Maximizing Return on Investment Using ERP Applications

INTRODUCTION

Going far back into history, philosophers have commented on the phenomenon of unintended consequences, both for good and for bad. Various references go back to Locke or Burke as talking about this principle in general terms, and it was a primary element of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” as one of the guiding principles of modern economics, albeit in Smith’s case the unintended consequences were the positive effects of the “invisible hand.” For the purpose of this book, we refer to this law as a primary reason that well-intentioned actions taken in a functionally organized world create unforeseen negative consequences across an enterprise and define how the conversion to ERP programs contributes to the illumination of the logical relationships that cause these to occur. With this illumination comes the opportunity to design and implement changes within an organization that will more closely produce intended results.1