D4 - Discussion Board post for SAP - 5%

Answer these questions:

1) What sort of businesses could benefit from implementing SAP software? What benefits can they expect from SAP?

2) Should a company adapt its processes to SAP philosophy, or vice versa. If the former, what changes are likely to be necessary in a company installing SAP?

3) Not all companies that have installed SAP have been successful. Give an example of one that was not. Why do you think Canada Post was successful?

To give an adequate answer, you will need draw extensively upon the text material on SAP (p 522 ff) and the video presented in class . To review this, go here:

http://cf.pearsoned.ca/highered/videocentral/login.cfm?text=10044 (Note that you may need to go to Tools, Internet Options, Privacy and set your cookie protection to a lower setting to see the video)

To give an excellent answer (i.e.. ‘A’ quality) you will need to draw from research outside the text - research other SAP projects on the web or in print media, or draw on your own experience. Here is a suggestion, to start you off: go here: http://www.itworld.com/Topics/ and search for ‘Sobeys’.

Guidelines for responding:

Answers to D4 must be posted in the D4 Forum in the discussion board for your section of MGT2338. Do not post in the Discussion Board for course called “06W_MGT2338_314_315_316_317_318” (this Board is for questions and answers only).

This exercise may be done alone, or in teams of 2 or 3 students (teams larger than 3 are not permitted). If done as a team, all team mates must be in the same section. Each team (or individual working alone) must open one (and only one) thread. Ensure that the last name of each contributor appears in the thread header. You may enter one to three posts (use reply button for posts after the first) to complete your contribution to the discussion. Do not reply to the posts of others, or post questions in this forum.

Note that spelling and grammar do affect comprehension (and your mark!). Incerrek spulling and gramma offen make riting un-understand-ible! The spell checker in Bb will help, but remember that it is not prefect. You will still need to proof read you work!

Correct attribution is important! Algonquin College values individual and original thinking. It believes one person’s words, images, or ideas are his or her own and must be respected as such. Plagiarism, whether done deliberately or accidentally, is defined as presenting someone else’s work, in whole or in part, as one’s own, and includes submission of another work (for example, ideas, wording) without crediting that source. This includes your Professor’s lectures and the Internet, as well as books and periodicals. Adherence to acceptable standards of academic honesty is a vital aspect of the learning process at Algonquin College. Whether plagiarism is deliberate or accidental, the College considers the action unacceptable and will impose sanctions reflecting the severity of the incident. These may be a requirement that the student complete the course on academic integrity, a requirement that the student submit additional work, assigning the grade of zero for the assignment, assigning the grade of F for the course, or suspension from the College. A record will also be kept in the student's file. For full details see Algonquin College Directive E43.

Algonquin’s standard for attribution is the APA format. If you know how to use it, do so. If not, here’s a simplified set of instructions: add a reference number after the quoted material (1), then, at the bottom of your post provide (for each reference) a footnote that looks like this:

(1) Author (if any), date of publication (if known), Title (of book or web article), Publisher (or name of Web site), actual URL of page (for Web site only)

Deadline for posting: see Weekly Planner. Review the marking rubrics (below) before final posting to be sure of your A+!

Evaluation – D4 Forum Name(s):________________________________

Mark	Assigned for…
/7	Clear as to what sort of businesses could benefit from implementing SAP software, and the benefits they can expect Clear as to whether a company should adapt its processes to SAP, or vice versa, and changes likely to be necessary Example of unsuccessful SAP implementation, and clear answer to ‘Why do you think Canada Post was successful?’ Clear writing, logical sequence, ideas presented in own words Quoted material attributed correctly (reference after quoted text points to correctly formatted bibliographic reference) Clear writing, headings used, no grammar/spelling errors serious enough to affect readability
/3	original thinking – adds from research, and/or experience research clearly related to question Provides correct reference for added info

Mark ____________10 (minus 20% per day if after deadline)