Integrating Improvement

Businesses must change primarily because they are seeking competitive advantage. As businesses compete for higher profits and larger market share they naturally push the bounds of change. This constant upward movement forces other businesses to change or to suffer financial insolvency. Thus in a mad rush for profit the race continues with both winners and losers. It is this continuous improvement and advancement that helps create world class companies.

A business that doesn't try and stay competitive will eventually succumb to all the great ideas their competitors develop. This is one of the reasons why it is so important for management to encourage new ideas and improvements in both products and operations. Such improvements could fall into the realm of human resources, operational efficiencies, product value, customer service, facilities, or just about any other venue of business.

In the recent past the concept of continuous improvement has flooded the business literature. This process has focused primarily on operational waste, defective products and overall productivity. Such concepts could be expanded to include overall improvement throughout nearly every activity the business engages in. If improvement is seen throughout the organization overall improvement can help put the business on a higher level of existence.

Think of a man who engages in physical fitness training. If this man focused on his arms exclusively he will find he has much more power to lift and throw items. Therefore, he will experience relatively quick improvement. However, as his arms gets bigger and the rest of his body is neglected he may find that his overall physical frame won't support rigorous activity. He will look lopsided and not well balanced. Business works in much the same way.

The arms might be operations, but the back is human resources, the brain is the operating procedures, and the legs are supplies. These must also be developed so that the organization has the ability to function fully and at a higher level. Ignoring these other aspects of the organizational body will lead to limitations for the business. You can only neglect different aspects of your organization for so long before problems and injury results.

Therefore, it is important to focus on your organization as a whole then as simply a mix of individual parts. Some aspects of business will naturally be more strategically important but all of them work together. Certainly emphasis can be placed on these strategic components but they should not be seen as isolated processes that are not connected to other aspects of the organization.