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