The heading may confound some. Is there any irrelevant strategy? The surprising answer is YES! Very often strategies are cooked in faraway places, in faraway contexts, and in faraway language -atleast for most of your managers. So there is scepticism, “let’ s watch till this blows over..” kind of stance by many managers. From my practice, I have learnt that the best way to get your team on board is to allow them to focus on “short term strategies” . An oxymoron, but it works! Hemant
As companies start realigning their strategies and processes they need to bring in fresh managerial and technical talent. Often, initiating new people is handled through some orientation programme. it is expected that new people, particularly at senior levels are capable enough to take care of themselves. But despite the increasing importance of a fast start, new managers face daunting obstacles in getting connected. Without some initial support and a framework for learning, many managers find it difficult to reach out to new colleagues themselves. For example, an older manager who’s just starting out at a new company may hold the traditional belief that you only go to higher-ups for advice and information. Thus she misses out on making connections with knowledgeable peers and subordinates. And managers of all ages worry that by asking certain questions, especially about [things such as] marketing processes, accounting practices, and budgeting, they’ll be seen as incompetent. I had an initeresting experience at the organization I am consulting with. We had established a permanent process way through process measurements, process MIS and ongoing process improvement mechanisms. We recently initiated a VP Manufacturing using the process framework. The new VP got into his role very quicly. Of course , he was formally and informally introduced to the team. But, the process framework addressed his work related questions immediately and directly. It helped him assess existing situations quickly. It helped him taking an informed and independent view on what he should focus on straightaway. What do you think? Please write to me if you wish to know fuller details on this case. Hemant
Many equate innovation with product innovation or market innovation. While these are important, other kind of innovation, just as important gets ignored. This innovation is operational innovation. The idea is simple you focus few vital value adding business processes and achieve breakthrough improvements. Here is an excerpt from case study. Process focus When the effort restarted, it began with the creation of an enterprise process model, which describes a business’s operations in terms of a small number of value-creating end-to-end processes. Schneider’s model included Develop Transportation Solutions, Acquire New Business (ANB), Acquire Transportation Order, Move Freight, and Provide Ability to Move Freight. These few processes encompassed virtually all work performed by Schneider’s thousands of employees. By defining the Acquire New Business (ANB) process, setting its boundaries, determining its metrics, and targeting it for improvement, Schneider appropriately defined the problem to be solved. Schneider’s leaders did not give up, but restarted the effort in a different way. Most companies set too narrow a scope for their innovation efforts and thus can make only incremental improvements. The first time around, Schneider conceptualized the effort purely in terms of proposal preparation, thereby excluding numerous groups and activities relevant to the larger goal of acquiring new business. By focusing the second time around on the entire ANB process, comprising as it did eight different departments and a host of different activities, the Schneider team could address the full range of issues responsible for slow customer response. Hemant
CEOs are obsessed about how to build competitive advantage for their firms. It is well known that most strategies fail due to implementation problems. Business processes are vehicles of delivery of value to customers and of achieving returns for other stake holders. However, their central importance in building competitive advantage is often not appreciated. A well tuned order fulfillment process can give a firm good competitive advantage -e.g. a machinery supplier can beat its rivals through a better (shorter, more predictable) delivery process. A consumer durables company can establish a superior product creation process as a source of competitive advantage. Next problem comes in terms how to go about building better processes. Exponient’s business process management and breakthrough services help you in this. Find out how, by contacting me at hemant.karandikar@exponient.com Hemant
Fanning the flames was the company’s historical obsession with selling, to the near exclusion of everything else. “We were watching the front door to capture new customers, but we were hemorrhaging customers out the back door because of inattention,” says Ken Thompson, Wachovia’s CEO (and First Union’s former president). “You can’t sell enough product to make up for the revenue lost from customer attrition.” Wachovia Bank realised that they have to do a lot about its fron desk people. “You can’t just go to the front line and say they need to be more friendly. You need to break it down into specific behaviors.” Internal branding is designed to instill employees with a company’s brand vision and provide them with the tools to translate that vision to the customer. Exponient’ process way precisely provides these tool for managers. These tools make it possible to manage and improve processes towards specific objectives. If you need the full case study, please send me a mail. Hemant
I come across situations when the leader-CEO develops doubts about strategies under implementation. The CEO takes ad hoc decisions. This erodes confidence of those in his team. For example, a company is trying improve its order delivery process. There have been customer complaints about delays and shortfalls. Delivery spillovers have also caused inventory pile up and cash blockages. This was streamlined through strict process quality norms. Then some problems crop up and the CEO pressurizes his people for deliveries. People know what counts and comply by taking shortcuts. This worsens the situation. Staying course requires high caliber leadership. Leadership which understands difference between smart course corrections and short-sighted cutting corners. Hemant
See this link for full article HBS Working Knowledge: Leadership: The Zen of Management Maintenance: Leadership Starts with Self-Discovery Actually, this is more a crisis of courage than of leadership, because what is lacking today is not knowledge about leadership, but the courage to convert such knowledge into actual performance. But courage does not come just by wishing—it only happens as a consequence of one’s level of consciousness, one’s inner experience, one’s self identity. In this sense, what we are witnessing today is actually a crisis of consciousness. To cope with this, one needs an understanding and experience of a deeper level of consciousness and a higher level of self identity, as a precondition for cultivating the competences for leading others. Exponient’s regenerative leadership development rests on self-discovery and self-management as very strong foundation block. Hemant
But most companies are not organized to let proceseses run smoothly across them. Ask any one to describe his company, the organization chart will come up soon for display. Even young organizations are quickly form around functions like marketing, manufacturing, distribution etc. Expertise is assumed to be synonymous with work flow. The pathways of work flow in an organization remain obscure. There is no clarity or agreement on where and how value gets generated. What is the way out? Do you have such situations in your company? Are you looking for solution? Write in here your questions. Hemant
