Harley Davidson Case

Study

Submitted By:
Noble Verma
2118276
Tektronix Inc.: Global ERP Implementation
Noble Verma

Q1. 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?

Solution:
According to me, Harley Davidson followed a very thorough and rigorous process in
the selection criterion for the supplier which included all the factors that are
considered most important in the selection process. Yes, it does includes all the
factors which I would consider to be important. According to me, the most
important factors that I would consider to weigh most heavily are project tracking,
receiving, supply management, interfaces, and training. These are mainly the core
functional areas and supporting areas which should be weighted high compared to
rest of the criteria. Apart from this, the others are just value addition areas which
can be weighed lightly.
I also liked the idea of how they have categorized the selection criteria based on
the quantitative and qualitative approach. Though all the 16 criterias mentioned in
the exhibit 10 are important, I believe the criteria that should be given more
weight are overall functionality, long-term relationship potential, and
Understanding Harleys requirement.

Q2. Compare the approach in the case to the processes for implementing an ERP
system discussed in Chapter 4 of the Motiwalla and Thompson text.

Solution:
According to the text, there are three major ERP implementation categories. These
are comprehensive ERP integration plan, middle-of-the-road ERP implementation
plan, and the vanilla ERP implementation plan. According to me, Harley-Davidson
did not just use the specific implementation plan mentioned above. However, they
built up their own ERP selection and implementation process by introducing Supply
Management Strategy all through the organization. They didnt want a full ERP
system but only wanted to redefine their materials management department which
included purchasing, procurement, inventory and supplier relations. They followed
a very thorough and rigorous process in implementing Supplier Information Link
Project (SiLK) to allow the organization time to become comfortable with this new
philosophy and to guarantee engagement and enthusiasm for Supply Management
Strategy (SMS). Implementing the SMS in Harley-Davidson, the company had
managers who were the key decision makers as opposed to the top management.

Q3. What is your overall assessment of Harleys approach to enterprise software

selection?
Tektronix Inc.: Global ERP Implementation
Noble Verma

Solution:
According to me, the company did a fairly solid ground work before implementing
their Supply Management Strategy. From setting the stage, to making people think
out of the box, to keeping the team members connected from respective sites, To
mapping the as is and to be procurement process and conducting a
stakeholder surveys to finally selecting the best supplier, I believe the company did
it all while also engaging the people throughout the organization. The biggest
advantage of following such a detailed approach is that it tends to make better
supplier relationships with the people which eventually would be of great use for
the company in the near future. Overall, in my opinion, the company had set an
excellent approach to enterprise software selection process.

Q4. What criteria should be used in the selection process? Why?

Solution:
I believe Harley Davidson Used the right quantitative and qualitative criteria
selection process to shortlist the best suppliers. 5 out of 8 suppliers were
eliminated based on architectural incompatibility, small size, or the suppliers who
rated themselves below 90% fit. After going through quantitative and qualitative
approaches, and also the individual opinions of team members, I believe the
company major focus was drilled down to criterias such as functionality, training
and support and cultural match.
After going through the criteria selection process and by allowing vendors to rate
themselves on the criteria set, I believe there could have been the skewness in the
data obtained from the vendors.

Q5. Based on the information in the case, which provider would you select? Why?

Solution:
Based on the information in the case, I would select provider 2 as the best
provider. Each potential supplier offers advantages and disadvantages. However,
Provider 2 clearly offered the best functionality with a 98.69% fit. It was a major
ERP supplier and was widely admired in the industry. Their major strength was
their product and that should actually be the number one priority in choosing a
supplier. I can understand the fact that Provider 2 was very formal and did not gel
up with Harleys culture but functionality should be given more importance over
cultural fit. As discussed in the case, if the ERP system is not fully functional, it will
give more problems than going an extra way to change the supplier culture. The
case says that the provider 2 representatives were too professional. Believe me,
Tektronix Inc.: Global ERP Implementation
Noble Verma

its easy to turn professional people to match the culture of Harley instead of
changing unprofessional people to act like professionals. As Cotteleer tells in the
case that its easy to deal with the personality traits of the provider than to deal
with the improper functionality issues. Provider 1s did not provide the required
functionality and their package did not provide web enablement. Provider 3 also
didnt demonstrate their functionality properly. They are also engaged in another
Harley-Davidson project but still, they were very unprofessional and their
presentation was a disaster.

Q6. How would you summarize for senior executives the reasons for your choice (in
2 minutes or less)?

Solution:
In my opinion, every company provided a strong pitch for their product and every
company met the requirements by more than 90%. However if we really need to
dig deeper to select the best, I would prioritize the selection criteria based on
functionality first by giving the most weight to functionality. My other forms of
criteria would be training and support and cultural match. Clearly, Provider 1
offered the best functionality. In my opinion, technical fit should be given due
importance and nothing can beat it. The cultural level of Provider 1 cannot
overshadow the lower level of technical fit. The cultural fit can be transformed to
match the culture of Harley-Davidson. They are the supplier and they are way too
professional. So its technically easy to get adjusted to a little laid back culture of
Harley as the case says. I understand, there would be glitches in the beginning and
both parties have to work hard but in the long run, once the culture is changed, the
ERP system would reap its results and benefits.
And thats the reason Provider 2 should be chosen.

Q7. What (if anything) would you have done differently?

Solution:
In my opinion, everything the managers of Harley Davidson did, considering the
culture they have was apt for the complete project to work. But in the eyes of Top
Management or from a very practical perspective, the time period to implement
this complete project was significantly high. In the real world, the requirements for
the project would change timely according to the competition or changes in
technology, so my concern is the managers should not end up designing
something that met the requirements that didnt exist anymore.