Project Description
Stakeholder Analysis Drives Success for Retailer’s New Order Management System
Client Challenge
A $2.5 billion, multi-banner specialty retailer of baby and children’s clothing, gifts, and accessories had recently selected a new order management system that would enable them to replace antiquated legacy systems, dramatically improve highly inefficient business processes, and support their growth into international markets. The transition to this new environment represented a significant change in how the retailer operated. The company wanted a clear understanding of stakeholder expectations and concerns as well as possible implications before commencing the implementation. Additionally, the client had recently moved away from internal business groups making singularly focused system decisions, by adopting a more enterprise-wide mindset regarding business planning, systems, and implementations.
Parker Avery Solution
The Parker Avery Group provided change management and retail industry expertise in conducting the stakeholder analysis, performing the following key activities:
- Identified 24 key stakeholders to represent the following impacted areas of the business:​
- Retail planning​
- Sales and operations​
- Sourcing​
- Finance​
- Wholesale and retail support teams​
- Conducted and documented stakeholder interviews​
- Assessed and summarized findings, outlining recurring themes and identifying the related impacts relative to:​
- Overall risk to the project​
- Risk of achieving benefits​
- Risk of “paving the cow path”​
- Adoption of new systems​
- Developed a high-level communication plan​
- Recommended action items necessary to improve the success of the order management project and deliver desired business benefits​
Results
Parker Avery’s stakeholder analysis showed that a formal change management strategy is crucial for the retailer’s successful order management system implementation. Further, the analysis highlighted the need to identify and support key stakeholder interests, understand their influence, and align projects accordingly. Stakeholders also stressed the importance of clear communication and visible project progress. Managing these dynamics well requires being politically savvy, navigating internal and external environments, building support, and mitigating opposition. In response, the business started developing a comprehensive change management approach for future projects
Is your organization ready to handle the change associated with your next big initiative?
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