The world champions of botched SAP implementations - Senior IT Manager BAT Employee Review

1.0
4 Dec 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

None that I could list.

Cons

While the rest of the company manages its operations on a shoestring, the IT department still believes that "BAT has too much money"; that standpoint drives the whole department behaviour in terms of performance, culture and integrity. Regarding performance, the vast majority of IT projects fail miserably. When I was working in that department, the joke was that BAT were the world champions of failed SAP projects. The reason is, failure is not seen as an issue in that department, confidence and arrogance are valued much more than competence. And, of course, your ethnicity: woe be to those outside of "CANZUK" + (white) South Africa. As a result, the culture is based on blaming others for one's own failures, and hijacking your neighbour's successes. People at the top are low-level technicians whose only skill is to relish in abject subservience to their superiors, unable to see the big picture while convinced they are "leaders". Bullies flourish within BAT IT department, and attain the highest positions. And, as "BAT has too much money", the way vendors are selected and managed is particularly worrying. Again, they are not selected with the business' interests in mind. More expensive, less performing vendors are preferred over more efficient and cheaper ones, even when the choice implies a huge risk to operations. Or useless technologies are purchased to allow the IT "architects" to garner their resumes with that specific skill. Sometimes vendors are selected based on the "cultural fit", meaning the nationality of the vendor - pure Brexit style. If you have any principle or talent, avoid at all cost.

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5.0
2 Oct 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- Complete autonomy with schedule which provides for a nice balance between work and personal life - Impact people who are trying to grow their careers - Company car and free* gas is pretty nice

Cons

- Autonomy & freedom does leave time where you have to be self-motivated to keep going and push forward

2.0
11 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Very strong compensation package, lots of very nice genuine people on the Reynolds US side

Cons

Toxic, politically charged environment, cliques of people each trying to place their own people in roles. A singular mis-trust and dislike of "outside" people who are brought in to move the company forward but the existing people who have worked there for years and years are all trying to protect and sustain their own roles and their own cliques. All show and pretty presentations but no meaningful, meaty strategy

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