Implementing SAP R/3 in a Multi-Cultural Organization

Enterprise Resource Planning systems allow multi-cultural organizations to harmonize and coordinate their business processes across functional departments and geographical boundaries. However, in spite of multi-language support and configuration flexibility, the technology itself cannot ensure that the implemented system satisfies all parts of the organization. In this paper, we present some of the experiences from implementing SAP R/3 in Hydro Agri Europe (HAE). Represented with plants and front offices in nine European countries, HAE needed a deliberate strategy for dealing with multiple cultures, legal systems, and languages when they decided to reengineer the organization and implement SAP. The strategy as a whole was successful, though there were culture-dependent issues coming up during the project that led to more expensive solutions and a less harmonized organization. We discuss the approach taken by HAE and sum up the positive and negative experiences from the project.