Table Of ContentTThhe LLong CConversatiion
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The Long Conversation
Maximizing Business Value from
Information Technology Investment
Oswaldo Lorenzo
Professor of Management, IE Business School, Spain
Peter Kawalek
Professor of Information Systems,
Manchester Business School, UK
Gastón González
Expertia Consulting Group
Boumediene Ramdani
Senior Lecturer in Strategy and Operations Management,
Bristol Business School, UK
© Oswaldo Lorenzo, Peter Kawalek, Gastón González & Boumediene Ramdani 2011
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C
ONTENTS
LList of tables vi
LList of figures vii
LList of boxes viii
Preface ix
AAcknowledgements xviii
NNotes on contributors xx
LList of abbreviations xxii
Chapter 1 The technology wave, organizations
and economic reality 1
Chapter 2 Enterprise systems: The technology
we already have 20
Chapter 3 Biological evolution: Osmosis,
growth and adaptation 34
Chapter 4 Mastery is a long conversation 53
Chapter 5 Building organizational capabilities
for the Long Conversation 78
Chapter 6 The next technology wave 102
Chapter 7 Final practical guidelines 114
NNotes 125
Selected bibliography 142
IIndex 147
v
T
ABLES
3.1 ES growth factor in the Coffee Company 41
5.1 Management approach typically used
in the initial phase of ES adoption 79
5.2 Success criteria for ES adoption 81
5.3 Typical success criteria for ES adoption – case studies 81
5.4 Organizational capabilities for the Long Conversation 89
5.5 Intra-Unit teams and social networks role
in the Long Conversation 94
7.1 The processes of osmosis, growth and adaptation 117
vi
F
IGURES
1.1 Template of major systems adoption 5
1.2 The project management proposition 5
1.3 What really happens 6
1.4 The long conversation 7
1.5 The organization’s journey on a wave of innovation 10
1.6 Patterns of infusion and diffusion 12
2.1 Infusion stage in the Long Conversation 23
3.1 Long Conversation’s three vital points 35
3.2 Staircase of ES mastery 40
3.3 A comparison of the staircase of growth in three cases 44
4.1 Long-term ES roles 57
4.2 Key user behaviors influencing the biological
evolution of an ES 59
4.3 Key user behaviors influencing the biological
evolution of an ES 60
4.4 Organizational and individual factors 63
4.5 Factors influencing the mastering of ES
within the Coffee Company 71
4.6 A representation of the mastering of the ES
within the Coffee Company 73
4.7 A representation of the mastering of the ES
within the Coffee Company 75
5.1 ES adoption management paradigm 82
5.2 A multidimensional model of organizations 85
6.1 The disruption interrupts the wave 108
7.1 Practical guidelines from a three-layer explanation 115
vii
B
OXES
3.1 The case of Coffee Company: diffusing the sales
and distribution functionality through 12 regional centers 37
3.2 Enterprise systems capabilities 39
3.3 First adaptation stage in Telecom: preparing
for market deceleration 48
3.4 Process modeling: a fundamental tool for adaptation 50
4.1 Formal network in the Coffee Company: dialogue in a
Key Users Committee meeting between the manufacturing
key user, an ES consultant, and the company’s CEO,
while solving some system incidences in the area 66
viii
P
REFACE
It takes a long time
For the last 20 years, companies have been adopting and implementing
enterprise systems (ES). These represent the large-scale information tech-
nology (IT) systems of today, providing a backbone for many organizations
worldwide. ES are so significant in scope and complexity that we can call
them platforms. These platforms underpin both individual businesses and
the supply chains between them. The implementation of these platforms has
to be done with clear strategic and operational aims: to automate transac-
tions, reduce costs, increase customer satisfaction, integrate with suppliers
and ultimately make better decisions. And yet, companies find this expe-
rience of implementing ES not as they initially anticipated. Projects are
harder, business cases are more difficult and the learning process is much,
much longer. Despite this, at the end of everything, they enter a new reality,
one in which the potential benefits are greater than they had foreseen.
Why is this happening? And what do firms do to ensure that they get
value from their investment in technology? These are the two questions that
prompted a ten-year research program by four academics based in Spain,
the UK and Latin America. Their journey was frustrating and enlightening
at the same time. But in the end, the data pointed to a simple and unequivo-
cal conclusion. It is a conclusion that may not be fashionable – but should,
nevertheless, be music to the ears of CEOs everywhere.
The reality is that it takes a long time and a lot of learning to get the bestt
out of your ES. In the current world economic situation some people say we
need more new IT, more tools to change our ways. But we disagree with this
argument. What businesses really need now is to stop looking for the next
technology silver bullet and make the most of what they already have. In
short, businesses need to maximize the value of their existing IT assets.
To succeed in the coming years, companies must continue and inten-
sify what we call “the Long Conversation” – the strategic and operational
dialogues that businesses began years ago. Companies do not need to
acquire the latest hardware and/or software, but they do need new organi-
zational practices, new capabilities and new social networks to support the
ix
