Tektronix
Tektronix, Inc. Global ERP Implementation
When Carl Neun, a former Silicon Valley executive, moved north to Oregon in 1993 to take over as CFO of Tektronix, he knew that restructuring might be required to realize the value trapped inside the 50 year old technology firm. Detailed review of the situation revealed, however, that overhauling the company’s antiquated information technology (IT) infrastructure would be a prerequisite to restructuring. Years of division-and department- level decision- making had rendered the company’s information systems into a serious constraint on the firm’s ability to change. To address this problem, Neun led a global ERP implementation over the next six years aimed at modernizing the company’s information “plumbing” from top to bottom. Upon completion of the project, Neun was able to sell two of the company’s three divisions. This case relates the details of the Tektronix ERP implementation. It addresses the issues that arose in managing the complex, global project and suggest adaptive strategies for managing mega-projects, in which the unexpected sooner or later always happens, and for which detailed planning is very difficult. The case provides a spectacular illustration of the degree to which IT infrastructure, if not well managed, can seriously constrain a company’s business performance. It thereby supplies a big reason why general managers as well as technology managers should attend to infrastructure management, even if the subject sometimes seems uncomfortably technical. Neun is an example of a non-technical manager who is extremely effective in leading a very technical project; he is a model for strong infrastructure management practitioners. The case also offers opportunities to discuss the interaction of organizational processes and culture with new information technology infrastructure. In preparation for discussion, be prepared to answer the follow questions. 1. Why did Tektronix implement ERP in stages? How should a
When Carl Neun, a former Silicon Valley executive, moved north to Oregon in 1993 to take over as CFO of Tektronix, he knew that restructuring might be required to realize the value trapped inside the 50 year old technology firm. Detailed review of the situation revealed, however, that overhauling the company’s antiquated information technology (IT) infrastructure would be a prerequisite to restructuring. Years of division-and department- level decision- making had rendered the company’s information systems into a serious constraint on the firm’s ability to change. To address this problem, Neun led a global ERP implementation over the next six years aimed at modernizing the company’s information “plumbing” from top to bottom. Upon completion of the project, Neun was able to sell two of the company’s three divisions. This case relates the details of the Tektronix ERP implementation. It addresses the issues that arose in managing the complex, global project and suggest adaptive strategies for managing mega-projects, in which the unexpected sooner or later always happens, and for which detailed planning is very difficult. The case provides a spectacular illustration of the degree to which IT infrastructure, if not well managed, can seriously constrain a company’s business performance. It thereby supplies a big reason why general managers as well as technology managers should attend to infrastructure management, even if the subject sometimes seems uncomfortably technical. Neun is an example of a non-technical manager who is extremely effective in leading a very technical project; he is a model for strong infrastructure management practitioners. The case also offers opportunities to discuss the interaction of organizational processes and culture with new information technology infrastructure. In preparation for discussion, be prepared to answer the follow questions. 1. Why did Tektronix implement ERP in stages? How should a