About 5 months ago, in June 2009, I decided to work on a project, in partnership with a Birmingham based business consulting company, to drive a major multi-million pound enterprise change for a client based in Leicester. The change was envisaged to unfold over a period of 12 months and in a series of excogitated stages.
In the first stage of this massive change management exercise I developed marketing strategy for the client. The MS analyzed and gave scenario forecasts for the relevant UK Construction sectors over the next five years to the client. Other outcome of the MS included:
• Macro-economic review of the construction industry and M&E subsector
• Analysis of regional output across the UK construction sector
• Buyer behaviour analysis & Competition analysis
• Service-Pricing strategy and Regional sales projections
• Market development recommendations that will feed national sales strategy.
Findings from the marketing strategy are currently being used to put in place a region-by-region sales strategy. My colleague is currently undertaking an account management workshop with key sales personnel and account managers to gain the required buy-in and set the ball rolling for the sales force. MS has set off the domino of change at X. I will, in my next few articles, try to give you a glimpse of the path that I traveled through in developing this marketing strategy.
I have, in the mean while, embarked on yet another new journey called Business Process Change and Management. And the focus of this article is on Business Process Change.
What is business process and why do you need to change them?
Process is a series of activities that translate in to an outcome. It’s another matter that these activities are designed to be, but usually evolve, related and structured to produce the desired outcome. In this case the outcome of the processes should be in line with the objectives a business sets for itself. Why change? To stay competitive! The business process change at X has been initiated as a result of organisational restructuring that came due to sustained inconsistent performance. X’s retained profit was just above the zero line in the year 2005, and then in 2006 it went down, I mean they went all the way down, and then bounced back in 2007, recovering not just the lost ground but shot way above any previous record, and back in red in 2008. Wooh, X is consistently inconsistent.
So here we are today, letting the bygones be bygones the only thing that can be done now is to look at the path that’s ahead of us and start adopting change. Had this change been guided by past experiences then it would have made a world of difference to X but then again, how many companies actually claim to be a true ‘learning organisation’ in the market?
The Organisation structure of X before and after restructuring is shown below:
The Road Map:
• Nerve center for all non-finance related support activity within X
• Plays key role in shaping processes and re-engineering work-flow for X
• Contributes to cost reduction & restructuring, thereby increasing margin
on and profit potential of services delivered
• Source of competitive advantage in market place
He agreed to all of the above and had nothing to add. That’s because he is as sure (read unsure) of his role and functions as a managing director of this newly setup division BS within X or I have got them the way he wants me to get them. I presume the later given that he was part of efforts that went in to the over-all organisational restructuring.
Next, I put forth the anticipated challenges for BS.
1. New and unchartered territory within X, there by rising the risk of failure
2. Perceived as cost center, this could expose the Business services as non-value adding function within X
3. Processes developed should remain current and retain its validity
4. Lack of in-house skills
No disagreements here either. He just makes a self assertion that he cannot be bullied; this was in response to doubts raised in point # 2.
The next slide then brings out the opportunities that these changes bring with them.
1. Current situation an opportunity to streamline process to derive better cost benefits
2. Procurement strategy will be the biggest money saver, contributing to cash-flow
3. Program & Project management to be streamlined to avoid duplication of efforts
4. Information & Communication Technology capabilities to match the scale of processes and scale of operations.
Although the BS, as mentioned earlier, is responsible for most non-financial support within X including but not limited to HR, business continuity, risk planning, IIP, property management, transport logistics, stores etc, I am working to refine and redefine procurement strategy & policies, program & project management methodologies and ICT strategy. The ‘Heavy hitters’ as he (the MD) calls it.
As has been pointed out in the white paper published by Datamonitor and commissioned by Oracle Corporation (my alma mater) “10 steps strategy for SME success – July 2004” it is really difficult to put your finger on problem when it comes to fluid, ever changing business landscape and say this is where I will start my repair work. I have tried to adopt some broad guidelines specified in this paper to put my roadmap in place, but of course I have adapted them to suit my environment. The next slide of my presentation brought out the roadmap.
1. Assess – Benchmark, important to treat the underlying causes of ailment rather than just the symptoms
– Carry out audits to capture the as-is snap shot
– Define a realistic and achievable objective for process shape and cost savings
2. Consolidate – Get a grip on situation
– Map processes and communication pathways
– Valuing and rating value components
– Process Improvement planning – Internal and External (advancing this step leads to the danger of developing business critical processes based just on assumptions)
3. Expand – Implement, put plans to action
– Real Time solution to Inventory and Demand management
– Integrated Information flow across the business network using effective ICT
– Centralised and coordinated Program management
Benefits? Its all about benefits, isn’t it?!? The chart below shows some of the dimensions against which the value-adds will be measured.
Benefits: Quantified, Tangible and Sustainable results.
And when will I see results?
When the business process change initiatives are completed and the processes are integrated with in the X’s organisation. That would mean X has to wait for at least 6-9 months (most optimistic view) after the adopting the proposed changes to see tangible benefits. And I hope the economy will not go insane again.
Any questions??? -- Not many from the MD at least!
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