An effective implementation of an enterprise resource planning system - The case of an oracle system at MVAF Namibia.

Abstract

Implementing a wide enterprise system results in the organisation’s business processes being re-engineered; therefore it requires critical planning and extensive change management for all employees. The Motor Vehicle Accident Fund’s (MVAF) Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), (an ORACLE system) implementation has been one of the highlights in the organisation’s history since the organisation has various standalone systems, across units within the organisation aimed at yielding the same results. It is against this background that this research involved conducting a study of how the ERP/ORACLE was implemented at MVAF. A study was made of the change management interventions and the role of leadership at the MVAF. The evaluation includes the role of leadership in leading change, employees’ experience and reception of the changing environment. Furthermore it looks at how the organisation managed the change process as well as the effectiveness of the communication, training and support as experienced by employees. A total of thirty-nine out of seventy employees who were in the employment of the MVAF between 2009 and 2012 participated in this survey. Findings indicated that the MVAF used an effective methodology and process to implement the ERP/ORACLE system and by appointing the project core team consisting of members from every unit, as the custodians of the project implementation, yielded good results for the Fund. The leaders of the MVA Fund played a pivotal role during the change process and they positively influenced their teams to value the benefits of the new system, they helped and guided those who were resistant to change to accept the new system. Results indicated that majority of employees took lesser time to learn the functionalities of the new system. Learning the new functions in less time is evidence that employees reacted very positively to the new system and embraced the process which required their involvement throughout the implementation phase, with specific reference to drawing up specifications and user training, hence, an effective implementation. Lastly, the communication, support, training and education rendered through the implementation of the system was very effective and contributed significantly to employees’ buy-in into the vision of implementing the new system. Among the recommendations stemming from this research are: the need for the leaders of the Fund to pay special attention to the soft issues of change management, and encourage the leadership to have a full appreciation of their role in communicating project changes or developments.