|
Henning Kagermann- Balancing Change and Stability in the
Evolution of SAP's Enterprise Software Platform
Published: October 04, 2006 in Knowledge@Wharton
When Henning Kagermann became the sole CEO of SAP in
2003, a role he had previously shared with company
co-founder Hasso Plattner, he faced a number of challenges,
including an economic slowdown that hurt SAP's growth.
Kagermann moved quickly to put in place a program to reshape
the company's product offerings and adjust its market focus
to position it for the next generation of software. But
because major corporations use SAP's software to run nearly
every aspect of their business, change at SAP requires a
delicate balance between progress and stability.
Supply Chain Enterprise Systems- The Silver Bullet-
Published: September 06, 2006 in Knowledge@Wharton
Contemporary supply chains stretch around the globe -- a
complicated matrix that reflects the easing of international
trade
barriers, an increase in global trade, and dramatic growth
in business outsourcing and offshoring to low-cost
suppliers. Needless to say, the trends toward globalization
have significantly increased the number of players involved
in bringing a product to a consumer. "If you were looking
down on planet Earth, you would see a lot of ships moving
from China to India, from Europe to the United States, along
with a huge set of domestic activity with truck and rail and
also internationally with air and cargo to support the sheer
volume of
international trade," said Paul R Kleindorfer, professor of
operations and information management at Wharton.
But, Kleindorfer acknowledges, there is something "going on
simultaneously with this huge set of activity that you may
not see." Namely, an equally dramatic, "absolute revolution"
in information, communication and management technologies
that support supply chain functions and are known as supply
chain enterprise systems. "The fabric beneath this increased
trade is a fantastic ability to manage large volumes of
data." |
The Content
