The Organizations Own Evaluation Of Change Process Information Technology Essay

The Organizations Own paygrade Of transpose Process Information Technology EssayThe main accusatory of this paper is to present the guidance assortment and logical argument treat swap in PLIVA pharmaceutical industry, Incorporated (PLIVA pharmaceuticals, Inc). In this question, the advantages and the benefits (tangible and intangible), as well as the problems, of the BPR and the ERP execution of instrument understands were analyzed, discussed and comp bed to the similar look into. The impacts of discipline technology (IT) were besides discussed. This study presents the results of look communicateed on reengineering wrinkle processes. It in addition discussed ab knocked out(p) the selected aspects of the line of merchandise processes and nurture mannequin in PLIVA, together with the results of abridgment of the status and characteristics of ERP establishments in PLIVA.Introduction lineament of ChangeThe type of the reassign in PLIVA is transitional transpose a nd phylogeny veer i.e., ERP instruction execution and BPR spews. Transitional deepen is more intrusive than maturational vary as it replaces existing processes or procedures with something that is completely spic-and-span to the company. The future of the organization is unk n admit when the transformation begins which depose add a direct or discomfort to employees.The outcome of transitional limiting is un cognise so employees feel that their job is unstable and their avow personal insecurities may increase. They provided knowledge on the impudently procedures should be commenced at each stage of the saucily process. This exclusivelyowed employees to feel that they ar actively involved and engaged in the turn. As an employees take quarry of engagement in the saucily procedure increases, their shield to variety show decreased.One of its main problems in craft vigilance was the availability of information. Until now the visible(prenominal) information often failed to give an accurate picture of the rate of consort occupation situation. Today companies need up-to-date information in dedicate to make the responsibility business stopping points.Impact of ChangeManagement is certain(predicate) of the impact and stress of these changes will enforce up on their employees. The company act to inform the employees of their status offer support in helping them hatch with the personal adjustments they will be phalanxd to make (Vuksic Spremic, 2005). The impact of development change caused little stress to stream employees as presbyopic as the rationale for the brisk process is clearly conveyed and the employees ar educated on the bare-assed techniques.ERP slaying signifi basistly impacts company culture, organisational organize, business processes, procedures and rules. Furthermore, ERP applications conflate many top hat business practices and much knowledge that could be worthwhile if include as a part of BPR rolls. By tak ing the best practices inherent in ERP applications, PLIVA can change their processes simultaneously with technological change (Vuksic Spremic, 2005). As a result, PLIVA has to change their business processes to fit the ERP schema readments, and the possibilities of ERP systems declare been used to underpin BPR.Background InformationPLIVA is the superst pharmaceutical company by turnover in Central and Eastern Europe and pushs to expand its operations with recent acquisitions of Pharmaceutical and RD companies in the Czechoslovakian Re universal, France, Germany, United Kingdom and USA. With increase bowel movements concentrating on the international Pharmaceuticals market, PLIVA has divested its cosmetics, food and agrochemicals outpution units as standal one(a) companies (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999).Since its 1996 listing on the London and Zagreb Stock Exchanges, PLIVA has do nonable advancements in internationalizing its business and implementing global and innovative st rategies. PLIVA is a rather unique company with investments in some(prenominal) research and development. With over 400 patents in its possession, PLIVA has proven the high drill hole of its RD capabilities, more or less notably by dint of the discovery of its blockbuster azithromycin. This macrolide antibiotic, glob all in ally known as Zithromax (under license to Pfizer) or Sumamed (PLIVAs brand), is the top selling antibiotic in its class (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999).PLIVA consists of 44 statutory entities, has 5 major business di fantasys (research, handsome chemicals, pharmaceutical, OTC, DDI) and 9 strategic/corporate divisions (development, regulatory affairs, finance, human resources, IT, tonus assurance, legitimate affairs, corporate converses and engineering). PLIVA employs al closely 7500 people in 33 countries (including cxx IT professionals not including out-of-house consultants), has 5 main production locations (Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany and USA) and 43 subsidiaries in 23 countries (Vuksic Spremic, 2005).Research MethodologyWe gathered information about PLIVA from divers(prenominal) gaucherie studies, white papers, and websites. We have read those cases and understood how did they through with(p) their research before implementing ERP and BPR projects. As the cases s sanction that they had sent some questionnaires to motorbuss of 14 variant companies in Croatia and got the feedback from those companies. We have discussed about the change process in the military rank section and how much time they have gravel for the research.Description of Change ProcessPliva need to standardise their business processes to help enhance their productiveness and flexibility and maximise the efficiency of the business processes across the entire shipprise. They in like manner wanted to implement innovative business and growth strategies to grow their business worldwide. Updating and integrating their business processes with an ente rprise system would enable Pliva to take on more business and grow in innovative directions. Pliva give that implementing use up will help them standardize their business and prepare for acquiring other(a) companies, thus enabling them to expand their business.Increase productivity remedy business process efficiencyIncrease revenuesscale for growth and frugalal recoveryprepare for mergers and acquisitionsPLIVA decided to solve this problem exploitation the birth of other companies from all over the world. The management team was well aware that there was no point in trying to find their own consequence It was bump to purchase a packaged business solution from an internationally renowned and experienced parcel vendor.PLIVA wanted user-friendly software that would integrate all areas and directs of their business, and research on the worlds software market indicated that the most suitable solution would be fatigue R/3. release R/3 would improve the efficiency of their bu siness by giving them the functionality to enter the information only once and have it available everywhere (Vuksic Spremic, 2005). This gives PLIVAA unique databaseMore efficient managementThe ability to make business decisions in historical-timeAn integrated solution that connects all business areas. at one time the decision to implement SAP R/3 had been made, PLIVA appointed a team to manage the SAPLI project (short for SAP and PLIVA). The team included experts from PLIVA, Intelligroup Inc. USA, SAP AG and SAP Hrvatska, HP Hermes Plus (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999).Since SAP R/3 includes many different modules, we decided to implement FI and CO first, said PLIVA.s IT Manager, Ms. Jasna Turkovic. FI is a crucial module that integrates all business information the whole business cycle begins and ends in FI. Once we have enforced SD, PM, PP, QM and HR, all our business processes will be managed by information technology and any information entered into the system will be available ev erywhere in real-time.The death penalty of the SAP solution took place in individual phases, with two modules in the area of price centre bill and profit centre accounting implemented in 1997. This enabled the divulge control of financial resources, forecasts and a recent type of analysis.During the process of implementation, one of the major problems approach by Pliva was opposite to the change process mainly by the warehouse employees. The reasons for the resistance, Vuksic Sprenic (2005)the employees feel they dont require complicated system and the change is unnecessarythey feel threatened and unstable about losing their jobs and lack of skill to use the new systemIn addition to resistance to change, the most significant problems in the system implementation were in the weak experience and quality of consultants who bid in the public tender, the lack of time and the specificity of the pharmaceutical industry.During the implementation of the IS, the consulting company Pr ice Waterhouse Coopers conducted a reengineering project, or the reorganization of business operations aimed at determining the mainstay sectors of future operations the core business. Though these were two fully self-sufficient projects, they were harmonized at the direct of the manoeuvre committee.The project team consisted of 25 members, all of whom were experts in their fields, said Mr. Damir Martinovic the SAPLI Project Manager. They were responsible for fashioning all operational and strategic decisions during software implementation. Experts from our consulting agencies helped us get the best results from peculiar(a) modules and consultants from SAP Hrvatska (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999) provided support with technical issues and the software itself, particularly regarding Croatian legal requirements.The process of preparations and employees tuition and education lasted 4 months in 2 shifts, which included 700 employees (average training period of 7 days per employee). The stir of operations to the new system (in the second phase of implementation) lasted 12 days, as the problem of chemise from the old coded system (taking over old data) needed to be resolved. During the transfer to the new system, operations were halted for 10 days, while inventory and a fine financial harmonization were conducted.During the implementation of the new information system, and in travel rapidly information systems in general, project organization with the usual participants stands out the project sponsor, steering committee, project teams, team leader, functional teams and team members.An interesting organizational solution used in PLIVA are the governing body teams, which are separate from the project teams, having the task of control the teams hold, measuring harmonization with business plans and goals and coordinate the cross-functionality of teams. The validation team is led by a person from property Assurance (QA), responsible for validating the informati on system.The members of the validation team are also team leaders for the remaining teams in the project. It must be also pointed out that the IT Department in PLIVA has a strategic face in the company. It is directly responsible to the top management and is organized as a profit centre, meaning that daughter companies are billed for the transfer, implementation and use of the existing IS in the daughter companies (roll-out in 2003 in Czech Republic and 2004 in Germany). Considering that PLIVA has over 1500 SAP licenses, a help desk, ABAP programmers, super educated employees (18 employees are SAP consultants) and an organizational management for user support, all the conditions have been set for PLIVA to become a SAP Customer competence Centre, which would then reduce the cost of license maintenance on 20%.SAP modules were implemented through 4 phases (Vuksic Spremic, 2005)1) 1996-1997. SAP 3.0 modules FI-Financials, CO-Controlling, BC-Basis components, UPGRADE SAP 3.0-3.1 H2) 1998-2000.Modules MM- Materials Management, PP Production Planning, QM-QualityManagement, SD-Sales Distribution, WM- Warehouse Management, HR-HumanResources, UPGRADE SAP 3.1H-4.0B-2000 (JAN) UPGRADE SAP 4.0B-4.6 C 2000 (JULY)3) 2001. Modules SAP PP-PI-Production Planning- Process industries-extension of PP module QM module-advanced functionality of Quality control PM-Plant aid4) 2002. International roll-outA organic re find of the information system match to SAP specifications and standards was also conducted, and the implementation of the following modules was planned in 2003 SCM- come forth Chain Management, BIW- Business Information Warehouse, Project Systems, and TreasuryThe Organizations Own evaluation of Change ProcessA research titled comparative analysis of program support information systems in Croatia was conducted in the month of November, 2000 to aid the companies implementing ERP by providing information regarding market status and allocation of expenses regardi ng training, development and other intangible and tangible aspects of implementation of ERP. The ministry of Science and technology assisted in compiling data for this research. The data was collected from fourteen companies who were in the process of implemented or had already implemented ERP. Ten other companies who were ERP users also move intod in the study. For the evaluation phase, only 25% of the companies participated and Pliva pharmaceuticals fell in this group.For thorough evaluation each component was studied individually and was graded with a range of possible scores. The relevance and criticality of the component could be assessed by its expressed weighted factor.With respect to the change concerning the business process reengineering, a research was conducted by IT researchers from the Department of Information Science and Business computer science of the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb (Croatia) in 2002.The main inclination universe, examining all the possible issues and problems which arose while alineing BPR practices (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999). A questionnaire was prepared and passel was deemed the most appropriate research methodology for this study since it involved a vainglorious sample space of 400 of the largest Croatian companies. To determine the largest companies their annual revenues were considered. other case study was conducted by Pliva on their own business processes. They implemented the ERP systems in phases by implementing the main key modules first and later upgrading their system and adding other modules (Al-Mashari Zairi, 1999).The results of the case study conducted by Pliva were compared with the results of the research that were done on ERP and BPR and the following results were concludedPliva had a proactive approach to the change process. The cause of PLIVA shows that successful implementation of the ERP system must be tended to(p) by an appropriate BRP project. From this example, it is possible t o conclude that the nett results are positive, even when these are completely separate and independent projects. This shows that much attention was given to employee training with the goal of achieving maximal flexibility and readiness for constant organizational changes. This long standing cooperation has resulted in an internal training program which PLIVA employees carry out tally to the methodologies of the Management Centre Europe. jibe to the research, the best supported components are Finance and Sales. From the results of the case study, Pliva disagreed with the research, for even though product formulation and management were implemented in the beginning, there were no significant problems and very sizeable results ensued. This indicates that good project management and coordination with the BPR project gives a good final outcome.The time taken to implement the ERP project was 3-4 years. The project was implemented in 4 phases. Although it was too long, the phase-by-pha se approach used in the case of Pliva could be assumed as the critical factor of successful implementation.Pliva faced problems with finding a good quality consultant, consultants with experience in implementing the SAP system in pharmaceutical industries.High initial consulting costs. However, Pliva realised that initial consulting cost can be rock-bottom by choosing employees to act as consultants.Although the project of implementing the ERP system and BRP project were independent, they were coordinated at the take aim of the project steering committee, which permitted proper execution of wide-reaching organization changes and contributed to the overall success of the ERP implementation.The results achieved by ERP and BPR projects in PLIVA improved the process execution in terms of time and costs and can be summarized as follows (Vuksic Spremic, 2005) decrease of overall inventory by at least 30%, thus increasing the coefficient of Turnover,Reduction of product delivery time to the buyer from 4 days to 24 hours,Reduction of the number of employees by 20-30% in functions where the new system was implemented (redistribution of work meant savings),Reduction in the number of complaints due to mistakes in delivery (complaints reduced to a minimum)Reduction of time of payment by 30% with the implementation of the buyers credit Limit.Analysis of Change ProcessLewins model has dominated change management theories for many years. In recent years it has been criticized for being top-down driven assuming a stable organizational setting being suitable only for small organizations and ignoring organizational politics. Lewin is still relevant to the late world, the argument goes rather than being outmoded (Litzell, 2005). From diverse and seemingly unrelated disciplines models describing the change process has been gathered and analysed. In tracing their origin it was put in that a majority of the models were following Lewins three-stage model (Litzell, 2005). In line of battle to figure out about a successful change of a groups performance the change must go through three stages as follows unfreezing of the present level of performance should it be necessary moving the group to a new level of performance freezing the group on the new level of performance (Lewin, 1952).Unfreezing Destabilize old patterns.The key is to create dissatisfaction with the existing situation, which in turn creates anxiety and a need for change. The response to this need is to require improvements in line with the vision of the new organization. This kind of mobilizing is necessary passim the change process a less intense force is needed though to keep the change moving than the initial substantial force needed to get the change in motion (Litzell, 2005).In the case of Pliva the management adds forces working for the change. To support it they tried to Develop a divided vision of how to organize and manage for competitiveness. (Litzell, 2005). The general manag er employed towards the vision once there was a core group like the validation team committed to the ERP and BPE change. The vision defined new roles and responsibilities, coordinated information and work end-to-end the organization.An arrangement working through the formal structure and systems will create less resistance (Litzell, 2005).There are only a few people in any situation that are suddenly essential in making the change happen and the successful manager target these people at the beginning and try to win their committedness and involvement (Litzell, 2005).Moving Analyze, handle and steerWhen one attempts to change a loving force field in equilibrium one has to consider all of the forces working to maintain this equilibrium. These forces may be groups, subgroups and members with different personalities, relations, barriers, communication and value systems etc. making up a social field. This social field has to be studied as a whole and shake up in such a way that so cial events flow in a different way. One also has to take into consideration the economic resources available and the cultural values governing the group (Lewin, 1952).As mentioned earlier, Pliva faced to resistance to change from their warehouse employees. But Pliva was proactive to the change process.According to brownish Harvey (2003), resistance to change can be managed by bunk from reactive to proactive managementBuild a launching planDiagnose the nature of the changeBuild a supportive humorBehavioral management of the processalongside strategy projects, start projects aimed at transforming culture and power structuresMonitor and control the parallel development of new strategy and new capabilities.Pliva continuously monitored and were on the lookout for arising resistance sources. They veritable techniques and effectively used power and communication to overcome resistance. They involved employees to participate and gave them the necessary skills and training. They also i mplemented a BRP project alongside the ERP project to facilitate change process.PILIVA generated support by displaying the behaviour of leaders. The management made sure that every action taken was in line with the change efforts. They developed structures to manage the transition by developing a step-by-step transition plan and set up an organization to manage and ready change. If employee competences are to be exploited the organization was able to structure and seam that competence which they required by allocating key people, use of consultants.Pliva followed the principal of thirdly party consulting by creating validation teams, which consisted of various personnel from different departments. with this they aimed at having open and effective communications and a standard level of power in order to handle resistances which could arise amid groups. They were completed to help understand different perspectives and ideas and respect it. The team would use confrontation as a tool to sort tense situations.According to cook Harvey (2003), Third-party Consultationuses a third party to help open communications, level power, and confronts problems between groupsProvides diagnostic insight, is non-evaluative, and is a source of emotional support and skills.aim to understand each others views/issuessituations are often tense and emotional meeting is a basic feature of thisPliva also adapted BPR in order to facilitate the required changes to their operations to make it more efficient. The fundamental rethinking and group redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed Quantum leaps in performance (Hammer and Champy, 1993). Business process reengineering allows rethinking and making radical changes across the organisation. The changes would begin by redesigning the basic processes of the organisation. By doing so they could make their processes more e fficient and add value to their enterprise. It could involve trust or removing certain activities. The most effective method could be using top down programme which is neutral, assuming that neither upward flow of involvement or consensus style of decision would help implementing the changes.According to Brown Harvey (2003), Business process reengineering,Seeks to make processes more efficient by combining, eliminating or restructuring activities exceed-down program that assumes neither an upward flow of involvement nor that consensus decision making will work to accomplish dramatic changes.Pliva used survey feedbacks as a method to evaluate their implementation process. Two surveys were done, one for ERP implementation other for BPR. This method would help them grade how successful they were and in force(p) feedbacks would allow them to see places where they require to put in more effort and improve .It also helps them understand if they are heading in the ripe direction. Using this method they tried to bridge the gap between the current status and the desired status. This method also allows a participative approach through which all employees are engaged. Such approaches help them get a better understanding of the rationales and methods behind the change and they can come up with better strategies and mitigation plans in case of any problems. It also enables positive resistance which can benefit the company.According to CMOE (2000), Survey feedback is a tool that can provide a feedback to help leaders guide and direct their teams. Obstacles and gaps between the current status quo and the desired situations may or may not be directly apparent. In either case, it is vital to have a clear understanding of strategies for diagnosis and prevention of important organization problems. lot PROCESS STEPSIdentify project plan and objectivesBrief team leaders and employees about the processAdminister surveyConduct interviews and counseling groupsTrain leaders on fa cilitating team discussionsAnalyse the data and require a reportProvide feedback to leadersTeam leaders conduct feedback action proviso and meetingsLeaders present reports on pass and results to sr. ManagementFollow-up by senior leadership to ensure progress and accountabilitySince the employers have been participating in the planning and implementationthey got a feeling of accomplishment from seeing the change through. Peopledevelop a sense of ownership through participation (Litzell, 2005). Participation enabled PILIVA to make use of the employees full diversity of competence in the change process. By involving employees in the change work resistance is overcome and the lasting of the change is ensured (Litzell, 2005).Refreezing around-the-clock perspective.A change of a groups performance is frequently short lived. The change will soon return to the previous level of performance as attention shifts from achieving the change to coping with everyday problems. This indicates t he necessity of including freezing of the new level of performance as an objective in the planning of change it is merely not enough having to reach the new level of performance (Lewin, 1952).Each department in PILIVA elaborated the change and find its own application. This elaboration process helped create commitment to learn and adapt to the new organization (Beer et al., 1990a).When the new organization was in place and running properly, and the right people were in position, and the new approach was settled, then general managers considered how to charge change.PILIVA carried out pilot testing and used the result as tuition experiences which can be applied to the change in general. They set up systems ensuring that the change will last (Litzell, 2005). They monitored the revitalization process and adjust strategies according to emerging problems.The basic intangible benefits from the implementation of the new ERP system inPLIVA are (Vuksic Spremic, 2005) offend visibility of the workflow systems and their coordination,Secured forecasts of money flows and planning of available financial resources for a more rapid execution of all business processes,Centralized supply (6-7 employees for the entire company) as a result of the BPR project. go bad (monthly) production planning (based on market needs and standing inventory)Better flexibility of the system with regard to business decisions,Automated warehouse (implementation of real warehouse with optimized selection and delivery of products)Well-informed decision making, new quality in planning and forecasting.Recommendation / ConclusionThe implementation of a new ERP system will not bring the expected benefits if it is not accompanied by a change in human behaviour and in organizational regulations.There is no point in implementing a new ERP system if a business will then simply continue with its old, inefficient ways. Therefore, the implementation of ERP systems must be accompanied by a thorough change of b usiness processes, procedures and rules.The top management support.Better planning before implementation of ERP.Vision should be communicated to each and every employee. rearing for the employees.They can follow some OD interventions or action research theories which we have discussed in this case study.After the research we have done on Pliva there are some recommendations for themAs when they are implementing they can follow some action research theories or some OD interventions to motivate the employees and make them to involve in the change. Yes but they got successful with the change but we say that it will be much better if so they had followed some organizational development interventions.Employees will naturally resist change but are more likely to accept the change if they view top management as keeping them informed and supporting them throughout the process. Employees will look for a rationale for the implementation of this major change. Top management should be prepared to involve employees in all phases of the transition.The results presented have outlined the problems of PLIVA in the implementation of reengineering projects, including a lack of preparation for large organizational changes, resistance to change, inadequate information, education of employees, lack of strategic planning and vision and a reactive role of the management. The problems associated with ERP solution implementation were also analysed, such as large initial investments, people need to adapt to software solutions and the long implementation period. This case study shows that with the right management decisions and actions, through simultaneous and coordinated projects of business process reengineering and the development of an implicit in(p) information system. The poor effects of the listed problems can be minimized or eliminated, which is clear from the tangible and intangible benefits outlined in this case study.