Verified Document

Information Technology Harley Davidson Motor Case Study

Evaluating software tools without defined business requirements leads to duplicate efforts and ultimately a solution that could delay the selection and implementation process (How to choose software: six steps to better selection, 1999). If a company's purchasing strategy doesn't include the newest information technology, they are likely to trail competitors that leverage these latest methods. But they must be careful before jumping into new state-of-the-art purchasing software. Improperly implementing new supply-chain programs, or failing to process-map a business before starting, can waste lots of money (Harris, 2010). This was an area in which Harley-Davidson did well in their strategy to implement new purchasing software. They did a process map of the entire company so that they could figure out where they were and then determine how they were going to get to where they wanted to be. This is an excellent way to take a snap shot of all the processes that occur within a company. This process also helps to identify and eliminate any waste that is happening.

The basic overall process that Harley-Davidson used to acquire their new purchasing software was good. There were though a couple of things that they could have done differently in order to ensure that the project was a successful one. The worst thing that a company can to is to buy software that doesn't meet their needs and is not useful in the end. This ends up being nothing but a waste of time and effort. A good process must be established from the beginning and followed throughout the entire procedure in order to ensure success.

In this case Harley-Davidson established a project team that was set up to oversee the procurement of new purchasing software. This same team was responsible for all aspects of the entire process. There was mention during the evaluation phase of each vendor that there was not enough time for each member of the team to look at each candidate they way that had been intended from the beginning. This could have been solved by establishing an implementation...

Those employees that were on the original project team were trying to be part of this project for the majority of their week and yet still be a part of their permanently assigned departments. This did not allow for ample time for them to be able to put all of their effort where it was needed.
Another area in which the project team lacked was that of establishing a budget for this purchase. No where in the case did it mention that there were any plans made for having money available for the purchase of this software. Without an established budget that elaborates on how much money there is to spend it is too easy to all the way to the end of the process, pick a vendor and then discover that they are way out of your range. This is something that needed to be dealt with from the beginning and not as an after thought when they were all through.

The last area that seemed to be lacking was that of an evaluation process. It is a good idea to have a review process put into place before beginning a project so that if problems arise there is already a process in place on how to handle them. Although there were no problems indentified in the case, there is always the possibility that some will arise especially during the selection process. When selecting new software it is vital to make sure that it is the best choice from what is available. It has to be able to do what the company needs it to do, not just now, but in the future as well. It has to be able to grow with the company as it moves forward and establishes its competitive advantage in the marketplace.

References

Harris, Russ. (2010). Choose Purchasing Software Wisely. Retrieved February 16, 2010, from Supply and Demand Chain Web site: http://www.sdcexec.com/web/online/in-

Depth/Choose-Purchasing-Software-Wisely/4$112

How to choose software: six steps to better selection. (1999). Retrieved February 16, 2010, from All Business Web site: http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/computer-software/302444-1.html

Sources used in this document:
References

Harris, Russ. (2010). Choose Purchasing Software Wisely. Retrieved February 16, 2010, from Supply and Demand Chain Web site: http://www.sdcexec.com/web/online/in-

Depth/Choose-Purchasing-Software-Wisely/4$112

How to choose software: six steps to better selection. (1999). Retrieved February 16, 2010, from All Business Web site: http://www.allbusiness.com/technology/computer-software/302444-1.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Harley-Davidson Today: A Brief Business Overview Harley
Words: 599 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Harley-Davidson Today: A Brief Business Overview Harley Davidson Vision of the Company (Slide 1) The populations where we operate our business are very much strong, skillful and supportive. Due to our workers and merchants, the dreams are fulfilled by making partnerships with liberal organizations ("Harley Davidson," 2001). Overview of 2009 Performance (Slide 1) According to the management of Harley Davidson, 2009 wasn't a good year for the company. The company had decreased sales, revenue and

Harley Davidson Inc. Harley Davidson
Words: 1283 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Journal Entries: Flexible Budget for 2007 fiscal Year Beginning with a 240 million budget, (reflected by historical capital expenditures) the company should divide the budget based upon existing liabilities and historical expenditures, while bolstering expenditures in the general merchandise areas and apparel productions to offset any reduction in sales due to an overall reduction in the purchases of luxury items in the economy. The company should also reallocate funds in production of

Harley Davidson Strategic Management -- Harley Davidson
Words: 2945 Length: 10 Document Type: Case Study

Harley Davidson Strategic Management -- Harley Davidson This work examines the strategic management of Harley Davidson Company and seeks to answer specific questions relating to this company's management through conduction of a Porter's Five Forces analysis and a review of the literature on this company. The specific research questions examined in this study are those as follows: (1) What are the primary competitive forces impacting U.S. motorcycle producers in general and producers like

Harley Davidson External Analysis Harley Davison's External
Words: 1158 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Harley Davidson External Analysis Harley Davison's External Analysis PEST analysis Political Economic Socio-Cultural Technological Porter's five forces Harley Davidson is an American motorcycle manufacturing company that sells motorcycles above 700 cc engine capacity. The company was founded in 1903 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin. With approximately $5.3 billion in Fiscal Year (FY) 2011 as revenues, the company is now facing tough challenges in the international motorcycle market as new companies have entered to share the market fortunes (Harley Davidson, 2011).

Harley Davidson Summary of Attached
Words: 1420 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

0%; 2002: 47.5%; 2003: 49.5% Honda - 2001: 20.5%, 2002: 19.8%; 2003: 18.4% Suzuki - 2001: 10.8%; 2002: 9.6%; 2003: 9.8% Yamaha - 2001: 7.9%; 2002: 8.9%; 2003: 8.5% Net revenues motorcycles in major markets United States - 2002: $3,416,432; 2003: $3,307,707 Europe - 2002: $337,463; 2003: $419,052 Japan - 2002: $143,298; 2003: $173,547 Canada - 2002: $121,257; 2003: $134,319 Competitive Categories Performance Styling Breadth of product line Image and reputation Quality of after-the-sale service Price Internal Analysis As the external analysis clearly reveals, the Harley Davidson

Investment Report and Analysis Harley-Davidson,
Words: 4166 Length: 15 Document Type: Term Paper

Harley-Davidson Retail Sales and Deliveries Source: Seeking Alpha (2007) Over the past four years, account receivable growth has outpaced sales and the result is there is more inventory on dealer's lot than at any time in the history of HOG. The analysis states: "If the additional dealer inventory build was taken out of Harley's EPS from the previous two years and shipments evenly distributed throughout the quarters then Harley would have reported

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now