Managing IT Change—Tools and Programs

• Author: Art Worster,Frank Andera,Thomas R. Weirich
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/jcaf.22178
• Published date: 01 July 2016
• Date: 01 July 2016

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© 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).

DOI 10.1002/jcaf.22178

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Managing IT Change—Tools

and Programs

Art Worster, Thomas R. Weirich, and Frank Andera

INTRODUCTION

Over the past five

articles (“IT Applica-

tions and Managing

Change,” September/

October 2015; “Man-

aging IT Change—A

New Role for HR,”

November/December

2015; “Managing

IT Change—Fully

Integrated Manu-

facturing Impacts

on Manufacturing,”

January/February

2016; “Managing IT

Change— Financial

Management,”

March/April 2016;

and “Managing

IT Change—Sales,

Marketing and

Distribution,” May/

June 2016), we have

discussed ways in which the

transition to integrated business

systems has affected strategic

and financial management. We

first described changes in fun-

damental thought processes that

have to occur to fully under-

stand the dynamics of what

changes, why these changes are

logical necessities

(rather than choices),

and what has to be

undertaken to use

enterprise resource

planning (ERP)

applications to their

full effect. Thus far,

HR, Manufacturing,

Financial systems,

and, most recently,

Sales, Marketing,

and Distribution

have been covered.

Over the course of

these articles, we

have talked about

each of the core inte-

gration points in a

business—the points

where actions in one

function have a sig-

nificant impact on

other functions. The

purpose has been

to demonstrate to

financial executives, particularly

management accountants, why

their participation in the design

and implementation of ERP

applications is critical to achiev-

ing maximum value from the

investment.

In this article, we discuss a

variety of tools and programs,

This article identifies various conflicts that arise

before, during, or immediately after the introduc-

tion of integrated applications with other pro-

grams that may be operating simultaneously.

A variety of tools and programs are discussed

that have traditionally created conflicts that have

sabotaged enterprise resource planning (ERP)

implementations. Some of these programs often

compete directly or indirectly with ERP programs

for resources and attention. While this points to

the need to manage continuous change, it also

suggests a permanent function with responsibil-

ity to manage all of the elements of the change

process. Until the organization ceases to have new

customers, markets, vendors, products, leaders,

and workers, the need to manage the change pro-

cess itself becomes a key component in allowing

the business to continuously change to achieve

financial success. This is required to remain close

to the customers, where the real effect of change

is realized. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

This is the sixth installment in a

seriesof articles that have appeared

and will appear in the coming

issues of JCAF. Art Worster and

his associates, Thomas R. Weirich

and Frank Andera, address matters

that arise during and after the

implementation of integrated IT

applications in a business.

Editorial Review