MIT Sloan Management Review

Management of Technology and Innovation

 

An Incremental Process for Software Implementation

By Robert G. Fichman and Scott A. Moses

January 15, 1999

Deploying software technologies by using self-contained, results-driven implementation sequences delivers specific, measurable business benefits while enhancing organizational learning.

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Eighteen months had elapsed since New World Electronics began implementing an advanced software-based scheduling system for the factory floor.1 From the beginning, all the traditional elements were present for a smooth implementation: support of senior management, adequate staffing and funding, a good fit between the needs of the organization and the capabilities of the software, and a solid information technology (IT) infrastructure. Yet after a vigorous start, the project team had lost its way. What had seemed like a relatively straightforward task — configuring desired software functionality and specifying complementary organizational changes — turned out to be surprisingly burdensome. As the team engaged in cycle after cycle of analysis and configuration, it continually approached but never quite reached a complete and sound model tailored to the company’s manufacturing environment. Milestone dates passed; resources and attention drifted away. The team wondered how to refocus its energies.

New World Electronics’ conundrum is not unique.2 Gone are the days of turnkey packages — technologies that, at least in principle, could be physically installed, turned on, and used with minimal alteration by most organizations. Nearly all advanced production technologies today — CAD/CAM, executive support systems, digital imaging, work-flow management, enterprise resource planning, groupware — either have a substantial software component or come entirely embedded in... To read the complete article, login or sign-up using the form below.

 
 

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