Revolutionizing Business Operations - by Tony Saldanha & Filippo Passerini (Paperback)

About the Book

"A key purpose of this book is to introduce a fundamentally different approach to business transformation. It is fascinating to see that without exception, all existing publications on business process transformation don't just foster the one-time deal approach, but also take a sequential, step by step design (i.e., start with business strategy, then assess the landscape of current transformation projects in the company, then create a portfolio of ideas/projects, then execute with the latest methods like Agile, then finally, plan to make the new culture systemic). If we were to draw an analogy, this would be like the national economic development approaches of the old 5-year plans made famous by Soviet Union planners in the previous century. As it turned out, the real-world, occasionally chaotic but dynamic, open market, capitalism-based plans fared much better. The equivalent in business process change is "Dynamic Business Transformation." There is a need for a dynamic, living model for constant, ongoing process evolution and optimization. The Dynamic Business Transformation model achieves that. It addresses the issue because it gets to the root causes underlying the recurring obsolescence of work processes. First, even the best work process design can get stale if it does not constantly compare itself with the most disruptive new ideas across companies, and more importantly across industries. Second, functional work processes tend to be optimized within their own siloes. That leads to sub-optimization at an end-to-end level. And finally, unless there is a disciplined methodology to organically drive this constant re-optimization to every person in the operation, it leads to the jerky fits-and-starts model of business transformation"--

Book Synopsis

Don't risk the dire consequences of your work processes becoming obsolete--discover a powerful model for constant, ongoing, enterprise-wide process evolution and optimization.

If you have a great product, but don't have the operations in place to efficiently and effectively support it--production, manufacturing, sales, finance, human resources, etc.--you won't succeed. Product innovation is seen as flashier and so gets far more attention, but you can create an enduring competitive advantage by revolutionizing business operations.

The problem is most attempts to improve business operations are reactive, sporadic, and siloed. Tony Saldanha and Filippo Passerini's Dynamic Process Transformation model provides a living model for constant, ongoing process evolution and optimization.

The authors focus on maximizing three drivers of change. First, "open market rules"--each business process must be run as a separate business, instead of via monolithic mandates coming down from on high. Second, there must be "unified accountability"-- outcomes must be clear and consistent across the company, instead of being siloed within departments. And third, there needs to be a "dynamic operating engine," a methodology to convert the constantly changing business process goals into tactical day-to-day employee actions.

With numerous examples from leading companies, this book shows how to proactively keep business processes across the company from becoming obsolete and take advantage of a neglected key to success.

Review Quotes

"From the shared services and business transformation giants--this is the compelling formula for competitive advantage in business operations. A tour de force!"
--Salim Ismail, bestselling author, angel investor, speaker, and technology strategist

"The authors take on the complex issue of business process transformation and bring together real-life experience, best-in-class knowledge, and new insights to create effective and efficient solutions. This is an extremely timely and valuable work!"
--Andre Schulten, Chief Financial Officer, Procter & Gamble

"I worked with the authors on major transformations for P&G. The key idea was to recognize that GBS was not a function; it was a strategy. 'Revolutionizing business operations' is not a department or a concept; it is a powerful strategy."
--Austin Lally, Group CEO, Verisure

"I saw firsthand the magical transformation Filippo Passerini brought to Procter & Gamble's business processes. Now he and Tony Saldanha share this proven model of success in Revolutionizing Business Operations. This is a must-read for every CEO in the world today."
--James Michael Lafferty, CEO, Fine Hygienic Holding

"If you care deeply about creating a sustained competitive advantage via business process transformation, put this on your must-read list. The authors come from an enviable heritage of having constantly redefined business transformation, and they show how leaders can drive systemic transformation in their business and operations."
--Tiger Tyagarajan, President and CEO, Genpact

"The authors have the rare ability to take on a complex issue like business process transformation and bring together real-life experience, best-in-class knowledge, and new insights to solve for it. This is an extremely timely and valuable piece of work!"
--Federico Frattini, Dean, POLIMI Graduate School of Management

About the Author

Tony Saldanha is cofounder and CEO of Inixia, an organization dedicated to professionalizing and transforming business services. During a 27-year career at Procter & Gamble, Tony ran IT and GBS (Global Business Services) in every region of the world, helping create a multi-billion dollar best-in-class operation. He was named to Computerworld's Premier 100 IT Professionals list in 2013. He is a sought-after thought leader and speaker on GBS and IT. His other activities include angel investing, advising non-profits and venture capitalists and start-up companies, and starting up technology companies of his own.

Filippo Passerini is cofounder and President of Inixia. He started and led one of the world's first shared service organizations at Procter & Gamble. He has served as an advisor, board member, and operating executive at several companies, including The Carlyle Group, Mars Company, United Rentals, McKinsey & Company, and the Estée Lauder Company. He also has served as adjunct professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management, is a visiting Professor for the Politecnico di Milano School of Management, and a Professor in Residence at Columbia University. He is a member of the CIO Hall of Fame.