Built to last?
Organizations need to embrace change in order to remain competitive in today’s markets. However, one of the more compelling statistic in this regard is shown by INNOSIGHT’s 2021 Corporate Longevity Forecast showing “corporate longevity remains in long-term decline … the 30 to 35-year average tenure of S&P 500 companies in the late 1970s is forecast to shrink to 15 to 20 years this decade.”
The proper alignment
While macrotrends, such as shifting labor markets resulting in a reduction of industrial work in the United States have had a major impact, the focus in this insight is on how changes in technology have redefined the fundamental manner in which companies operate and compete in their respective marketplace. More specifically, the topic is regarding a somewhat unsung opportunity for creating a lean organization – via a combined Business Process Analysis (BPA) and Technology Planning effort to: 1) synchronize business operations and technology efficiently and cost effectively, and; 2) bring technology to the forefront of how business operations are run to establish competitive advantage, reduce costs, and increase agility for reacting to market needs.
Getting buy-ins
The first focus is on establishing buy-in and sponsorship. A BPA/Tech Planning proposal does not have the clarity of a typical financial case associated with M&A or divestiture, nor the excitement, frankly, so communication with senior management for approval requires an ROI approach based on operational improvement with a significant amount of analysis for justification. As a general rule, an ROI over 2 years will be particularly difficult to get buy-in, with the exception of large scale projects, such as Enterprise Resource Management, that are transformative, but have a proven history.
The next level of buy-in considerations should be with middle management who have spent many years getting to the level of responsibility they have reached and tend to be cautious about significant change. The best way to address this is by employing BPA/Tech Planning at a time when the company is healthy and expansion to new opportunities is part of the study. At these times, more assurance can be given as to employee security in the organization. Managers, however, all understand the need to improve the organization and will subscribe to the effort once the appropriate level of consideration is given to their situation.
Technology is integral to, and a driver of, operational success
At this point, success of this effort relies on a multi-disciplinary methodology with high levels of cross communication. At one time, BPA methodologies were independent from Technology Planning. However, this can no longer be effective – there cannot be a BPA effort that is completed and then transitioned to technology anymore. Technology is integral to, and a driver of, operational process requiring that both must be considered at the same time. This is an approach not yet fully adapted in the consulting industry.
Been-there, done-that, coaching is helpful
The execution of this BPA/Tech Plan methodology will be covered in a later Insight. Given the layering of communication and the complexities of the analysis, bringing in expertise with managing this type of effort is strongly recommended. Most staff in the operations and technology fields have been selected for their talents in execution and problem solving and will be thankful for the additional coaching provided by those that have been through the effort before. Also, these types of projects add on to the staff’s Business-As-Usual activities, so consideration of supplementing staff to manage the surge will reduce timeframes and increase quality of the effort.
