to analyze the performance of a company
and make predictions about its future direction of the company's stock price. One of the most
important resources of reliable and audited financial data is the annual report, which contains the
firm's financial statements.

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The financial statements are used by investors, market analysts, and creditors to evaluate a
company's financial health and earnings potential. The three major financial statement reports are
the balance sheet, income statement, and statement of cash flows.

 Project management : Costing, billing, time and expense, performance units,

activity management .Project management is the practice of initiating, planning,
executing, controlling, and closing the work of a team to achieve specific goals and meet
specific success criteria at the specified time.The primary challenge of project
management is to achieve all of the project goals within the given constraints.This
information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the
development process. The primary constraints are scope, time, quality and budget.The
secondary—and more ambitious—challenge is to optimize the allocation of necessary
inputs and apply them to meet pre-defined objectives.
The object of project management is to produce a complete project which complies with the
client's objectives. In many cases the objective of project management is also to shape or reform
the client's brief to feasibly address the client's objectives. Once the client's objectives are clearly
established they should influence all decisions made by other people involved in the project – for
example project managers, designers, contractors and sub-contractors. Ill-defined or too tightly
prescribed project management objectives are detrimental to decision making.
A project is a temporary endeavor designed to produce a unique product, service or result with a
defined beginning and end (usually time-constrained, and often constrained by funding or
staffing) undertaken to meet unique goals and objectives, typically to bring about beneficial
change or added value.The temporary nature of projects stands in contrast with business as usual
(or operations),which are repetitive, permanent, or semi-permanent functional activities to
produce products or services. In practice, the management of such distinct production approaches
requires the development of distinct technical skills and management strategies.

 Human resources :Human resources is used to describe both the people who work for
a company or organization and the department responsible for managing resources
related to employees. The term human resources was first coined in the 1960s when the
value of labor relations began to garner attention and when notions such as motivation,
organizational behavior, and selection assessments began to take shape. Human resource
management is a contemporary, umbrella term used to describe the management and
development of employees in an organization. Also called personnel or talent
management (although these terms are a bit antiquated), human resource management
involves overseeing all things related to managing an organization’s human capital.
Human resource management is therefore focused on a number of major areas, including
 Recruiting and staffing
 Compensation and benefits
 Training and learning

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  Labor and employee relations
 Organization development
Due to the many areas of human resource management, it is typical for professionals in this field
to possess specific expertise in one or more areas. Just a few of the related career titles for HR
professionals include:

 Training development specialist

 HR manager
 Benefits specialist
 Human resource generalist
 Employment services manager
 Compensation and job analysis specialist
 Training and development manager
 Recruiter
 Benefits counselor
 Personnel analyst

A Closer Look at Human Resource Management:

Human resource management involves developing and administering programs that are designed
to increase the effectiveness of an organization or business. It includes the entire spectrum of
creating, managing, and cultivating the employer-employee relationship.
For most organizations, agencies, and businesses, the human resources department is responsible
for:

 Managing job recruitment, selection, and promotion

 Developing and overseeing employee benefits and wellness programs
 Developing, promoting, and enforcing personnel policies
 Promoting employee career development and job training
 Providing orientation programs for new hires
 Providing guidance regarding disciplinary actions
 Serving as a primary contact for work-site injuries or accidents

Human resource management is about:

 Addressing current employee concerns: Unlike company managers who oversee
the day-to-day work of employees, HR departments deal with employee concerns such as
benefits, pay, employee investments, pension plans, and training. Their work may also
include settling conflicts between employees or between employees and their managers.
 Acquiring new employees: The human resource management team recruits potential
employees, oversees the hiring process (background checks, drug testing, etc.), and
provides new employee orientation.
 Managing the employee separation process: The HR management team must
complete a specific set of tasks if an employee quits, is fired, or is laid off. Paperwork
must be completed to ensure that the process was completed legally. Severance pay may

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 be offered or negotiated, benefits must be settled, and access to company resources must
be severed via the collection of keys, badges, computers, or sensitive materials from the
employee.
 Improving morale: Effective HR teams encourage company employees to do their
best, which contributes to the overall success of the company. Their work often involves
rewarding employees for good performance and creating a positive work environment.

The Changing Shape of Human Resource Management:

Human resource management involves both strategic and comprehensive approaches to
managing people, as well as workplace culture and environment.
The role of human resources professionals is to ensure that a company’s most important asset—
its human capital—is being nurtured and supported through the creation and management of
programs, policies, and procedures, and by fostering a positive work environment through
effective employee-employer relations.
The concept behind human resource management is that employees who are subject to effective
human resource management are able to more effectively and productively contribute to a
company’s overall direction, thereby ensuring that company goals and objectives are
accomplished.
Today’s human resource management team is responsible for much more than traditional
personnel or administrative tasks. Instead, members of a human resource management team are
more focused on adding value to the strategic utilization of employees and ensuring that
employee programs are impacting the business in positive and measurable ways.
An August 2014 Forbes article explored the shifting goal of today’s human resource
management teams. More specifically, the article found that HR teams focused on things that
don’t add true value to the organization are often deemed reactive, uncreative, and lacking basic
business understanding. On the other hand, HR professionals who want to be recognized as true
business partners must see themselves as business people who specialize in HR, not as HR
people who advise a business.
Todays’ human resources managers/business partners must understand the workings of the
business and be able to comfortably speak the language of business leaders in order to have a
measured and proven impact on business objectives.
The Agenda of Today’s Human Resource Management Team:
Today’s HR management team must focus their efforts on five, critical areas, according to
the Forbes article:
Define and align organizational purpose :A company’s employees must be able to
clearly articulate why the company exists in order to achieve a purpose-driven, sustainable, high-
performing organization. Employees must also understand how their efforts connect, or align,
with the organization’s purpose.

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Recruit the best talent by creating, marketing, and selling an Employee Value
Proposition (EVP): False marketing and misconceptions about an organization are some of
the main reasons why the employer-employee relationship fails. Therefore, companies must
create, market, and sell an EVP that is true and accurate as to not mislead potential employees.

Focus on employee strengths: Companies must make every effort to understand what
candidates and employees do best and put them into roles where they can play to their strengths
as much as possible.

Create organizational alignment: Achievements must align with the organization’s

objectives so as to build a successful and sustainable organization.

Accurately measure the same things : All internal departments and employees must be
measuring the same things as to achieve a definitive organizational result and to ensure that
everyone knows exactly where the organization is at all times.(human resources edu.org)

 Customer relationship management - CRM stands for Customer Relationship

Management. It's a technology used to manage interactions with customers and potential
customers. A CRM system helps organisations build customer relationships and
streamline processes so they can increase sales, improve customer service, and increase
profitability.

How do we define CRM?

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a strategy for managing all your company's
relationships and interactions with your customers and potential customers. It helps you improve
your profitability.
More commonly, when people talk about CRM they are usually referring to a CRM system, a
tool which helps with contact management, sales management, workflow processes, productivity
and more.
Customer Relationship Management enables you to focus on your organisation’s relationships
with individual people – whether those are customers, service users, colleagues or suppliers.
CRM is not just for sales. Some of the biggest gains in productivity can come from moving

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beyond CRM as a sales and marketing tool and embedding it in your business – from HR to
customer services and supply-chain management.

Why CRM matters

If your business is going to last, you know that you need a strategy for the future. You’ll already
have targets relating to sales, business objectives and profitability. But getting up-to-date,
reliable information on your progress towards your goals can be tricky. How do you translate the
many streams of data coming in from sales teams, customer service staff, marketers and social
media monitoring into useful business information?
Using a CRM system can give you a clear overview of your customers. You can see everything
in one place — a simple, customisable dashboard that can tell you a customer's previous history
with you, the status of their orders, any outstanding customer service issues, and more.
You can even choose to include information from their public social media activity – their likes
and dislikes, what they are saying and sharing about you. Marketers can use CRM to better
understand the pipeline of sales or prospective work coming in, making forecasting simpler and
more accurate. You'll have clear visibility of every opportunity or lead, showing you the clear
path from enquiries to sales.
And though it’s traditionally been used as a sales and marketing tool, customer service teams are
seeing great benefits from CRM systems. Today’s customer might raise an issue in one channel –
say, Twitter – and then switch to email or telephone to resolve it in private. A CRM platform
enables you to manage the enquiry across channels without losing track.

Life without CRM:

More administration, less selling.

An active sales team generates a flood of data. They can be out on the road talking to customers,
meeting prospects and finding out valuable information – but all this information gets stored in
handwritten notes, laptops, or inside the heads of your salespeople.
On top of this your customers may be contacting you on a range of different platforms – phone,
email and social media. Asking questions, following up on orders or complaining. Without a
common platform for customer interactions, communications can be missed or lost in the flood
of information – leading to an unsatisfactory response to your customer.
Details can get lost, meetings are not followed up promptly and prioritising customers can be a
matter of guesswork rather than a rigorous exercise based on fact. And it can all be compounded
if a key salesperson moves on.

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 Even if you do successfully collect all this data, you’re faced with the challenge of making sense
of it. It can be difficult to extract intelligence. Reports can be hard to create and waste valuable
selling time. Managers can lose sight of what their team are up to in reality, which means that
they can't offer the right support at the right time – while a lack of oversight can also result in a
lack of accountability from the team.
Luckily, there’s an answer.

“How you gather, manage, and use information will determine whether you win or lose.”
BILL GATES

Benefits of CRM

Introducing a CRM platform has many benefits which have been shown to produce real results –
including direct improvements to the bottom line. CRM applications have a proven track record
of increasing:

 Sales by up to 37%
 Sales Productivity by up to 44%
 Forecast accuracy by 48%

Identify and categorise leads

One of the main benefits of a CRM system is that it can help you to identify and add new leads
easily and quickly and categorise them accurately. You can create customised pitch documents in
less time, cutting down on response time and enabling sales teams to move on to the next
opportunity.
With complete, accurate, centrally held information about clients and prospects, sales staff can
focus their attention and energy on the right clients and gain a competitive advantage.

Increase referrals from existing customers

By understanding your customers better, cross-selling and up-selling opportunities become clear
– giving you the chance to win new business from existing customers.
With better information you'll also be able to keep your customers happy with better service.
Happy customers are likely to become repeat customers, and repeat customers spend more – up
to 33% more according to some studies.

Improve products and services

An often overlooked benefit of CRM software is that it will gather information from a huge
variety of sources across your business. This gives you unprecedented insights into how your

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customers feel and what they are saying about your organisation – so you can improve what you
offer, spot problems early and identify gaps.

See how harnessing the power of social networks in your CRM improves performance:

CRM & the Cloud Computing Revolution

Perhaps the most significant recent development in CRM systems has been the move to cloud
computing. Freed from the need to install software on hundreds or thousands of desktop PCs and
mobile devices, organisations worldwide are discovering the benefits of moving data, software
and services into a secure online environment.

Work from anywhere

Cloud-based CRM systems, such as Salesforce, mean every user has the same information, all
the time. Your sales force out on the road can check data, update it instantly after a meeting or
work from anywhere. The same information is available to anyone who needs it, from the sales
team to the customer service representatives.

Reduce costs

CRM can be quick and easy to implement. A cloud-based system doesn’t need special
installation and there's no hardware to set up, keeping IT costs low and removing the headache of
version control and update schedules.
Generally, cloud-based CRM systems are priced on the number of users who access the
system and the kinds of features you need. This can be very cost-effective in terms of capital
outlay, and is also extremely flexible – enabling you to scale up and add more people as your
business grows. Cloud-CRM platforms such as Salesforce are flexible in terms of functionality,
too – you're not paying for any features that are not useful to you.

Cloud-based CRM offers:

 Faster deployment
 Automatic software updates
 Cost-effectiveness and scalability
 The ability to work from anywhere, on any device
 Increased collaboration(sales force.com)

 Data warehouse : A data warehouse is a repository for data generated and collected
by an enterprise's various operational systems. Data warehousing is often part of a

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 broader data management strategy and emphasizes the capture of data from different
sources for access and analysis by business analysts, data scientists and other end users.
Typically, a data warehouse is a relational database housed on a mainframe, another type
of enterprise server or, increasingly, in the cloud. Data from various online transaction
processing (OLTP) applications and other sources is selectively extracted and
consolidated for business intelligence (BI) activities that include decision support,
enterprise reporting and ad hoc querying by users. Data warehouses also support online
analytical processing (OLAP) technologies, which organize information into data cubes
that are categorized by different dimensions to help accelerate the analysis process.
Basic components of a data warehouse

A data warehouse stores data that is extracted from internal data stores and, in many cases,
external data sources. The data records within the warehouse must contain details to make it
searchable and useful to business users. Taken together, there are three main components of data
warehousing:

1. A data integration layer that extracts data from operational systems, such as Excel, ERP,
CRM or financial applications.

2. A data staging area where data is cleansed and organized.

3. A presentation area where data is warehoused and made available for use.

A data warehouse architecture can also be understood as a set of tiers, where the bottom tier is
the database server, the middle tier is the analytics engine and the top tier is data warehouse
software that presents information for reporting and analysis.

Data analysis tools, such as BI software, enable users to access the data within the warehouse.
An enterprise data warehouse stores analytical data for all of an organization's business
operations; alternatively, individual business units may have their own data warehouses,
particularly in large companies. Data warehouses can also feed data marts, which are smaller,
decentralized systems in which subsets of data from a warehouse are organized and made
available to specific groups of business users, such as sales or inventory management teams.

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In addition, Hadoop has become an important extension of data warehouses for many enterprises
because the distributed data processing platform can improve components of a data warehouse
architecture -- from data ingestion to analytics processing to data archiving. In some cases,
Hadoop clusters serve as the staging area for traditional data warehouses. In others, systems that
incorporate Hadoop and other big data technologies are deployed as full-fledged data warehData
warehouse benefits and options

Data warehouses can benefit organizations from both an IT and a business perspective. For
example:

 Separating analytical processes from operational ones can enhance the performance of
operational systems and enable data analysts and business users to access and query relevant
data faster from multiple sources.

 Data warehouses can offer enhanced data quality and consistency for analytics uses, thereby
improving the accuracy of BI applications.

 Businesses can choose on-premises systems, conventional cloud deployments or data-

warehouse-as-a-service (DWaaS) offerings.

 On-premises data warehouses offer flexibility and security so IT teams can maintain control
over their data warehouse management and configuration; they're available from IBM, Oracle
and Teradata as an example.

 Cloud-based data warehouses such as Amazon Redshift, Google BigQuery, Microsoft Azure
SQL Data Warehouse and Snowflake enable companies to quickly scale up their systems
while eliminating the initial infrastructure investments and ongoing system maintenance
requirements.

 DWaaS, an offshoot of database as a service, provides a managed cloud service that frees
organizations from the need to deploy, configure and administer their data warehouses. Such
services are being offered by a growing number of cloud vendors.

Types of data warehouses:

There are three main approaches to implementing a data warehouse, which are detailed
below. Some organizations have also adopted federated data warehouses that integrate
separate analytical systems already put in place independently of one another -- an approach
proponents describe as a practical way to take advantage of existing deployments.

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  Top-down approach: Created by data warehouse pioneer William H. Inmon, this
method calls for building the enterprise data warehouse first. Data is extracted from
operational systems and possibly third-party external sources and may be validated in a
staging area before being integrated into a normalized data model. Data marts are then
created from the data stored in the data warehouse.

 Bottom-up method: Consultant Ralph Kimball developed an alternative data

warehousing architecture that calls for dimensional data marts to be created first. Data is
extracted from operational systems, moved to a staging area and modeled into a star
schema design, with one or more fact tables connected to one or more dimensional tables.
The data is then processed and loaded into data marts, each of which focuses on a
specific business process. The data marts are integrated using a data warehouse bus
architecture to form an enterprise data warehouse.

 Hybrid method: Hybrid approaches to data warehouse design include aspects from both
the top-down and bottom-up methods. Organizations often seek to combine the speed of
the bottom-up approach with the data integration capabilities achieved in a top-down
design.( https://searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com/)

 Access control : Security continues to be a growing concern for businesses of all

industries. Ensuring that your employees, equipment, and information remain safe is
always a top priority. Businesses all over the globe are seeking new technologies to help
provide them with protecting private information. However, providing a simple and easy
way for your employees and visitors to enter your place of business, while also holding
them accountable, is an important consideration to also keep in mind. So, how do you
offer advanced security and ease of entrance all while maintaining peace of mind at all
times? The answer lies in access control systems.
Why Your Business Needs an Access Control System
In the past, most businesses have used lock-and-key access systems. While this may work for
smaller businesses, it doesn’t often prove to be beneficial for companies of a larger size.
Employees can misplace keys or keys can be duplicated and the money spent ends up only being
a hassle for management.

One of the best solutions to this issue is having an effective access control system.

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Access control systems can involve:

 key cards
 pin codes
 biometric scanners
 alarms
 video surveillance systems
An electronic access control system allows a person, with proper clearance, to access to a certain
area of your building. These high-quality security access systems can help you keep outside
intruders from gaining access to valuable office devices and confidential information. This
reduces the growing issue of shrink and detrimental data breaches.
Stay in Charge of Your Security
Access control systems have proven to be extremely effective security instruments. With access
control systems, companies know the exact time of day that employees and visitors enter and exit
their establishment. This helps managers in the case of potential issues, disputes, or data
breaches. In the event of an emergency situation, access control systems can also make a lock-
down easier to handle and restrict movement throughout the building.

Know Who is Entering and Exiting your Building

Another reason why access control systems are great for business is the ease of access it provides
individuals with clearance. Access control systems also allow employees to use badges with
embedded wireless technology or security codes to gain access within the building.

Control the Environment in Your Building

Businesses also find access control systems to be beneficial when it comes to saving time, energy
and money. Wouldn’t it be great if a company could integrate a building’s lighting and
heating/cooling system with the location of employees? With access control systems, technology
can inform those systems what areas of the building either need a light or temperature adjustment
at any moment throughout the day or night.

Prevent Data Breaches

Companies will also find more efficient database management through access control systems, as
a key card can simply allow or disallow employees from accessing certain computers connected
to the company’s network without the need to install special software. They also can keep
outsiders from gaining access to confidential information.

Increase Safety, Security, and Productivity

When it comes to business security, the issue is cut-and-dry. Your information must be secure.
Installing access control systems throughout your business will not only save you peace of mind,
but it will also save your company space in the annual budget. All companies are vulnerable to
theft and robbery, but the installation of an access control system will prove to be extremely
useful for all businesses. Access control systems will help you maintain security by granting

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necessary site access, and you never have to worry about which keys you need for certain parts
of the building ever again.

No matter what situation you think your company could use some improvements in, access
control systems have the capabilities to suit any of your particular needs from start to finish.(
https://www.tedsystems.com/)

 Customization: Customization is the process of delivering wide-market goods and

services which are modified to satisfy a specific customer's need. Mass customization is
a marketing and manufacturing technique which combines the flexibility and
personalization of custom-made products with the low unit costs associated with mass
production. Other names for mass customization include made-to-order or built-to-order.

Mass customization allows a customer to design certain features of a product while still keeping
costs closer to that of mass-produced products. In some cases, the components of the product are
modular. This flexibility allows the client to mix-and-match options to create a semi-custom final
product.

Mass customization may apply to many fields, but many connect it to the retail industry.
Software creators may use this method to include software-based product configurations which
enable end users to add or change specific functions of a core product. Even the financial
services industry embraces mass customization through the growth of independent, fee-only
advisory firms.

Mass customization allows a customer to design certain features of a product while still keeping
costs closer to that of mass-produced products.
Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition
B. Joseph Pine II looked at the growth of the American economy due to mass production. In his
book, Mass Customization: The New Frontier in Business Competition (Harvard Business
Review Press,1992), he describes four primary types of mass customization which took the
concept of mass production to a new level.

• Collaborative customization - companies work in partnership with clients to offer products or

services uniquely suited to each client

• Adaptive customization - companies produce standardized products which the end user may
customize

• Transparent customization - companies provide unique products to individual clients without

overtly stating the products are customized

• Cosmetic customization - companies produce standardized products but market them in

different ways to various customers

19
Pine focused on the concept of creating a small number of interchangeable pieces. The individual
parts may be combined in a variety of ways producing a cost-efficient production model and still
allow consumers to choose how the pieces went together.

Real World Example:

Fee-only, independent financial advisors allow their clients to customize their portfolio holdings
to match their unique situations. The consumer may choose products which match their
investment risk tolerance, time horizon, investment style, and future goals.

Certain furniture companies offer mass customization by providing multiple options for various
components or features. This flexibility may include different fabrics, furniture legs or pieces
which combine in numerous configurations. Also, modular home builders use mass-
customization models by allowing customers to make changes to the base home package.(
https://www.investopedia.com/)

Enterprise resource planning is a term originally derived from manufacturing resource planning
(MRP II) that followed material requirements planning (MRP). MRP evolved into ERP when
"routings" became a major part of the software architecture and a company's capacity planning
activity also became a part of the standard software activity. ERP systems typically handle the
manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory, shipping, invoicing, and accounting for a
company. ERP software can aid in the control of many business activities, including sales,
marketing, delivery, billing, production, inventory management, quality management and human
resource management.

ERP systems saw a large boost in sales in the 1990s as companies faced the Y2K problem in
their legacy systems. Many companies took this opportunity to replace their legacy information
systems with ERP systems. This rapid growth in sales was followed by a slump in 1999, at
which time most companies had already implemented their Y2K solution.

ERPs are often incorrectly called back office systems indicating that customers and the general
public are not directly involved. This is contrasted with front office systems like customer
relationship management (CRM) systems that deal directly with the customers, or the eBusiness
systems such as eCommerce, eGovernment, eTelecom, and eFinance, or supplier relationship
management (SRM) systems.

ERPs are cross-functional and enterprise wide. All functional departments that are involved in
operations or production are integrated in one system. In addition to manufacturing,
warehousing, logistics, and information technology, this would include accounting, human
resources, marketing and strategic management.

ERP II, a term coined in the early 2000's, is often used to describe what would be the next
generation of ERP software. This new generation of software is web-based, and allowed both
internal employees, and external resources such as suppliers and customers real-time access to
the data stored within the system. ERP II is also different in that the software can be made to fit

20
the business, instead of the business being made to fit the ERP software. As of 2009, many ERP
solution providers have incorporated these features into their current offerings.

EAS — Enterprise Application Suite is a new name for formerly developed ERP systems which
include (almost) all segments of business, using ordinary Internet browsers as thin clients.

Best practices are incorporated into most ERP vendor's software packages. When implementing
an ERP system, organizations can choose between customizing the software or modifying their
business processes to the "best practice" function delivered in the "out-of-the-box" version of the
software.

Prior to ERP, software was developed to fit the processes of an individual business. Due to the
complexities of most ERP systems and the negative consequences of a failed ERP
implementation, most vendors have included "Best Practices" into their software. These "Best
Practices" are what the Vendor deems as the most efficient way to carry out a particular business
process in an Integrated Enterprise-Wide system.

A study conducted by Lugwigshafen University of Applied Science surveyed 192 companies and
concluded that companies which implemented industry best practices decreased mission-critical
project tasks such as configuration, documentation, testing and training. In addition, the use of
best practices reduced over risk by 71% when compared to other software implementations.

The use of best practices can make complying with requirements such as IFRS, Sarbanes-Oxley
or Basel II easier. They can also help where the process is a commodity such as electronic funds
transfer. This is because the procedure of capturing and reporting legislative or commodity
content can be readily codified within the ERP software, and then replicated with confidence
across multiple businesses who have the same business requirement.

21
 Advantages of ERP
In the absence of an ERP system, a large manufacturer may find itself with many software
applications that cannot communicate or interface effectively with one another. Tasks that need
to interface with one another may involve:

 Integration among different functional areas to ensure proper communication,

productivity and efficiency

 Design engineering (how to best make the product)

 Order tracking, from acceptance through fulfillment

 The revenue cycle, from invoice through cash receipt

 Managing inter-dependencies of complex processes bill of materials.

 Tracking the three-way match between purchase orders (what was ordered), inventory
receipts (what arrived), and costing (what the vendor invoiced)

 The accounting for all of these tasks: tracking the revenue, cost and profit at a granular
level.

ERP Systems centralize the data in one place. Benefits of this include:
1. Competitive Advantage
It’s true that ERP software requires a major investment, but there’s also an even bigger cost in
not making the investment. While some manufacturers choose to stick to the tried and true
methods of the past, others seek technology solutions. With so many benefits that ERP
provides, users can see improvements within multiple departments. Implementing the
software helps to keep you ahead of the competition because you no longer run the risk of
making costly business mistakes, which could place you behind the pack instead of ahead.
Manufacturers cannot afford to put off an ERP implementation while their competition
invests in ERP and starts reaping the many benefits we’ll touch on below.

2. Improved Process Efficiency

An ERP solution eliminates repetitive processes and greatly reduces the need to manually
enter information, which not only improves user productivity, but it eliminates the possibility
of inaccurate data which could lead to making costly business mistakes. The implementation
of an ERP system will also improve daily business activities by streamlining business
processes, which makes it easier and more efficient for companies to collect data, no matter
what department they’re working in. Think of ERP as an extra hand and brain, designed to

22
 keep businesses on track, noticing every detail and making work life easier and more
efficient, from software users down to its customers

3. Accurate Forecasting
Enterprise resource planning software gives your users, and especially managers, the tools
they need to create more accurate forecasts. This helps software users, and businesses as a
whole, think ahead and properly plan what they need from inventory and sales down to
financials and customer service. With stronger forecasting, businesses can effectively
decrease business costs, which saves money as well as become an more overall proactive unit.
Since the information within ERP is as accurate as possible, updating in real time, businesses
can make realistic estimates and more effective forecasts.

4. Department Collaboration
Nobody wants to run a siloed business with each department functioning separate from the
other. Collaboration between departments is a crucial and often necessary part of the business,
especially because business projects often involve more than just one department. With the
data entered into ERP systems being centralized and consistent, there’s no reason why
departments can’t work together, sharing information and collaborating whenever it is needed.
The software also touches on almost every aspect of a business, thus naturally encouraging
collaborative, interdepartmental efforts. The beauty of ERP software is that it updates in real
time, so no matter if you are using ERP software in the morning, afternoon or from a remote
location, the opportunity to communicate, share information and use data is always availble
and accurate.

5. Scalable Resource
Did you know? Structured ERP systems allow the addition of new users and functions to
grow the initially implemented solution over time. No matter how big or small your business
is ERP grows with it, being able to occupancy new users and new rounds of data whenever
your business is ready to expand. There is no worry about whether you will need a brand new
system once a new user or two needs to be added, simply make sure that the enterprise
solution that you choose is able to grow with your business because ERP should be able to
facilitate that growth.

6. Integrated Information
Enterprise resource planning software acts as a central hub for all of the important
information that your business and the departments within it need to maintain daily business
practices and operations. No more issues with data spread across separate databases; all
information will be housed in a single location. This means you can integrate platforms like
your CRM software with the ERP system, keeping data consistent, accurate, and unique.
Know your customer, their orders, and your inventory, all in one place. There is also no need
to worry about whether the information that you are using from the system is accurate, since it
is updated in real time across the board. This improves your data accuracy, which eliminates
making potential business mistakes with false data and analytics.

23
7. Cost Savings
With every business, you want to be smart with your financials and avoid making costly
mistakes that could hurt your business in the end. With one source of accurate, real-time
information, enterprise resource planning software reduces administrative and operations
costs, allows businesses to utilize money in other, much needed areas. It allows manufacturers
to proactively manage operations, prevents disruptions and delays, breaks up information
logjams and helps users make decisions more quickly. If you’ve chosen the right solution for
your business, and the right vendor who meets your needs, you’re bound to see a powerful
ROI. ERP software is available to help you become smarter about saving and spending when
necessary.

8. Streamlined Processes
As manufacturers grow, their operations become more and more complex, which
unfortunately increases the opportunity for costly mistakes to be made. Manufacturing
software automates business operations cross-departmentally, providing accurate, real-time
information to everyone utilizing the solution, all while eliminating manual duty, which often
has the potential to lead to errors. ERP increases efficiency and productivity by helping users
navigate complex processes, preventing data re-entry, and improving functions such as
production, order completion and delivery. Streamlined, efficient processes throughout.

9. Mobility
An advantage of enterprise resource planning software is its ability to make users the center of
its attention, providing deployment styles that will give on the road sales reps the same
opportunities as in-office users to use ERP whenever and wherever they need. With
WorkWise ERP software, users have access to a centralized database from anywhere you
work and from different devices including your laptop, tablet or cell phone. The adaptability
of a ERP software is crucial, as it increases productivity and makes information accessible no
matter where you are. Do you often have time sensitive projects that have hard deadlines? Use
ERP at home, in the office, wherever, through our mobile-friendly solution and application.

10. Customized Reporting

ERP software helps make reporting easier and more customizable, fit to meet all of your
needs. With improved reporting capabilities, your company can respond to complex data
requests more easily. This improves productivity, completes process faster and helps to close
out projects without large wait times in between. Users can also run their own reports without
relying on help from IT, saving your users time to use toward other projects.

11. Increased Productivity

Save time and increase productivity levels. Sound too good to be true? It’s not with ERP
software’s automation and streamlining capabilities. Often times, when tedious tasks take up
much needed business time, there can be a delay in production, which can effect your
business and even the customer service experience. By having redundant processes
automated, users have more time to work on other time sensitive, pressing projects and tasks

24
 that may truly require more of your attention and time. Users will also be able to work easier
since the solution was designed for ease-of-use. ERP was designed with ease of use in mind,
as well as giving business a break from long winded tasks, allowing you to shift your focus
toward other matters.

12. Regulatory Compliance

A benefit of ERP software, which often times goes unnoticed, is how it ties well into
regulatory compliance within the manufacturing industry. Powerful ERP solutions are
designed to keep track of regulations within the industry and monitor changes in compliance.
This allows users, and businesses at large, to stay abreast with laws, regulations, guidelines
and specifications as it relates to business processes.

13. Flexible Systems

Modern ERP software systems are robust, flexible, and configurable. They are not a one-size-
fits-all proposition but can be tailored to the unique needs of a business. ERP systems also can
adapt to the ever-changing needs of a growing business, ensuring you won’t have to buy a
new solution once your needs change or your business grows. When implementing the ERP
software of your choice, it is important to make sure that you can customize applications and
suits, so that your system has every function needed in order to assist with daily business
operations. Make sure that your ERP system can grow as your business grows, allowing you
to add new users when and if needed. ERP’s flexibility also goes into how it is implementing,
which can be done in either your choice of the cloud or on-premise.

14. Customer Service

It’s easier to provide high-quality customer service using an enterprise solution, especially
when you’re using one as well-equipped as WorkWise ERP. Sales and customer service
people can interact with customers better and improve relationships with them through faster,
more accurate access to customers’ information and history. You’ll also have access
to marketing automation and contact center software, ensuring your customers are being
interacted with consistently. Additional features including lead scoring, which helps with
searching for leads to move through the sales pipeline, social media monitoring and email
campaigning, which allows users to track the status of their campaigns. WorkWise ERP also
integrates with CRM, which is designed to strengthen the relationship between a business and
its customers.

15. Data Reliability

ERP provides reliable data that can be accessed from different locations (if implemented in
the cloud) and through multiple devices including tablets and smartphones. With the ability to
update in real time, ERP improves data accuracy and consistency. With this, users can ensure
that all data and analytics are safe to use, without running the risk of errors. ERP user data can
also have additional security through firewalls and built-in protection resources. Improved
security removes the risk of important business information getting into the hands of the
wrong person. Both accuracy and safety are key with WorkWise ERP software.

25
 Some security features are included within an ERP system to protect against both outsider
crime, such as industrial espionage, and insider crime, such as embezzlement. A data-
tampering scenario, for example, might involve a disgruntled employee intentionally
modifying prices to below-the-breakeven point in order to attempt to interfere with the
company's profit or other sabotage.
ERP systems typically provide functionality for implementing internal controls to prevent
actions of this kind. ERP vendors are also moving toward better integration with other kinds of
information security tools.( https://www.workwisellc.com/)

26
 Disadvantages of ERP
Problems with ERP systems are mainly due to inadequate investment in ongoing training for the
involved IT personnel - including those implementing and testing changes - as well as a lack of
corporate policy protecting the integrity of the data in the ERP systems and the ways in which it
is used.

Disadvantages

1. The cost of ERP Software, planning, customization, configuration, testing, implementation,

etc. is too high.
2. ERP deployments are highly time-consuming – projects may take 1-3 years (or more) to get
completed and fully functional.
3. Too little customization may not integrate the ERP system with the business process & too
much customization may slow down the project and make it difficult to upgrade.
4. The cost savings/payback may not be realized immediately after the ERP implementation &
it is quite difficult to measure the same.
5. The participation of users is very important for successful implementation of ERP projects –
hence, exhaustive user training and simple user interface might be critical. But ERP systems are
generally difficult to learn (and use).
6. There maybe additional indirect costs due to ERP implementation – like new IT
infrastructure, upgrading the WAN links, etc.
7. Migration of existing data to the new ERP systems is difficult (or impossible) to
achieve. Integrating ERP systems with other stand alone software systems is equally difficult (if
possible). These activities may consume a lot of time, money & resources, if attempted.
8. ERP implementations are difficult to achieve in decentralized organizations with disparate
business processes and systems.
9. Once an ERP systems is implemented it becomes a single vendor lock-in for further
upgrades, customizations etc. Companies are at the discretion of a single vendor and may not be
able to negotiate effectively for their services.
10. Evaluation prior to implementation of ERP system is critical. If this step is not done
properly and experienced technical/business resources are not available while evaluating, ERP
implementations can (and have) become a failure

27
 Abstract
1. Purpose– The success rate of enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations is not
high in view of the sums invested by organizations in these applications. It has often
been indicated that a combination of inadequate preparedness and inappropriate project
management have been responsible for the low-success rate of ERP implementations.
The purpose of this document is to present a case study of a successful ERP
implementation.
2. Design/methodology/approach– We use a case study of a very successful roll out of an
ERP application in the Irish subsidiary of a UK multinational to investigate the validity
of one of the most commonly cited project management frameworks, the project
management body of knowledge (PMBOK), to ERP projects. Discussing each category
of the framework in turn, the case data to illustrate where the PMBOK framework is a
good fit or needs refining for ERP projects is used.
3. Findings – It is found that, by and large, PMBOK, because it is a very broad framework,
can shed light on most of the key aspects of an ERP project. However, the specificities
of this type of project require a different emphasis on some of the factors, as discussed in
the authors conclusions. The case analysis also raised some interesting insights into how
companies evaluate the success of such highly complex change management initiatives.
4. Research limitations/implications– The work of this case study will need to be
extended to cover other case studies of ERP implementation across other industries and
organisational contexts; for example in less tightly regulated industries and smaller
organisations.
5. Practical implications– This discussion will be of great value to ERP project managers
who are in the early stages of a project and need to understand and anticipate the areas
which will require specific attention on their part, based on their knowledge of the
specific circumstances within their organisational context.
6. Originality/value– This case study presents an investigation into the project
management strategy adopted in the Pharma Inc. case and illustrates the mechanics of a
successful ERP project implementation, categorised using the PMBOK
framework.(Carton Adam Sammon Research paper).

28
 Introduction to Project

A considerable volume of research has been carried out on enterprise wide systems and most
notably on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. This research has established that on the
one hand, significant benefits can accrue to organisations implementing these systems (Shang
and Seddon, 2002) but on the other, many implementations are not conclusively successful
(Holland et al., 1999). There is evidence that the degree to which organisations prepare
themselves for their implementation projects has a bearing on whether they encounter many
problems during implementation and ultimately, whether they achieve any of the benefits they
sought (Sammon et al., 2004).

It also appears that inadequate project management leadsto short-term solutions being applied to
the problems that occur during the implementation of ERP systems with substantial side effects
when systems go live (Saint-Leger and Savall, 2001). Previous research has indicated that the
scope and complexity of ERP implementations are different from traditional analysis and design
projects (Davenport, 2000) suggesting specific project management strategies should be
developed to tackle the specific challenges of such projects. In particular, it is argued that ERP
projects are often associated with the widespread “re-engineering” of business practices, whereas
traditional projects have smaller organisational “footprints” and are designed to match current
practices.

Here, we leverage our investigations of a very successful ERP implementation in a multinational

pharmaceutical company (Pharma Inc.) to gain an insight into the project management strategy
adopted to manage what was a successful ERP implementation. To facilitate the presentation of
our findings from this case investigation we use the nine areas of the project management body
of knowledge (PMBOK) framework.

29
 PMBOK Framework
The Project Management Body of Knowledge is a set of standard terminology and guidelines
(a body of knowledge) for project management. The body of knowledge evolves over time and is
presented in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (the Guide to the
PMBOK or the Guide), a book whose sixth edition was released in 2017. The Guide is a
document resulting from work overseen by the Project Management Institute (PMI), which
offers the CAPM and PMP certifications.
Much of the PMBOK Guide is unique to project management such as critical path
method and work breakdown structure (WBS). The PMBOK Guide also overlaps with general
management regarding planning, organising, staffing, executing and controlling the operations of
an organisation. Other management disciplines which overlap with the PMBOK Guide
include financial forecasting, organisational behaviour, management science, budgeting and
other planning methods.

History
Earlier versions of the PMBOK Guide were recognized as standards by the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) which assigns standards in the United States (ANSI/PMI 99-001-
2008) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE 1490-2011).
The evolution of the PMBOK Guide is reflected in editions of the Guide. The Guide was first
published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in 1996. That document was to some
extent based on earlier work that began with a white paper published in 1983 called the "Ethics,
Standards, and Accreditation Committee Final Report." The second edition was published in
2000.
In 2004, the PMBOK Guide — Third Edition was published with major changes from the
previous editions. The Fourth edition was published in 2008. The Fifth Edition was released in
2013.
The latest English-language version of The PMBOK Guide — The Sixth Edition was released in
September 2017.

Purpose
The PMBOK Guide is intended to be a "subset of the project management body of knowledge
that is generally recognized as a good practice. 'Generally recognized' means the knowledge and
practices described are applicable to most projects most of the time and there is a consensus
about their value and usefulness. 'Good practice' means there is a general agreement that the
application of the knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques can enhance the chance of success
over many projects."This means that sometimes the "latest" project management trends, often
promoted by consultants, may not be part of the latest version of The PMBOK Guide.
However, the 6th Edition of the PMBOK Guide now includes an "Agile Practice Guide"

Contents
The PMBOK Guide is process-based, meaning it describes work as being accomplished by
processes. This approach is consistent with other management standards such as ISO 9000 and

30
the Software Engineering Institute's CMMI. Processes overlap and interact throughout a project
or its various phases.

 Inputs (documents, plans, designs, etc.)

 Tools and Techniques (mechanisms applied to inputs)
 Outputs (documents, plans, designs, etc.)
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge — Sixth Edition provides guidelines
for managing individual projects and defines project management related concepts. It also
describes the project management life cycle and its related processes, as well as the project life
cycle.[4] and for the first time it includes an "Agile Practice Guide".
The PMBOK as described in the Guide recognizes 49 processes that fall into five basic process
groups and ten knowledge areas that are typical of most projects, most of the time.
Process groups
The five process groups are:

1. Initiating: processes performed to define a new project or a new phase of an existing

project by obtaining authorization to start the project or phase.
2. Planning: Those processes required to establish the scope of the project, refine the
objectives, and define the course of action required to attain the objectives that the
project was undertaken to achieve.
3. Executing: Those processes performed to complete the work defined in the project
management plan to satisfy the project specifications
4. Monitoring and Controlling: Those processes required to track, review, and regulate the
progress and performance of the project; identify any areas in which changes to the plan
are required; and initiate the corresponding changes.
5. Closing: Those processes performed to finalize all activities across all Process Groups to
formally close the project or phase.

Knowledge areas
The ten knowledge areas, each of which contains some or all of the project management
processes, are:

1. Project Integration Management : the processes and activities needed to identify, define,
combine, unify, and coordinate the various processes and project management activities
within the project management process groups.
2. Project Scope management : the processes required to ensure that the project includes all
the work required, and only the work required, to complete the project successfully.
3. Project Schedule Management : the processes required to manage the timely completion
of the project. Until the 6th edition of the PMBOK Guide this was called "Project Time
Management"

31
 4. Project Cost Management : the processes involved in planning, estimating, budgeting,
financing, funding, managing, and controlling costs so that the project can be completed
within the approved budget.
5. Project Quality Management : the processes and activities of the performing organization
that determine quality policies, objectives, and responsibilities so that the project will
satisfy the needs for which it was undertaken.
6. Project Resource Management : the processes that organize, manage, and lead the project
team. Until the 6th edition of the PMBOK Guide this was called "Project Human
Resource Management"
7. Project Communications Management : the processes that are required to ensure timely
and appropriate planning, collection, creation, distribution, storage, retrieval,
management, control, monitoring, and the ultimate disposition of project information.
8. Project Risk Management : the processes of conducting risk management planning,
identification, analysis, response planning, and controlling risk on a project.
9. Project Procurement Management : the processes necessary to purchase or acquire
products, services, or results needed from outside the project team. Processes in this area
include Procurement Planning, Solicitation Planning, Solicitation, Source Selection,
Contract Administration, and Contract Closeout.
10. Project Stakeholder Management : the processes required to identify all people or
organizations impacted by the project, analyzing stakeholder expectations and impact on
the project, and developing appropriate management strategies for effectively engaging
stakeholders in project decisions and execution.
Each of the ten knowledge areas contains the processes that need to be accomplished within its
discipline in order to achieve effective project management. Each of these processes also falls
into one of the five process groups, creating a matrix structure such that every process can be
related to one knowledge area and one process group.

Extensions
While the PMBOK Guide is meant to offer a general guide to manage most projects most of the
time, there are currently three official extensions:

 Software Extension to the PMBOK Guide

 Construction Extension to the PMBOK Guide
 Government Extension to the PMBOK Guide

Criticism and alternatives

The PMBOK is a widely accepted standard in project management, however there are
alternatives to the PMBOK standard, and PMBOK does have its critics. One thrust of critique
has come from the critical chain developers and followers (e.g. Eliyahu M.
Goldratt and Lawrence P. Leach),as opposed to critical path method adherents. The PMBOK
Guide section on Project Time Management does indicate Critical Chain as an alternative
method to Critical Path.

32
A second strand of criticism originates in Lean Construction. This approach emphasises the lack
of two way communication in the PMBOK model and offers an alternative which emphasises
a language/action perspective and continual improvement in the planning process.

The application of the PMBOK framework to ERP projects

One of the recommendations of the PMI is that although the PMBOK is generally accepted and
there is widespread consensus regarding the value and usefulness of the nine knowledge areas, it
does not mean that the knowledge and practices described should be applied uniformly on all
projects. Ultimately, “the project management team is always responsible for determining what
is appropriate for any given project”

Therefore, one issue of importance in this paper is whether this PMBOK framework is
immediately applicable to ERP projects. It is useful to consider to what extent ERP
implementations are like or unlike other IS projects. Prima facia, most of the salient points

Table I. Nine areas of the PMBOK

(eit
her good or bad) that have been reported about ERP projects in the literature, either in terms of
case studies or in terms of critical success factor (CSF) research, seem to fall naturally within
these categories. Thus, we can argue that there is a good fit between the PMBOK “traditional”
framework and ERP projects.

Reported cases of ERP failure seem to indicate that certain, particularly sensitive areas of
traditional project management require greater emphasis than others. eg, the specification of

33
requirements for ERP projects is often non-existent or applied retrospectively because
organisations are hoping to acquire ready-made solutions that embody best practice that is
directly applicable to them.

According to the PMI, project management is the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and
techniques to project activities in order to meet or exceed stakeholder needs and expectations
from a project. However, there are competing demands among scope, time, cost, and quality;
differences in stakeholders needs and expectations; and identified requirements (needs) and
unidentified requirements (expectations). As a result, it is critical to the success of a project and
the ability to address these competing demands that the organisation’s structure and approach to
the management of projects is a match to the objectives of the ERP implementation.

While an understanding of project management is beneficial, it is not sufficient, due to the fact
that projects and project management operate in an environment broader than that of the project
itself and the project management team must understand this broader context. For example,
managing the day-to-day activities of the project is necessary for success, but not sufficient

Here, we examine a case study of an ERP roll out in an American multinational involved in the
pharmaceutical sector. It is also investigated the perceptions of a project team responsible for the
implementation of an ERP package as the project progress through the stages of the project
lifecycle. Using the nine areas of the PMBOK to organise the case data we present an insight into
what happened and into the evolution of the project team members’ perceptions of the project
management challenges.

34
 Methodology
We present a case study of Pharma Inc., where a successful ERP implementation took place over
a period of time between early-2003 and end-2004. We followed the case study over this period,
and as a benchmark project it has considerable value in that it is perceived by all participants as
being a notable success, both for the implementing subsidiary and for the parent company.
Concretely this means that the system went live as expected, on time and within budget, and that
the project team were able to achieve a rapid ramp-up to full production volumes ahead of time
(seven weeks instead of the predicted nine weeks after go-live). This makes Pharma Inc. an
example of an extreme case in Patton’s (1990) classification of purposeful sampling strategies
and this justifies the choice of this case as a basis for determination of best practice in ERP
implementations.

1. The case study

The case involves a manufacturing subsidiary of a multinational pharmaceutical firm

implementing a single instance of specific technical skills (SAP) across a large number of sites
worldwide (refer to Table II for key information about the case). This subsidiary is what is
termed a “primary site” meaning that it produces batches of active ingredients to be used in other
“secondary” sites where the tableting and packaging of the drugs is performed. One feature of
this case study is that previous waves of the ERP implementation had only been carried out at
secondary sites. The manufacturing subsidiary studied here was the first primary site to go live
on the new SAP system, and this raised additional challenges that were not anticipated. Project
members from the implementation team studied here were solicited by the core team post go-live
to assist with the SAP roll-out in further primary sites, based on the skills and know-how gained
in adapting the global template to their local (primary site) requirements.

Table II. Key characteristics of the case study

organisation
2. Data collection and analysis

35
 In Pharma Inc., we carried out 26 interviews and distributed a total of 63 questionnaires over
four rounds. The fieldwork was focused on the local implementation team and the evolution of
their perceptions of the project management challenges as the project progressed from initiation
to go-live and beyond. Table III summarises the data collection carried out. An original facet of
the research method employed was that interviewees themselves were asked to define the key
strengths of the company, and then in subsequent interviews, as the project progressed through
the preparation and implementation phases, they were asked to comment on how ERP impacted
these strengths. This internal view of key strengths and their subsequent evolution is a method of
self-reporting that removed any notion of “putting words into people’s mouths” as the project
progressed. Researchers have been trying for some time tounderstand the low-success rate of
ERP projects by analysing retrospectively the implementation experience of practitioners in
terms of either CSF’s or business benefits accrued.

Table III. Summary of data

collectionTable III. Summary of data
collection
Therefore, in the case of the novice ERP project team studied in this case, we decided that letting
the interviewees define the criteria to be measured at the outset, based on their own expectations
of the forthcoming organisational change, ensured relevance and a sense of ownership of the
field data.

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 ERP project management at Pharma Inc.
The following sections report on the findings and important observations from the case study
organised using the nine areas of the PMBOK framework.

Project integration management/project quality management:

An ERP system involves a serious transformation process that requires fundamental change in
the way business processes are designed and conducted. Various methodologies have been put
forward to ensure the package is implemented in a manner that ensures the quality of the final
system.

Table III. Summary of data collection Project management 111 implemented in an efficient way
and the objectives are met. Most of these methodologies insist on preparing properly and
thoroughly from the chartering phase itself prior to acquiring or implementing any technologies.
The problem inherent in such ideas is that this is precisely the stage in a project where managers’
awareness levels are at their lowest and when they are least able to make key choices, hence the
recourse to external parties which, unfortunately are rarely independent and un-biased.

In Pharma Inc., the overall level of preparation was quite good at the local site, given that this
was the fourth wave of a global project that had already seen five manufacturing sites go-live
with the ERP global template. It was understood from the outset that the number one objective of
the project was process compliance, which would have an immediate impact on the plant’s
ability to withstand an audit from the industry regulatory body, the Food and Drug
Administration.

In this context, ERP was ultimately seen as a necessary cost avoidance investment. This was
confirmed in a survey question aimed at soliciting team members’ understanding of the expected
benefits to be delivered by the new ERP system. Table IV highlights the results of this survey
question from April 2003. There was a general acceptance that the benefits to be derived from
the ERP roll-out were for the “greater good” of the corporation, rather than any particular
advantage to be derived from the local site.

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 TABLE IV. WHAT ARE THE EXPECTED BENEFITS FROM THE ERP IMPLEMENTATION?

It is interesting to note that, at the early stage, team members were quite uncertain about the task
facing them and that they feared that SAP would jeopardise much of the work accomplished in
previous years in streamlining and optimising key processes. They perceived themselves as
being far ahead of other sites in Pharma Inc., particularly with respect to customer satisfaction, a
key performance indicator measuring the per cent shipments made to customers within the
commit date. Local management were worried that this global roll-out would impact their
customer satisfaction rating, their efforts in distinguishing themselves being therefore
nullifiedHowever, this impression was slowly reversed over the course of the project.

Table V.Level of impact of ERP on core

competences

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Wheninitially asked in April 2003 to list the core competences or areas of excellence that made
them stand out from other subsidiaries, respondents identified the following strengths: customer
responsiveness, innovation, new product introduction , “CAN DO” attitude, R&D (research and
development), implementation of new processes/technologies, manufacturing knowledge and
ability, project delivery track record/proven performance, and highly efficient and flexible
operation/quality. Approximately nine months later, just prior to go-live, they were asked to rate
the impact of the new ERP systems on these core competences. The results of this question are
displayed in Table V
This picture changed dramatically in the months following go-live, with a polarisation of opinion
around key strengths such as customer responsiveness and “CAN DO” attitude. Table VI shows
the post go-live situation in September 2004 for the same question. The relevance these findings
have for our study is that the rationale for ERP project implementations is not a static business
case, showing a monetary ROI after x number of years. It is much more closely linked to
company’s values, and the perception of impact on those values, among core team members
(who are arguably best placed to judge the impact), evolves in a negative sense over the lifetime
of the project.

At Pharma Inc., it is clear that a good deal more could have been done for local sites’ ability to
question and change a global template, if not the choice of package itself. multinational
corporations (MNCs) need to take into account the idiosyncrasies of local operations when
imposing a global corporate standard on critical business processes such as cash collection,
procurement, and material planning. By the time all sites had been implemented, the first sites
had been left behind and had to upgrade to the newer version of the package. Staff seemed
resigned to the fact that an ERP implementation is never truly over and that one cannot get too
comfortable with any business practice. In the case of Pharma Inc., an operational excellence
group, which had been founded well in advance of ERP to examine process improvements and
improve performancemetrics in general, was responsible for carrying out an extensive after
action review (AAR) of the entire project, which involved revisiting objectives 12 months after
go live to evaluate whether they had been achieved. A media rich presentation collating the
results of the AAR was published internally on CD and on the web. Indeed, this same group
plays a role of ongoing process improvement and its “mentors” are uniquely placed to advise
different parts of the business on how to get the best from the ERP system. As she put it herself,
the head of the operational excellence group will go “investigating” how to get information from
the ERP system, when addressing a particular process inefficiency. It is the researchers’
conviction that it is this “trial and error” approach to exploiting the vast richness of transactional
data stored in the ERP system, that will yield benefits in the years following implementation,
rather than bemoaning the lack of vanilla reports from the system and the construction of parallel
data warehouses to address specific functional reporting needs, so prevalent among other less
successful implementations. Indeed, this approach is evidence of the survival of the “CAN DO”
attitude, despite the perceived constraints of ERP!

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Project communications management
It has been observed that organisations find it very difficult to communicate internally, each
department viewing its information as its own and being reluctant to share it (Scott and Kaindl,
2000). Indeed, implementation team members discovered that it was easier to learn and share
experiences with people from outside their organisation than within intra-organisational teams.
This is where the primary benefit of using consultants to aid implementation is apparent as they
add value to the project by facilitating meetings and the open discussions of requirements,
prioritising issues and avoiding conflicts.

Thus, consultancy agencies are important in ERP projects despite the possible lack of technical
experience or knowledge (as in Wood and Caldas, 2001) because they facilitate open and only
two team members had direct experience of an ERP system implementation. This meant that
much work was done in the project preparation phase from mid-2003 to educate team members
on the background to ERP projects, the key challenges they would face as a project management
team and the communication channels that would be used to make decisions.

Following this rapid learning curve, with just nine months on the project and with go-live
imminent, team members were extremely aware of the extent of the changes that were about to
take place and for which they would have to take responsibility.

Table VII illustrates their response to the question “What level of change do you expect across
the main business processes impacted by ERP?” It was recognised at Pharma Inc. that dealing
with change of the scale implied by a new ERP system would require particular attention and
careful monitoring. In the case studied, an additional team member was hired from a local PR
company in order to concentrate on communication between the project team and the other
employees at the plant.

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TABLE VI. WHAT LEVEL OF CHANGE DO YOU EXPECT IN YOUR BUSINESS AREA?

As part of his effort he set up countless meetings, particularly with representatives of the unions,
where extremely sensitive negotiations with respect to changes to job specifications were
navigated to success with requisite care and attention. Furthermore, the project PR consultant
and his team published four issues of a special internal magazine, solely dedicated to
communicating project news, progress reports on achieving targets and on respecting key
milestones. This served as a channelto get across to employees outside the project, in an
entertaining way, what the purpose of the project was and why their participation was vital. In
addition, it introduced the project team to their future trainees, such that when time for training
came around, individual relationships were brought into play to encourage full attendance.

In Pharma Inc., the communication between stream leads was very good, but the communication
with the core team was very uneven, seemingly more dependent on individuals’ willingness to
communicate than on any pre-defined scheme. In fact, there were even some “incidents”
between members of the local team and members of the core team when local staff were able to
demonstrate that the understanding that core team members had of the local processes was not
sufficient. In any case, the nomination of a well-respected and experienced logistics director to
the role of implementation site leader ensured that the project team was given recognized status
and authority in the eyes of local employees, and a direct line of communication was opened
between the project team and the general manager of the plant Crucially, the political strength of
the project leadership gave vital support and encouragement to the project team in its relations
with the implementation core team. At a critical point in the implementation analysis phase, the

41
site leader threatened to pull his entire team out of the project unless the core team accorded
sufficient respect to his stream leads.

The affirmation of such “clout” at a vital early point in the collaboration between stream leads
and core team, laid the cornerstone for what was to become a much better working relationship,
as acknowledged by both sides, and contributed certainly to the success of the project.

Project scope management

Again, this aspect of ERP projects pertains to how well organisations are prepared when they
embark on their implementations. Davenport (1998) states that the single biggest reason that
ERP projects fail is because companies are unable to reconcile the technological necessities of
the system with their own business needs. A lack of understanding of the scope of the system
may result in a conflict between the logic ofthe system and the logic of the business. In complex
organisations such as MNCs, this requires a preliminary determination of what configuration will
be rolled out in the different sites – the template.

At Pharma Inc. the global template had been designed around corporate best practice. So the
parameters and options that were available to the implementing site were not a question of SAP
options, but rather a question of choices available under the corporate best practice template –
the global standard operating procedures or GSOP’s. It became clear that in order to negotiate
changes to this template, with a view to accommodating local requirements, new types of skills
would be required.

The discussion became a three-way negotiation between the local “stream lead” or subject matter
expert, the core team member who had an in depth knowledge of the GSOP, and a SAP expert
recruited by the local implementation site to advise on what was, and was not, possible with
SAP. On several occasions, the GSOP was lacking in basic functionality that the site required,
and yet the core implementation team was unable to suggest the solution because their
experience was limited to the global best practice template.

For example, core team members were unable to understand the limitations of a bulk chemical
dispensing parameter that did not have the required number of decimal places to record the
actual readings from the scales in use in the plant (the template having been designed for tablets,
not bulk chemical). The response of the core team, unacceptable to the local implementation
team, was to use the parameter as it was defined and lose the data granularity! The clash between
the two cultures inherent in Pharma Inc., the primary sites and their non-discrete processes and
the secondary or tabletting plants and their discrete processes, was the source of such problems.

Thus, the scope of the implementation needed to be re-examined to fit with the operations of the
local plant, and this necessitated the availability of advanced SAP knowledge to be able to

42
suggest workarounds. In this case study the scope was very broad (warehouse, engineering,
finance, procurement, production planning, production execution, quality, sales and distribution
and NPI/R&D). All of these modules were integrated in the new global process model, so it was
not an option to implement a subset.

During the project, two elements of the scope of the project emerged that were not anticipated in
advance:

(1) the amount of work that would be required in collecting, cleaning up and converting
legacy data into a format suitable for the new system; and

(2) the changes that would be required to the physical organization of the warehouse
function when the system was used to dispense material (primary sites are characterized
by non-discrete activities, the core of which is “weighting and dispensing” which is
critical for an ERP application).

Data cleansing became a huge issue for the project team, and a dedicated data maintenance team
of 17 full time equivalents ensured that data going into the new system was clean, valid and in
the right format.

Project time management/project cost management

Depending on the size of the organization and the scope of the project, implementing an ERP
system may take years because of the need to be rolled out across multiple sites, lines of business
and countries. In the case of global roll-outs at MNCs, project time management is critical during
the chartering, project and shakedown phases.At Pharma Inc., the four waves of the
implementation programme ran over a period of over five years.

In fact, the timescale of the global roll-out was so long that by the time the last site was up and
running, the implementation team had to re-start the whole cycle again in order to upgrade the
version of the system used by the original sites. Evidently, the length of implementation is
greatly affected by the scope of the project, i.e. more activity regarding modules, sites and
functions means a longer process. A large proportion of the implementation time is consumed by
customizing the package, so the length of time could be substantially reduced by keeping the
system “plain vanilla” and reducing the number of packages that require customization in order
to be bolted on to it , which has led software vendors and consultants to recommend a zero
modification approach that has nowadays become a de facto standard. This aspect of the
implementation represented a “lose-lose” situation for the implementing site in our case study:
on the one hand, to facilitate tight timelines, the number of specific requirements that could be
taken into account was non-existent.

43
On the other hand, the time it would have taken to analyze the new proposed business process to
understand their impact on the local organization was not sufficient, so stream leads found
themselves in the unenviable position of having to accept process changes without really having
time to validate them properly against local operations. Thus, the focus on deadlines (that were
defined externally to the project team) meant that team leaders had to focus acutely on being on
time at all stages. This sometimes resulted in critical tasks being left behind for the sake of being
on time. It seems that a proper balance must be found between being on time for the sake of it
and keeping all areas of the project as tight as possible.

Another aspect of the timing of large multi-site global roll-outs is the learning that can occur
from each site and the core team’s ability to take on board this knowledge in a way that would
make it meaningful for subsequent implementations.

However, the learning process whereby sites within the same organization can improve the
template based on their own implementation experience, such that subsequent sites might
benefit, is very difficult to put in place without losing control over the overall duration of the
project. This leads MNCs to sometimes sacrifice this aspect in the name of standardization and
expediency . This might explain why the local implementation team did not regard project
management as important initially.

At the beginning, the team perceived the required skills for the project to be knowledge of SAP
(38 per cent), process knowledge (27 per cent), existing systems knowledge (23 per cent) and
project management (14 per cent). This perception developed over time however, and the
importance of project management skills began to grow as the project approached go-live. It
needs to be remembered that none of the team members were “project managers” per se, and that
there was no systems integrator on board to carry the can for meeting deadlines.

Figure 1 shows how the perception of skills changed over time (in December 2003 and nine
months after go-live in September 2004). The increased importance of “Project Management”
“SAP Knowledge” and the continued importance of the “Process Knowledge” skill sets is
evident. On the other hand, “Existing Systems Knowledge” and “Data Knowledge” is perceived
to be less important.

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FIGURE 1. WHAT SKILLS ARE MOST IMPORTANT IN THIS ERP PROJECT? (DECEMBER 2003 VS
SEPTEMBER 2004)

Like most software, ERPs are priced on the functionality of the system and the number of users
who will access it. Organizations are also required to invest inmigrating data, modifying existing
systems and overhauling hardware and network infrastructure. With the global roll-out of a
corporate template the cost equation is a little more complex with the local per user license fee
probably being managed through a global contract with the corporation. The costs of the core
team are, in addition sunk in the corporate project budget.

On the other hand, the local site manager of the project had to fund the local resource bill for the
project: secondment (and back-filling) of his stream leads for 12 months, the hiring of additional
resources for data cleansing and the hiring of SAP. In addition, the infrastructural costs to set the
team up were considerable. This does not include training, travel and administrative costs. In the
case study, the project budget was externally decided, which did not prevent some of the local
teams to come in under their allocations.

The organisationminimised training costs by training “super-users” some of which came from
the data maintenance team, who were then used to train the rest of the local site workforce. An
extensive training programme was put in place to ensure that all staff were provided with

45
training, no matter what shift pattern they worked. It was perceived as vital for the success of the
project that training was undertaken by internal resources. Extra care went into planning for this,
with mobile modular space being rented and set up in a corner of the car park to create a
temporary dedicated “training centre”.

Project human resource management

An ERP implementation is a major undertaking, which requires management to assemble the
best possible team to plan, execute and control the project. This implies reassigning the few
people who are most likely to be missed from their duties to the ERP project team on a full time
basis (Maher, 1999). It is not rare to find functional areas reluctant to sacrifice their best
resources to the project.

However, this is adifficulty which must be overcome . The fact that teams must be cross-
functional is an added difficulty especially in organisations with no culture of working across
functional areas and no experience of such large projects. Frequently, companies do not fully
comprehend the impact of choosing the internal employees with the correct skill set. The right
employees for the team should not only be experts in the company’s processes but also be
knowledgeable of the best business practices in the industry.

At Pharma Inc., following the nomination of a high profile site manager, selecting and obtaining
competent stream leads was the next key element of what was to be a winning combination.
From the outset, the scale of the undertaking was appreciated and the calibre of the team
members was commensurate with the seriousness of the task ahead. All team members were
reasonably senior with on average 10-15 years experience in the business. All team members
were full time on the project whether for the entire duration of the project or for shorter periods.
At key times in the project, staff were added to the team for specialised tasks such as data
conversion, training or desktop deployment, such that the team grew to more than 100 at certain
times. Although no external consultants were used, an important “cross functional” advantage
emerged from the mix of people engaged on the team. As the stream leads were “old hands” in
the business, not only were they acquainted with one another, but they also had an intuitive grasp
of the complexities in areas of the business other than their own particular domain. With systems
as integrated as ERP, project team members have to always bear in mind the upstream and
downstream effects of choices and configuration options they make as the project progresses.

One of the key success factors of the project was the team’s ability to work together, and to
draw on the individual experience and authority across different functions in making key design
decisions. The inclusion of an “integration specialist” charged with anticipated the impact in
other areas of decisions made in each area was another key aspect.

46
Another unique element of the constitution of the local project team was the pre-meditated
pairing of, as one team member out it, “experience and energy” in each of the process streams.
Stream leads were allocated graduate level resources to work on data cleansing in each
functional area, and this combination obviated the need to hire in expensive consultants, and
created a pool of enthusiastic resources highly suitable to the task of training users when that
time came closer to go-live. add a final point, stating that team morale is a vital component for
the success of the project.

It was no coincidence that the team in our case study functioned in a harmonious manner: the
site manager was at all stages attentive to the “spirit” of the team, monitoring formally and
informally the morale of the troops, such that, even if the timeline was punishing, team members
felt they were recognised for their efforts and could let off steam whenever the stress became too
much. Team members were accorded “duvet days” if it was felt that the unforgiving schedule
was beginning to impact negatively on performance. It would be the researchers’ view that this
factor is more in line with a personal style of management than an ERP success factor. Getting
the best out of a team of volunteers is a challenge in many walks of life, and good leadership will
always pay off in the end.

Project risk management/project procurement management

Implementing an ERP system requires a radical change in the business processes of
organisations, radical change means risks and risks mean more time and money.ERP systems are
complex and they require reliance on many different types of expertise, which may also need to
be sourced outside the organisation. Good, experienced consultants are difficult to find, thus
employing a consultancy firm is no guarantee that the project will be a success.

Organisations, which have trained their employees in the art of ERP implementation, stand a
great risk of loosing their investment because personnel with such experience are in great
demand by consulting agencies. Our case study showed a unique willingness to “go it alone”
with respect to integration partners. There were no consultants employed in the local
implementation team. SAP were hired into the team on contracts to bolster the team without the
exorbitant expense of paying consultants day rates. The net effect was that costs were minimised
and control was optimised.

Another consequence was that there was no one else to blame in case something went wrong. In
the opinions of the interviewees, this was actually an added benefit that all responsibility for the
implementation of the package was internal, making the site autonomous and better able to
validate the quality of what would ultimately be delivered.

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 Conclusion
Our investigation into the project management strategy adopted in the Pharma Inc. case under
the nine headings of the PMBOK framework illustrates one vision of what could be termed “best
practice” in terms of ERP implementation. In particular, it shows the importance of project
governance and the need for a multi-level structure spanning both the corporate and local levels.

Indeed, these governance structures ensured that the ERP project maintained focus in terms of
direction, reduced the possibility of delays and rework due to the fact that timely problem
resolution could be carried out. Overall, these structures supported timely decision making in an
effort to minimise the impact, or avoid the possibility, of risks on the project. It also shows the
crucial importance of the proper selection of team members and the need for a high profile team
leader even at the local level. Being able to call on specific local skills at different points in the
project, whether they were application focused or business focused, was a strong factor in the
success of the implementation.

On a more technical basis, it suggests that a dual cycle of exploration/negotiation leading to a

stable corporate template on the one hand and execution/roll-out on the other hand could greatly
boost the success rate of ERP projects. In relating the areas of ERP project management to
specific stages of the ERP development lifecycle, attention is drawn to specific areas that need to
be emphasised at different times. Project managers need to be persuaded that any unclear area
not resolved in the exploration cycle will need to be tackled in the implementation stage or else
there is a risk that it might get left behind and only re-emerge post go-live with disastrous
consequences.

In relation to the creation of the template of the ERP, it is certain that differences in expertise
and cultures within MNCs (e.g. primary vs secondary sites in our case study) cause many
additional problems which require substantial re-works and workarounds. However, even in this
very positive case, some aspects remain open to criticism. In particular, the need for balance
between attention to local specificities and the need to standardise business processes and stay on
schedule seems to be very difficult to find.

In a MNC, the corporate level is strong enough to impose its rules but the cost at local level in
terms of motivation lost and inefficiencies must be understood. Also, theneed to preserve
learning in each roll-out so it can benefit to all sites, but also in the following phases of the roll
out is critical and was neglected in Pharma Inc. This research brings us closer to an ERP-specific
project management for large organisations. It also suggests a novel approach to using the
perceived strengths of the organisation as a barometer for the impact of such transformational
systems, such as ERP. Further, case studies are planned to assemble a complete set of best
practice recommendations for future ERP project managers.

48
However, a potential weakness in the current methodology is that the pharmaceutical sector is
highly regulated; therefore business functions are very familiar with the bureaucratic constraints
imposed by external bodies in terms of quality, safety, traceability and transactional integrity.
“90 per cent of the errors in batch manufacturing are around documentation” is how it was
described by one corporate manager. This puts the organisation at an advantage when
implementing a highly integrated suite of applications where new control processes will perhaps
find acceptance more quickly than in a less regulated manufacturing environment. In fact,
looking at a sample of such implementations in a less regulated organisational environment,
through the lens of the PMBOK framework, would constitute a further step in validating the
findings of this study.

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4.CRM :www.searchdatamanagement.techtarget.com(Page 17)
5.Access Control :www.tedsystems.com(Page 19)
6.Advantages of ERP :www.workwisellc.com(Page26)
7.Abstract: Carton Adam Hammock Research Paper(Page 28)
8.PMBOK Framework:www.wikipedia.org(Page 32)

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