How to Advance Business Process Improvement for Organizational Transformation | Miichisoft,.Jsc and Business Improvement Co., Ltd.

So far, we've explained why organizations must transform to survive a chaotic era, and — through JAL's turnaround after bankruptcy — the three capabilities needed to become that kind of organization. In this final part, we'll explain concretely what steps are needed to build a resilient organization.

Earlier, we said that business process improvement (mainly operational efficiency) frees up people and time so an organization can withstand a constantly changing world. With that freed-up capacity, a company can drive the kind of mindset shift and culture change seen in the JAL case study. So how should a company pursue efficiency?

1. Identify issues and solutions through operational analysis

The first step is an operational analysis of the current business — understanding in detail how it runs, from the perspective of people, materials, and money. What matters most is putting the resulting issues into words, since a clearly articulated issue is one you can start solving.

Take the recent case of tracking coronavirus cases in Japan. The issue: health centers had to report every patient's name, onset date, and contact info, yet HER-SYS — the tracking system — needed so many input fields that data entry was a huge burden.

Two solutions come to mind: the approach the government actually took — limiting reporting to people 65 and older or those requiring hospitalization — and minimizing the effort required to enter data. Since entering data into HER-SYS isn't work medical institutions should focus on, the ideal combines both — limit to people 65 and older or those needing hospitalization, and also minimize entry effort. The 65-and-older limit alone reduces entry volume, needing no extra equipment.

So how can data-entry effort be reduced? Possible approaches: letting patients enter name and symptoms via smartphone instead of paper forms, reading IC data from My Number cards, or, if paper is still used, scanning the forms and digitizing them automatically with OCR. Assessing feasibility under existing medical regulations is beyond this article's scope, so we'll skip it — but using technology to eliminate manual entry lets you keep tracking patient counts while minimizing labor and time.

In that coronavirus example, the issues were "too many entries" and "entry itself takes effort." Limiting entries to people 65 and older or those needing hospitalization solves the first; minimizing entry effort solves the second.

2. Communication with IT vendors is a major barrier

As just discussed, freeing up people and time requires an operational analysis that identifies issues and solutions from the situation a business currently faces, and most solutions depend on technology.

In other words, the steps for transformation-driven process improvement (mainly operational efficiency) can be broadly summarized as follows.

1. Analyze your own company's operations
2. Identify issues and solutions from the analysis results
3. Solve the issues using technology

Steps 1 and 2 above are the job of a business process improvement consultant, while step 3 is the job of an IT vendor such as a system development company.

However, a major barrier lies between 1.2 above and 3.

Normally, 1.2 correspond to "requirements definition," while 3 is "system development" or "tool implementation." Between them lies a communication step: "the client company accurately conveys what it wants, and the IT vendor properly understands it."

If this communication fails, functionality may go undelivered, or the company keeps paying for unneeded tools. To avoid this, large companies increasingly bring engineers in-house — but small and midsize companies, lacking that capacity, will inevitably hit this barrier.

Having spent more than 20 years in system development companies myself, I've repeatedly seen this barrier keep operations from improving even after a system was introduced. Overcoming it requires a bridge role: someone who works closely with the IT vendor and, together with the client's own staff, works out objectives, issues, and solutions to clarify requirements in detail.

3. Summary

To sum up this three-part series on "business process improvement":

1. The ultimate goal of business process improvement is to transform into a sustainable organization that can survive in an era of change.
2. Becoming that kind of resilient organization requires a change in corporate culture.
3. Changing corporate culture requires resources of people and time.
4. Those people and time resources can be obtained through business process improvement (mainly operational efficiency).
5. To move business process improvement (mainly operational efficiency) forward, first identify issues and solutions through operational analysis.
6. Technology is then needed to solve those issues.
7. Effectively implementing technology requires close communication with the IT vendor.
8. Close communication with an IT vendor requires someone to act as a bridge.

4. Seamless delivery from requirements definition to system development

At Business Improvement Co., Ltd., which I represent, we work with Miichisoft to serve as that bridge for your company. Together — Business Improvement Co., Ltd. as consultant, Miichisoft as IT vendor — we deliver a valuable system that frees up people and time, so your company can focus on the culture transformation that follows and become a sustainable organization that survives an era of change.

Inquiries and consultations

*Contact information will be listed here

Inquiries about this matter

Miichisoft,.Jsc and Business Improvement Co., Ltd.

Email: sales@miichisoft.com

TEL: (+81) 3-6555-3368