Crises are overwhelming. A so-called “perfect storm” crisis can easily finish a business. Hindsight then tells us to look back and think what we might have done, what we should have done, if only. Exactly because of this, we sometimes dream of being able to see into the future, so that we could do the right thing at the right time. Precise prophecy is impossible. Even so, the next best thing is to understand a company’s business options. Modelling consists of that looking ahead. Establishing the likely effects of changes, be they ripples or earthquakes, enables planning well for bad times and ..read more

Think of an ideal world! … With well-being, a safe and healthy environment, and no financial worries. We would achieve sustainable equilibrium and with continual day-to-day stability, enduring happiness. Being contented, we wouldn't yearn desperately for things we don’t need, keeping safe the fragile balance of resources and consumption. Idealism is a vast imaginative leap – or is it? Current reality is all too different. People have to cope with constant conflicts, compromised environments and financial hardships. The question confronts us - what can business and industry do to bridge the mas ..read more

We like Lotto tickets, but their odds are longer than a million to one. Hoping for a lottery win is much the same as looking for quick-fix ERP software. You could get a great result, but the chances are hugely stacked against you. At least as far as software is concerned, we have great ways to shorten odds. We do often hear people say they want the best corporate software, instantly. If history is any guide, this is extremely wishful thinking, sorry to say. Most companies will find that there’s no such thing as an instant fix-all solution for them – it probably can’t be instant and nor can it ..read more

No one wants to buy an ERP just for its own sake. Rightly so. Just like a helicopter in outer space, it’s irrelevant to have corporate software that’s unsuitable for its environment. What management WANT is change and improvement in a company. For this change purpose, software should facilitate. Buying an ERP first is the tail wagging the dog. In pursuit of change, CEOs know well that it is very easy to get misguided about ERPs. Without spending years around corporate software installations, one can easily be misled by simplifications. Promotional efforts for ERPs talk about increased efficie ..read more

Imagine the best employee ever! …Superfast, tireless, dependable, utterly loyal, plus a photographic memory! Such humans are impossible to find. Software does have exactly these qualities, BUT there is one problem …. Choose the wrong software system and none of these great attributes will surface. As a worst case, money and time will be poured into an installation which will fail - like so many failed software projects, costing tens of billions annually worldwide! “Gently does it” There is a simple way to cut the risk of unsuccessful software projects. Instead of trying to find the perfect fi ..read more

Quick thoughts by a non-IT professional. Ahem - actually, wrong. Although an ERP is software written by IT professionals…. It is also so much more. For a very long time, I categorized ERPs as IT and thought no more of it. However, working for a software house (as a psychologist), I found myself thinking about ERP installations more carefully. Choosing an ERP is like choosing a school for your child. School is a place where kids learn to read and count, and learn loads more facts. But as you well know, that’s only a fraction of school experience. A GOOD school helps children REACH THEIR TRUE P ..read more

“Clean up your act!” When first mentioning “data cleansing”, you’d hardly think it was anything too challenging, let alone fearful. ...The wiser truth is that it can be like Monty Python’s Holy Grail rabbit - a mere bunny which looks absolutely harmless in front of all the knights in armour. But the knights soon find out why the bunny deserves being called the Black Beast of Arrrghhh - the last utterance of anyone who ever saw it! Oops! … What happens when you make a data mistake in space? A metric mishap caused NASA to lose a $125 million Mars-bound orbiter spacecraft! What happened was that ..read more

Every company has many change cycles in its lifetime, when substantial changes are wanted or necessary. With every change cycle, company leaders can start with a vision, form a plan, then execute the change, and finally assess if the change was successful. But how big should the change be? There are two contrasting philosophies. One is to keep every change small and then accept that further cycles might follow. At the other end of the spectrum is to push through all positive change in one major reform. The first option aims to reduce the pain and shock of required change. The latter is willin ..read more

Businesses can sometimes have to make substantial changes in the ways they operate, or in the ways they monitor and measure operations. Changing substantially like this needs close attention and caution. What is substantial change? A big-scale change, such as a merger of companies, can obviously be substantial. Internal reforms within a company might appear smaller-scale but the changes can ultimately be every bit as substantial. For example, a company might alter processes, might restructure or bring in technological innovations, each of which can lead directly to a massive change agenda. Man ..read more

Running a company is tough. You need to monitor what goes on all through the company, use relevant information, and then make good decisions how best to use the company’s resources of people, equipment and time. I’m in the same shoes, running a software company. I need to be fully informed about my staff and projects in constant flux. Moreover, the software we produce is devoted to enabling other companies to have appropriate and correct information, organised, integrated, prioritised, for optimal decision-making and for shaping guidance to their staff wherever possible. Changed perspective o ..read more