By Steve Towers & Terry Schurter

It’s a confusing world out there. At the last count there were over 6,000 improvement methodologies (Wikipedia) all geared to helping organizations get better at business. So at least there’s always been plenty of choice depending on your particular flavor of the month however one has to ask the question why so many and why do even the better ones fail to help our companies adapt and change? (more…)

Many of us know the excellent work Virgin Group are undertaking in meeting Customer Expectations. Here’s the latest from the horses mouth… virgin - it’s all about people (powerpoint)

By 2011, according to the International Air Traffic Association (IATA) there will be 4.75 billion airline passengers a year. In other words that’s the equivalent of 3 out of every 4 people on the planet taking a flight in one year, and everyone of those trips involves an average of 1.6 bags per person – that is 7.6 billion bags a year. Every bag has a unique bar-marked id attached, however despite that it is estimated 1 in 100 gets misplaced, involving finding, tracking and reconciling with worried owners. If the ‘lost’ bags were lined up end to end the line they would stretch to the moon and back. (more…)

Best in class processes won’t lead to success without the right strategic objectives. And yet creating strategic objectives has largely been the work of management teams often distant from the scene of real work, where the organization actually touches the customer, at the place where the products and services create the value that translates into revenue and profit. Having strategic objectives and best in class processes is just not enough today if we are not aligned, everyone everywhere everytime in our companies, with achieving these Successful Customer Outcomes. Like good musicians need an excellent conductor to achieve harmony and success so does the SCO help to create and define the organizations efforts through its people, systems, processes and strategy. (more…)

Synopsis
The world of business is undergoing dramatic change. Driven by a number of factors organizations are needing to realign themselves to adapt and evolve. This transformation is global and reaches into every business sector impacting how companies create, deliver and sustain their products and services.

This three part article introduces the reasons for the change, the size of the challenge and how some world leading trend setter companies are achieving dramatic success in this new order. (more…)