International Project Management: Leadership in Complex Environments

Introduction

If you go back in time to the 1970s and 1980s, there were few international software packages available. This was for a number of reasons. First, there were fewer mergers and acquisitions on an international scale. Second, the hardware, databases, and other technology were not sufficiently advanced to support the networking requirements for international applications. A third reason was the challenge of trying to create software that could fit a number of different cultures. The most successful software packages tended to be engineering, manufacturing, and assembly-type software that were technically rather than culturally or regulatory based.

The change came in the 1990s with the emergence of enterprise resource planning systems (ERP systems). There are today over 100 significant ERP systems; among the most prominent are SAP, Peoplesoft, BAAN, and J. D. Edwards. ERP and other enterprise software systems offer tantalizing benefits:

• There can be standardization around a region or around the world.

• Management can obtain information with much less effort on a more timely basis.

• There is increased communications among the various users of the software in the company.

Yet, many ERP implementations have either failed or been scaled back. These systems, in addition to the benefits, have the following problems:

• The cost of the overall implementation can be 10–20 times the cost of the software.

• Obtaining qualified consultants to support the implementation is a must. Few firms have had a successful international presence.

• It can be difficult to demonstrate the benefits of the system to in-country managers and staff—creating problems and resistance.

Most companies, however, either are involved in a region or globally seek to implement the same systems in as many locations as possible. Some of the operational benefits of the same software are:

• Simpler and easier sharing of information between locations.

• Centralized support that reduces the overall software cost over the life cycle.

• Capability to take advantage of improved data communications and networking.

• The pressure of e-business to automate transactions with suppliers, employees, and customers.

There are drawbacks in that the local regulatory and cultural factors are difficult to accommodate with the same software. In the longer-term future this situation will improve as software makers adopt object-oriented methods that are more flexible and can accommodate national and regional changes.

Multinational software deployment is complex. Here is a factor that affects this type of project: You cannot do it yourself so that you must rely on consultants and contractors. Now we are not talking about a few people—there could be 20–100 or more of these consultants involved in different locations.