Harley Davidson Software Implementation

1. Consider Exhibit 10 on page 22 of the case; does it include the factors you consider most important in the selection process? Which factors would you be inclined to weight most heavily?

An organization must clearly identify and document its needs and its vision of the future. They must clearly understand their processes, people and organization. In this case, Harley Davidson seems to know exactly what they want, how they want it and have taken effective steps in understanding them and the issues that may arise in the future. Exhibit 10 represents criteria which matches to their Business values and issues, Roadmap and needs. I feel it is a good idea to categorize the selection criteria into quantitative and qualitative, it helps to separate the values and numbers and gives a broader outlook to the selection.

To me, the most important factors for the selection process is whether the supplier meets: my needs, understands my business process, can provide training and support to my organization, experience, cost, innovation, is up-to-date with the current market trends and is compatible with my Business values. The criteria in the exhibit considers most of these factors and includes what I consider most important in the selection process.

1. Compare the approach in the case to the processes for implementing an ERP system discussed in Chapter 4 of the Motiwalla and Thompson text.

According to the text, there are many different ERP implementation methodologies promoted by different vendors and consultants. Harley Davidson did not just use a specific implementation plan like comprehensive or vanilla methodologies offered by firms. They developed their own ERP selection and implementation process. They laid out the framework and operational strategies for the implementation of the ERP systems by first introducing a corporate wide Supply Management Strategy (SMS) to get people excited and committed to start with the major systems project. The biggest difference I feel is that the company had managers in the decision making position as opposed to the Top Management. Their process is very similar to the Traditional ERP Life Cycle.

1. What is your overall assessment of Harley’s approach to enterprise software selection?

The purpose of the case is to critique the process of selecting an enterprise software to support the supply chain management process of the Company. The employees had experience with many different software systems but they did not have an ERP system. The managers knew the company strong culture and history, they structured the project carefully to create change in thinking before creating a change in software. They took surveys with the people concerned, understood the whole process and worked with their suppliers. The company has done a commendable job of and then moved from “Strategy to Action” and mapping of their processes with respect to people, processes and Technology.