Every organization goes through tremendous change as it grows. In fact, change is what keeps it going. Adapting to change is a great asset to any organization. Take the case of Oracle which started as a database company. Today, it has grown into an one stop shop for enterprise applications. With the economic downturn that the US is facing today, it is one of the few organizations with the resilience to weather the recession.

As an organization matures, it has to increasingly find opportunities to enhance productivity. This does not mean that it must implement software. Refining strategies and business processes is often at the heart of such productivity improvements. Often times, small and medium organizations become enamored by the lure of Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) applications. One is led to believe these days, that software is the panacea for all problems plaguing the organization. And this is additionally fueled by reports of organizations making dramatic improvements in productivity or profitability. While such results are not impossible, they cannot be used as yardsticks to determine your needs.

A detailed analysis of the organizations strengths and weaknesses is the first step to bring about change. While every management consultant will swear by Strategy Maps, Balanced Scorecard or at least a SWOT (Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats) analysis, it might boil down to a simple process documentation to identify the pain points. Every small business owner will agree that the biggest challenge facing them is, not surprisingly, a lack of time. Senior Management's time is spent mainly on ensuring that the business is able to keep up with the daily challenges. One has to take time out to moving from a reactive state to a proactive state. Making small changes in the way you do business is going to make a world of difference to its profitability.

Let me explain using a simple illustration. A well known manufacturer of Pneumatic products in Tamil Nadu has followed a no questions asked return policy since the inception of the organization two decades ago. The company is now one of the most profitable in the region with very loyal customers. If a customer complains that the product is defective, they just ship them a new one immediately. The customer has an option to send back the defective one at the earliest available opportunity. Why do I think this example is relevant?

Typically, a manufacturer sends someone onsite to investigate the cause of the issue and then replaces it. What this means is that there are additional support costs. Not that the cost of replacement goes away, either. The customer will still insist on a replacement because he does not trust that unit anymore. If, on the other hand, you do not have a field support staff at all you save considerable travel and support costs. The customer feels happy that the replacement is sent immediately. The defective product can be added to the QA team that will then dissect the product to identify the fault and eventually build a solution into the manufacturing process.

Another company that follows a similar principle is Intuit. They do not have a support staff at all. They offer free support and the software developers themselves attend support calls. This enhances the feedback mechanism and reduces overhead costs for the company that can be passed on to the customer.

Both these companies have proven without a doubt that, traditional ERP or CRM processes are not the only way to realize profitability and productivity gains. It is unique to each organization and takes a time and effort to change.

12 Manage (http://www.12manage.com/) is a great website for understanding management theories and choosing the right strategies that apply to your organization.

One method that is used by sales people of enterprise applications is to identify the tactical pain points in the organization. These tactical pains then group into logical strategic issues. These in turn affect a key business objective. Therefore, if one can attempt to resolve the tactical pains one by one, it will lead to fulfillment of a key business objective over time.

Such initiatives involve great amounts of energy from the top management in identifying the need, analyzing the situation, designing a solution and propagating that solution throughout the organization. Change management plays a very important role in such situations, much more that the process change itself. As Mr. Welch says, willingness to change is a strength. Make sure your employees, customers, vendors and partners know that you are attempting to make a change. This will in itself boost the confidence in the organization.

In short, change is something many of us are not ready to welcome in our lives, be it professional or personal. We tend to maintain status quo to a great extent. In the end, change wins. Even if you oppose it and do not give in, you have learnt something new in the process.  

Venkat Mangudi is an Open Source Evangelist and Strategy Consultant based in Bangalore. After having worked across Europe, Asia and the US, Venkat returned home to set up a consulting firm called quite unimaginatively, Venkat  Mangudi  Consulting (www.venkatmangudi.com). He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Issue BG86 May 08

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