Product details

Kent County Council (KCC) had just successfully completed a large IT system to support its financial and human resources, a major success for an organisation that until 2001 was paralysed by the mountain of IT tasks and targets ahead, spending 43 million annually on IT without clear returns. How did they achieve this? The case recounts the successful in-house implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning system at Kent County Council. It discusses how KCC transformed itself from being paralysed with IT and with outdated technology until 2001, to being an organisation that has now confidence in its IT capabilities and is moving fast towards reaching the e-government targets set by the central UK government. Key managerial issues arising during large IT implementations within an organisation are discussed. The case can be used in MBA or executive education classes to discuss some or all of the following issues: (1) managerial issues during large IT implementations; (2) how an organisation with poor IT capabilities can get out of a deadlock, successfully implement large IT projects and become confident for its IT capabilities; and (3) an example of how a local government tries to reach the e-government targets set by the central government.