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Memorandum To: Carl Neun CFO Tektronix, Inc. From: xxxxxxxxxx MIS Associates Consultant Team Date: 01/10/2004 Subject: Analysis and Recommendation for standardizing business practices to adhere to a common model We at MIS Associates have spent a great deal of time studying each of the three divisions at Tektronix, Inc. from several perspectives; employees, customers, suppliers, and executive level. This has allowed us to gain objective insight into your business goals and objectives, corporate culture, customer perception, and obstacles in the current environment that hinder growth and create extraneous processes throughout the supply chain. Our assessment highlights shortcomings of your recent Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) initiative along with a recommended alternate approach and other possibilities for future initiatives. Your blanket approach of standardization across the organization, based on your experience and intuition, has certainly yielded positive results in spite of the unorthodox methodology. Tektronix, as a result, was able to enjoy short term, as well as long term gains from a solution that has a universal “look and feel” throughout the organization. This provided end-users with an immediate benefit of a streamlined interface and a standard platform to grow from versus the amalgamation that accumulated over the years. The “one-size-fits-all” concept encompassed most of your business requirements with a relatively small number of areas that required customization, which is an accomplishment in itself. The following analysis and recommendation is presented as an alternative to the chosen methodology along with additional recommendations for enhancing your ERP initiative. Problems Identified: The ERP initiative breached the high walls built over the years, layer by layer, as Tektronix grew and each division sought to distinguish themselves by emphasizing their unique product and service offerings hosted by groups of skilled employees. The impenetrable barriers made it nearly impossible to conduct business in a timely and efficient and prevented “C-level” executives from garnering an expanded, comprehensive view of all of Tektronix businesses around the globe. The institution of a standards based solution solved these problems, however the means by which the project was executed lack proper identification of costs prior to commencement of the project. Which resulted in cost controls throughout the course of the project, that could not realistically exist without a frame of reference. Moreover, the initiative did not include expanded capabilities or the future provision of such whereby customers and suppliers could become an integral part of the supply chain. This lack of planning presents a formidable task when the need to bring customers and suppliers is identified as a means of further increasing efficiency, accuracy, productivity, customer quality and satisfaction. While at the same time driving down the cost of doing business. Future–proofing should have been a secondary design criteria for the ERP project in order to include the “plug-in” capability for a complete E-commerce solution that would extend to customers and suppliers.
Approximate Word count = 1772
Approximate Pages = 7.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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