CEPAS Reflection

After listening to the consultant’s presentation on the CEPAS initiative, to create an open environment that one card can be used across all systems, would do wonders for our society. Here in Singapore, we have a growing population and handling cash is becoming more expensive. Our society has shifted towards using contactless and contact cards for transportation and entertainment purposes, but many face the inconvenience of carrying multiple cards for different needs. As of now, the two cards do not work together, but by being able to merge the two interoperable systems, we will be able to greatly improve the flow of our people and also has the potential to increase our GDP. Not only will transportation see an increase we will also see an increase in traffic with banks and retailers as society move towards a cashless society.  While this may be a large undertaking for society, its future payoffs will be necessary for us to continue our innovation.   Both NETS and LTA will be able to distribute the CEPAS Smart Cards in various places so that users are able to use the one smart card. While, not all systems are currently using or cable of using this platform, we anticipate all users will be smart card enabled in the near future so that we can truly become a cashless country. 

CEPAS

Impact on Consumers, Card Issuers, and Society

In 2009, Singapore had two major card issuers with non-interoperable cards. Using cards for payments was becoming more desirable as cash handling began to become more expense and less efficient. The cost of handing e-payments was about a third or half that of handing a cash transaction and also a study by Visa showed for every 10% increase in the share of e-payments in the economy could stimulate GDP growth by as much as 0.5%. Also by having an interoperable system, consumers would have higher security and more choices of service providers.

For card issuers, the ability to have an interoperable card would ensure a level playing field for the parties involved.

Society would feel an impact of becoming a cashless society, something that the Singapore government was keen to promote. Also, the Singapore Society would be able to benefit by having all the information all on one card so that the card users could use the train or car/park systems with one card. In have two non-interoperable cards it would cause a lot of inefficiencies causing problems for the users of the cards.  

Who are the main stakeholders and what are their motivations/incentives?

The stakeholders in the case are the card issuers and also society. The stakeholders motivations and interests were incentivizing investment in supporting infrastructure and complementary innovations as well as promoting the adoption and diffusion of the cards by consumers and merchants. The intent was to move away from proprietary systems towards an open environment such that one card would be used across all systems, and the resultant level playing field could lead to more micropayment participants and drive down costs.

What innovations were needed in order for the CEPAS standard to be useful?

The innovations that were needed were the creation of the contact-less card ecosystem and CEPAS-compliant payment mechanisms. These would provide a platform for the next step in e-payments. Merchants would need contact-less credit card or CEPAS terminals.

How well was their initial motivation addressed?

The initial motivations were addressed with wanting to bring together multiple payment application onto a single smart card, enable greater synergy between applications and minimize resources duplication.

Where were the key risks of the initiative and how was each mitigated?

The risks involved in the initiative were having merchants being able to have terminals that accepted this contact-less method of payment.  Also, consumers would need to find a place to trade in their card and be able to receive a universal card that would be accepted for retail and transportation needs. Also security was a major factor in merging the two divergent systems. 

Bombardier Reflection

The consultant’s presentation to us on the implementation of the ERP was very thorough of what is needed in order to roll out full implementation at all of our plants. By breaking it down into the best practices it gave us a very detailed idea of the areas we will need to improve upon. Two of the major practices that must be worked are Change Management and Ensuring Senior Management Support. We have seen successes in some of our plants due to different elements, but I feel that using these best practices company-wide we will be more successful.

Having a complete understanding of the objectives and goals of our ERP being clearly defined at a high level, we will be better able to communicate our message to our staff to ensure a successful roll out. By having executives in the organization on the same page, we will be able to create a culture that will be centered on the benefits of the ERP. Doing so, will show our staff at all levels that we are united around this message and want to move forward. Having this knowledge we will also be able to answer any and all questions to our staff about the positives of the program and what it means for them and the organization.

In order to ensure our executive level staff is on the same page as well as the rest of the organization, we need to focus on Change Management. We will be changing things on the fly here at Bombardier. It will no doubt be a trying experience for us. We have people in our organization that have worked for the company for 15 or more years and they are used to doing things a certain way for that time. Whether it is a job process or who they report to, they are used to their routine. We need to isolate the individuals who are reluctant to change and properly train them to understand the reason why we are changing our processes. Again, this will be a challenge, but by having our executive level staff on the same page and training them on the positives of this new implementation we will be able to successfully implement this ERP at Bombardier.  

PMO Reflection

After examining the presentation from the consultants a move to start with PMO light and transition to PMO heavy would be the most effective for our company. Currently in our organization, processes are a bit more relaxed, but in order to move forward we need to focus on having more structure. Having this structure will help us find an identity, be consistent, know responsibilities and limitations, and also have a sense of authority. Implementing such structure will require a large amount of training. A lot of staff in our office have become attracted to our business because of our laid back approach. This will be a culture shock for most, but it will be necessary in order to move forward. The big shock will be the increased amount of administrative overhead, but with expressing it's importance will help in the training of our staff. If we decided to not use PMO we will see problems with project execution and management, which will result for future problems in our business. By switching to PMO as the consultants presented, we will be able to see more consistency in our projects and have a more uniform and structured approach. In the future we can increase the amount of PMO, but it necessary to start light and then transition to a heavy load of PMO.

Bombardier Case

Problem/Issue Statement

The problem in this case with Bombardier is that they have acquired different businesses and they have become a “Silo Organization” that has systems that are working inefficiently and they are not communicating with one another. This was causing problems within the different lines of business especially with inventory management. The current legacy systems that they do have in place are not able to meet the current demands they have in manufacturing and they need to look for better options.

Because of inefficiencies and problems, Bombardier was looking to implement an extensive Enterprise-Resource Planning (ERP) system in order to realize their strategic vision of improving visibility and also reducing cost in inventory in some of its branches, including their manufacturing divisions.

In previous years, Bombardier wanted to implement an ERP and they scrapped it after spending $130 on the project and it was discontinued because they were focusing the implementation on inappropriate business process, an outdated company vision, and a weak sponsorship model and insufficient involvement of internal employees. In order to change this and to successfully implement the ERP this time, Bombardier would need prepare the users and focus on change management and leadership.

Bombardier was able to create with the help of consultants the Bombardier Manufacturing Information Systems that would be using SAP. Bombardier was able to test out BMIS at its Mirabel location and found its success and also noticed similar success at its Saint-Laurent location. Bombardier wants to implement this BMIS at the rest of its locations and have it be used by its more than 27,000 employees.

Situation Assessment

In assessing the problem that Bombardier is facing the common theme throughout is the lack of communication in the implementation of the program having a large scale ERP system like BMIS would be very beneficial for the company in costs and also in operations. Inventory would be able to be reduced and it would focus on an amount on-hands rather than how much it cost to purchase. Also, since there are many parts of the business with its amount of branches and locations, Bombardier would be able to have everything in sync. Unfortunately, in years past, the company spent millions of a failed rollout because of communication errors. There were too many consultants, internal employees were not involved, and senior leaders had their own ideas of what should be done. With this new rollout, Bombardier focused on the employees and making sure everyone was on the same page.

Bombardier needed to focus on training its users because the last time involved very little in training and preparation. Even though this was an extensive undertaking, it was necessary so the company did not rehash some its previous problems.  For instance in the Mirabel rollout, 29 power users delivered 102 training sessions to approximately 1,400 users.

Along with communication and training Bombardier finally needed to have a clear vision that they could stick with. In the previous roll-out their vision was antiquated and did not mesh with what was being implemented. Moving forward, this new vision needed to be well-defined and agreed upon by senior leadership and also the rest of its staff.

Recommendation/Presentation

In this case I would make sure that the successes of the Mirabel location were highlighted. For instance, the improved communication and training. Show this against the failed rollout to highlight why this BMIS ERP is needed. Showing costs is also important factor in this, especially with inventory. The company has many parts of its business and manufacturing is very important. With manufacturing comes inventory and by controlling this number the company can have more leverage and capital. The company has been able to grow because of its acquisitions, they cannot maintain their acquisitions with their current legacy systems. By switching over the company can continue to be successful. Charts showing the costs savings and also a flow chart of the previous rollout and current proposed rollout would be beneficial in supporting the claims.  

AtekPC

1.       What is the purpose and mission of a PMO?  The mission statement defines achievable and measurable objectives and identifies the responsibilities, and hence services, of the PMO.

The immediate goal of the PMO was to establish the office and to prove its value. The general consensus was that the purpose of the PMO was to realize the benefits derived from consistent project practices. The benefits were expressed in a variety of terms ranging from IT improvements in project performance, efficiency, and resource utilization to enterprise improvements in cost management and corporate capability to launch products.  The responsibilities were not so clear and it was limited to IT projects. The PMO were divided into two categories: project-focused and enterprise-oriented.

2.       What are the main challenges and obstacles in implementing a PMO?  The governance model establishes the domain of control, its organizational level of accountability, and its authority.

AtekPC is an organization that was unaccustomed to consistent, disciplined processes, and standardization. Also implementing a PMO in a non-PMO environment went against the grain of the culture and many felt it was just administrative overhead.  Also, many people in the organization were against moving towards changing their process as they enjoyed their formal-free work environment and that is what attracted people to their jobs. Another issue was the lack of understanding at all levels about the value of formal project management.

3.       What structural and governance mechanisms are critical to effective PMO implementation?  The structural model determines its degree of centralization, staff allocations, and level of direct project management.

For effective PMO implementation AtekPC needed a way to measure success. Currently AtekPC went off of subjective opinions of those involved to measure success. Those involved viewed the current governance model as only temporary and AtekPC needed to have the Planning Office, IT,  and the PMO to have close interaction with each other.

4.       How much PM is enough PM?  How much PMO support is enough PMO support?  The cultural impact of the PMO on the organization is assessed by the receptivity to PM and the amount of organizational flux.

AtekPC needs to find the right mix of project management in order to move forward. It appears that the organization has a large amount of associates who are resistant to change and also there appears to be a disconnect in between departments. The organization is trying to navigate through some interesting industry changes and they need to make sure they protect themselves through these difficult times. The opinions of the staff seemed to be mixed with them leaning towards disapproving the implementation of the PMO because of more administrative overhead. AtekPC needs to find a way to provide measurable success to its associates and also be able to explain to them why change is necessary and to implement this change. In order to prevent such overbearing administration, the company should provide 1 project manager for each group so that they can report directly to them and it does not create the sense of overbearing administration. 

Zara Reflection

                After our discussions last week with the consultants, it is in my opinion that we continue with our current IT structure and use the DOS Operating System. With what was presented to us, I do not see the ability to create new streams of revenue to fund the overhaul of our current point of sale terminals. While the system is not up to date or fully efficient, it takes care of everything that we need with not needing to worry about any expensive IT department or our associates having to take time out of their day to troubleshoot problems. Currently, our associates are able to dedicate their time fully to helping the customer and building a strong relationship. I feel that may all be jeopardized if we were to install new operating systems and new hardware. I know the question about the sustainability of our OS came up, but I feel that we are able to still have the hardware and the DOS software moving forward and we can use our revenue in order to create more stores and more innovative store layouts. Any investment in new technology would need to lead to increased revenue, and I just do not see that with what was presented to us.