There Is A Wide Variety Of Business Processes In Different Countries
Oct 03,2007 00:00 by admin

There Is A Wide Variety Of Business Processes In Different Countries

A business process is a business process, right? Yes and no. While many processes that do the same thing are similar, they are not likely to be identical. Take an office products supplier in Asia. They were directed by their parent firm to implement an ERP system. The system selected was quite rigid. When the system was analyzed, it was determined that there were differences in almost all processes supported by the ERP. As an example, the ERP does not allow products to be shipped to customers without the proper paperwork and transactions. In this country the paperwork always follows the shipping since there is a history of trust and confidence. In the end the ERP could not be installed—but not before over US$ 1 million was wasted!

Impact

If you don’t pay attention to the unique way transactions are carried out in various countries, then the project may be implementing solutions that will not fit in the specific country. The results of the project may never be able to be used. Rather than fight with headquarters, many local managers will try their best and then eventually give up. They do not want to be perceived as negative. The project is successful, but the results of the project fail. Overall, the result is failure.

Prevention

It is necessary to identify which business processes will be touched by a project. Then you can undertake to have each location conduct an assessment of the processes in their location. This will surface a number of problems and issues to be addressed. Do not stay at the level of a general business process. Instead, get down to the level of specific transactions.

Action

If you find that a business process issue arises, you should have the specific location examine the other processes that are touched by the project. You should have someone independent of the team do an assessment of the business processes as they will be impartial. They may also uncover ways to get around the problems without changing the project in a major way.