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IBS Center for Management Research

ERP Implementation Failure at Hershey Foods Corporation

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This case was written by P. Indu, under the direction of Vivek Gupta, IBS Center for Management Research. It was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation.

2008, IBS Center for Management Research. All rights reserved.
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ERP …show more content…

However, Hershey was quick to rebound and implemented mySAP.com by September 2002, much before the schedule and below the estimated budget. According to Steve Sawyer, Professor,
Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, “In other words, most corporations don‟t fail so dramatically the first time, so their repair is never so good.”8

BACKGROUND NOTE
Hershey was founded by Milton Hershey (Milton) as Hershey Chocolate Company (HCC) in 1894.
Before establishing HCC, Milton underwent a four year apprenticeship with a candy maker in
Lancaster9. In 1876, he established a candy store in Philadelphia, which was closed by 1882. He
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Manugistics is a software application company founded in 1969 as Scientific Time Sharing Corporation.
The name was changed to Manugistics in 1992. The company was a pioneer in supply chain software but its fortunes were adversely affected by cut-throat competition and the dotcom crash in March 2000. In
2006, it was sold to JDA Software.
David F Carr, “Hershey‟s Sweet Victory,” Baseline, December 2002.
Located in South Central Pennsylvania, Lancaster is the eighth largest city in Pennsylvania, USA.
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ERP Implementation Failure at Hershey Foods Corporation

then moved to Denver, where he learnt making caramel using fresh milk. He then started a candy business in New York which failed. He moved back to Lancaster to start Lancaster Caramel
Company which was successful. The