Process Culture Maturity Part II: Achieving the Highest Level of Process Culture Maturity

(To read the first part of this article, click here.)

Two underlying criteria are used to qualify the different levels of process culture maturity -- level of executive management involvement and level of business process integration.

When executives exhibit a strong commitment to the process and technology evolution of the company, they always bring everyone on board. Executive management has the authority to push company-wide change as well as fund processes and IT initiatives. They are responsible for aligning the company’s structure to the business integration strategy; therefore, they enable the organization to advance to a higher process culture maturity. Let’s revisit the four levels of process culture maturity:

• Level 1: Individual heroes -- dependence on individuals or a few company experts;
• Level 2: Diverse Approach -- initiatives per department but lacking in integration;
• Level 3: Model Integration -- business and IT align and model integration is achieved;
• Level 4: Process Culture -- executive passionately participates in process initiatives.

Now, let’s examine closely the highest level of process maturity -- The Process Culture. The final step of process culture maturity is when the organization achieves a high level of model integration by leveraging the consistent involvement of executive management as sponsors and facilitators of change.

There are three factors that determine the right approach towards process culture maturity.  Let’s call them the "SIB factors." S stands for senior management involvement, I for innovation and B for business model integration.

Senior managers and managers alike are the critical success factors in your organization’s process culture journey. They lead the way in building process culture and defining the operating model. Innovation in information technology is also a key component. Successful companies nowadays rely on an integrated set of electronic business processes, tools, information, and technologies. With proper support and funding, an IT organization should be able to provide the right platform and technology on which to build the foundation.

The next thing that the company needs to do is to make sure that it selects the right business process model from among the many tested disciplines and existing operating models. The underlying logic here is that a company’s business model is limited by the environment. In other words, it depends on several factors, such as the industry it operates in, the products and services it sells, its size, and geographical diversity. Using all these factors, you can determine the level of business process standardization and the level of integration of the company’s different businesses -- with profitability and competitiveness requirements in mind. Shared services, outsourcing, diversification, standardization, and model replication are some of the most prevalent business models multinational companies have implemented.

The real question is: How close are you and your company to getting to the highest level of process culture? Here is a guide on how to assess the level of process culture maturity of your organization. Again, the examples are outlined using the "SIB factors." Observe the following points and evaluate how your company is doing right now.

Senior management involvement

• Top executives participate in the IT and Processes evolution committee.
• Requires thoroughly analyzed business cases and encourages measurement of acquired benefits.
• Pushes for post-implementation audit to evaluate project output and acquire lessons learned.
• Encourages collaboration across business lines and functional teams.
• Funds IT and Process initiatives and actively supports training in the use of IT.

Innovation:

• Exhibits a strong sense of innovation and feelings of shared interest to continue to improve and be ahead of competitors.
• Holds regular management briefings on the impact of new technology developments and process innovations in the industry.
• Establishes a consolidated IT operation that manages a standard IT platform to sustain day-to-day support functions to business areas.
• Encourages the use of IT in the business. Users possess a feeling of empowerment and confidence in the effectiveness and reliability of the processes and systems.
• Strives to leverage new technology, platforms and methodologies with sufficient effort in research and development in the area of processes and IT.

Business Integration:

• Defines a clear vision of model integration and process standardization.
• Uses a best-in-class enterprise resource planning software to run an integrated set of business processes.
• Promotes implementation of end-to-end processes to ensure the efficient flow of activities and effective allocation of decision rights and accountabilities.
• Captures business information in one area and shares it with another business area. Possesses the willingness to share and use information to measure and improve key performance.
• Maximizes reuse of business processes and platforms across different business lines.

Achieving a high level of process culture maturity presents a host of challenges to an organization. The SIB factors provide a structured framework, from which initiatives can be drawn and strategies derived. This will propel your company forward through its process culture maturity journey. Achieving the highest level of process culture maturity requires strong executive sponsorship and IT leadership in order to support the company through the change process. When achieved, the company is in a good position to leverage IT for profitable growth and gain competitive advantage in a global market that knows no boundaries.
This leap begins with you and your company’s senior managers.
www.mysimpleprocesses.com

About the Author

Glenn Remoreras is an experienced IT and business process professional who is a member of the Shared Services team for CEMEX, a global construction materials company. He maintains a personal website www.mysimpleprocesses.com where he publishes his thoughts and ideas on various business-related topics.