Scenario/Summary
Rohm and Haas is an international specialty chemical company that has expanded rapidly over the last two decades through acquisitions and divestitures. This had resulted in numerous (over 300) different IT systems with separate reporting systems. Management decided to integrate activities across the functional departments' business processes and improve the performance of each organization's resource planning, management control, and operational control.
In this week's case study, you will be investigating their decisions for the SAP implementation and how total quality management (TQM) was effected. Identify both the purpose and benefits that their system was to have provided and whether those were achieved. Major focus should be given to the decisions and assumption made as well as the reasons made for their selection. There are no specific references given for this case study, only some background information references to help you in your research. It is suggested that in your research, you pay particular attention to the difficulties their rapid expansion caused and how these were addressed.
Deliverables
Your deliverable this week will be a completed case study (3-5 pages) submitted on the issues Rohm and Haas faced and what their response to them was.
STEP 1: Research Issues
In this step, you need to find out the questions "what", "how" and "why" of Rohm and Haas SAP implementation. Start with some basic research on the company and its growth: Research into this company will require you to research the actual software incorporated by Rohm and Haas and what it provides to companies like them. For example, they made extensive use of IBM's Lotus Sametime solution. What did this provide and in what area of quality management did it assist them?
STEP 2: Write the Study
Use the case study template to complete a 3-5 page report on your research. Include the sections listed below as needed.
Introduction-a brief introduction into the company and its problem or situation
Issue/Problems-identify all the issues or problems faced by the company
Actions Taken-what was the company's response on dealing with the issues?
Results-what were the results of the company's efforts? Did they work? Why or why not?
References-list all research references used
Don't forget to proof and fact-check your case study. If you are using quotes from sources, or data from an unreliable source, you should attempt to find a better source or remove them. This is sometimes called "establishing rigor." Make sure your case study is credible, transferable, verifiable, and dependable.