Bombardier: Successfully Navigating the Turbulent Skies of a Large-Scale ERP

r market by entering into strategic code-sharing agreements with international carriers, such as Cathay Pacific , and American Airlines

They faced challenges from acquiring many companies because during the acquisitions Bombardier inherited the data, processes and systems of each company which created inefficiencies. Systems didn’t communicate with each other resulting in low inventory turns and price inconsistency. This was not productive for Bombardier and was time consuming for the employees. The biggest problem was the low visibility of inventory and the lack of communication between systems. Bombardier had now a global presence but was not organized to maintain growth without changing the vision and processes. Another challenge is resistance to change, this factor can have a huge impact on the new vision and

We interview the site general manager for a company called Bombardier Transportation. His name is Jeff Gaffney. His official company title is MARC Operations General Manager. Bombardier Transportation is one of two subsidiaries of the company. The other half is Bombardier Aerospace. The parent company is called Bombardier Inc. Bombardier Inc. is headquartered in Montreal Canada. Jeff Gaffney is only involved in the transportation division of the company which is headquartered in Berlin Germany. Bombardier is the leading manufacturer of trains and the third leading manufacturer of planes. The company as a whole has roughly about 72,000 employees with a revenue averaging around $16.8 billion. These numbers are statistics split between the two divisions of the company. As stated before Mr. Gaffney is involved in the transportation division of the company so that is what the interview was primarily about.

This uncertainty has led to Bombardier’s struggling stock price and inability to release products in a timely manner. In order to cope with this uncertainty, Bombardier attempted to establish a favourable linkage with key elements in the environment by forming a formal strategic alliance. A $3.4 billion joint venture in Russia was created to reduce the uncertainty where both parties share the risks and costs of large projects. However, the economic sanction imposed by Canada on Russian companies, as well as the country’s political situation and weak economy has led to a delay on the production of 100 jets and various cancellations. As CEO Pierre Beaudoin stated, “the conditions are not right at this point” indicating the dire effects of the environment on profits (The Canadian Press,

Some many organizational change efforts fail to reach their intention, but the high-ranking sponsors often blame the disappointment on the employees and manager struggle to change at times. They really don’t know how difficult it is to lead and implement change effectively (Robbins, 2011). A good change does require good people skills. Employees resist change because employees can be very unsure about the loss of status or job security within the organization. This would mean the employees and there manager as well as their peers will resist technological changes. The employees will also endure fear of failure that could cause employees to doubt their ability to do the job/ or their duty. Those type of change employees are resisting because the employees are too worried about learning the new requirements. Peer pressure can be endured as well for employees when the employees start to resist change to protect their co-worker, and so will the manager to protect their work group. The human resources roles are planning and implementation, planning would be evaluation of

Establishing an effective corporate culture for the new conglomerate is essential to Bombardier Transportation’s success. Pierre

Air Canada arranges a proactive strategic procurement plan to obtain different goods and services that are vital and fundamental for company growth. These strategies are based on analysis of their historical spending and on educated forecasting of requirements and opportunities. Air Canada is able to create and improve important relationships with key strategical suppliers due to their pronounced buying volume allowing them to acquire greater leverage.

In order to move with the times, the organisation may introduce new equipment or software. Some staff may see this as a positive step that moves the business forward, but some employees may feel anxious about the change, how much it is costing the business and whether it is actually going to improve their role or create more problems.

Canadair 50 seat regional jets are continuing to be turned out at a rate of 60

Overview Bombardier Aerospace is a division of Bombardier Inc. and the third largest global airplane manufacturer after Boeing and Airbus. Its headquarters are in Quebec, Canada, and with 33,600 employees is poised to become a major player in helping the developing world acquire aircraft. The C-Series is a family of narrow-body, twin-engine, medium range jet liners which, despite some challenges in orders, remains a committed product line. It is designed for the 100-150 seat market, which is about 20,000 aircraft globally and represents about $250 billion in revenue over the next few decades. One interesting fact about the C-Series is that it is truly global in components and supply, sourcing from manufacturers in China, Italy, The Netherlands, France, the United States, and Great Britain (Change is in the Air, 2012).

Air Canada’s early strategy was to grow the business, with minimal concern about their staff members and customers. Without any benefits or rewards their staff felt underappreciated. Their customers felt as though their feedback wasn’t being heard but in the eyes of Air Canada as long as their business was expanding, they were satisfied.

1. Cisco suffered from inertia when an attempt was made to engage business management in selecting software for their individual areas, and/or agreeing to participate in the ERP implementation project. List and explain reasons why management would hesitate to become engaged in the IT process/project.

At the start of the case, describe what conditions made an ERP implementation desirable for Bombardier Aerospace.

Bombardier started in the year 1942 and went on to become a key player in the transportation industry. It entered the market of rail transportation in 1974 and 8 years later its desire to diversify led it to enter the Aerospace Industry. By January 31, 2007 Bombardier Transportation posted revenues of $ 6.6 Billion of which 55% came from Aerospace division.

Secondly, the company's growing complexity was choking it and was a big cause of concern. Adding more bricks made products harder to assemble, forecasts harder to determine, and inventory harder to manage. The complexity had a multiplier effect that went through the entire supply chain