Speaker(s):   Mark J. Cotteleer (HBS) -- Recruiting Talk
Title:                Improvement, Synchronization, and Standardization Following Enterprise Systems Implementation

Abstract

After more than a decade’s effort and billions of dollars in investment, questions about the value of enterprise systems, such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), still linger.  This presentation will report the findings of two papers that investigate the influence of enterprise systems implementation on operational performance (as measured by order lead time).  The investigation takes place in the context of Tristen, Inc., a firm that implemented a common ERP system simultaneously across each of its three geographic operating regions. 

The presentation will address two questions.  First, did the implementation of ERP lead to consistent improvement in order lead times across the firm?  Second, did the implementation of ERP lead to a standardization of lead-time performance across the firm’s operating regions?  The presentation will include an analysis of more than 112,000 order transactions obtained from Tristen.  The data represent information on every order shipped by the firm for a period beginning one year prior to, and extending two years following ERP deployment.  A discussion of factors that may contribute to the improvement, synchronization, and standardization of performance follows the analysis.