Mid Term Exam Name Instructor Enterprise Resource Planning Date Question 1: Advantages, Disadvantages, and Lessons Learned Research a company that has implemented an ERP system. Please outline the advantages, disadvantages, and lessons learned. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have transformed the way organizations are doing business. By integrating business processes, companies share common data and practices across the enterprise and produce and access information in a real-time environment. Benefits from an ERP implementation include expense reduction and improved customer service, often providing a competitive edge.
In addition, when CEMEX began expanding abroad, they used PMI teams to streamline a new firm, identify and retain talent, and adopt the key standards of CEMEX's business model. This ensures that their subsidiaries are working in the same fashion as the home plant. CEMEX ws also able to reduce their costs by incorporating new technology, which allowed them to maximize knowledge to everyone in the company, and allow operations to flow more smoothly. In addition, concentrating their focus on other countries can help ensure stable revenues, such that if their home country is experiencing a downturn in GDP, they can stabilize their sales in other countries experiencing GDP growth. Further, there has been a reduction on tariffs due to exporting their product.
Lean Systems maximize the value of a company’s activities by removing waste and delays. A lean System uses a JIT (just in time) system. JIT systems organize a company’s resources to realize benefits. The Theory of Constraints wants to improve performance by improving the bottleneck. The goal of TOC is to make sure the organization performs to the maximum level established by the constraints.
Supply chain management is the complex process of managing systems to ensure that products are where they should be when they should be there, while minimizing costs and creating opportunities for profit. It is the strategic linkage and collaboration of all departments in a firm that enhances the product flow through the firm, which eventually adds value to the customer. Firms can lower costs, positively differentiate their services, constantly perform value-added services, increase flexibility and responsiveness, and engage in constant process innovation by incorporating best-practice supply chain management into their system. Not all supplier-buyer relationships are equal in value, and therefore, it is important to segment customers based on service needs and develop the appropriate relationship for that particular requirement. Robert J. Trent discusses four types of relationship management in his article “Why Relationships Matter.” Counterproductive relationships have no value because each organization is working against the other, this is often called a lose-lose relationship.
Enhancing Absorptive Capacity Introduction The focus of my study on this concept of Absorptive Capacity is intended to develop a basic understanding of the concept of absorptive capacity as well as outline the key capabilities that a firm should focus on in order to enhance it. I will then recommend how this concept should be applied more effectively in my own company. A key factor in creating and maintaining a competitive advantage in nearly any industry is a firm’s ability to increase its productivity. Productivity improvements are a measure of efficiency, which is the result of experience that is developed through repetition of a process over time. This ability to improve efficiency through experience is a concept known as the learning curve.
(a) The most valuable investments in people were to enhance their communication skills, style and also consulting skills. And why it was so important because LFG wanted its people to sell solutions instead of selling products. Changes in organizations are more and more common. They appear at faster pace and employees are expected to be even more adaptable. (b) Leadership framework in LFG This framework had 18 sales competencies and 6 sales drivers and it had a scale of 0 to 100.
The new system could rectify these issues. Means to new sales The quality of service provided would serve as feedback into the new sales that the company would make. Reinforce position as market leader OTISLINE would signal adoption of IT practices by the market leader and thus create a paradigm shift in the industry. Q2. Analyse the risk and benefits of this project?
The company feels that this competitive environment has a single solution of internationalization. Hence, the company has not only expanded its business in USA but it has also gone a huge leap forward in making a mark in countries like Bulgaria, Hungary, Russia, Slovakia, Russia and also Czech Republic. In India, Whirlpool has made a name for itself. The company has come up with a variety of products so as to suit the dynamic environment at both local and international levels. But as we know, a larger return would only come from a bigger risk, there are also various amounts of risks associated with the company's proceedings.
The rationale behind implementing such a marketing strategy is that the company can better satisfy the needs of segments of similar customers. It can design slightly different products for different segments and match promotion to the customers. By better satisfying the needs of each segment, the company achieves higher performance. One of the characteristics of a marketing plan is its marketing mix. The plan specifies a strategic mix of price, product, place and promotion that matches the characteristics of each market segment.
The research shows that Human Resource system, practice and policies can encourage employee’s commitment that can also increase the efficiency of firm performance. The article shows that there are two general dimensions of HR flexibility which consist of resource flexibility and co-ordination flexibility which can influence the firm performance based on HR practice and strategy. HR resource flexibility is shows how the firm’s HR practices (such as training and developing) and employee capabilities operating in the firm. HR co-ordination is to show how the firm hiring and deploying employees to meet the firm’s goal. This article shows the important steps and strategy of flexible firm operation that helps to increase competitiveness and gain opportunity in the business