M&A activity has been increasing in recent years, reaching a mid-year high in 2014 that hadn't been seen since 2007. In any industry, mergers bring a lot of change - change that creates a new sense of excitement, enthusiasm and improvement, change that is clearly visible and planned for, and changes, challenges and issues that are unexpected, emerge gradually, or even appear somewhere much further down the line but are apparent to have occurred as a result of the M&A process. Or perhaps lack of process!
In a piece on Clay Richardson's Forrester blog in November of last year, he predicted that 2015 would see the BPM industry disrupted by things like low-code vendors, improved dynamic case management, smart process apps and a stronger focus on the customer. While there is a lot to be said for the current, 'traditional' BPMS you have in place and the approaches and strategies you can use to get the full value from it, there are also some exciting elements to new BPM offerings. We take a look at how you can get more from your current BPMS and what to consider if you think it's time for a change.
TIBCO Nimbus™ is a Business Process Management System. It presents easy-to-understand, visual representations of how people, processes and systems in an organisation interact. Nimbus™ has helped over 700 organisations including AstraZeneca, Barclays Capital, HSBC, JPMorgan, RBS, Novartis, Toyota, and ThyssenKrupp. It provides many features that support Quality, Compliance, and Operational Management and Continual improvement and can also be integrated with other technology and is available on–premises and in the cloud. In summary, it's an excellent tool.
Are your SOPs and Work Instructions perfect?
Put simply, SOPs should support an environment of “Comply or Change”.
Adding value to something automatically makes me think time, money and/or an improved product or service. If I have more time and more money and a better end result, job done! But that's just the answer, and if you've even completed high school mathematics, you'll know that focussing on the answer is rarely the way to find it. So let's take a few steps back, into the process.
Michael Needham is the Principal Consultant at MKN Advisory Services Ltd. He previously worked as a lecturer and module coordinator for the MBA modules ‘E-Business’ & 'Supply Chain Management'; and the MSc Business Improvement module ‘Strategic Operations and Quality Excellence’ at Ulster University along with working as a consulting manager at PWc, global procurement manager with Procter & Gamble and supply chain co-ordinator with the Irish Dairy Board. His wealth of hands on, real life experience combined with in-depth research, including papers on the role of knowledge for process improvement and outsourcing, and a Phd that investigated the factors that influence the internal transfer of process improvement knowledge within service organisations led us to wanting to ask him more. All too often people are experts in theory or experts in practice but Needham is one of those insightful individuals who seems to have mastered a balance of both, which has no doubt increased his understanding and abilities in both doing and communicating what he’s doing.
New BPM Approaches for the Challenges of Mergers and Acquisitions in Life Sciences
Five Major Drivers for BPM exist – Compliance; Outsourcing, ITIL and Security; Process Framework/Performance/Standards; Technology Modernisation and Mergers, Acquisitions and Consolidations. In recent years Life Sciences organisations have had to learn to survive and grow through numerous mergers and acquisitions – sometimes even within quick succession of each other.
Brian Cooney has a BA in management, is an ISO leader and recently completed an executive coaching diploma. Along with 33 years experience in quality assurance, he's an excellent example of someone with a vision for how well things can be done and the insight to recognise and successfully clear the hurdles that can get in the way.
If you were allowed to measure only 8 aspects of your business...
Recently someone who I was discussing metrics with posed a thought provoking question, “If you could only have a few metrics to manage and monitor your business, which ones would you choose?" After thinking long and hard, here are my must-have key performance indicators.
Upcoming Events for Your Business Process Management Diary 2015
PEX Open House, May 11-14, Online
This week sees The Process Excellence Network Open House event taking place. The online event comprises of webinars featuring some of the most popular Process and BPM solutions to aid organisations in finding out a little more, asking their questions and choosing the right one for them. The event takes place From Monday May 11th to May 14th but registration is still open if you want to dive in. Registration for the event also gives you six months access to their 'IQ Community'. Find out more or register >
Computer World UK last week reported IKEA's great success in moving from to a web-based Business Process Management System (BPMS). The move has enabled the company to create internal business cases in less than half the time it previously took them and honestly, we're not surprised considering the array of issues with text or paper based standard operating procedures. (SOPs). Ikea noted that where a business case used to take approximately 24 days to create, it's now done in an average of nine days. That's a whopping difference and a valuable insight to many companies considering a move from paper to digital for processes.
My Standout Favourites from PharmaLink 2015
Dee Carri
Decreasing Cost and Increasing Benefits for Your ERP Investment
According to ZDNet and Panorama Consulting Solutions, who conduct annual surveys of ERP buyers, 2014 was the year where smaller ERP projects actually had more delays than larger projects. Looking back to the previous year, 2013 saw more and smaller projects than previous years and cost overruns remaining constant at 53-56 per cent between 2011 and 2013. However, the most concerning element of the report was that an increasing number of respondents reported reduced levels of benefit from their ERP investment. Even a 'smaller' ERP project is an huge undertaking in time, effort and adapting to change.
From inside an organisation, it can be hard to be sure you are aligned to the rest of the business. You’ve taken our BPM Maturity quiz and the results resonate with YOUR view which should give you a measure of confidence that you are doing the right things with BPM.
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From inside an organisation, it can be hard to see the wood from the trees. You probably have a 'sense' of whether business processes are well defined or not but it may not be quite as bad as you think. On the other hand, it could be a lot worse.