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.