Operational Excellence Archives

Ten Lessons from Ten Business Moments & Trends of 2023

The business landscape of 2023 was a mixed bag, offering both bouquets of roses and thorns. Ten moments stand out, not just for their headlines, but for the lessons they whisper.

Top three pre-process transformation actions to ensure success

When we talk about process transformation, what comes to our mind are the obvious elements that include process, technology,

Five process excellence areas to focus on in a Covid-19 world

The last few months have changed our lives with large numbers of people working from home under lockdown

Demand, expectation and robots

Every business has always needed customers, but today they are impacting businesses much more than ever before.

Operational Metrics – The five Fs which every small business should know

When an entrepreneur begins his journey, his focus is to manufacture products of high quality and make sure it's bought by large number of consumers.

Three Reasons Why Customers Are Not Always Right

We all know the famous quote, “The customer is always right.”

6 Reasons Why Real-World Stores Are Here To Stay

Online portals can’t wipe them out.

Does A Company Really Care About Its Customers: These Three Instances Will Tell You

Organisations aspire to be customer-centric. They launch big transformation programs to try and align...

3 Subtle Ways To Persuade Your Team To Comply With Requests

Persuading a team, or just about anyone, to do something can be quite an uphill task.

10 Reasons Why Employees Don’t Follow Organisational Processes

Processes are an integral part of all enterprises. And as I mentioned in one of my earlier pieces,

Four principles of organisational excellence which every small business should know

Embedding excellence is the aspiration of all small businesses.

Narendra Modi And The Art Of Creating A ‘Sense Of Urgency’

After a long time India has a prime minister who has proven through both his words and actions...

5 Business Process Lessons From The Oscars Goof-Up

I had written sometime back that 2016 was a year of the unexpected.

Three strategies that any small business can use to innovate

Innovation is the bedrock of all businesses. As is rightly said, if a business does not innovate,

Is This A Lost Decade For Business Quality In India?

Quality has been a key pillar for enhancing India's competitiveness.

How small business owners can make their customers raving fans

All small businesses have an aspiration that their product or service should be so good that customers become raving fans.

5 Lessons For The C-Suite From The Wells Fargo Banking Scandal

Wells Fargo had been a darling of sorts in the financial services world.

4 Questions Indian Manufacturing Should Ask After The US Bedsheet Scandal

As the India media got engrossed in demonetisation, the Tata boardroom battle and the US elections,

5 Crucial Skills That No Customer Experience Professional Can Do Without

I recently chaired a two-day "Banker's Customer Experience Summit" in Dubai.

3 Reasons Why Companies Fail To Deliver The Right Customer Experience

Last week I was at a leading coffee chain at Indira Nagar in Bangalore for a quiet meeting with one of my clients. However,

3 Aspects Of Workplace Culture That CEOs Should Make Their Business

While a CEO must focus on the hard stuff, there are a few "soft" things which they should never take off their radar.

The One Value That All CEOs Need To Enshrine In Their Organization

While it's true that corporate values are determined by the organizational aspiration,

Do You Feel Incompetent And Shaky At Work? You May Have A Toxic Boss

The self-centredness and obnoxiousness of a toxic leader have an adverse impact on everyone at work.

5 Takeaways Lean Leaders can Pick Up from India’s Dynamic Prime Minister – Narendra Modi – PT I

Narendra Modi, the current Prime Minister of India, has just completed his first year in office on May 26th, 2015.

15 Types of Process Excellence Professionals

Process excellence professionals come in a variety of shapes and sizes,

5 things process excellence professionals can learn from nurses

In honour of the recent World Nursing Day, Debashis Sarkar looks at five things process excellence professionals can learn from nurses.

Taking over as Process Excellence leader? Ten things you must do in the first 90 days

What you learn about your company in the first couple of months as Process Excellence leader

The Eight Habits of Effective Process Excellence Leaders

A lot is written about process excellence, writes columnist Debashis Sarkar,

13 Essentials of Coaching for Process Improvement

As organizations embark on their process improvement journey,

Lessons on Process from 10 Downing Street

Kate Middleton and Prince William may be grabbing headlines around the world over their pending nuptials,

The Dos and Don’ts of Selecting the Right Projects for Lean Transformation

As a change agent driving Lean transformation, it’s not enough to just have the technical skills.

Enablers for a Successful Lean Transformation

When you decide to embark on a Lean transformation, you must make sure that the right enablers of a successful deployment

Dear Lean practitioner, remember you don’t know all

Lean agents making the transition to service industries should speak softly and carry a list of questions.

How to lose friends and alienate staff – a lean sponsor’s guide

What happens when management is not properly equipped to undertake a Lean Transformation?

Make Your Organization More Customer-Centric with the Kano Model

Looking at products and processes from a consumer’s point of view is critical for building a successful business.

The ABC’s of A3 Performance Improvement

Having introduced the basics of A3 problem solving over my last two columns,

The Seven A3 Problem Solving Steps in Detail

As I introduced A3 problem solving in my last column,

The A3 Problem Solving Way: An Introduction

As service companies dabble with various methods for addressing their business issues,

Despite the Recalls, Service Businesses Can Still Benefit from Adopting Toyota Practices

A lot has being written about Toyota and its ability to wade through the current crisis.

How the Trends of 2000-2009 Will Shape Performance Improvement in This New Decade

As 2010 ushers in, it’s time for us to look at the key trends that surrounded the ecosystem of all businesses.

Standardizing Service Processes through Lean: Is It Unthinkable?

This column of mine is triggered by the interesting debate that I saw in response to Tripp Babbitt’s article,

360 Degree Metrics for Lean Transformation

While embarking on a holistic Lean transformation, I have seen practitioners struggle to come up with metrics.

To Value Stream Map or Not to Value Stream Map a Service Process?

Value stream mapping and Lean implementation in the service business have somehow become synonymous.

The Various Times of Lean

Before embarking on a Lean project, we should be clear with the various times that are used in Lean improvements.

Value Contribution of Processes

In my last column we discussed the eight wastes of Lean. We also looked at the various examples from the service sector.

8 Wastes of Lean Manufacturing in a Services Context

Anything that does not add value to the customer is a waste. Waste only adds to time and cost.

15 Ways to Tell if You’re a Process Centric Company

Does your company leadership treat processes as strategic assets? If not,

Challenges of Service Lean Implementation

Lean implementation can be quite challenging in a service organization.

What is Lean in a Service Context?

Lean manufacturing has been around for quite sometime.

Lean Services: Asia’s Preeminent Deployment Leader Gives Global Insights on Lean Six Sigma for Services

While Lean has been an effective process improvement method for the manufacturing industry,

The philosophy behind his writing and his books is to share his experiences and learning

Dubai