Dr James A Robertson

The cause, they argue, is a lack of engineering discipline and clear ownership of the investment.

• Start with a diagnosis — establish what is actually wrong before replacing software that may be capable — then decide, on the evidence, whether to remediate, reimplement or replace.
• They set this out as an eight-stage sequence called the ERP Accelerator.

The eight stages run from Diagnose, through Executive Custody and Strategic Alignment, to a decision to remediate, reimplement or replace, then Precision ERP Configuration, Prove it Works, Make it Work and Thrive. The later stages prove the design through simulation and competency certification, establish organisational readiness before go-live, and treat go-live as day one of continuing value realisation.

Read original · Original 2

They call the approach Strategic Engineered Precision Taxonomy: define information content so it is structurally meaningful to people who understand the business, then translate that understanding into coded hierarchies a computer can work with.

• Any apparent intelligence in the result, they note, comes from the quality of the thinking engineered into the structure.
• The technical centrepiece is the Cubic Business Model, which produces a group-wide Chart of Accounts.

They say a well-built group-wide Chart of Accounts delivers consistent definitions across business units, precise selection of locations, functions and accounts, comparable reporting across branches and countries, and rapid integration of acquisitions into group reporting structures. A well-engineered taxonomy, they say, can serve an organisation for decades.

They are taking the method toward tooling: GL Builder was commissioned to apply the same knowledge faster, while GL Analyzer is being developed using Claude AI to analyse existing trial balances and recommend first-cut taxonomies for divisions, locations, functions and accounts.

• A further rule-based taxonomy tool is planned to help people with reasonable business context assemble ERP taxonomies and a Cubic Business Model in days, with limited high-level input from them.
• These tools are under development or in progress, not established, generally available products.

Read original · Original 2

Executive Custody is decisive: they cite a 25% weighting toward successful outcomes and say success is highly unlikely without it, regardless of what else goes right. They also argue that most causes of failure are human rather than technical, making the psychology of implementation as important as the engineering.

In the eight-stage method, Executive Custody is a stage in its own right: the CEO owns the integrated enterprise view. Strategic Alignment means aligning ERP with what they call the organisation’s Strategic Essence.

Read original · Original 2 · Original 3

The hours, they stress, were not spent creating account codes; they were needed to discover the logical rules behind a Cubic Business Model that supports financial control, reporting and governance, and to make that knowledge reusable. In a follow-up post, they answer criticism that 1,000 hours sounded excessive by distinguishing the work from creating a single chart of accounts: it was about building a repeatable engineering discipline.

They report the client’s results a year after go-live: more management information, profits up, audit time cut from six months to six weeks, an unqualified balance sheet for the first time in 15 years, and the work achieved with one fewer back-office staff member.

• They also describe rule-based overhead distribution, governance down to individual functional sub-units, rapid budget development, and standard management reports covering profit and loss, balance sheet, budgeting and cashflow.
• Ask for supporting evidence before relying on these reported outcomes.

Read original · Original 2

The book not only names critical factors but weights them, with technology consistently coming out smallest. They argue the diagnosis has not dated: the industry has spent more than twenty years demonstrating how persistent these structural causes of underperformance are.

The weightings they report are: improved corporate competitiveness at 40% of the benefit case, improved profitability and share value at 30%, effective operation and better decisions at 20%, strategic perspective and alignment at 16% of success, data engineering at 10%, and technology components at just 5%. Executive Custody carries a 25% weighting toward successful outcomes.

The 2004 book was written in the language of information technology and business information systems. They advise reading those terms as ERP, saying the terminology has changed but the underlying causes have not.

Read original

The series offers a short introduction, an executive-level condensation, a practitioner handbook and a complete methodology, so an executive considering remediation can start with a low-commitment entry point and go deeper if the argument holds up.

They describe a 17-page Synopsis with space to make notes, pitched as the shortest legitimate entry point: fifteen minutes with it will tell readers whether the rest of the series is worth their time.

• Next is a 110-page Executive Summary, carrying the same core case but restructured around what a CEO needs to exercise informed custody of an ERP investment.
• The ERP Taxonomy Handbook offers practitioner-level depth on Precision ERP Configuration and the Cubic Business Model, while the full book contains the complete ERP Accelerator methodology.

Read original · Original 2 · Original 3 · Original 4

Newcomers should start here: it is the most concrete case example in the posts.

Robertson describes a project that put 1,000 hours of research and development into a Chart of Accounts design.

• They say the goal was not to create account codes, but to discover logical rules for a “Cubic Business Model” that supports financial control, reporting and governance.
• The post reports client results: more management information, profits up, audit time down from six months to six weeks, an unqualified balance sheet for the first time in 15 years, and one fewer back-office staff member.
• It says the knowledge became reusable, leading to GL Builder and a planned GL Analyzer tool for analysing trial balances and recommending taxonomies.

For brands planning a campaign

For an ERP remediation proposal, this post supplies outcome metrics and an argument for redesigning financial information structures before replacing software. The client results are the creator’s own account; ask for supporting evidence before using them as benchmarks.

Start here for the vocabulary that recurs across Robertson’s work, including Strategic Engineered Precision Taxonomy, Strategic Essence and the Cubic Business Model.

This post introduces The ERP Taxonomy Handbook as a practitioner-level companion to Unlocking the Full Potential of ERP.

• Robertson describes the Strategic Engineered Precision Taxonomy (SEPT) approach as defining information content so it is meaningful to people who understand the business, then translating it into coded hierarchies a computer can manipulate.
• The technical core is the Cubic Business Model and the group-wide Chart of Accounts it produces, with consistent definitions, precise selection of locations, functions and accounts, comparable reporting across branches and countries, and faster integration of acquisitions.
• The post also references the roughly 1,000-hour Chart of Accounts case study and says good taxonomy can serve an organisation for decades.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for framing a proposal’s technical scope and deliverables around taxonomy design, group-wide definitions and acquisition integration.

General readers can see the full argument in outline before committing to a longer book.

Robertson describes a 17-page Synopsis with space for notes as the shortest legitimate entry point into the whole argument, aimed at executives who lack time for the full book or the 110-page Executive Summary.

• The post summarises the core case: around 70% of ERP implementations fail to deliver promised value, the problem is almost never the software, and the eight-stage ERP Accelerator covers Diagnose, Executive Custody, Strategic Alignment, Decision, Precision ERP Configuration, Prove it Works, Make it Work and Thrive.
• These sit on a Critical Human Foundation, Engineering Approach and AI Oversight.

For brands planning a campaign

The synopsis and executive summary offer lower-commitment briefing paths or lead magnets. The eight stages provide a ready structure for a proposed remediation engagement.

Start here to understand the method’s origins.

Robertson says Critical Factors for Information Technology (ERP) Investment Success was first published in 2004 and grew from twenty years of hands-on project experience.

• The book reports a systematic gap analysis of why major IT and ERP investments succeed or fail.
• The post lists these weightings: improved corporate competitiveness at 40% of the benefit case, improved profitability and share value at 30%, effective operation and better decisions at 20%, strategic perspective and alignment at 16% of success, data engineering at 10%, and technology components at just 5%.
• Executive Custody has a 25% weighting toward successful outcomes.
• They say technology is consistently the smallest factor and that the diagnosis has not dated.

For brands planning a campaign

For an executive audience, these weightings support a case for focusing remediation on governance, executive custody and information design rather than software replacement.

Start here for an executive-level framing of the same case and its eight stages.

This post introduces a 110-page Executive Summary as a condensed edition for CEOs—not a marketing pamphlet, but the same argument restructured around what a CEO needs to exercise informed custody of an ERP investment.

• Robertson repeats the 70% failure rate, the engineering discipline argument, the eight-stage ERP Accelerator and Precision ERP Configuration as the highest-leverage lever.
• The post lists the eight stages with short definitions: Diagnose what is wrong; Executive Custody for the CEO; Strategic Alignment with the organisation’s essence; Decision to remediate, reimplement or replace; Precision ERP Configuration; Prove it Works through simulation and certification; Make it Work through readiness before go-live; and Thrive from day one after go-live.
• The stages are underpinned by the Critical Human Foundation, Engineering Approach and AI Oversight.

For brands planning a campaign

Useful for tailoring a proposal to a CEO or CFO, because it offers a ready-made executive sequence and language. The post describes the book and method; it is not a full transcript or independent evaluation.

They urge readers to diagnose the problem first, then decide whether to remediate, reimplement or replace the software.

The eight-stage ERP Accelerator sequence: Diagnose, Executive Custody, Strategic Alignment, Decision, Precision ERP Configuration, Prove it Works, Make it Work, Thrive.

For brands planning a campaign

For a mid-market manufacturer weighing whether to fix or replace an underperforming ERP, Robertson’s strongest angle is a decision framework built around diagnostic questions. It meets readers closer to their actual situation than product comparisons do.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The stated benefits include consistent definitions across business units, comparable reporting across branches and countries, precise selection of locations, functions and accounts, and rapid integration of acquisitions into group reporting. Robertson says the approach defines information content so it is structurally meaningful to people who understand the business, then translates it into coded hierarchies a computer can work with.

Strategic Engineered Precision Taxonomy (SEPT), which connects business meaning to coded hierarchy.

For brands planning a campaign

The most concrete deliverable a brand can attach to Robertson is a defined model and chart-of-accounts structure, not general ERP advice. Campaign material can test whether readers want a structure-level redesign or process consulting.

Examples: Source 1

Results cited a year after go-live include more management information, higher profit, audit time falling from six months to six weeks, an unqualified balance sheet for the first time in 15 years, and the work being completed with one fewer back-office staff member. They stress that the knowledge became reusable and that follow-on tools such as GL Builder were commissioned to apply it faster.

Rules-based overhead distribution, governance down to functional sub-units, rapid budget development, and standard management reports across profit and loss, balance sheet, budgeting and cashflow.

The 1,000 hours refer to discovering reusable logical rules and building a repeatable model, not simply creating account codes. Robertson makes this point in response to criticism that the figure sounded excessive.

For brands planning a campaign

This is the closest thing in the posts to a proof case for a campaign around Chart of Accounts redesign. The audit-time and balance-sheet details offer specific outcomes for a campaign angle, provided they are attributed as Robertson’s own account.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Robertson cites a 25% weighting toward successful outcomes for Executive Custody and says success is highly unlikely without it, regardless of what else goes right. They also argue that most causes of failure are human rather than technical, making the psychology of implementation as important as the engineering.

The Executive Custody, Strategic Alignment and CEO-as-customer framing runs through the book series and Accelerator stages, and is applied consistently across posts.

For brands planning a campaign

For a manufacturer whose leadership is deciding whether to back a remediation programme, material aimed at the CEO and CFO and framed around custody and accountability is likely to resonate more than practitioner detail.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3

The series lets readers start at the entry point that matches their available time and desired depth.

Each title is aimed at a defined reader: the Synopsis for a 15-minute test, the Executive Summary for executives, the Handbook for practitioners and analysts, and the full book for the complete methodology.

Critical Factors was written using the language of information technology and business information systems. Robertson advises reading those terms as ERP in hindsight and argues the diagnosis itself has not dated.

For brands planning a campaign

A brand can direct readers to a specific, low-commitment entry point rather than a sales conversation, lowering the barrier for executives testing the waters on a remediation decision.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4

They also describe a planned rule-based AI taxonomy tool that would let people with reasonable business context assemble comprehensive ERP taxonomies and a Cubic Business Model in days, with limited high-level input from them.

The posts describe these tools as under development or in progress, so they should not be presented as established, generally available products.

For brands planning a campaign

The AI tooling shows where Robertson’s method is heading and offers a forward-looking angle, but a manufacturer’s brief should focus on the established methodology and case study rather than tools still being built.

Examples: Source 1

The free PDF of the same handbook is offered separately, making Amazon a retail channel rather than a partner.

View example

The post describes a commission but does not say whether they own, work for or hold equity in the firm, or whether the arrangement continues. Ask about the firm's ownership and the commission's status.

View example

Claude is the AI product they use to build with, not a sponsor or client.

View example

A bike-shipping post compares parcel and LTL costs, explains when a surcharge changes the choice, and recommends running the numbers before committing to one lane.

• A second post argues for a clearly defined ideal client profile when selecting a 3PL.
• That practical, decision-first approach echoes Robertson’s writing on ERP choices.

Finch focuses on physical fulfilment economics, packaging and 3PL fit; Robertson focuses on ERP governance, financial information structures and Chart of Accounts design. Finch is an adjacent operations and logistics voice, not a direct ERP peer.

Read original · Original 2

The posts ask who owns the fix, what behaviour changes and how success will be measured. That echoes Robertson’s insistence on diagnosing before acting and treating executive ownership as decisive, rather than assuming a new tool or dashboard will solve the problem.

Staikos works on customer signals, CX operating models and AI in service and contact centres.

• Robertson works on ERP remediation, accounting taxonomy and executive custody of enterprise systems.
• Their methods align around diagnosis and ownership, not subject matter.

Read original · Original 2

A retail-growth post separates overall retail growth from much faster digital growth and asks where CPG companies should put the next dollar.

• An Amazon grocery post uses shopper data to argue that grocery changes frequency and engagement.
• Robertson uses the same briefing format for ERP decisions: establish the case, then recommend what a leader should do.

Brett focuses on ecommerce growth, retail media and marketplace execution for consumer brands.

• Robertson focuses on ERP failure, financial information design and remediation choices.
• Brett is a commerce and retail operator voice, not an ERP implementation specialist.

Read original · Original 2

Finch explains the parcel-versus-LTL decision for large bike boxes: additional handling starts around 10,368 cubic inches, oversize takes over past 17,280 cubic inches, and negotiated parcel and freight rates can push the break-even point well above published rates.

• Finch also argues that a 3PL should turn down poor-fit clients to focus on the accounts it serves.
• This is useful when deciding which 3PL to use and whether a shipment should go parcel or LTL.

The tradeoff is that Finch does not address ERP remediation, Chart of Accounts design, financial taxonomy, audit outcomes or executive custody.

• Choosing Finch shifts the project from an ERP and accounting-structure review to freight and fulfillment.
• For a manufacturing company's ERP and accounting-structure review, the Chart of Accounts proposal remains unanswered.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Staikos describes a credit-card application that goes wrong across fulfillment, contact center and digital teams: the CX team captures and codes the complaint, but no one owns the full customer problem.

• Staikos proposes testing whether the company can name who owns the fix, what it is worth, which customer behavior changes, which internal process or incentive caused the problem, and how success will be proved.
• A later post lays out a signal-system kit for ownership, classification, quality and decision traceability, plus a voice-AI vendor shortlist.

The tradeoff is that Staikos works at the customer-experience and signal-governance layer, not the ERP configuration or financial-reporting layer.

• The posts do not cover Chart of Accounts design, group-wide account structures, audit preparation or ERP remediation stages.
• Choosing Staikos could help a manufacturer act on customer feedback, but would not produce the taxonomy proposal required for an ERP and accounting-structure review.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Brett compares retail and digital growth across public U.S. retailers and examines Amazon's grocery expansion.

• One post reports Q1 2026 data across 52 retailers: median comparable sales growth of +2.9% against median digital growth of +12.5%, with Walmart at +2.6% comparable and +24% digital.
• Brett recommends separating retailer growth from digital growth and investing where growth is.
• Another post cites NielsenIQ data on Amazon perishables and argues that grocery makes Amazon a more frequent part of the consumer's life.
• This is useful for a manufacturer deciding how to allocate retail media, marketplace and ecommerce investment.

The tradeoff is that Brett addresses commercial channel strategy and marketplace execution, not ERP remediation or financial information design.

• The posts do not discuss Chart of Accounts, ERP failure causes, executive custody, audit outcomes or taxonomy engineering.
• Choosing Brett would answer where to spend the next ecommerce dollar, but not how to fix an ERP or redesign the accounts.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2