When Going gets tough, tough get going!

When chips are down, it is the business leaders who may have think outside the box and develop solutions to take the organization forward. The first and foremost thing to do is to identify the core activities of the business and outsource non-core functions.

Outsourcing has no boundaries or limits, one can outsource any activity or all activities depending upon the business objectives, model and product. We are stepping into virtual organizations and there is no point spending time and resources on non-core activities.

Outsourcing is it a pain or a strategy? It would become pain if you do not think strategically and plan outsourcing. Clarity in mind with regard to deliverable is critical to the success of outsourcing. The cost reduction is only possible in the first year of outsourcing and after that one should aim at gainshare. If one is chasing 15% cost reduction ever year of outsourcing, they whole process of outsourcing will fail.

By outsourcing non-core functions, organizations are able to save costs; improve productivity; customer satisfaction; lead time to market and also induces flexibility to the business operations. This is only the beginning of improvement phase.

Let me take you though the next phase tomorrow.

By Imporving Supply Chain Efficiencies, can we achieve sustainable growth?

Some companies, regardless of their industry or size, and product offering do well. The difference lies in how one operates supply chains. The most favored reaction to a downturn is job cuts and more job cuts and in my opinion that is a negative approach. How about thinking positively and make these words come true, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going".

Supply Chain Management has emerged as a key lever in creating value for today's companies as they seek to lower costs, increase asset productivity, improve lead time and customer satisfaction. The success of supply chain largely depends upon the people who lead, manage and operate supply chains within organization.

An ideal organization is the one who recruit and retain quality personnel and manage transparent management style and encourage out of box thinking. Managing and improving supply chain efficiency not a rocket science, but it is simple common sense.

People should be empowered to drive the changes that would improve the performance of controllable elements of supply chain. Today's customer is demanding and business environment is dynamic. In order to please the customer and improve the top line revenue, one should look at improving factors such as cost savings; lead time improvement; product differentiation, product customization. These factors not only improve sustainable revenue growth but will also improve the bottom-line.

We often see business leader pushing panic buttons when anticipated growth in business is not becoming a reality. Instead of pushing panic button, did you ever ask what have we done differently to impress the customer? The key to the success lies in the answer to this question.

Let me share my thoughts on how organizations could achieve sustainable growth during challenging days. See you tomorrow.