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Background

osco Corporation is one of the largest oil refineries in United States. Once a

major player in American efforts to develop alternative energy sources, Tosco refocused on its refining operations after enthusiasm over synthetic fuels waned in the early 1980s. Tosco received $380 million worth of compensation from Exxon for its share of Colony. The initial agreement between the two companies had stipulated that Exxon would have to buy out its stake in the venture if it ever pulled out, and Tosco exercised that clause in the contract. Most of the money went to relieve debt and recover Tosco's own capital expenditures, while some of it went to shareholders in a special one-time dividend. Exxon's payment, however, did not obscure the fact that Tosco's gamble on oil shale--the entire reason behind the company's birth--had come to a profitless end. It now had to rely on its refinery business for direction and revenues. The reorganization did little to ease Tosco's difficulties. Sagging crude oil and gasoline prices made things difficult for a company that suddenly found refining to be its sole source of support. Tosco lost over $677 million between 1983 and 1986, and, after buying out dissident shareholders inspired by Good, found itself so deeply in debt that its creditors decreed that it should hire investment banker Bear Stearns to help arrange a takeover. There were, however, no takers. The company's stock fell to $2.75 per share, down from its high of $45 in 1980. Feeling that a change of leadership was necessary, Tosco's directors forced Talbot to resign in June of 1986 and replaced him two months later with company chairman Clarence Frame. In the meantime, Tosco sold its Bakersfield refinery to Texaco for $22 million. Although the company returned to profitability under Frame, its heavy debt load and depressed stock price forced Tosco to spend the remainder of the decade under the pall of takeover speculation. Michael Tennenbaum, a Los Angeles-based director of Bear Stearns, purchased a seven-percent stake in the company in 1987. The next year, Argus Energy, a Connecticut-based investment partnership, announced that it had acquired a 40-percent interest in Tosco. In 1989 the company acquired Seminole Fertilizer, but this did not stop the widespread takeover speculation and uncertainty over Tosco's status. Later that year, Argus Energy head man Thomas O'Malley, by now a Tosco director succeeded Clarence Frame as chief executive officer. One of the company's first actions under O'Malley was to announce that it was entertaining takeover bids. Tosco claimed that at least three multinational corporations made offers, but refused to announce the identity of the suitors.

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Informed speculation had it that one suitor was British Petroleum, which was said to be interested in establishing a presence on the West Coast through Tosco's Avon refinery. Neither party ever confirmed that this was so, however. Tosco declared in 1991 that none of the offers it had received were satisfactory, and that it would remain independent. The company then declared that it would consolidate operations and cut administrative costs by closing down its headquarters in Santa Monica, California. Initially, Tosco declared that it would find a headquarters site in northern California, closer to the Avon refinery. But it ultimately wound up moving to Stamford, Connecticut, the home of Argus Energy. Indeed, the move may have signaled that Tosco intended to shift geographical direction and develop a presence on the East Coast as significant as its presence on the West Coast. In December 1992 the company acquired Exxon's Bayway refinery, located in Linden, New Jersey, for $175 million. The acquisition made it the second-largest independent refiner in the United States. Exxon's withdrawal from the Colony Shale Oil Project in 1982 and Colony's consequent collapse marked a decisive turning point for Tosco, as the company has since struggled to stabilize its fiscal health and corporate identity. With the acquisition of the Bayway refinery, it appears that Tosco is determined to establish itself as a major independent oil refiner. The company continued its efforts in oil shale extraction until May 2, 1982 when Exxon pulled out of the Colony Project joint venture, leaving Tosco unable to keep the venture viable in spite of a $1.1 million loan guarantee from the U.S. government. Exxon claimed the project's projected $6 billion price tag made the project no longer feasible, but Exxon was required to purchase Tosco's 40% share in the project as a result of their withdrawal. Major company reorganization followed in 1983. Several takeover bids during the 1980s failed to materialize. Tosco declared in 1991 that none of the offers it had received were satisfactory, and that it would remain independent. The company then declared that it would consolidate operations and cut administrative costs by closing down its headquarters in Santa Monica, California. Initially, Tosco declared that it would find a headquarters site in

The refinery is located in the eastern shore of San Pablo bay

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northern California, closer to the Avon refinery. But it ultimately wound up moving to Stamford, Connecticut. The move may have signaled that Tosco intended to shift geographical direction and develop a presence on the East Coast as significant as its presence on the West Coast. In December 1992 the company acquired Exxon's Bay way refinery, located in Linden, New Jersey, for $175 million. The acquisition made it the second-largest independent refiner in the United States. In 2001, Tosco had to go though some equations but overall COMETS was a successful project. It was easier to implement and use. It took four and half of years and cost more than $ 40 million. But it was not like other IT systems and it was useful and good to use.

Project Implementations of Tosco

As Tosco has the unique business process it maintained, the company decided on the customized approach. for writing the software programs for COMETS, Tosco decided to form teams comprised of operational and accounting users, systems analysts and programmers, and consultants from Aspen Consulting. Most of the Tosco people assigned to the project were assigned part-time. The teams were made up of 70% Tosco and 30% Aspen Consulting. When the COMETS system was implemented in the first year, Tosco had another major acquisition that of the Circle K convenience stores, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona. The teams wanted to re-examine some requirements and get additional funding, although the convenience stores would largely continue to be run on their own system. The Circle K acquisition expanded Tosco’s core business, and adjustments had to be made to the COMETS system. In 1996, as Donna expected, the cost overruns on the COMETS project started to surface. Donna was approached with news that a particular process was taking longer than expected, sometimes dramatically longer, and often doubling the initial price tag of the task. It was a complicated process than the previous one.

ERP system in Tosco

In early 1980’s, Tosco was a small independent oil refiner with only three oil refiners. They had an annual sales figure of around $ 3 million. They had two commodity movements which were able to carry out the duties of the basic billing, inventory control and accounting requirements. In 1980, Tosco bought

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a refinery in Oklahoma. The management soon realized that they needed some new technology to cope up with the requirements of the new refinery. But they did not have enough funds to go ahead and install something new. In the late 1980’s, the Argus Energy Corporation bought a large ownership interest in Tosco. The new President and the CEO realized that a new ERP was required at Tosco. As Donna wanted to have such a project that supports the whole working system of Tosco, she wanted to implement the ERP system which is unique and easy to have all the records properly. Although COMET is a bit expensive to install and takes a little more time than the other system but for its usefulness. But the management was not understanding the whole scenario and wanted Donna to finish the work with a

limited time and budget, which was quite impossible to do. The management wanted to prove that project was much more complicated than previously envisioned and that changes would need to be made to the system. After Donna gave her report on the progress of COMETS, the Committee’s discussions about which reports to add or subtract would often become quite complex and lengthy. The traders in the Commercial department were the most important users of the system and they initiated the input of required information that everyone else down the process would need.

$40 million project “COMETS”

Tosco’s traders were required to go through all the necessary steps to make deliveries, bill customers, and hit the general ledger. During the end of the year 1994, COMETS officially came into existence. Donna Philpott sat with all the key people and got their approval of the project management design and initial estimates. The estimated benefits COMETS would bring were $ 7 million in staff reductions, getting off a dated mainframe and getting better information. Along with these, they had standardized processes across the company. Though the management paid such huge amount of money they never realized the gravity of the project. Top management wanted to shot down all the birds with one bullet. This attitude made the implication of the project very difficult.

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Theme

osco Corporation is one of the largest independent refiners of petroleum

products in the United States and they needed a process which can make their work easier. For that reason COMET system was introduced. COMET was a unique and successful process mostly based on SAP. During running the process the management has changed several times and many take over have taken place. It was very difficult for any manager to change the pattern and requirements of customization in an ERP system. It was very much risky to do such things in the middle of the process. But Donna has arranged an integrated training for avoiding interdepartmental problems and to run the ERP system properly and finally it was a successful project.

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Main Issue

onsidering the $40 million project “COMETS” with some major problems

faced by Tosco while implementing; will the employees of Tosco be able to adapt to another change of job structure now that Philips is taking over?

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Smart data management

The ERP system enables Tosco Corp to put the entire system online. As a result the users inside and outside the organization can access ERP generated data. Once companies build their ERP, customer-relationship management, and human-resource systems, many find it's not too difficult to present that data in a standard Web format such as HTML, PDF, or the Extensible Markup Language. That data then becomes easily accessible to internal intranet users, mobile professionals, and outside customers and suppliers. By following this procedure Tosco is reducing the cost and having a direct connection with the upper management.

Diversified team helped Tosco to maintain its unique business process

The strategy of applying the ERP system was recruiting employees from different backgrounds. This technique helped to bring down different ideas about the program and diversified solutions to the problems faced in different stages of implication. Since many of the team member were part timer it also helped to work on the project round the clock; helping to continue work in the project with minimum stoppages. 30% of the part time employees were from an third party consultancy firm, this also helped to bring neutral and fresh ideas in the ERP project.

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The modular architectures of ERP allowed initiating COMETS partially and step by step

The COMETS was a compilation of different modules from different departments. The software package includes different modules for the financial, logistical, production, marketing, and planning functions. Specifically, product planning, parts purchasing, maintaining inventories, interacting with suppliers, providing customer service, tracking orders and many other aspects of business operations are targeted by this system to increase efficiency, coordination, and profitability. This allowed Tosco to launch COMETS in smallest region to reduce risk. So that if anything goes wrong or any bugs are found that can be fixed without any major problems.

Donna’s efficiency ensured that the COMETS project goes as smoothly as possible

Donna always had good records of the company’s stated requirements. Her hard working attitude and persistency enabled her to win most of the time over the steering committee of COMETS project. If it was not for her the COMETS project would never have been implemented. Implementing an ERP system in a huge organization like Tosco is a very challenging job. Donna made the project successful by her ability of far-sightedness and efficiency in managing a complex system like COMETS.

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Weaknesses

The failure of top management to anticipate the cost of implementing COMETS project

It is evident from the case that the management was not able to realize the gravity of COMETS project. The management initially allotted only $10 million whereas the minimum requirement is around $40 million. This proves that the management lacks foresights of a business opportunity. If we only look at the differences of the amount of the budget asked by Donna and the initial approval given buy the steering committee we will be able to see that the top management failed to forecast the projection cost.

Lack enough experience and efficiency to finish project COMETS in time

Implementing an ERP system takes years of time. However taking these factors into consideration the project COMETS was taking more than it should be. The reason behind this was the failure of employees. Project manager Donna Philpott knew a lot of things about an ERP project. But the problem here was the existing employees and she didn’t have any first-hand experience. Leading to the delay to the launch of project COMETS.

Donna failed to instigate the traders to adapt to the new ERP system

Donna was having a hard time to get support from particular key-groups; primarily in commercial departments. Hence that is one of the most important points because all the necessary information are input in those points. Since the activation of new ERP system the job duties of traders became more complex and they blamed the new system for it. It was clear that if these employees are not adapt to the new system the ERP system simple would not function properly.

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There were several bugs in the ERP system

Project COMETS were full of bugs in different architectural levels. The departments that are affected most by this bug were inventory department and pricing data. This problem made the decision making much more difficult. Donna took a leap of faith and went for a full launch of ERP system. Luckily the project started with few bugs that were fixable. But many things were not right. There were many errors in the systems on what Tosco had to work for several months.

The ERP system itself was not fully functional

When the ERP system’s first phase was launched including dealings, scheduling, contracts and administration the previous Microsoft Access software was still in effect. The existence of both systems proves that many people in the organization are doubtful about the integrity of the new ERP based system. From the case study it is evident that some managers still have hesitation to switch to the new ERP based system COMETS. It is because though Donna successfully convinced the top management about the effectiveness of the ERP system she did not gave that much attention to the functional level managers.

Tosco lacks the IT skills to maintain an ERP system on its own

Though Tosco is a large organization it lacks enough skilled IT engineers to maintain COMETS. The attrition damage was too high to sustain. This limitation forced Tosco to outsource the maintenance to Aspen Consulting. This was bad for Tosco’s image and the employees of Tosco were demoralized for this failure of top management.

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Opportunities

Opportunity to outmost customization of the ERP system

The ERP system is different in every organization. It is not a universal program. Modification is done according the requirements of the particular organization. Since Tosco is an organization with vast diversifications it was circumstantial that Tosco would need a highly customized ERP system. If Tosco can pull this off as smoothly as they anticipated. ERP can give Tosco a lot more than they are expecting.

Operating profit can be maximized

With applying COMETS completely, Tosco will be able to monitors all of its operations, inventories, sales positions and all other vital information and create an integrated data from within. This will reduce cost in many sectors such as maintenance. As Tosco went through some major acquisitions the system widen the opportunity to maximize profits from the new outlets that Tosco acquired.

New window to merge or takeover new businesses with much less complexity

As Tosco was in the growth stage according to the industry life cycle the organization was going through major business takeovers and acquisitions. Since every business has its own database management system it was very difficult to integrate those systems with Tosco’s database. If COMETS is fully functional this difficulties will reduce to minimum. Since COMETS is a summation of many modular systems the unique database systems of acquired firm can easily be integrated with Tosco’s ERP system. This can reduce grate amount of time and money.

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Acquiring new businesses can create an opportunity to get access to new technologies

Every organization has its own differentiated technologies by which they gain competitive advantages over the competitors. As we see Tosco has went through some vital acquisitions like Union 76 refineries, pipelines and service stations; this will allow Tosco to look into the systems used in these outlets of the acquired firm and extract the knowledge from it. Tosco should take advantage of technology acquired from these firms to make their operation smoother. In case of business, a company obviously should take advantage of new technology to maximize production to full level. Technology is the most important factor now a day for the greater productivity and more output, which help every organization to serve successfully with in the competitive market in international business.

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Threats

Risk of getting shut down in the middle of the ERP project

When Donna put the outline of the ERP project the projected budget allotment was $10.5 million and 18 months. But implementing an ERP system in an organization like Tosco required much more than that. It was only a matter of time that Donna would have to ask for more funding and time. This was making the top management anxious. Within a year the cost escalation on the COMETS project started to surface and the discussion between Donna and the steering committee was getting tougher every time. Donna was in a constant fear that the top management would stop financing. It only Donna’s good records and negotiation skills that kept the project running.

COMETS project lacks its popularity to the functional level managers

Donna was facing some difficulties to get along with the functional level employees of Tosco about implanting COMETS in the system. Since the ERP system was very complex it required a major change in the job duties of these functional level employees including some key groups. As a result there was risk brewing to failure of the ERP system. It was very important to get support from these groups because it is these groups who will be inputting data to the ERP system. Without their full support COMETS will be in effect completely.

COMETS required massive change in job duties leading to obliteration of employee moral

The new ERP system COMETS changed the pattern of the organization and job responsibilities. Certain key groups were not happy about this drastic change of their job duties. Some of the employees were mocking the system in private conversation.

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Donna had to force these functional level employees through upper management. This was a quick way to get these employees to work with the COMETS but in the process Donna sacrificed employee morale and her reputation. This was not good for the organization because if employees lose their enthusiasm it will have a direct impact on the company productivity.

A failed ERP project could become a curse to the employees and the organization

There are many successful ERP project applied various types of firms and organizations from different industries. But there are also many example of a failed ERP system caused the firm billions of dollars. Leading to layoff of employees from different levels of the organization.

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SWOT analysis at a glance

Strengths

Smart data management

Diversified team to maintain uniqueness

Modular architecture

Donna's efficiency ensured project's development

Weaknesses

Top management failed to anticipate cost

lack of first hand experience

Failure to inspire traders

Bugs in the ERP system

COMETS was not compatible

Lack of IT skills

Opportunities

Maximize customization

Maximized profit

opportunity to acquire new technology

Acquisition with less complexity

Threats

Risk of shutdown

Lack of popularity

Required drastic change in job duties

Risk of destroying employee morale

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Union Perspective

Negative impression of operational level employees towards COMETS

It is clear that the top management gave the go ahead signal without considering the possible reaction of the employees who will be actually inputting data in the new ERP based system. The lack of ability of the top management to see through the future made the project and employees demotivated. The steering committee did not realize that implying the ERP project will change the aspect of the job of employees working at the functional level. But it is these functional level managers who will be doing the most important task; inputting the raw data in the system. Now if they refuse to work with the new system the whole objective of implying COMETS will be in jeopardy.

The management lacks the willingness to invest in the ERP project

The board of directors of Tosco were not concerned about project COMETS. It is evident from their deeds that they really did not realize the importance of the ERP system in Tosco. Donna asked for at least $20 million and two and a half year to complete the project but she got only eighteen months and $10.5 million to start the project. A complex system like ERP requires huge investment and lots of contribution to be successful. But the top management was only worried about the budget cut and how to get a fully customized ERP system for Tosco which is not possible at the same time. The more customization will be done to the ERP system the more funding it will require. Tosco went through some major acquisitions; each of this acquired firms had their own database management system. The more firms were adding to the portfolio of Tosco the more customization required to COMETS project. But the top management denied the reality. It took Donna’s hardcore negotiation tactics to get additional funding and it was getting tougher every time additional funding were asked.

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Lack of sufficient attention to COMETS can led to layoffs of employees

If we look at the industrial history will see many firms boosted their efficiency by adapting to ERP based system. There are also many counter examples. Hershey Foods Corporation hurried a four year $112 million ER project that worked for only 30 months after which the whole system collapsed. Resulting the corporation ten million dollar of lose where the system supposed to save that corporation millions of dollars. Here another issue is that even if Tosco pull of this project successfully will Tosco be able to retain the current workforce? Because of the negative reaction of many employees it is an important question. Moreover getting completely online with COMETS may lead to downsize of the organization. The top management failed to take these factors into consideration. Where this issue should get priority to the management.

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Recommendation

Problem #1

There exists no union in Tosco, though they have a huge pool of workers. Then they should make sure that their employment stays even after the merge with Phillips.

Recommendation

Tosco’s employees should start a union to ensure that they are being protected and taken care of. Every employee should be under a union to make sure that their rights are being practices. Under a union the employees can voice their rights and take care of their grievance. The employees should pick some people whom fit as right as their representatives and build a union committee. After the union is formed then they can ask for the management to keep them employed after the merge. Because there is a possibility that after the merge with Phillips most of the employees might get led off. To make sure this doesn’t happen the union would fight.

Justification:

As much as unions are hated by the management this is the only way for workers to speak up in front of them. Tosco is a huge company with more than thousand employees. To take care of all of their rights a union is urgently needed. Through a union the employees would be better taken care of and they would be able to ensure their proper rights. This would help them rise up against any problem created by the management targeting the employees. The union would also be helpful to keep their job away from uncertainty associated with the Philips merge and demolish the possibility of being laid off. Union would speak employee’s right to stay employed and help them retain their lifestyle.

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Problem #2

A successful ERP system relies mostly on successful software designers. At Tosco people working for COMETS were being pulled off from their functional areas and locations. This made it impossible to work fast as new designers had to take time to evolve into the system and show their creativity.

Recommendation:

For the ERP system to finish on time Tosco should have made sure that people working in respective area stayed there. Tosco also should have made software designers work on a full time basis. This would have made sure that people were working longer hours a day and worked more than those from part time. Full time workers would have worked two hours more than part time workers. This lets them finish more work in a day than part timers. This would have absorbed some of the time constrain from Donna’s shoulder. If Tosco allowed a person to work on a certain field for a long time then his productivity would have grown. A job done repeatedly would have made that person an expert and more productive.

Justification:

For writing the COMETS system Tosco formed a team comprised of 70% Tosco people and 30% Aspen’s consultant people. Tosco personals include operational and accounting users, system analysts and programmers. Tosco these assigned people worked part time where they should have worked full time. This way one third of the productivity was cut down. Also Tosco kept on pulling these personals from their respective jobs and locate them somewhere else. Now a new person at that empty position would need to learn his duties and get used to the system. This requires time and after a certain period this person would become more productive. May be when he does become productive they give them another job. This way Tosco just kept on wasting time and energy of Donna since she had to make sure that everyone worked

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correctly. This also justifies why it took longer than expected for COMETS to materialize.

Problem #3

Before launching COMETS Tosco kept on acquiring more. This made the requirement from COMETS more and more. These additional requirements were a burden on Donna as those newly acquired farms kept on working with their own system.

Recommendation

We feel that Tosco should have prepared Donna for all its acquisition. We know that Tosco’s motto was to grow big. But they should have forecasted its requirements from COMETS due to new acquisitions. This would have made things lot easier for Donna. The new acquired farms kept on working with their system without COMETS. They needed to work with it since Comets had not been launched yet. But Tosco should have made it clear with Donna that she needed to work harder with every new acquisition. Then she could have come up with a system which would let the new farm integrate easily with the older ones.

Justification:

Despite how hard Donna worked to cut cost and finish the project on time, materializing COMETS kept on being difficult as more as more acquisitions took place. These acquisitions had to be connected with Comets otherwise the whole point of using one system for all would have failed. But the additional tasks required additional time and money which was a headache for Donna. If management had forecasted their requirements then Donna would have prepared herself. This would have let her work faster with greater efficiency with each new acquisition. Also forecasted requirements would have let Donna come up with a new system. This system would have let her join the new and the old farm together

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efficiently. The acquisitions would have turned out to be more efficient and effective as well if all the things were planned beforehand.

Problem #4

The decision making process regarding Comets was a lengthy process. Any requirements ultimately lead to heated arguments and killed productivity.

Recommendation

If Tosco’s management team kept notes of all the changes in requirements than heated arguments would not have been an issue. This simple mistake killed a lot of time since Donna had to go back and forth to the management team time to time to give her permission to time extension or more funds. This made the decision talking process long and harsh completely unnecessarily. Tosco should not have relied on Donna to keep track of everything. They could have done this to make the decision making process fact and profitable. Instead they kept on arguing which ultimately was lost by the management team after destroying some valuable time and energy.

Justification:

As stated earlier the new acquisition required time and money. Every time Donna asked for more money or time extension she had to face arguments. The five person management team who was in charge of controlling these matters often argued too excessively. Reasons why Donna won most of the time that she kept track of what Tosco wanted at first and what they are asking more of. If Donna did not do it then Tosco would have denied her the permission to money and time. If that management team was smart enough to keep track of their requirements then all these trouble would not have taken place.

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Problem #5

An ERP system’s success solely depends on how much it is being used. Tosco’s employees were reluctant to use COMETS and the management did nothing to motivate the workers.

Recommendation

The management should have had warned their employees about the changes in their job responsibilities due to the shift towards ERP system. It is the duty of the managers that they prepare their employees of what is coming ahead of them. They are the one who can push them to gradually shift from one system to other. In Tosco the employees did not trust the system. They don’t even understand how the system works and why it depends on their usage to succeed. When Donna went to the upper management the employees did start using it but unenthusiastically. They dreaded the system as much as they hated Donna for it. The management could have done more to encourage them and be more helpful.

Justification:

The commercial department of Tosco was the crucial segment whose cooperation was vastly needed for COMETS success. But they were the one who started mocking the system. They started calling it “vomits”. They had there reason for it. The system required them to fill in a lot of information after each deal where before they just had to do the dealings. There responsibilities grew bigger with the system. But every ERP initially needs a lot of information to be fed. The management should have prepared the employees about this beforehand. They could have changed their attitude with the right motivation. Instead they did nothing to help Donna succeed on this humongous project.

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Implementation

Problem #1

There exists no union in Tosco, though they have a huge pool of workers. Then they should make sure that their employment stays even after the merge with Phillips.

Recommendation

Tosco’s employees should start a union to ensure that they are being protected and taken care of. Every employee should be under a union to make sure that their rights are being practices. Under a union the employees can voice their rights and take care of their grievance. The employees should pick some people whom fit as right as their representatives and build a union committee.

Implementation

Unity is the core function of union. All the employees united would create a bigger force than individuals. Tosco’s employees should start being concerned about the uncertain future and implement the recommended. When Tosco merges with Phillips there is a good chance that Phillips would let go off a huge number of people. Under the new management of Philips employees would not have much of a say and they would be bound to leave if told. So before the merge takes place union has to be formed, once the union is formed then the union representatives would go for a collective bargain with Tosco’s management. They would ask Tosco to come to an agreement with Philips that they will not let go of any people. Only then the employment of so people can be ensured. Tosco is a huge company with more than thousand employees. To take care of all of their rights a union is urgently needed. Through a union the employees would be better taken care of and they would be able to ensure their proper rights.

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Who will implement

The employees of Tosco have to do this. They would come up with the proposal to the management to grant them the formation of union.

Where to implement

Within Tosco the union has to be formed.

When to implement

As soon as possible the union has to be formed and it must be before the merge. Because they would have to fight for their employment before the merge happens.

How will implement

Tosco should allow starting a trade union so that the employees can express their demand and ensure a sustainable work environment. Through a union the employees would be better taken care of and they would be able to ensure their proper rights.

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Problem #2

A successful ERP system relies mostly on successful software designers. At Tosco people working for COMETS were being pulled off from their functional areas and locations. This made it impossible to work fast as new designers had to take time to evolve into the system and show their creativity.

Recommendation:

For the ERP system to finish on time Tosco should have made sure that people working in respective area stayed there. Tosco also should have made software designers work on a full time basis. This would have made sure that people were working longer hours a day and worked more than those from part time.

Implementation:

As per recommendation Tosco could have saved a lot of time by hiring full time people. To do the software engineering Tosco could also have hired on a contractual basis of employment for two to three years. This would have helped keep those people working and retain them. Also Tosco should not have pulled off people from different segments as those segments then had to be filled up by a new person and the productivity then was compromised. This way Tosco just kept on wasting time and energy of Donna since she had to make sure that everyone worked correctly. They could have instead kept them in their respective positions and let them be more productive. When needed, they could have asked for overtimes from them and ensure getting things done on time.

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Who will implement

The top management should have done this to help Donna work faster.

Where to implement

In the ERP designing system this could have been done. The hiring of software designers should have been assigned to Donna as she would have known who would fit for what job.

When to implement

This should have been done long ago when Donna started working on the COMETS system and needed all the cooperation from the management.

How to implement

Employees can be trained on the project COMETS. That way employee awareness will be created and productivity will increase.

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Problem #3 Before launching COMETS Tosco kept on acquiring more. This made the requirement from COMETS more and more. These additional requirements were a burden on Donna as those newly acquired farms kept on working with their own system.

Recommendation

We feel that Tosco should have prepared Donna for all its acquisition. We know that Tosco’s motto was to grow big. But they should have forecasted its requirements from COMETS due to new acquisitions.

Implementation:

Before all the work for COMETS system began Donna should have been warned about the company’s express growth strategy. These acquisitions had to be connected with Comets otherwise the whole point of using one system for all would have failed. But the additional tasks required additional time and money which was a headache for Donna. A supplementary forecasting system then should have been prepared for the forecast of what would be needed for each new acquisition. Whenever an acquisition was being thought of Donna could have forecasted what extra work she needs to include in COMETS and what else needs to be done with it. This way she would have saved time and hassles related with each acquisition.

Whom to implement

Top management and Donna should have worked on this together to lessen some of the requirements or at least forecast it from ahead of time.

Group G

Group G |

28

Where to implement

This could have been a part of the COMETS system. It had to be done within Tosco to forecast the requirements associated with an acquisition.

When to implement

This should have been done when the construction of COMETS system began. It could have been in use before any new acquisition took place.

How to implement

The acquisition plan should be disclosed to the managers who are working on COMETS. That way the complexity will reduce. Managers will know what kind of customization they would need.

Problem #4 The decision making process regarding Comets was a lengthy process. Any additional requirements ultimately lead to heated arguments and killed productivity.

Recommendation

If Tosco’s management team kept notes of all the changes in requirements than heated arguments would not have been an issue. This simple mistake killed a lot of time since Donna had to go back and forth to the management team time to time to give her permission to time extension or more funds. This made the decision talking process long and harsh completely unnecessarily.

Group G

Group G |

29

Implementation:

The top management should have given Donna the freedom to work on her own and at least make few decisions on her own. Every time Donna asked for more money or time extension she had to face arguments. The five person management team who was in charge of controlling these matters often argued too excessively. The Tosco managers could have taken notes of what the requirements were that they wanted COMETS to fulfill. If they knew that they were asking more than what they signed up for than they could have immediately taken a decision. These records of all the requirements of would have let them win against Donna more than what they have anticipated for. The decision making process would also have gone smooth and would have helped Donna work faster and finish in time.

Whom to implement

The top management should have asked secretaries to keep the records of their proposed requirements and also of the later meetings.

Where to implement

This should have been done within Tosco management department.

When to implement

Should have been done from the very beginning and also every time they had a meeting with Donna asking for more money or time.

Group G

Group G |

30

How to implement

An extended but precise time limit should be given. That way both employer and employee will remain productive and collision will be minimum.

Problem #5 An ERP system’s success solely depends on how much it is being used. Tosco’s employees were reluctant to use COMETS and the management did nothing to motivate the workers.

Recommendation

The management should have had warned their employees about the changes in their job responsibilities due to the shift towards ERP system. It is the duty of the managers that they prepare their employees of what is coming ahead of them. They are the one who can push them to gradually shift from one system to other.

Implementation

The commercials systems traders were the most important users of the system as everyone else down the process would need the information they feed in. before these traders did not have to input much of the information that they have to put on now. They often neglected this and Donna had to deal with an extra job of making sure that every one was doing their jobs right. To make this process easier Tosco could have done a seminar on how an ERP changed one’s job responsibility. The managers could also help through encouraging the workers to give as much information as possible. Donna’s job is to finish COMETS, not making sure that everyone is using it. But for a successful ERP system the usage is necessary. Even so it is hard to make sure everyone is doing it alone. The help of management is vastly needed for its success.

Group G

Group G |

31

Whom to implement

The top managers of Tosco should have done this seminar.

Where to implement

Within the Commercial department this seminar should have been arranged.

When to implement

This should have been implemented when COMETS started using and needing information to operate in other departments.

How to implement

Tosco can arrange training programs, workshops to create awareness about the importance of the employees to adapt with COMETS. Top management should take initiative to make these activities attractive so that the operation level employees can retain their morale up to the standard.