Monday, May 14, 2007
» WSJ: SAP struggles with globalization | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com
» WSJ: SAP struggles with globalization Between the Lines ZDNet.com: "To be sure globalization is never easy due to cultural barriers and worker fear. But the WSJ story also hints at how the recently departed Shai Agassi was often in the middle of a tug of war between American, Indian and German developers.
SAP adopted English for meetings even at its German headquarters. Veteran German developers chafed at the move and worried about quality. American developers, based in Palo Alto, Calif., worried SAP wasn't moving fast enough. These cultural issues were compounded because product development was spread around the globe and run by Agassi, who seemed aloof to his German workers.
As a result, traditional SAP programs clashed with Agassi's baby, NetWeaver. The Journal story also details how clashes even spilled out to the newspapers in German. Last year, SAP hosted a town-hall meeting over the 'Americanization of SAP.'
Whether these issues are globalization growing pains or something more serious remains to be seen. SAP's top brass–Henning Kagermann and Hasso Plattner and now Leo Apotheker–remain committed to globalization. After all, they have no choice.
But now that Agassi is gone the messaging becomes more difficult. The Journal noted that Kagermann and Plattner are now trying to convince U.S. developers that the company won't become Walldorf-centric again. How convincing that message is will be critical since SAP will need all the developers it can get to combat Internet-based software models and build next-generation SAP apps."
SAP adopted English for meetings even at its German headquarters. Veteran German developers chafed at the move and worried about quality. American developers, based in Palo Alto, Calif., worried SAP wasn't moving fast enough. These cultural issues were compounded because product development was spread around the globe and run by Agassi, who seemed aloof to his German workers.
As a result, traditional SAP programs clashed with Agassi's baby, NetWeaver. The Journal story also details how clashes even spilled out to the newspapers in German. Last year, SAP hosted a town-hall meeting over the 'Americanization of SAP.'
Whether these issues are globalization growing pains or something more serious remains to be seen. SAP's top brass–Henning Kagermann and Hasso Plattner and now Leo Apotheker–remain committed to globalization. After all, they have no choice.
But now that Agassi is gone the messaging becomes more difficult. The Journal noted that Kagermann and Plattner are now trying to convince U.S. developers that the company won't become Walldorf-centric again. How convincing that message is will be critical since SAP will need all the developers it can get to combat Internet-based software models and build next-generation SAP apps."
