The President's Unique Role in Enterprise IT Projects 
by Wayne Strider 
 
An organization's president is in a position to provide a 
unique kind of support that only he or she can provide.  
Often the success of an enterprise IT project such as ERP 
requires cooperation between parts of the organization that 
aren't used to cooperating freely.  The president has the 
authority to require cooperation across organizational 
boundaries. He or she can resolve political, 
organizational, and human change management issues that no 
one else can.  Rarely does a project manager, CIO, or 
project governance team have this authority. Yet if the 
project fails these same people may be looking for other 
jobs. 

Here are several examples of what the president can do that 
no one else can:
1. Hold his or her executives accountable for value 
returned to the organization by the ERP system. Working 
with key executives, the president will approve value 
goals, measurements, and baselines.  These goals will be 
accompanied by individual responsibilities and timelines. 
The president will hold the responsible individuals 
accountable for meeting these goals. This cuts through all 
the vendor marketing hype.  It holds individuals 
accountable. 
 
2. Set clear expectations about the level of cooperation he 
or she expects from key executives and their business 
units.  This moves cooperation beyond the usual verbal 
talk-the-talk to behavioral walk-the-walk.  The executives 
must understand that the president expects to see specific 
behaviors that demonstrate cooperation. 
 
3. Approve policy decisions about what to do with some 
individuals whose jobs may be eliminated or changed 
dramatically. 
 
4. Make decisions on disputed organization structure 
changes when executive sponsors or affected parties cannot 
agree. 
 
5. Approve guiding principles for making business process 
redesign decisions. 
 
6. Make decisions on disputed business process changes when 
executive sponsors or affected parties cannot agree. 
 
7. Act as the project's primary interface and advocate with 
the board (directors, trustees, or regents, etc.) 
 
In our experience CIO's and executive project sponsors are 
often reluctant to ask the president for his or her 
involvement on large enterprise IT projects.  The reasons 
vary. Some don't know how to ask.  Some just assume they 
won't get it.  Some are worried they will look incompetent. 
 
We know that presidential involvement in enterprise IT 
projects is controversial and countercultural.  It won't be 
easy to get a president's time for this. Nevertheless, we 
believe that at least an hour or two per month of 
presidential involvement is warranted because of the 
dollars and risks involved, and the far-reaching effects on 
the enterprise. 
 
Strider & Cline, Inc. has seen first hand the positive 
difference presidential involvement can make on ERP 
projects so we remain strong in our belief that it is the 
correct thing to do. 
 
For more on the role of the president in ERP projects 
please read "What Presidents Can Do To Save $Millions On 
Their Enterprise IT Projects: A president's guide to 
surviving ERP projects."  Ask Wayne how you can receive a 
complimentary copy. 

 
Strider & Cline, Inc. Maximum Value Newsletter Vol. 2003 
No. 2