Dow Corning Corporation: Reengineering Global Processes

The Dow Corning case examines the role of information technology and the information technology function in enabling large international organizations to transform a functionally-oriented, regionally-organized business into a customer-oriented, global firm. Specifically, the case explores the dilemma posed by enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, which would appear to offer a useful tool for integrating global processes but have proved to be extremely difficult to implement. The case is divided into two parts. Part A describes the history of information technology at Dow Corning and presents management’s rationale for designating IT a strategic resource in late 1994. Part B presents Dow Corning’s plans for global implementation of SAP and reviews its progress immediately following the pilot implementations. Designed for discussion (as opposed to problem-solving), the case asks students to assess Dow Corning’s objectives for, and approach to, SAP implementation and to consider the efficacy of using an ERP as a catalyst for organizational change