There were many issues that led to the failure of the ERP project at FoxMeyer Drugs. First, the company did not put into consideration many issues before implementing the project thus its ultimate failure in the projected business. The issues that were not considered can be analyzed together with those that the Gartner Group has cited through its report.
One of the issues that led to failure of the ERP project at FoxMeyer was the poor selection of the software. The software that was used was not designed for wholesalers but for manufacturing purposes. This meant that the system lacked multiple key requirements and hence it was unable to hold and handle big merchandise. This is similar to the findings by the Gartner Group in which they report that there was inadequate planning thus unforeseen situations were not anticipated. The report also suggests that the ERP fails in many places due to lack of management support, in the same manner the company fails at FoxMeyer due to poor support from management. Also, the project did not get full attention during the implementation period. The management did not recognize the magnitude of the problem and the resources to be used hence its failure.
Gartner report furthermore points out that the failures of the system were due to its setting unrealistic expectations which proved hard to achieve. Similarly the company does the same at the FoxMeyer company where it intends to implement an over-ambitious project. The staff and the general information system were unable to deal with the project since it was too complicated to understand. The company employees lacked the experience as well as the knowledge required to deal with the system (Word and Magal 56). Also, the employees applied it to their personal interests instead of the company interest.
Works Cited
Word, Jeffrey and Simha Magal. Integrated Businesses Processes with ERP Systems. New Jersey: Wiley, 2011. …