Infor’s customer base comprises mid-market discrete manufacturing enterprises in industrial equipment, high-tech electronics, automotive, metal and plastic fabrication, and aerospace sectors, and mid-market process manufacturers in consumer goods, chemical, and food and beverage markets.
LESSON ROUND-UP
– ERM (enterprise resource management) describes software that lets an enterprise manage user access to its network resources efficiently. ERM (enterprise resource management) also describes software that manages all of a company’s assets and resources, including such basic applications as general ledger, accounts payable and receivable, as well as manufacturing, inventory, and human resources.
– ERM system is also widely known as Enterprise Resource Planning system.
– ERP system is implemented in organisation for providing support for all variations of best business practices, enabling implementation of these practices for enhancing productivity, helping in transforming the enterprise functions to be agile, cost-effective and focused on supporting the business objectives and to facilitate the organisation making prompt and effective management decisions.
– The basic modules of an ERP system includes, supply chain, finance, material, finance, human resource.
Each module of an ERP system has got some module. For example finance module contain finance, treasury. Cost, account receivable, accounts payable and fixed assets accounting module.
– Various characteristics of an ERP system include Modular structure, Scalable architecture. Seamless integration of modules, RDBMS independent, Independence of hardware platform, Interface capabilities, PC download/upload facility.
– The steps involved in the implementation of an ERP Solution include Identification of the needs for implementing an ERP package, deciding the desired results, Reengineering of the business processes to achieve the desired results. Selecting of ERP package, Installing the requisite hardware and networks, finalizing the implementation consultants. Implementation of the ERP software.
– Critical success factor for implementing ERP includes top management commitment, the management of change and the resistance to over-customization.
– For any productive business organization ERP can play a vital role. A successfully implemented centralized ERP system will help in improving alignment of strategies and operations, productivity and insight, financial management and corporate governance. ERP system also enables in reducing costs through increased flexibility and overall risk. Before implementing ERP system be assured in terms of where and how the organisation will benefit, discussion with the potential suppliers of ERP in this regards plays a vital role.
– Implementing an ERP system in a new business can be very effective. Implementing the same system
in an older business can be very difficult. All employees must be trained, and there will be significant down time as the business switches all applications over to the new system. Some businesses cannot afford the profit loss this downtime would require. ERP systems also tend to have industry standards for specific types of businesses, and the strict molds may lower creativity or competitive advantage.
– Major ERP players in the market are SAP, BAAN.ORACLE, and Microsoft Dynamics. In all of these SAP and Microsoft dynamics captures a bigger market share while others are having significant share.
SELF-TEST QUESTIONS
(These are meant for re-capitulation only. Answers to these questions are not to be submitted for evaluation) 1. What do you mean by the term “ERM’? Explain the basic objectives of implementing ERM.
2. What are the critical success factors for implementing ERP in an organisation? Explain in details.
3. What do you mean by the term ERP? Explain its features, its advantages and limitations?
4. AB and Limited want to implement SAP in the organisation while it has been using another ERP presently. What are the consideration which AB limited needs to keep in consideration while switchover to SAP?
5. Who are the major players in ERP implementation? Explain two of them in detail.
6. While selecting an ERP system, what are the criterions which need to be kept into consideration?
LESSON OUTLINE
– Meaning of governance – Meaning of governance
– History of E Governance in India – Models of e governance communication technologies to support good governance.E-governance is the natural progression from computerization of Government departments with the developments in information and communication technology and increasing access of internet based services and platforms to common people.
E governance has revolutionized the entire government machinery and it has helped in removing various disadvantages of government regulatory system. It is the result of e governance revolution that we are able to perform functions like book railway/bus ticket online, file our tax return instantaneously and get access of company’s master data instantaneously. The benefits of e governance are many more and list is very long.
After reading this lesson, one would be able to – Understand the meaning of E Governance – Learn about Various models of e-governance – Know about national e-governance division
and national e- governance plan
– Learn about E governance infrastructure, SWAN and NSDG
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Lesson 10
E-Governance in India
E-Governance in India has steadily evolved from computerization of Government Departments to initiatives that encapsulate the finer points of Governance, such as citizen centricity, service orientation and transparency. The National Governance Plan (NeGP), takes a holistic view of e-Governance initiatives across the country, integrating them into a collective vision and a shared cause. In this section we are highlighting the initiatives of the Central and State governments to bring public services closer to the citizens.
MEANING OF E-GOVERNANCE
E-Governance or ‘electronic governance’ is basically the application of Information and communications Technology to the processes of Government functioning in order to bring about ‘Simple, Moral, Accountable, Responsive and Transparent’ (SMART) governance. This would generally involve the use of IcTs by government agencies for any or all of the following reasons: (a) Exchange of information with citizens, businesses or other government departments (b) Speedier and more efficient delivery of public services (c) Improving internal efficiency (d) Reducing costs / increasing revenue (e) Re-structuring of administrative processes and (f ) Improving quality of services.
Although the term ‘e-Governance’ has gained currency in recent years, there is no standard definition of this term. Different governments and organizations define this term to suit their own aims and objectives.
Gartner Group defines e-governance as: “the continuous optimization of service delivery, constituency participation, and governance by transforming internal and external relationships through technology, the Internet and new media.”
The UNESCO definition (www.unesco.org) is: “E-governance is the public sector’s use of information and communication technologies with the aim of improving information and service delivery, encouraging citizen participation in the decision-making process and making government more accountable, transparent and effective.
E-governance involves new styles of leadership, new ways of debating and deciding policy and investment, new ways of accessing education, new ways of listening to citizens and new ways of organizing and delivering information and services. ……….. Its objective is to engage, enable and empower the citizen.”
According to Keohane and Nye (2000), “Governance implies the processes and institutions, both formal and informal, that guide and restrain the collective activities of a group. Government is the subset that acts with authority and creates formal obligations. Governance need not necessarily be conducted exclusively by governments. Private firms, associations of firms, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and associations of NGOs all engage in it, often in association with governmental bodies, to create governance; sometimes without governmental authority.” Clearly, this definition suggests that e-governance need not be limited to the public sector. It implies managing and administering policies and procedures in the private sector as well.
Basically, e-Governance is generally understood as the use of Information and communications Technology (IcT) at all levels of the Government in order to provide services to the citizens, interaction with business enterprises and communication and exchange of information between different agencies of the Government in a speedy, convenient efficient and transparent manner.
Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, former President of India, has visualized e-Governance in the Indian context to mean:
“A transparent smart e-Governance with seamless access, secure and authentic flow of information crossing the interdepartmental barrier and providing a fair and unbiased service to the citizen.”
E-GOVERNANCE EVOLUTION: HISTORY AND PRESENT STATUS
Global shifts towards increased deployment of IT by governments emerged in the nineties, with the advent of the World Wide Web. The technology as well as e-governance initiatives have come a long way since then. With the increase in Internet and mobile connections, the citizens are learning to exploit these new modes of access in wide ranging ways. They have started expecting more and more information and services on-line form governments and corporate organizations to further their civic, professional and personal lives, thus creating abundant evidences that the ‘new ‘e-citizenship’ is taking hold.
The concept of e-Governance has its origins in India during the seventies with a focus on development of in-house government applications in the areas of defense, economic monitoring, planning and the deployment of IT to manage data intensive functions related to elections, census, tax administration etc. The efforts of the
National Informatics Center (NIC) to connect all the district headquarters during the eighties was a very significant development.
From the early nineties, IT technologies were supplemented by ICT technologies to extend its use for wider applications with policy emphasis on reaching out to the rural areas and taking in greater inputs from NGO’s and private sector as well. There has been increasing involvement of international agencies under the framework of e-governance for development to catalyze the development of e-governance laws and technologies in developing countries.
The technology as well as e-governance initiatives have come a long way since seventies. For governments, the more overt motivation to shift from manual processes to IT-enabled processes may be increased efficiency in administration and service delivery, but this shift can be conceived as a worthwhile investment with potential for returns.