Cultural change and Implementation of PLM solutions

A REVIEW PAPER BY

EJAZ SHARIF MALIK MUHAMMAD IMRAN KHURRM RASHID MUHAMMAD KAMRAN SIDDIQUE SAIFULLAH KHATTAK JAWAD KHALID

DME 2012 (SMME-NUST)

Abstract
It is a challenging task to Change organizational culture, especially when it is tried through a global change in structures, systems, practices, techniques and processes, such as during Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Implementations [7]. During these changes, organizations want its people at different levels and across various parts of the organization to be aligned [7]. The implementation strategy includes variety of options including use of key factors, persuasion strategy and communication etc. which are believed to increase shared meaning leading towards alignment.

Introduction
PLM is a business strategy which manages the whole life span of a product and the product related information [3]. In the past, different computer applications evolved to manage different areas of a product. CAD is related to design of product, CAE refers to analysis of products, and CAM focuses on manufacturing of products. Moreover, PDM manages the design data and so on. First EDM and then PDM emerged in late 1980s recognizing the need to keep a track of the increasing data generated by CAD systems [4]. PDM can be taken as a subset of PLM [4]. PLM is a structure that adds all the different sides and actions of product cycle together. The benefits achieved by using PLM in different phases of life cycle of a product have been proved by many sources.

Implementation of PLM is a gigantic task to do and should not be taken lightly [9]. The implementation process of PLM in any organization involves extensive changes which cannot be brought in a single step. It requires different changes at IT level along with structural as well as cultural level of the organization. A number of studies have been carried out to analyze the implementation of PLM by different organizations. During implementation of PLM an increasing difficulty is faced by the organizations from visible changes (the task, roles and structure) to invisible changes (the behavior and culture of the people of organization). Visible changes can be overcome easily but invisible and changes are very difficult to handle and perceive.

It is a challenging task to bring a change in organizational culture, especially when it is tried through a global change in systems, processes, and people. One of the main challenges is how to create and maintain effective alignment through the transformation process across different levels of functional and geographic groups within the organization. Alignment can be of different type like vertical, horizontal and synergy type. The mode communication plays a vital role in the effective alignment between the different levels of the organization. This paper covers the difficulties faced during the implementation of PLM related to cultural change of an organization and gives an overview to overcome these difficulties.

What is PLM?
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a framework which tries to manage the information about any product electronically. It comprises on the digital form of information of a product. It is a philosophy which is built around the information about a product from its inception till the disposal phase. It unifies different computer applications like CAD (Computer Aided Design), CAE (Computer Aided Analysis), CAM (Computer Aided Machining), SCM (Supply Chain Management), CRM (Customer Relations Management), ERM (Enterprise Resource Management), PDM (Product Data Management), EDM (Engineering Data Management) etc. which are being used by different organizations for management of daily business[5]. PLM is an organized and structured concept of managing and developing the products and related information.

The scope of information about the products being saved, developed, explored and communicated with PLM has increased [3]. There are always new changes and developments in the PLM system. The increasing competition, less delivery times, less cost, improved quality requirements, less time availability for development of existing products and new products, tightening legislation are few of the factors which are creating pressure for the businesses to change their existing processes and operate in a more efficient manner [4]. Due to these factors the need for implementation of PLM has been felt more than ever.

An effective implementation of PLM will accelerate production rate, reduce costs and can increase innovation [9]. It is to be kept in mind that PLM strategy is different from PLM Implementation Strategy. During implementation of PLM the organizations have faced different challenges which if not managed properly can cause the organizations to fail. One of the biggest challenges faced by the organizations in implementation of PLM is the Cultural Change in the organization itself. This change is not visible and hence cannot be measured.

How Culture Evolves?

Human beings communicate and acquire knowledge from each other through the use of culture [8]. The process of learning and acquiring is the base of Culture. The changes in the behavior are brought due to cultural changes which are passed from one social learner to another. The cultural communication of ideas is very critical to expansion of human knowledge, industry, technology and governance system. The evolution of culture is steered by individual and collective decision making as well as by natural selection and random variation.

Mechanisms causing Cultural Changes

Following are few very important mechanisms that cause the cultural changes:-

1.

Steered Change.

In the life of an individual the variation in behavior and

beliefs often comes from the individual experiences [8]. For example, a welder can learn a better way of welding a metal alloy either by accident or by experiment. Such type of variation is the result of a Steered Change.

2.

Biasing Forces.

This type of change comes simply from copying the

behavior of an individual in the community [8]. The attraction for such learning is normally related to avoid the cost which a particular individual has paid through his experience. Conformity, Success and Prestige are three basic types of biasing Forces. In Conformity, an individual can take few sample experiences and evaluate them and then select any of them. Similarly, in Success, an individual can look at the success of an experience and go for it. In

Prestige, an individual can weigh the experience on the base of the prestige of the personality who has gone through that experience.

3.

Differential Success.

The elimination rate of unsuccessful groups and the

increase of successful ones can be taken as Differential Success [8]. Sometime it can be quite rapid. This is also an important mechanism of cultural change.

Role of organizational culture

An open minded organizational culture is useful for launching any new system [6]. Companys cultural change is depending on the fact that what major culture exists within a company prior to the change [6]. PLM helps many areas like quick sharing of data and the internal and external requirement of teamwork which may be counter-cultural and affect the working of people. This can result in conflicts and influence the implementation process negatively. Openness and trust are the basic needs for successful teamwork as well as the responsibility to submit correct data timely to PLM system so that others can use it. In many situations this behaviour firstly has to be taught and anchored in the company culture.

Resistance to Change

Worker resistance is a by-product of the "change forces," and the change process itself [1]. At times, workers take the change as a threat and something to be prevented. Even though change is an unavoidable part of the business, workers tend to oppose it; sometimes strongly. The resistance to change can be both, open (stop doing the work) or indirect (complaints, requests for transfers). Some of the reasons of resisting the change are as under:-

(a)

Fear of unknown

(b)

Fear of Failure

(c)

Old friendships

(d)

Lack of trust on Management

(e)

Effort of learning new things

(f)

Politics

Resistance to change can also come from the organizational structure of the firm. Some well-established organizations may resist change even when the survival of the company depends on it [1]. In order to cope up with resistance to change, the managers must know that it is a form of feedback and can be used to help effective management of the change process.

Impact of PLM implementation on organizational culture

Organizational culture is an important factor which affects the implementation strategy. There are possibly different cultures within a company (between departments) [6] and the implementation methodology has to take care of this fact. It is also considered that PLM creates transparency which automatically should change the culture.

Culture means known and ideal ways of judging, sensing, and working which can be done by those who are members of a given culture. Alignment and association play vital role in keeping a relationship between culture and desired actions which are suitable for each situation. An ideal technology implementation may be described as the ability of the team to settle its own misalignments. People normally have strong attitudes and feelings in the organizations having strong cultures. This aspect requires focus during the change process, especially when the change is complex as there are new fields for everyone and there is a more chance of doubt.

PLM implementation strategy

The implementation of PLM in an organization is a very extensive change process which cannot be carried out in a single step, but should be divided and managed in a series of smaller

stages [2]. A normal strategy is to first replace and consolidate the existing systems in order to achieve relatively quick and good results [6]. Then gradually the existing state is improved with the advanced functionality and opportunities of PLM. The implementation strategy should be determined by the size, conditions and current situation of a company [6]. The implementation approach for a traditional and locally operating company will most likely be different from an international company. Therefore the analysis of existing culture and product related processes is critical and then a decision for implementation is to be made. A quantifiable goal should be defined depending on the analysis of existing condition and an implementation plan to reach this goal is to be stated.

There are two approaches of bringing a change which are incremental and transformational change approaches [6]. Incremental change uses available structures and is slow but also low risk and often uses bottom-up approaches (evolutionary process). On the other hand transformational change improves existing structures, is fast but also high risk and is mostly top down driven. It is important to understand that the implementation of change needs consideration of two factors; opportunity and risk. More opportunity means more risk and vice versa.

Few other strategies to cope up with the culture of an organization for implementation of PLM are following:-

1.

Generally, discussion with people to find out for whom the implementation is motivating,

can create opportunities. It is important to find such key users. Key users are used as multipliers. The key users should have suitable recognition and influence within the group. Moreover, PLM system should be easy to use and should not restrict the working of people.

2.

The confidence of senior management can be gained from short term wins [6] and they

can be then convinced to implement PLM. The importance of 'Walking the Talk' cannot be undermined. It means that senior management has to team up to serve as a role model to generate the acceptance for a change in the workers.

3.

Another key strategy is to provide compassion and help to the team members who have

trouble dealing with change. The excellent way of finding the reasons behind the resistance is to listen to fears of workers about a change. Moreover, managers are able to develop worker morale and willingness if they show that they are truly concerned with worker welfare. In short, open communication, employee participation and management support all pay an important role in the implementation of new ideas and changes. Even after all the efforts, some resistance to change is expected.

4.

The persuasion strategies can be used to gain support of the workers [8]; for instance,

using well known and significant people to show supportable behaviors.

5.

Secular institutions, like universities, and religious institutions both have a critical role to

play in shaping the cultural values of their listeners. They can be used in ways that promote the change.

6.

Borrowing against the future is an effective strategy (as used by politicians). This strategy

can also play important role in bringing acceptance among the workers for a change.

7.

An important role for bringing cultural changes during implementation of PLM is played

by good communication and providing the information about future changes as well as the logic behind such decisions. Communication strategy is used to align the goals of all the team members in the whole organization [7]. Alignment can take many forms:-

(a) desire)

Vertical alignment (between what management wants and what employees

(b)

Horizontal alignment (between various business and departments)

(c) goals.

Synergies between people, processes, and systems that help a company achieve its

It has been observed that alignment occur naturally in some organizations while it requires a large amount of effort in other organizations. In the quickly changing and connected global business environment, the problem of alignment will be more. Such companies should find a way better way to describe meanings of alignment to them in order to implement their dynamic strategies. In such cases the push and pull communication plays vital role. Push communication is the formal way speeches, lectures, presentations, educating that a company uses to communicate usually through their top level departments [7]. Pull communication is how these systems are understood by workers based on their backgrounds, belief systems, and professional aspirations [7]. It acts at lower level close to motivation and action. How the workers understand information, make decisions and take actions is what gives pull communication its strength for alignment. If the pull effect is overlooked, it may result in misalignment, regardless of how much energy is put into the push mechanisms. Chances of such misalignment increase when an organization is going through cultural changes. It has been observed that the stronger the culture, the more pull is needed.

Conclusion
Resistance to change is a natural phenomenon. Bringing a cultural change for implementation of PLM increases the resistance due to the cultural values and strong relationships of individuals. Therefore, cultural changes during implementation of PLM require various strategies having involvement and participation of all the individuals. Presence of better communication strategy, which must aim to change the attitudes and decisions of individuals and social structures, increases the affectivity of the implementation process. The review has shown that the implementation of PLM has to be viewed as a change process that impacts organizational culture and processes.

References

[1] Ahmed K., Yunus K. (2005) "The Experience of Manufacturing Firms with the Implementation of Different Production Philosophies: A United States Survey" International Journal of Management: Vol.22 Issue 3, p 353-p354 (http://ux1.eiu.edu/~ykathawala/Articles/The%20experience%20of%20manufacturing%20firms. pdf) [2] Hannu K., Jussi M., Jussi O., Anneli S. (2009) Assessing maturity requirements for implementing and using product lifecycle management", The 9th International Conference on Electronic Business, Macau, p 669. (http://iceb.nccu.edu.tw/proceedings/2009/669-678.pdf) [3] John Stark. (2011) Product Lifecycle Management. 2nd Ed. London: Springer. [4] Antti S., Anselmi I. (2008). Product Lifecycle Management. 3rd Ed. Berlin: Springer. [5] http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/vseaman/TECH315/ZeidChpt23-PLM.pdf [6] http://www.johnstark.com/hbrueck.pdf [7] http://library.case.edu/digitalcase/DatastreamListing.aspx?PID=ksl:weaedm171&COLPID= ksl:edm& itemNum=2 [8] http://www.des.ucdavis.edu/faculty/Richerson/Ross%20Richerson%20and%20Rogers-522.pdf [9] pdf http://www.gdmllc.com/webinars/3/PLM%20Implementation%20Methodology%20Guide.