Tag Archives: ERP Training
The Snowball Effect: Documentation and Training for Global ERP Systems

The Snowball Effect: Documentation and Training for Global ERP Systems

by on March 14, 2012 in ERP Training, system implementation training, Training Development

Once upon a time, a major manufacturing company implemented SAP to handle all of their North American operations. Several years passed and the company implemented new SAP modules and fine-tuned existing modules. Everything was working well and they were getting a good return on their system investment. Finally, it was time to start bringing the wonder of SAP to the company’s global operations.

The company was smart and planned a phased global implementation over several years. First they went to countries south of the border where a different language was spoken by many. So, the company scribes (Instructional Designers and Documentation Specialists) and their SMEs created materials in their native tongue and sent them along to another company to translate into the 2nd language. But alas, the screen shots were still in the 1st language! The translators did not know SAP and the scribes did not know the …

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Collaborative Learning in Spite of Organizational Walls – June #LCBQ

Collaborative Learning in Spite of Organizational Walls – June #LCBQ

by on June 8, 2011 in LCBQ

How do we break down organizational walls when it comes to learning? That’s the Learning Circuits Big Question for the month of June. I’ve thought about this question off and on for about a week now, and it is time to put pen to paper, or rather hands to keyboard.

As I considered this question, my thoughts kept returning to two of my long-term clients. One is a large international food manufacturer for whom I’ve designed and developed many SAP training programs over the past decade. The other is a national organization that promotes the safe distribution and use of a popular and versatile alternative fuel. The work for this client has involved the redesign and development of a national training program for employees of companies who sell the alternative fuel.

In the case of the first client, organizational walls abound, even within individual departments at times. But for the most part, they …

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Organizational Change Management Cited – Again – as Key Contributor to ERP Failure

Organizational Change Management Cited – Again – as Key Contributor to ERP Failure

by on April 5, 2011 in ERP Training, Organizational Change Management, Project Management/Project Delivery, system implementation training

In his IT Project Failures blog, Michael Krigsman frequently discusses the importance of change management, communication, and training in successful ERP implementations.  In a recent post, he cites a recent poll by Panorama Consulting, in which IT executives are asked about the “deadliest sin” of ERP implementations.  Organizational change management, as usual, is right near the top of the list:

A major contributor to the importance of change management stems from the impact on workers’ job roles, and the degree to which those changes can affect their careers.  In another post, Krigsman writes:

Communications in [the context of ERP implementation] means explaining the business impact of technology decisions to a non-technical audience. That impact likely includes process changes that may affect employees in a variety of ways. For example, a new CRM or ERP system can change workers’ jobs, roles, and even dictate future employment status. Obviously, these changes have

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Supercomputer’s Win on Jeopardy: Little Comfort to Those Implementing Enterprise Computer Software

Supercomputer’s Win on Jeopardy: Little Comfort to Those Implementing Enterprise Computer Software

by on March 1, 2011 in ERP Training, system implementation training

IBM’s supercomputer Watson made big news last week by defeating two of the world’s best-ever Jeopardy contestants, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.  In fact, the competition wasn’t close; the computer came away with nearly four times as much money as the closest nearest competitor.

I don’t think I’m alone, however, in being unimpressed with this development.  The fact that a computer can win a trivia contest that relies on fast reflexes and fast information retrieval doesn’t seem much like news to me.

A lot of people, apparently, agree.  Matt Blum at GeekDad wrote an article this week called Why Watson’s Jeopardy Win is Mostly Meaningless saying:

IBM’s supercomputer software Watson’s win on the game show Jeopardy! is little more than a publicity stunt. Its value as a scientific experiment is roughly on par with grade school students showing what happens when you soak a tooth in Coke or add salt to a plant’s

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