Business Process Improvement - Is It?

Walsh Enterprises Business & Financial Advisors Huntington Beach, California USA http://www.awalsh.us walshal1@aol.com (714) 465-2749 Business Process Improvement Is It? Reprinted from a blog posted February 2009 at www.walshal.wordpress.com

Business Process Improvement (BPI) has become so wide-spread and deeply rooted nowadays that at some companies it’s almost BECOME the business. The flagship approach is ERP, which is being applied at a break-neck pace throughout the business community. Massive resources have been redirected to it’s implementation in company after company. Companies are being forced to implement it by their customers up and down the supply-chain. According to Wikipedia, the goal of BPI is “Doing It Right”. This is not to be confused with “Doing the Right Thing” - which is the primary focus of this article. In their zeal to “Do It Right”, I suggest that many companies are taking a short-sighted view - and are either reinforcing mediocrity, or are unintentionally driving themselves backwards. This is what happens when “Doing It Right” causes you to stop or avoid “Doing The Right Thing”.

ERP systems can have wonderful effects on a business if applied properly. But they are expensive, time & resource consuming, and tend to make the humans their slaves. All the claims about how useful ERP can be as an information and business management tool are correct; IF executed properly (and that’s a big “IF”). But there’s a high price to pay. When the “Beast” is running the humans, you’ve got a big problem. That’s just one of many ways things can go wrong. Then there’s the issue of what happens when you don’t implement it properly. “Garbage In – Garbage Out” rapidly occurs, and you lose control of your business – at “ERP-Speed”. Before you select and install that “Monster”, do a little human-work first. Think about whether you’re “Doing the Right Thing” – and if not, fix it. Only then, after you’re “Doing the Right Thing”, should you think about implementing the system and “Doing it Right”. Remember, ERP doesn’t tell you what to do. That’s for the humans to decide. ERP merely helps you “Do It Better”. Make sure that in the process of implementing ERP and “Doing it Right”, you don’t stop “Doing the Right Thing”.

When you DO decide to implement, make sure your people understand what they’re trying to accomplish. I’m not talking about the systems training – I’m talking about understanding the purpose and the goal. Unless they do, they’ll approach the work mechanically and you’ll wind up with a mess on your hands. If you follow this mental discipline, instead of just rushing willy-nilly into the ERP ”Pit” with the rest of the herd, you might actually wind up with results that are worth the effort. You’ll be “Doing The Right Thing”, and reinforcing it by “Doing It Right”.

I’ve learned that in major Systems implementations, there needs to be an Overseer who can understand the goals, communicate them clearly, and monitor progress to ensure those goals are being accomplished. The Users have to understand what the end-game is, via the Overseer. Don’t count on the Techies to run the show. They have their own viewpoint & priorities, their challenges are demanding enough, and they’re not the right people to oversee the Users. The Techies own the system. The Users own the input and product. The Overseer has to work both groups simultaneously, and guide the process from above the fray. I’ve picked on ERP to make my point, but the same applies to other Business Process Improvement tools & methodologies. They are not a means to an end in and of themselves. The humans must understand clearly what they want to accomplish, select the correct tools with care, and manage the process to achieve the desired results; otherwise they might create a bigger mess than they started off with.

http://www.slideshare.net	25
http://careerdevelopmentalwalsh.blogspot.com	4
http://www.lmodules.com	2

Business Process Improvement - Is It?

by Alan Walsh on Jul 13, 2009

Accessibility

Categories

Tags

Upload Details

Usage Rights

3 Embeds 31

Statistics

Business Process Improvement - Is It? — Presentation Transcript