As evidenced by the response to the measures taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, any change in habits generates resistance. IT projects are no exception, particularly in the field of digitalisation des achats and downstream supplier procurement and accounting. "In this type of project, only 10-20% of the stakeholders are generally in favour of change, with some even wanting to get involved to accelerate the transition," says Bertrand Gabriel, Director of Development and Strategic Accounts at Acxias, based on the hundred missions integration-deployment carried out by the agency in 15 years.
Take into account internal and external reluctance
Of the remaining 80% of actors, the vast majority of whom prefer to stay behind in anticipation of "seeing", 10-20% are positioning themselves as opponents, systematically making arguments against the project." It is also important to take into account the reluctance of some suppliers, who are increasingly led to collaborate by connecting to their contractors' purchasing tools. In the face of these diverse attitudes, the ability of companies to lead and succeed in driving change is a key factor in the success of the digital transformation project.
Facilitate adoption by mitigating resistance
Change management techniques that emerged with the major IT projects of the late 1990s aim to facilitate and accelerate the adoption of new practices and solutions, mitigating the resistance of people whose activity is impacted by the project. The aim is to gradually bring the organization to maturity on the changes to be implemented, in order to evolve smoothly and in a guided way towards the target environment.
A decisive step to achieve the goals
As part of the Burger King Quick Services, for whom the digitalization of the Procure-to-pay process for non-food purchases had become strategic in order to bring expenses under control, relying on SAP Ariba solutions, this approach was decisive. "The implementation of the solution on this perimeter from March 2018, with a start-up in mid-2019 for the head office and three months later for restaurants, excluding franchisees, helped us to improve the ordering process, with a reduction in wild purchases and exchanged paper documents," says Laurence Nouyer, head of the central systems and ERP division at the company's information systems department. In addition to the TMA delivery now engaged by the group with Acxias, the conduct of change, which continues through training, an accompaniment programme, etc., remains crucial.
Full article from The Watch Digital Purchasing : "The conduct of change, the soul of digital transformation"