SAP Project Management in a VUCA World: Dancing with Uncertainty

Duygu Şener
Jun 21
7 min read

Today's digital transformation projects are managed in a world characterized by Uncertainty, Volatility, Complexity, and Ambiguity—collectively known as VUCA. This environment demands new leadership skills and strategic foresight, especially from project managers handling integrated ERP projects like SAP.

This article is directly connected to the VUCA theme discussed on June 19, 2025, during the "Radical Projects Collective" Zoom session led by Crevay Co., moderated by Cheri Smith. In this meeting, project managers from around the globe discussed which skills and approaches have become critical to turning the threats posed by VUCA in projects into opportunities.

What is VUCA?

VUCA was first used by the U.S. military to describe the post-Cold War environment. Today, it is widely used in the business world, especially to define projects with high levels of uncertainty:

Volatility: The rapid and unexpected changes in events.
Uncertainty: Inability to predict the future or lack of sufficient information.
Complexity: The presence of many interconnected factors and systems.
Ambiguity: Situations that are open to interpretation and lack clarity.

According to the Project Management Institute, volatility refers to the rate of rapid change; uncertainty to the lack of predictability and information; complexity to complex systems with hidden dependencies; and ambiguity to conditions that make it difficult to accurately assess reality in such an environment. In this VUCA world, traditional, rigid management methods often prove inadequate, so leaders and project managers are expected to develop more agile and flexible strategies.

In today’s business world, companies constantly face pressure to innovate, competition is fiercer, resources are scarce, and stakeholder expectations rapidly increase. This deeply affects project management; according to Strasser, under VUCA conditions, rather than trying to predict uncertainties, it is necessary to adapt and move forward with existing conditions. Especially large-scale, integrated IT projects like SAP are directly influenced by this dynamic environment. Changing business requirements, technological innovations, and external shocks quickly render rigid plans obsolete; therefore, project teams should embrace approaches such as flexible planning, rapid decision-making, and continuous improvement.

Key Challenges of SAP Projects in a VUCA Environment

SAP projects are inherently large and complex, requiring integration across numerous processes, modules, and stakeholders. According to BMT, complex projects involve many dependencies, diverse stakeholders, and high uncertainty; such projects are difficult to predict and control, demanding flexible management approaches. Under VUCA conditions, SAP projects face additional risks on top of these challenges.

Constantly Changing Requirements: Business goals and market conditions can shift rapidly, necessitating frequent revisions of the project scope. As Strasser highlights, project managers in a VUCA world continuously encounter changing conditions, often leading to budget and schedule deviations.
High Complexity and Integration: SAP projects span multiple modules and business units. Intense interdependencies between systems mean that even a minor issue can cause cascading effects. Managing complexity becomes difficult because it is often unpredictable how a change in one component will impact the entire system.
Human and Organizational Factors: Resistance to change within the organization, insufficient training, and lack of leadership support jeopardize projects. Building a team with critical skills for large-scale SAP projects is challenging; sometimes, inexperienced personnel are assigned, or change management is inadequate, causing budget overruns and delays.
Technology and Data Challenges: Integration with existing systems and data is complex. Migration from legacy data structures, data cleansing, and synchronization needs can slow down the project. Moreover, external technology trends (e.g., cloud migration, and new module requirements) increase project ambiguity.

When combined, these challenges require project managers to handle both broad-scope and environmental uncertainties. To succeed in SAP projects, flexibility, and proactive communication are as critical as robust planning and risk management.

The Role of Flexibility, Continuous Learning, and Systems Thinking

In complex and uncertain projects, systems thinking plays an increasingly vital role. BMT (2024) emphasizes that systems thinking serves as an enabling mindset across all complex projects. This systemic approach views the project as an interconnected whole, allowing project managers to focus not only on individual modules but also on the collective benefits the entire system can deliver. For example, applying systems thinking to stakeholder management provides deep insights into the project's scope and context, enhancing stakeholder support. Additionally, the concept of "emergent properties" highlights that outcomes invisible when parts are considered separately can arise from the whole system. These perspectives offer a broader lens for managing complexity in SAP projects.

Flexibility and a learning culture further strengthen success. Strasser (2025) clearly states that in a VUCA environment, individuals and teams must be able to honestly say "I don’t know" when facing mistakes or uncertainty caused by a lack of knowledge. The “fail cheap” principle allows problems to be detected early and corrected quickly, thereby reducing project costs and easing team stress. In this context, short feedback loops in SAP projects—such as sprint meetings, pilot runs, or prototypes—encourage learning. Furthermore, continuous knowledge sharing and training within the team consistently improve project competencies.

Systems Thinking: Viewing project components as an interconnected whole provides a strategic advantage when managing complexity.
Adaptive Methods: Agile approaches like Scrum and Kanban help respond quickly to changing needs. Progressing in short iterations allows early identification of project risks.
Continuous Learning Culture: Learning from mistakes and experiences not only improves project processes but also enhances the team’s adaptability to new situations. An open communication environment supports this learning.
Communication and Collaboration: Maintaining continuous dialogue among stakeholders, and regularly sharing expectations, requirements, and progress, increases resilience against uncertainties.

When applied together, these strategies increase the likelihood of SAP projects advancing successfully under VUCA conditions.

Success and Failure Factors in SAP Implementations

Research shows that human and managerial factors are decisive in large ERP projects like SAP. In Bhagwani’s doctoral study analyzing 10 successful SAP projects, continuous senior management support, comprehensive training and testing programs, and a well-structured project team emerged as the fundamental success factors. The study also emphasized high user involvement and mutual trust established between project teams and consultants as other critical contributors to success.

In contrast, failed projects often lacked these supports. An analysis of 10 unsuccessful SAP implementations identified the most prominent reasons as decreased senior management support, exclusion of users from the project, and insufficient training. Additionally, inexperienced consultants within the project team, distrust between implementers and clients, and weak change management processes were frequently cited as common failure factors. These findings clearly illustrate the core differences between well-executed and unsuccessful projects.

Success Factors	Failure Factors
Continuous senior management support	Lack of senior management support
Comprehensive training and testing programs	Insufficient user training and participation
Proper project team composition	Inexperienced team/consultants
High user involvement and reliable communication	Lack of trust and communication issues

The table above summarizes the critical factors highlighted in the literature. For instance, projects with continuous management support have a higher chance of success, whereas the absence of such support increases the risk of failure. Similarly, active user involvement and internal team training strengthen the project, while a lack of participation and training leads to costly mistakes.

ERP/SAP Implementations in Turkey: A Bibliometric Perspective

In Turkey, both practice-oriented cases and academic studies exist concerning ERP/SAP projects. For example, in the Carrefour Turkey SAP project analyzed by Corum (2024), a technology investment of approximately 14 million dollars enabled the completion of a transformation within ten months, establishing a flexible infrastructure. The integration of localized sales data across stores allowed for rapid business decision-making. In Corum’s 2019 study, details about SAP implementation in a public institution are provided, including supplier and consultant selection as well as transition processes. These case studies offer concrete examples of how SAP projects are managed in practice within Turkey.

From an academic literature perspective, bibliometric analyses focusing on ERP/SAP research in Turkey have also attracted interest. For instance, Ekren and Turan (2021) examined master’s and doctoral theses from 2010 to 2020 and found that in recent years, the term “digital transformation” has become more prominent than “ERP.” Starting from 2019, alongside business-related terms, technologies such as blockchain, big data, and artificial intelligence have frequently appeared in these theses. These trends indicate that SAP and ERP implementations in Turkey are increasingly addressed within the context of digital transformation, with research topics shifting toward technology-focused innovations.

How Do We Apply VUCA?

In conclusion, SAP projects require flexible strategies, strong organizational support, and a continuous learning culture to succeed in a VUCA environment. Project managers must accept uncertainties and be ready to respond swiftly to changes. Recommended practices include:

Flexible Project Planning: Since project scope and requirements may change frequently, plans should include assumptions and schedule regular updates.
Continuous Improvement Cycles: Learning should be ongoing through methods such as sprint retrospectives, early prototype usage, or pilot implementations, with lessons integrated into subsequent phases.
Systems Thinking Approach: All stakeholders and processes should be evaluated as an interconnected whole, setting strategic priorities with this systemic perspective in mind.
Investment in Training and Competency: Comprehensive training programs should be organized for project teams and users, and team competence elevated through experience sharing and mentoring.
Open Communication and Trust Building: Regular communication must be maintained from senior management to field teams; uncertainties should be transparently discussed to encourage collaborative problem-solving.

Thanks to these approaches, SAP projects can be managed to meet expectations even under uncertain and dynamic conditions. The ability to adapt to an unpredictable world is the key to success in strategic transformation projects.

References

Bhagwani, Anil. 2009. Critical Success Factors in Implementing SAP ERP Software. Doctoral Dissertation, University of Kansas.
BMT. 2024. “Enhancing Project Management through Systems Thinking.” BMT Insights (Defence & Security), November 4, 2024.
Corum, Adnan. 2019. “SAP System Implementation: A Case Study in a Public Institution of Turkey.” Presentation, 3rd European International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Pilsen, July 2019.
———. 2024. “SAP System Implementation: A Case Study in Carrefour Turkey.” International Journal of Business Information Systems 46, no. 4: 535–557.
CrevayCo. 2025. RefGuide_VUCA: Don’t fear the VUCA. Accessed June 2025.
Ekren, Gülay, and Aykut Hamit Turan. 2021. “Türkiye’de ERP Araştırmalarına Yönelik Bir İçerik Analizi.” Presentation, International Social Sciences Conference, Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart University, July 2021.
Gargeya, V. Bhavani, and Carolyn Brady. 2005. “Success and Failure Factors of Adopting SAP in ERP System Implementation.” Business Process Management Journal 11, no. 5: 501–516.
Project Management Institute. 2021. A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) – 7th Edition. Newtown Square, PA: PMI.
———. 2022. “VUCA – Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity.” Disciplined Agile, December 2022.
SAP SE. 2020. SAP Activate Implementation Methodology Roadmap.
Strasser, Johann. 2025. “VUCA in Project Management – Tips for Handling Today’s Challenges in the Project Environment.” The Project Group Blog, February 27, 2025.
Yazıcı, Umut Ali. 2025. “Rethinking Talent in SAP Consulting.” Whitepaper, April 2025.