Maximizing Return on Investment Using ERP Applications

MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

The first example is based on experience with a number of companies and draws on historical events that happened, but not all with one company. The example also has elements that are consistent with the results but are constructed to explain observations. They may have occurred as part of the story but could just as well have been the result of other equally problematic actions or policies. When we are trying to explain situations and how they came to exist, it is useful to understand the organizations as they existed when the current situation was evolving. This requires taking a process view of how the designs developed over time and usually under multiple leaders. This example, however, draws on real experiences and points out the value an integrated system can bring to enterprise risk management functions. It also, by pointing out why situations come into existence, provides insight into the challenges in taking them apart. Ultimately, it points to the reasons outstanding executives find themselves trapped in the cultural and political processes meant to serve them and without all of the tools to resolve the issues that entrap them, as we will discuss in Chapter 6. The political process in executive groups that renders this so difficult was well covered by Chris Argyris in his book Overcoming Organizational Defenses, in which he points out the reasons that highly effective executives fail to collectively resolve difficult issues.2 While true, the increase ...