I am working on a classic case right now, the acquisition of one multi-billion d... | Hacker News

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edw519 on May 25, 2009 | parent | context | favorite | on: Management and mathematics

I am working on a classic case right now, the acquisition of one multi-billion dollar organization by another. Each has opposite philosophies about the role of the individual vs. automation.

One company uses an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system that does massive computations based upon the contents of its data base and delivers precise instructions to its users.

The other presents basically the same data on a fairly sophisticated workbench and expects the user to combine that data with what is not on the data base to make a decision.

Guess which company purchased the other?

hs on May 25, 2009 [–]

if the erp nullifies the employees' initiatives by shifting responsibilities, then the erp loses maybe because there's no mechanism to take risk.

in the spirit of tfa, erp encourages mediocre users. so, the company with users who have to take responsibility wins.

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