Battelle
Battelle Accelerates ERP Transformation with Avaap’s Change Management
The Challenge
Battelle Memorial Institute is the world’s largest private, non-profit global research and development organization. Their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) system was heavily customized, resulting in process inefficiencies that increased overhead costs and imposed significant administrative burdens on the organization. To address these challenges, Battelle launched a business transformation initiative to replace its legacy system and implement a best-in-class ERP solution.
Key Highlights
Battelle partnered with Avaap to deliver full-spectrum organizational change management services to enable enterprise adoption of newly developed world-class business processes, technology, and behaviors. Avaap worked with more than 40 business, IT, and project team members and leaders across 11 workstreams, seven phases, and three separate consulting and system implementation firms to conduct a series of assessments to identify key stakeholders, risks, and change impacts. Comprehensive plans—including engagement, sponsor, communication, and risk—were developed to engage stakeholders, increase adoption, and mitigate risks.
Organizational change management (OCM) was embedded alongside the ERP project management office (PMO) to integrate with Battelle’s agile methodology and provide weekly progress reporting and monitoring. Avaap established a change leadership council and a change advocate network to foster two-way communication, gain alignment, and drive adoption across the organization. Project health, client satisfaction, and ADKAR surveys were conducted throughout the initiative to monitor metrics and inform tactical adjustments.
The training strategy combined vendor-provided platform training with customized, workstream-specific courses delivered by internal subject matter experts, ensuring employees were prepared for new processes and technology.
- Accelerated Adoption: Avaap’s integrated change management approach ensured employees were prepared and confident in using the new ERP system, reducing resistance and accelerating adoption across all workstreams.
- Risk Mitigation: By embedding OCM into the project governance structure and monitoring progress through ADKAR and satisfaction surveys, Avaap proactively identified and addressed risks before they impacted timelines or outcomes.
- Improved Communication and Alignment: The establishment of the change leadership council and change advocate network created strong two-way communication channels, fostering alignment between leadership and employees and driving engagement throughout the transformation.
- Enhanced Training and Knowledge Transfer: Customized training programs, combined with vendor-provided resources and internal subject matter expertise, equipped employees with the skills needed to operate effectively in the new ERP environment.
- Cultural Integration: Avaap supported Battelle’s “mission first” cultural shift by aligning change strategies with organizational values, ensuring the ERP transformation reinforced—not disrupted—the company’s core mission
By embedding change management into every phase of its ERP transformation, Avaap helped Battelle align people, processes, and technology with its mission-first culture. This partnership minimized risk, accelerated adoption, and positioned Battelle for long-term success in advancing global research and development initiatives.
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