Growing Up at Hero Honda

At the time that I took up my assignment at Hero Honda, the
IT infrastructure in the organization was suffering from a bad case of
inadequate attention. But fortunately for Hero Honda, the management was
insistent that IT-based systems manage the rapid growth that the organization
was going through. I, therefore, considered it prudent to work out a detailed
information systems plan during the first few months and placed the plan before
the management committee for deliberation and approval.

It was not smooth
sailing of course, but required perseverance to go through with it and secure
approval.

Implementation of new technologies has always met with
resistance, but the kind of resistance that I see today is different. Though
people are aware of the need for improved information technology, they do not
resist IT per se, but are scared that their current roles will be diluted. Hence
the CIO has an important role to play and should assume his role with full
responsibility and ensure that the IT investments in the organization are
optimally utilized.

Though the overall plan at Hero Honda got approved, the
choice between new homegrown systems and an ERP package to replace the legacy
system was still to be styled and I knew from experience that this would take
time. We consequently utilized this time for improving the network by installing
structured LAN systems and WAN links and introduced e-mail throughout the
organization. Communication was a long felt need and therefore usage of e-mail
spread like wildfire. This was followed up with a lucid but useful Intranet and
workflow applications in a gradual manner, so that these systems evolve over a
period of time. With people getting familiar with this new arrangement, there
was an increased demand for PCs in enthusiasm to be a part of the network. The
entire staff got used to the electronic form of communication and this change in
work culture helped us immensely during the implementation of ERP systems.

Selling the concept of an ERP to the top management required
time and effort. Bad news precedes failure, and so did the news of misfired ERP
in our organization. But once convinced about the effectiveness and suitability
of ERP, the management supported the initiative right from the start. We also
arranged their visits to a few companies to get a first hand account of their
experiences with ERP. This initiative broke the ice and our management came back
all pumped up to do even better. We chose SAP and SISL as the implementation
partners; and the decisions were made collectively by our management committee.
We started with a one-day awareness session for all managers and key users
covering about 150 people and they understood the basics of ERP systems, the
process of implementation and their role.

We received a SAP award, ‘Star Implementation Site–2001’,
and became a reference site for SAP implementation. The role played by the core
team, who spent days and nights, was commendable and they rightly feel proud and
want to carry the movement ahead by making the implementation more effective by
improving business processes and also extending to connect with our business
partners through mySAP.com. On hindsight I feel that we could have involved the
end users more and that the training sessions could have been of longer
duration.

Today we look back with satisfaction as we see the
organization IT savvy and eager to adopt newer technologies. End users meet us
regularly and give us their positive feedback assuring us of their full support
for all our initiatives.

The author is VP (information systems), Hero Honda Motors