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Outsourcing involves
the transfer of specific recurring internal activities and decision rights
to providers, as set forth in a contract. The recurring nature of the
activities and existence of a contract indicates that the service goes
beyond a consulting type of service. As a matter of practice, not only
the activities are transferred, but the factors of production are often
transferred as well. Factors of production are the resources that are
applied to make the activities occur, and would include people, facilities,
equipment, technology, and other assets. Decision rights are the responsibilities
for making decisions over certain elements of the activities transferred.
Outsourcing is a powerful transformation tool which has less risk of implementation
failure than other tools; however, it is a strategic decision, requiring
proactive, professional decision-making.
Greaver and Associates
has been actively involved in outsourcing: 1) as an advisor to organizations
who are exploring and/or implementing outsourcing initiatives, and 2)
as a provider of outsource services, in our areas of specialization. For
a listing of reference materials, click
here.
Restructuring can
occur at the organizational (e.g., changing lines of reporting, position
specifications, authority levels, etc.), asset (e.g., e.g., joint ventures,
IPOs, acquisitions, etc.) or financial (share repurchase, recapitalization,
LBO, etc.) levels. Restructuring tools can make significant impacts on
the organization and can be completed in months. They are strategically
focused, top-down driven initiatives, which can be used to achieve a wide
variety of objectives, from improving performance to maximizing asset
values to creating more effective or efficient capital structures. The
risks associated with these initiatives tend to be lower than some other
transformation tools because they are focused and require short cycle
times for implementation. The risks are directly related to the quality
of planning and analysis done up front and sensitivity with which key
employees are coached and comforted through the changes. For a listing
of transformation reference materials, click
here.
Greaver and Associates
has provided consulting services to identify and evaluate the existing
problems, design the appropriate restructuring solution, and implement
that solution.
Benchmarking is a
process for evaluating the products, services, and work processes of organizations
that are recognized as representing best practices for the purpose of
organizational improvement. Typically, similar organizations with similar
units, who are known to have superior costs and performance, are identified
and then these organizations are used as a benchmark, to gain a better
understanding of how the activities, costs and performance might be improved.
This tool can be a stand-alone project or an important phase of other
transformation projects, such as outsourcing or total quality management.
Greaver and Associates
has provided consulting services to identify and evaluate the existing
problems, design the benchmarking solution, and implement that solution.
For a listing of transformation reference materials, click
here.
Reengineering initiatives
can take several years to complete. They are strategically focused on
analyzing processes and improving performance, by radically rethinking
how processes operate. These tend to be program oriented, top-down driven
initiatives, requiring significant organization operational and behavioral
change. Given the heavy reliance on technology, as an enabler, and the
length of implementation, the risk of failure is greater than some other
transformation tools. Having said that, when successful, these initiatives
can have dramatic positive impacts on the organization and its results.
Greaver and Associates
has provided consulting services to identify and evaluate the existing
problems, design the reengineering solution, and implement that solution.
For a listing of transformation reference materials, click
here.
TQM initiatives implement
continuous improvement techniques that incrementally improve the organization.
They are tactically focused on analyzing processes and improving performance,
and can take several years to complete. These tools tend to be company
wide, bottom-up driven programs, requiring significant organization cultural
and behavioral change. Given the high cost of training all of the employees
and length of implementation, the risk of failure is higher. Having said
that, when successful, these initiatives can have significant positive
impacts on the organization and its results.
Greaver and Associates
has provided consulting services to identify and evaluate the existing
problems, design the total quality management solution, and implement
that solution. For a listing of transformation reference materials, click
here.
Focused process improvement
tools, such as activity-based cost management (activity-based costing,
activity-based management, or both) make incremental improvement impacts
on the organization. Activity-based costing is focused on improving cost
information about products, services, customers, distribution channels,
etc. Activity-based management is focused on improving activiies, cost
drivers and performance measures, all leading to improved financial results.
They are tactically focused on analyzing and measuring the performance
of functions and processes, and can be completed within a period of months.
The tools tend to be project oriented, bottoms-up driven initiatives.
The risk of failure is relatively low.
Greaver and Associates
has provided consulting services to identify and evaluate the existing
problems, design the activity-based cost management solution, and implement
that solution. For a listing of transformation reference materials, click
here.
Prior to beginning
organizational transformation, it can be quite valuable to get all of
the participants to a common understanding level with training, for several
reasons. First, different adults learn new information in different ways,
for example, some learn by reading, listening, debating, observing, doing,
and seeing the big picture (through use of metaphors, case histories,
etc.). If no training is provided or training using only a few of these
techniques is used, then different individuals will advance at different
paces, which will slow or derail the project. Second, training seminars
give the participants a common learning experience and reference point.
This can be particularly important when tackling somewhat controversial
subjects, such as transformation tools.
Greaver and Associates
has provided training services to identify and evaluate the existing knowledge
level, design the appropriate training solution, and implement that solution.
For a listing of transformation reference materials, click
here.
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