Assessment of SAP-Enabled Processes
One of the Major Integrated Petroleum Companies
Management at this large oil company began to recognize the criticality of maintaining the appropriate level of commonality among key business processes that are either supported by the recently established shared services unit, or are enabled by the SAP implementation currently underway. Further study led to the conclusion that management and streamlining of important cross-functional business processes was in fact a more general challenge. However, there was no organizational apparatus in place to provide this cross-functional perspective, nor to balance the benefits of commonality with the need for local business unit responsiveness.
Our consultants were engaged to help develop a process management approach that would be beneficial and acceptable to this traditionally hierarchical, decentralized organization. We worked closely with a team of client personnel to tailor an approach that would fit into their culture.
First, we investigated a series of internal initiatives that had been formulated to deal with various cross-functional and cross business unit issues – from energy conservation to sharing best practices – and documented what worked and what didn’t, and what barriers were encountered. We then surveyed several leading companies that had formalized a process management approach to learn about their organization roles and responsibilities, procedures, performance measures and transition.
Next, we crafted an approach to process management that would fit the client organization, and recommended a series of pilot projects to begin the transition. Organizational roles and responsibilities were defined for process sponsors, process sponsor’s council, process and sub-process owners, and process councils. A first cut business process model was developed in order to help clarify what the process boundaries were. Recommendations were also developed for how this new organizational dimension would influence technology investments such as SAP.