If you have the inclination, we have the crystal!

Predictions such as emergence of paper-less offices and underwater cities, though widely expected to become realities, never became. However, such thought-provoking predictions deserve serious attention.

What lies ahead?

The next two decades will see the evolution of completely new type of business organisations. Businesses will change their strategies, structure and processes to face future challenges. Without adaptation, marginalisation of strong players and elimination of the weaker ones is imminent. Therefore, sweeping changes will be the order of the day with most efforts directed at integrated enterprise excellence. At least one more member will join the c-suite at corporate level. He/she will be called Chief Enterprise Integration Officer (CEIO).

Functioning directly under the CEO, the CEIO will influence the complete enterprise in 'doing the right things right, at the right time'. He/she will forge an enterprise that can stand up to turbulent markets and satisfy the most demanding customers.

Profile of a future enterprise

Scorecard metrics have been misleading and counter-productive in many organisations. Scorecard-based decisions did not align with the corporate strategy due to incorrect or unconnected data. Therefore, new systems will be adopted to raise activities to achieve perfect alignment with business needs. The scorecards will be relegated to history.

The future system will not stop at monitoring the overall operations. It will ensure performance of each employee in support of corporate strategies. All that is important will be measured. Every metric will be owned by a person who needs to justify its importance to the bottom line.

Roadmap

Management at all levels will bear the brunt of intense competition in generating maximum bottom line results. These results will be measurable, predictable and repeatable. With this goal, organisations will adopt 'Integrated Enterprise Excellence' (IEE) system of management. IEE will provide the roadmap to achieve the goal. It will also integrate excellence across the enterprise through inclusion of lean and Six Sigma projects.

With the help of the roadmap, organisations can select projects of higher productivity. Every day activities can be focused on overall improvement through 'integrated value-chain analysis and measuring system'.

The new system can be effective for both corporate-level vision of metrics and solving ground level tough problems. Examples include designing experimental solutions to quality-related problems for a chain of fast-food restaurants. Thereby, facilitating improved process flow by removing interaction problems among interrelated facilities.

The system also offers ways to create and coordinate a set of statistical and non-statistical aids that help managements to:

• Achieve growth goals
• Maximise cash flow
• Encourage innovation
• Increase responsiveness of supply chain dynamics
• Satisfy customer needs accurately
• Boost employee performance
• Prevent post-event efforts or fire-fighting
• Forecast accurate financial results

The chosen checks and balances will remain part of the system irrespective of changes in management, competition or business environment. Expanding scorecard and lean Six Sigma, from project to enterprise level, the roadmap can locate defects in any operational process. It can also identify a flawed process so that a new process could be designed with preventive measures.

The enterprise-wide integrated management system is sought through the five steps of Six Sigma project - define, measure, analyse, improve, and control.

Six Sigma project selection will be on the basis of their relevance to the corporate bottom line. The focus of the projects will shift to the company's road to success. In the new system, Six Sigma or lean, one cannot exist without the other. Only projects that support overall goals of the enterprise will survive.

Role of innovation

Innovation will exist integrated with analytics, in a proportion suitable to the culture and strategy of the enterprise. Each product or service created will be supported by a market potential identified by research and readily available marketing capacity.

All work will be based on pure data not involving hunch, instinct or emotion. Material and data will flow seamlessly throughout the organisation. Ambiguity in customer needs will be eliminated.

Statistical and visual aids will be used effectively to provide everyone with information needed for optimising one's performance. Usage of data will not be confined only to technical employees.

When the system is pursued purposefully, operational processes become flawless. Special cause variabilities can be distinguished from common cause variabilities. The latter being more prevalent, can be dealt with accordingly through prevention.

Changes in leadership

Structural change in management to include a CEIO will evolve leaders who are both teachers and professionals. They must understand that improvement is a function of effort and cannot be achieved by merely setting goals. Decisions will be made more by metric considerations than calendar -based time compulsions. Measurements at operational level will be through indicators such as rate of defects, lead times, on-time deliveries, and development times. At corporate level, factors reflecting financial health such as return on investment, operating income and net profit margin will be measured to higher accuracy and predictability.

Accounting irregularities will have no place in the system. All movement of resources will be accounted for properly. Employees are encouraged to monitor productive shortfalls. Accounting misdeeds similar to those reported in relation to Dell or Enron are taboo.

The benefits of integrated enterprise structure are long lasting. The system keeps functioning independent of changes in management, business environment, or economy.

New responsibilities

Present day Master Black Belts are potential CEIOs. A new curriculum needed for certification of Master Black Belts is already in existence at a training facility. The CEIO will hold the same rank as a chief financial officer or chief information officer. He will be responsible for overall measurement, analysis and managing change.

Future business environment

Outsourcing design, manufacturing and transaction processing will continue at a faster pace. Restraints can be expected from domestic and foreign governments for various reasons.

Higher customer expectations will result in innovative products and services through analytics-based innovation. Very short cycle times, mass customisation, minimum stocks will be common place. Response to customer complaints will be highly satisfactory. The Six Sigma process design will transform into integrated enterprise excellence design.

More sophisticated scorecards enable managers to trace the history of each metric down to its owner. They provide new methods for process improvements. Scorecard system will be Web-based and could be used without plug-ins.

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