ERP Implementation Challenges & an Internship Experience with SEBPO

Abstract

Evaluation of the Business Process Outsourcing(BPO) industry originated in the late 18th century for manufacturing tasks. In addition, this BPO industry expanded in the mid-20th century with data processing. Moreover, it has significant growth in the 1970s to 1980s with the reduction of cost and efficiency improvement. Then in the 1990s, most countries like India Philippines grew in this industry. In the 2000s, the BPO industry included Finance, IT, HR, and healthcare. In the chapter on the industry description and analysis, 2007 shows a steady growth in the BPO industry in Bangladesh. In addition, nowadays Bangladesh is the lower-cost country for outsourcing destinations compared to other countries such as China, India, and the Philippines. In 2022 the BPO industry generated over 700 Million dollars in revenue which is more valued. Therefore, in this industry growth is steady because of the strong skilled employees with language proficiency. Then none other than this industry currently employs over 70000 people and countries to expand. Lastly, Porter’s Five Forces analysis of the SEBPO reveals moderate threats from the new entrants and also the suppliers. SEBPO must be focused on their cost efficiency and strong client-based relationships. The chapter of SEBPO, a global outsourcing company was founded in 2006 with its headquarters in New Jersey and its delivery centers in Bangladesh and EL Salvador. SEBPO offers different types of services: Ad Operation, Back-Office Processing, Creative Services, Customer Support, Data Solutions, Media Planning, and Quality Assurance. In addition, SEBPO has been recognized by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals(IAOP) as a top-ranked outsourcing firm. Their mission is to ensure the client's success through their services and also their core value are employee well-being and community support etc. SEBPO has a focused teamwork group their current employee is over 1400. This part is constant with the internship experience at SEBPO which is a Business Process Outsourcing(BPO) firm and this company the different offices in Bangladesh, the USA, and EL Salvador. Merely, I worked in the financial planning and analysis department under the guidance of the deputy manager finance MD. Ariful Haque. In addition, a key project of the SEBPO I participated was the implementation of the ERP system in the SEBPO which needed more data to collect. So, we collected more the 6000 company assets with the visit to several SEBPO offices to gather this information. Moreover, I also gained experience in account receivable management files with tasks like tracking the payment of the client. Additionally, I learned about the bills and how the finance department uses the financial data. In this whole summary, discussions about implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a more difficult task that requires more carefulness and consideration of the various challenges. My review of the existing research papers has found nine major challenges that significantly affect ERP implementation challenges which are cost and financial constraints, customization and flexibility, compliance and integration, change management and training, reliability and data security, cultural and organizational distinctions, reporting preferences and Usability, communication barriers, and language. In addition, these challenges lead to concern about when organizations seek the adopt ERP systems. Then, overcoming these challenges is more crucial part that ensures the successful implementation and integration of the ERP system into an organization which makes their operation is more easy and helps to make strategic decision making.