200002-AsecondwindforERP（英文版）.pdf8

Dorien James and Malcolm L. Wolf
Implementing enterprise resource-planning systems can be intensely
painful, and once you have them up and running they may seem to interfere
with the speed and nimbleness required for electronic business. Are they a
waste? No, but the real benefits aren’t always obvious.
hroughout the 1990s, most large industrial companies installed
enterprise resource-planning (ERP) systems—that is, massive computer
applications allowing a business to manage all of its operations (finance,
requirements planning, human resources, and order fulfillment) on the basis
Dorien James and Malcolm L. Wolf
Implementing enterprise resource-planning systems can be intensely
painful, and once you have them up and running they may seem to interfere
with the speed and nimbleness required for electronic business. Are they a
waste? No, but the real benefits aren’t always obvious.
Dorien James is a consultant and Malcolm Wolf is a principal in McKinsey’s London office.
Copyright © 2000 McKinsey & Company. All rights reserved.
This article can be found on our Web site at www.mckinseyquarterly/infotech/sewi00.asp.
of a single, integrated set of corporate data. ERP promised huge
improvements in efficiency—for example, shorter intervals
between orders and payments, lower back-office staff requirements,
reduced inventory, and improved customer service.
Encouraged by these possibilities, businesses around the
world invested some $300 billion in ERP during the decade.
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