Case Study:
Alex:
Kelly's Salon has been faced with a number of obstacles, remain a primary fore within her industry is the main focus. A number of business models need to be improved in order to keep the repeat customer created. While the business is always business with customer that have been going since the doors first open; innovation never hurts. A number of factors play a role the success of any organization; inventory audit, advertisement, proper scheduling.
1) What opportunities are being missed when each little area (scheduling, supply management, marketing, and others) has its own "stove piped" data?
Kelly's business isolates each function of business practices, scheduling, supply management, marketing as well as others. As a whole each method has a direct relation to the other, such as client scheduling would be effected by not have enough product to process a customers hair. Also proper store marketing would hurt the amount of customers that actually made appointments to visit the salon. A number of opportunities are being missed when each function is not properly managed. Scheduling of the customers is imperative, it sets the tone for the flow of the business, waiting customers are typically not in the best mood; effecting the quality of service. Many customers will often venture off to other similar locations; receiving faster service. Marketing or getting word out about the salon plays a big role in getting new customers. A business is often only as successful as the amount of people who find out the place exists. New clients keep the business on the rise, creating more revenue, the need for expansion and more day to day sales. Kelly's salon also faces issues of properly keeping the needed amount of product stoked for servicing the customer. Customer scheduling is directed effected by the ability to service the customer; supplies are a primary source of service to the customer.
2)What benefits will the Kelly's Salon realize if you implement an enterprise-wide system? Identify how Kelly as the manager will benefit from having additional information available.
Kelly's Salon will reap a number of benefits with the implementation of world wide enterprise systems. A unified company sets the tone for easy transitions and customer focused environments. Having additional information available about her company and her brand offers an option for the customer to access data about the company any where. Also world wide enterprise systems often are the gateway to expansion and new developments of growth for a business or organization. An (ES) would benefit Kelly as a manager with the support and applications utilized by the packages and plans offered with the software. Many of the day to day functions would be simplified making the amount of time needed to complete business processes shorter and more efficient.
3) What types of decisions that she makes as the manager would be improved if she had all this information in one place?
Kelly's ability to make critical decisions for the business would become both unified and unanimous. Access to finger tip information places the data needed to make a decision all in one place. The ability to look a statistics and company previous to current productivity would aid in making the moves needed to make the right future choices. Often information can be used as a gauge to weed out the functions that worked, or might not be the best practice for the company.
4) Would it make the most sense to start with a CRM, an SCM or an ERP system for Kelly's Salon and why. Keep in mind that additional systems and functionality could come later.
An ERP would be the best fit for Kelly's Salon in the current state of her business. The salon needs an immediate and innovative fix to remedy a number of the issues faced with simple day to day functions. An ERP could be easily implemented and support the current needs of Kelly's business. While other options could work for the salon as well, an ERP would offer a solution with immediate results. A number of benefits of an ERP system include ease of access, customizable functions, reliable and real time data updates. Kelly's Salon is an example of an organization that just needs to rise above its current influence; complacent state of existence.
Perhaps one of the best known ERP implementation failure incidents hitting the news occurred during the Halloween season in 1999. Due to mishap after mishap involving the company's SAP ERP, CRM and supply chain applications, the company failed to deliver $100 million dollars' worth of Hershey Kisses during the season, which resulted in a startling 8 percent stock dip.
ERP Failures:
Often companies make the mistake of choosing the system that is rumored to be a quick fix. Hershey made a blunder that cost them an earning potential of over $100 million dollars of revenue. Upon reading the scenario one can easily assume the company expected a fast turn around once the ERP was set in motion. However, the proper investigation has to be done; ensuring the implementation is one that proper fits in the need of the organization, and in a timely effective manner. A number of factors made Hershey comply to making an ERP blunder; promise of an easy transition, time saving strategy, marketing structure of the ERP used to sale them. Hershey had a clear reason, making the orders needed to supply the demand of customer was clear in this case, however the process was not properly executed. Hershey obvious time crunch made them take on the ERP transition. A number of factors aided in the implementation fail such as the time of implementation; the time at which the transition took place. Hershey made the attempt to change its software structure at the wrong time; Halloween. Hershey reacted harshly to a situation that could have been an easy transition. The time needed to complete this new ERP software was just not available. The timing was improperly placed, and the companies end result was not worth the risk.