Grab your copy of this book Now! Available as Electronic format in all popular book stores worldwide!

About the book-

There are several basic building blocks for successful organizational transformations. They are not specific steps or stages, nor are they specific organizational designs. Rather, they are perspectives and ways of thinking about shifting behavior and influence.

One key to a successful transformation is to clearly define the end goal. When creating a transformation plan, start with the end result in mind and work backwards from there. Setting timelines for each stage of the transformation project can help you stay focused and make the process more manageable.

For example, if you're switching to a new technology platform, you might want to define the timeline for conducting preliminary research on available tools, submitting RFPs (Request for Proposal), and scheduling demos with vendors. Then, after selecting the best tool, implement it and train employees on using it. But this is easier said than done. Hence, leadership self-development is a constant To-Do on a leader’s list.

If you are a leader or an aspiring leader and want to bring-on organizational transformation or to enhance your leadership skills to elevate along the career ladder, then this book is for you!

With ‘so much’ leaders like us must read daily, I always look for bite-size information that is compact, complete, relevant and useful. This eBook- How to lead a successful organizational transformation, is designed to bring you vital information in an easy, useful and microlearning format.

Available as Electronic format in all popular book stores worldwide!
​

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Categories: Books | Leadership

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​Grab your copy of this book Now! Available as Electronic format in all popular book stores worldwide!

About the book-

Building effective work teams is not always easy, and there are as many ways to go wrong as there are people on a team. But as long as a team is focused on the task at hand, it is possible to overcome many of the common challenges and create an effective working environment.

Building a team and to reach its potential is perhaps the fundamental role of any leader, but it is not an easy job. Hence, self-development as a leader is a constant to-do on a leader’s list.

With ‘so much’ leaders like us must read daily, I always look for bite-size information that is compact, complete, relevant and useful. Hence, I thought of creating this sub-series, The Leader’s Ladder. The eBooks in this series are designed to bring you vital information in an easy to learn and use format.

If you are a leader or an aspiring leader and want to enhance your leadership skills to elevate along the career ladder, then this book is for you!

Available as Electronic format in all popular book stores worldwide!
​

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​Here’s an excerpt from Dr. Shruti Bhat’s new book- Top ten strategic decision-making tools for operational excellence.

A common definition of Operational Excellence is that it aims to execute a business strategy more effectively and reliably than competitors. In addition to being more competitive, Operational Excellence leads to lower operating costs and higher revenue.
 
But what exactly is Operational Excellence? It is a broad term that can mean different things for different companies. In reality, it refers to the process of executing a business strategy. By focusing on efficiency, every employee is expected to contribute to the company's success.
 
Operational Excellence efforts have already gained importance in the Manufacturing and Services industry. The pressure to improve productivity, decrease downtime, and reduce waste is mounting.
 
For instance, Operational Excellence in the Construction industry now have a major focus on employee safety. Recent news reports mention that, a large Construction company adopted an employee communications app to realize their Operational Excellence goals. While the Healthcare industry is constantly searching for ways to cut costs and make processes more effective. In fact, few acute-care hospitals are now implementing Lean practices for improving operations.
 
Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement are the keys to a successful business.
 
Continuous Improvement ensures standardized processes. Without a standard methodology to work processes, leaders will be too busy fixing existing processes to innovate and increase revenue. As a result, they may not be able to focus on new business growth and may even be detrimental to the company's survival.
 
Operational Excellence on the other hand, deals with improving business’s operating efficiency. And it all starts with making sure everyone knows their role and that responsibilities are clear.
 
To achieve Operational Excellence, you need to have an executive vision and written goals for the entire company. The goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time bound. Then, you must have a detailed organizational structure and a steering team to help you implement and measure the program. You should also have a comprehensive auditable listing of all the governing requirements, including EHS (Employee Health Safety), international standards, and local regulations. Once you've identified your KPIs, you can create a plan to achieve them.
 
Achieving Operational Excellence requires a team effort, and everyone within the organization needs to be involved. In order to achieve this goal, managers should first explain (to their teams) what Operational Excellence is and why it is so important. This can be especially challenging for hybrid workplaces, asynchronous, or on-site teams. Fortunately, there are several tools available to help managers and teams create an environment where Operational Excellence is a shared goal and gives a sustainable competitive advantage.
 
For example, the use of decision-making tools in Smart production is sure way to improve operational performance. Smart production is a popular trend that incorporates AI (artificial intelligence) and decision technologies. This trend is expected to continue and become even more popular in the coming years. Despite its popularity, Smart production is not without risk. This is why incorporating AI and decision technologies into production operations is essential for achieving Operational Excellence.
 
But organizations cannot simply mandate efficiency. They must provide the tools to let employees refine operations and perform their best.
 
So, what are these tools and how can companies utilize these tools?

                                                                                          *********
 
                                                                                       End of preview

To know more checkout the book here.

​Top Ten Strategic Decision-Making Tools for Operational Excellence book is your Go-To Reference Guide to increase Operational Excellence at your workplace.

The top ten tools described in this book are popular for strategic decision-making. However, they also offer another significant advantage, and that is- Operational Excellence gets multiplied manyfold when these tools are applied to various business processes in an organization. And this book tells you exactly how to do that!

Not many companies have explored this benefit. But as a successful Operational Excellence and Continuous Improvement Consultant, I’m using these tools for over two decades, so can say that they work super!

This book describes the top ten strategic decision-making tools for improving operational excellence and how to use them right. Also presented are several illustrations and examples from different industry sectors to elaborate and explain the concepts.

So as a decisionmaker, executive or a business-owner, you would like to take your organization on the growth mode, improve business resilience and operating efficiency, increase revenue and profit, then this book is for you!
​
Available as Hardcover, Paperback and Digital editions on Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and other popular stores worldwide!

My post on LinkedIn presented me with so many best wishes and inspirational messages... Thanks everyone for your kind words! Check it out here- 

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1. Kaizen for pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech industries
2. How to cut costs strategically using Kaizen
3. Streamline processes and workflows with Gemba Walk.

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#strategymanagement #decisiontools #decisionmaking #strategicplanning #paretoanalysis #benchmarking #prioritizationmatrix #gametheory  #forcedfieldanalysis #pughmatrix  #SWOTanalysis #costbenefitanalysis #conjointanalysis  #challengesofdecisionmaking #operationalexcellence #strategicdecisionmaking 

A few years ago, I was approached by a CEO of a pharmaceutical contract research company to turnaround his sick unit into a profitable enterprise. This company was dealing with the development of solid oral dosage forms. To bring about the necessary change, we initiated several Kaizen campaigns companywide, with 360 degrees focus to overhaul all processes and operational systems. We addressed all key areas across the organization including accounts payable/ receivable, material procurement, order processing, suppliers, R&D, scale-up, production, logistics, product dossiers filings, project management, business development, sales & marketing and PR communication processes.
 
Another key area where Kaizen helped us in a big way was to integrate various client information data sets maintained within different databases on separate systems.​

​At the end of nine months, this company’s books started showing profits, and from there on, it kept going from ‘good to great’. It was an excellent example of a successful transformation.
 
Unfortunately, this contract research company is not alone in the challenges it has faced. Studies indicate that 88% of business owners in North America struggle to maintain consistent cash-flow. Key questions to consider are:

• Can your organization benefit from increased workplace productivity?
• Does your team face challenges with reduced R&D budget?
• Does your organization face challenges because of inconsistent or poor cash-flow?
• Do you need to cut corners as you are forced to do more with less?

 
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of the above questions, then Kaizen should be your mantra…​

​This book is a structured approach to designing Kaizen strategies, practices and implementation for pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech companies.
 
It is an invaluable resource, an essential tool for all professionals within the pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech organizations i.e. all life sciences and health care companies, interested in employing Kaizen in their workplaces and their personal lives. This book will also facilitate running Kaizen in a manufacturing company and do it at a world-class level.

​This book doesn’t simply explain Kaizen process features, implementation, and application. The scope of this book is much wide.  

This book is meant for small to medium-size pharmaceutical, medical device and biotech research, manufacturing and contract services companies. This book is to-

• Demystify Kaizen and help business leaders in pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech, and all life sciences organizations, irrespective of their size or workplace culture.
• Apply Kaizen to what really matters, that is, ‘to achieve business expansion along with increased productivity and profits’.  
• Provide practical and useful examples of Kaizen principles that can be executed at various levels: across the organization; within a specific department, business unit or team, as well as for yourself as an individual to further your personal career.
• Improve revenues and create a lasting change using Kaizen principles and techniques.​

Some salient features of this book

• It shows pharmaceutical & biotech scientists, design engineers, operators and everyone involved in product development, how to utilize Kaizen- to create innovations, shorten product development times, improve first-to-file rates, conduct successful scale-up and technology transfer to manufacturing sites.

 

• It shows everyone associated with manufacturing, how to use Kaizen to decrease cycle times, work-in-process & quarantine inventories, the cost of distribution & logistics, improve equipment efficiency, facility capacity utilization and shift output.

 

• It shows everyone in Human Resources how to use Kaizen to minimize employee turnover, hire and retain talent, and motivate employees to create a difference.

  

• It shows the company’s senior management, stakeholders, finance and other supporting business units, how to use Kaizen to increase ROI (return on investment) while complying with cGMP (current Good Manufacturing Practices) and other regulations, address rising competition and counteract fluctuating market economy.

 

• This book presents useful ideas that one can implement immediately, often at no additional cost.

 

• It shows how to transform a business from ‘good- to- great’. True benefits of Kaizen implementation are realized because, it adds value to your products, increases market share, and drives both top line and bottom line of your business.

 
Kaizen has mainly been used in Japan and many other SE Asian companies and in Europe. Up until now, it has not gained enough significance in North America, because of which it has not been utilized to its full potential. The root cause is the difference in work culture and corporate governance styles of companies in eastern and western countries; this book totally eliminates this gap.​

In addition, this book is an excellent resource for Kaizen beginners with a lot of real-life industry examples, case studies and provides several ‘do-it-yourself’ exercises, which is of tremendous value, in absence of a Kaizen coach.


Chapter 1:
 
Pharmaceutical industry growth unlike few other industries viz. retail, banking etc. is not completely determined by ‘value’ it brings to its customer. Frustrated customers can easily walk out of a shop and get their product from some other place. In contrast, pharmaceutical products are unique in the sense, the customer (i.e. patient) doesn’t usually have much say in its purchase. Patients usually buy medicines their doctors prescribe or pharmacist dispense (until such time they don’t experience any adverse effects). For the medicines where adverse effects are well-known or documented on the product label, patients really have no choice but to take bitter medicine (pun intended).
 
Also, a patient on a prescription drug may not always have the option to change medication or brand, because of lack of competing brands due to enforced Exclusivity and Patents laws. Even with the advent of generic medicines which offer price benefits, many patients don’t prefer to change the pill they have been taking over the years.

Moreover, Kano’s model may not strictly apply to Life science industries, because unlike other products, a drug product if not proved safe, efficacious and stable, will just not make it to the market. And this applies to all medicinal products- be it Rx (prescription), OTC (over the counter), medical devices etc.​

Pharmaceutical, medical device, and biotech companies are always under federal drug authorities radar for compliance to standards. The very existence of pharma business is based on meeting compliance- be it cGMP, safety, therapeutic efficacy, quality etc.
 
As federal drug regulations change, companies must upgrade to stay in business. Hence, there is an indirect continuous improvement happening all the time. This is probably one of the reasons why the majority of life science companies have not really attempted formal business process improvement methodologies.
 
However, Kaizen is not simply a business process improvement technique. Kaizen doesn’t just focus on cost-cutting or quality improvement. Kaizen is a way of life; of becoming ‘better’ every day; of becoming better than the best- consistently, and taking your business from being good to great with its products, market share, governance, and most importantly, Good to Great with PROFITS!
 
Let’s begin with what is Kaizen?
 
The name ‘Kaizen’ is an adaptation of the Japanese term that stands for continuous improvement. In Kaizen technique, it is believed that employees need to be empowered to enhance various processes of the company. Kaizen utilizes some of the Lean methodology philosophies to plan, implement and evaluate changes in a variety of roles. Kaizen must be integrated into a company’s daily operations to achieve maximum benefits.
 
Kaizen hails from the words, "Renew the heart and make it good." Therefore, an adaptation of Kaizen concept requires changes in the "heart of the business", corporate culture and structure; since Kaizen enables companies to translate the corporate vision in every aspect of its operational practice.​​

Dr. Shruti Bhat is an award-winning Business Excellence Leader, Global Continuous Improvement Mastermind, Best-selling Author and Speaker. She is Continuous Improvement Advisor to several start-ups, mid-size and growing firms in Canada, USA, India, Africa and Emerging markets. She has authored eight business books and is an invited speaker at several national and international conferences, symposia and workshops.
​

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Up to speed with workflow- How to choose business process improvement methodology for your organization and measure the positive change by Dr. Shruti Bhat- book preview

Businesses in US, Canada or in any country worldwide, are governed by five factors, referred as ‘5M’ umbrella- Man, Money, Machine, Material and Methods.
 
Methods or processes, being the most critical out of the five, as, it alone (to a large extent) determines the consequences of the other 4Ms i.e. Man, Money, Machine and Materials. For examples, if the processes in a company were engaging, then employees would stay committed and contribute positively. ‘Machines’ would be productive, costs would go down and ‘Materials’ would be wisely used to generate profitable products, which in turn will help the business thrive, grow and make more money. Therefore, processes drive a chain reaction. ​

Business processes in any organization, can be made more efficient, more effective, and adaptable to changing market and/ or economic needs. However, the biggest problem faced by most companies worldwide, is not its competitors, rather the biggest problems are self-inflicted, that is, created in-house by the management. Therefore, a step further in this direction is to build ‘quality’ and ‘profitability’ into business processes.

 
What will you learn from this book?
 
This book covers the following topics –

• Introduction to business process improvement lifecycle.
• How to strategically design process improvement initiatives to win campaigns.
• Roadmap to process improvement methodology selection including- base lining, change management, organizing business processes within an organization, identifying business process problem areas, various process improvement techniques and process improvement methodologies.
• Decision matrix for selecting process improvement methodology for your workplace.
• Action plan- for doing methodology implementation right!
• Qualifying ‘new’ business process and efficiency measurement metrics.
• Maintaining ‘continued’ operational excellence with the ‘new’ process.
• Illustrative examples of process improvement methodology recommendations for-
  • Healthcare organization.
  • Facility management and maintenance department of manufacturing organizations.
  • IT department of non-profits, technology companies and manufacturing industries.
  • Customer service departments of service organizations.
• Frequently asked questions and tips to maximize output from business process improvement campaigns.

 
Who should read this book?
 
This book is for Agile entrepreneurs and executives, involved in decision-making, directing their organization’s sustainability, profitability, expansion and who wish to apply business improvement methodologies to their work places in most beneficial, effective and practical ways.
​
 
Chapter 1:
​
Management of key business processes is of utmost importance to becoming a high performing organization, as they are the means to executing business strategies, by aligning process results with business goals.
​

​As customer needs change frequently, one has to monitor them continuously and this is the fundamental basis for ‘Business process improvement’ and ‘Continuous improvement’. Those who learn this outperform their competitors because they have a much better understanding of their customers.
 
Business process improvement drives substantial bottom-line increases, customer satisfaction, ultimately accelerating the company’s revenue cycle. In today’s highly dynamic economies, the ones who do not get this mantra eventually have two choices- they get it or they go out.
 
However, the biggest problem faced by most companies worldwide, is not its competitors. Rather the biggest problems are self-inflicted, that is, created in-house by the management. So how does a company choose the right business process improvement methodology to implement at their organization?
 
This would depend on what problem prevails in the organization, that one is trying to solve and why. For example- is there a design issue? A process issue? A defect issue? A variation issue? Or a combination of them.
 
The success of process improvement directly depends on the process improvement methodology selected to bring on the positive change.
 
It is equally true that choosing a correct process improvement methodology is critical and extremely challenging. This in turn depends on the ‘Process improvement lifecycle’ comprising of following steps-
 
Step 1: Base lining.
Step 2: Identify critical ‘process improvement’ implementation success factors.
Step 3: Organize and centrally locate processes.
Step 4: Standardize processes spread across multiple functions and business units.
Step 5: Re-design ineffective or in-efficient processes.
Step 6: Eliminate work-around or duplicate steps.
Step 7: Automate processes wherever possible.
Step 8: Identify and apply metrics and KPI (key performance indicators).
Step 9: Cross-train employees.
 
‘Identification’ of process improvement methodology stems out of information gathered from steps 1 to 3, while the success of ‘methodology implementation’ is dependent on steps 4 to 9.

​This book highlights salient details about “How to choose a business process improvement methodology for your organization and measure the positive change”.  Further, in the book we will dive into which methodologies might be appropriate for different industry verticals, different processes and different types of companies, as well as few important frequently asked questions.
 
Coming up in the next section- Potential success factors to winning process improvement campaigns…

 
Dr. Shruti Bhat is an award-winning Business Excellence Leader, Global Continuous Improvement Mastermind, Best-selling Author and Speaker. She is Continuous Improvement Advisor to several start-ups, mid-size and growing firms in Canada, USA, India, Africa and Emerging markets. She has authored eight business books and is an invited speaker at several national and international conferences, symposia and workshops.


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Business Process Improvement for Manufacturing & Service Industry by Dr. Shruti Bhat book preview-

One of the first people to describe business processes was Adam Smith (1776) in his famous example of a pin factory. Since then business processes have evolved and better defined. ​

A business process defines the various activities involved in achieving a particular goal. Business processes briefly describe the chain of events that are involved in an activity or a group of activities. It is common to use a business process if the activities have an effect on current products or data and bring about production. 

 Types of business processes include- 
​

• Management processes such as Corporate governance, Strategic management, planning and implementation.
• Operational processes, which constitute the core business and create primary value stream. Typically, they include Procurement & sourcing, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales and Customer service.
• Supporting processes, which support the operational processes and include Finance & Accounting, Recruitment & Human Resources Management, Research and Technical support.

Some examples include invoicing, product shipping details, updating information, tracking orders, allocating budgets etc. Business processes used throughout organization, at any level, are outlined in order to improve organization in an effective and efficient way. There can be several inputs in a business process but there is always only one output or specific goal- that is to help business thrive.

Business processes are used practically in any organization and throughout an organization at any level. They are used in a variety of industries such as private, public sector, government, departments, hospitals, charities etc. Business processes are, typically outlined in order to improve an organization in an effective and efficient way.

Various computer software make it possible to create business processes on a computer, however simple business processes are just as effective when written with pen and paper. Some even find it better to jot down the processes on a piece of paper, or on several small ones, in order to kick start their creativity and thinking process. It is up to the professional (and/or organization) to decide whether a software or traditional method will work best for them. Business processes work best when there is input, support and ideas from various people that are involved in the organization (or department).

Key business processes are logically grouped related tasks and activities, independent of the organization’s structure, which utilize the resources of the organization to produce specific results. They possess measurable inputs & outputs, value addition and repeatable activity.

Tip- The effective management of key business process requires- Ownership & planning, performance metrics & control, process qualification, management and improvement methodology.

A business process always begins with a customer’s need and ends with a customer’s need fulfilment.

Customer needs change, technologies change, government policies change, competition changes and what used to be a high level of performance becomes a poor one and it’s time to replace the formerly good process with a new one- only every process cycle should have this capacity of identification, in-built in its charter.

As a practicing Business Transformation expert of many years, I am happy to mention here few case studies, nay success stories. Let me share three examples-

1. A consumer goods manufacturing company redesigned its product deployment process, by means of which, it now manufactures goods and delivers them to its distribution center such that inventory uptake was reduced by 35%, while stock-out goods situation declined by 70%.
2. A pharmaceutical company created a new product development process, which reduced time to market by 75%, development costs by 45% and increased productivity by 30%.
3. An engineering goods manufacturing organization increased its product delivery targets by 350% and reduced its supply chain costs by up to 55%. Something to note in these is the simultaneous achievement of apparently incompatible goals for e.g. reducing inventory while also reducing out –of-stocks.

Traditional organizations view these as conflicting goals and trade off against another. While process managed organizations, recognize that such payoffs, are achieved by improving business processes and continually maintain their business process efficient. So how do we go about bringing on a process change?

Three main categories of business process improvement techniques, have been found to be extremely effective in managing, expanding and /or transforming businesses worldwide including USA, Canada, Latin America and the emerging economies. They are – Breakthrough improvement, Streamlined improvement and Continuous improvement. The 18 methodologies described in this book belong to one or many of these three main categories.

​
In this book, you will learn about: 
​

• What is a business process? What are different types of business processes? Why improve a business process?
• 18 different business process improvement methodologies including Lean, ISO, Kaizen, Six Sigma, Capability maturity model integration (CMMI) etc.
• Advantages of each business improvement methodology. Precautions needed before implementing a methodology at your workplace.
• Strategic planning and risk assessments involved prior to implementing a business process improvement methodology.
• References of their use by startups, small companies who later on became big corporate houses and Fortune 500 companies.
• Tips to maximize positive results from executing business process improvement methodologies for your organization.

This book presents a practical way to build and improve business processes, and assists professionals whether they are learning the basics of business process improvement, planning their first improvement project, or evangelizing process-oriented thinking throughout their organization.

Dr. Shruti Bhat is an award-winning Business Excellence Leader, Global Continuous Improvement Mastermind, Best-selling Author and Speaker. She is Continuous Improvement Advisor to several start-ups, mid-size and growing firms in Canada, USA, India, Africa and Emerging markets. She has authored eight business books and is an invited speaker at several national and international conferences, symposia and workshops.

​

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