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Consultancy project changes direction of Electroworld
Electroworld, a large chain of electronic stores based across Eastern Europe, deals in a wide variety of electrical home appliances, from large items like washing machines through to smaller items such as irons and blenders. The stores also stock a wide selection of computers, printers and accessories. They specialise in setting competitive prices which drop still further during the store's periodic sales throughout the year.
In 2002, the first Electroworld store opened in Zlicin, Prague to enthusiastic customer reception. Such has been the chain’s success that there are now 12 stores across the country. Not only are the shops popular with consumers, but the Electroworld brand is very highly regarded and was voted Electrical Retailer of the Year by shoppers in 2004. It has also featured in the Czech 100 Best Companies list three times, in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Eximium was contacted by Electroworld with a brief to carry out a complete project review and report for them. There was a project underway to replace the company’s general ledger (GL) application. The project appeared to be faltering and management wanted an outside independent opinion on what was going wrong and whether the project was in their best interests. Following a brief from the group Finance Director, the team from Eximium visited Oslo, Budapest and Prague to talk to the key finance and systems staff and understand how they operated and what was happening.
Electroworld decided to bring in an outside organisation as it can be difficult for those working within a company to have an objective view; different departments and sections often believe that their way of doing things is the best way. As independent observers, Eximium were required to produce an impartial report and to draw conclusions about the likely impact of the change, propose some alternatives, and define the pros and cons of the various solutions.
“The results of our investigations were very interesting. It became apparent quite quickly that the project was not going to be a benefit and we were pretty clear about the best thing for Electroworld to do. We recommended that the new project was halted and instead they should wait for the new group GL solution to be chosen”, comments Derrick Cameron, Eximium’s Technical Director/MD. Despite the money and time spent on the project to date, Electroworld took the view that this was in the best interest of the company and that to continue with the current project would be a costly mistake.
“I have to commend the management for taking what was a pretty brave step,” comments Derrick. “It would have been easier for them to bury their heads in the sand and carry on with a project that was not really going to work out. Instead they decided to cut their losses and take a long term view with successful results.”
For details of how Eximium could help you, call 01582 635 078.
In 2002, the first Electroworld store opened in Zlicin, Prague to enthusiastic customer reception. Such has been the chain’s success that there are now 12 stores across the country. Not only are the shops popular with consumers, but the Electroworld brand is very highly regarded and was voted Electrical Retailer of the Year by shoppers in 2004. It has also featured in the Czech 100 Best Companies list three times, in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Eximium was contacted by Electroworld with a brief to carry out a complete project review and report for them. There was a project underway to replace the company’s general ledger (GL) application. The project appeared to be faltering and management wanted an outside independent opinion on what was going wrong and whether the project was in their best interests. Following a brief from the group Finance Director, the team from Eximium visited Oslo, Budapest and Prague to talk to the key finance and systems staff and understand how they operated and what was happening.
Electroworld decided to bring in an outside organisation as it can be difficult for those working within a company to have an objective view; different departments and sections often believe that their way of doing things is the best way. As independent observers, Eximium were required to produce an impartial report and to draw conclusions about the likely impact of the change, propose some alternatives, and define the pros and cons of the various solutions.
“The results of our investigations were very interesting. It became apparent quite quickly that the project was not going to be a benefit and we were pretty clear about the best thing for Electroworld to do. We recommended that the new project was halted and instead they should wait for the new group GL solution to be chosen”, comments Derrick Cameron, Eximium’s Technical Director/MD. Despite the money and time spent on the project to date, Electroworld took the view that this was in the best interest of the company and that to continue with the current project would be a costly mistake.
“I have to commend the management for taking what was a pretty brave step,” comments Derrick. “It would have been easier for them to bury their heads in the sand and carry on with a project that was not really going to work out. Instead they decided to cut their losses and take a long term view with successful results.”
For details of how Eximium could help you, call 01582 635 078.
