For decades now, the continuous improvement process has been heralded as the golden standard of business transformation. The idea that businesses need to constantly eliminate ineffective processes and innovate new ways of work for continuous growth has given birth to many continuous improvement methods such as Kaizen, Lean, and Six Sigma.
However, there is a perpetual debate on the efficacy of each of these methods and how to use them. Some argue that these methods are too broad and don’t work for all organization models, and continuous improvement needs to be customized. Others argue that some methods are more impactful than others, such as the emerging school of thought that introduces digital transformation as a more effective alternative to the latest iteration of these methods, Lean Six Sigma.
Rather than getting stuck in this never-ending discourse, it is imperative to identify the foundation of these different methods to see the basic principle driving continuous improvement. The silver lining of these different methods is a circular process of using data to identify issues, implementing a new way to address such issue, and following up with analysis of the efficacy of the new way.
This cycle is applied to three key aspects that drive organizations: people, process, and product – the 3Ps of business. The assumption is that empowering and nurturing your people to implement agile processes that produce zero waste would allow for the creation of products or services that truly work for your customers. Lean is designed to create products that truly fit the market by removing preconceptions among the people creating the product through a more effective and unbiased process of product development through market testing and customer insight. Meanwhile, six sigma focuses on process through its emphasis on the problem-solving method of DMAIC: define, measure, analyze, improve, and control. Originating in Japan, Kaizen is a process of continuous improvement based on the five principles of creating customer value (product), eliminating waste, following action, utilizing data for transparency (process), and empowering your team (people).
To focus on these three aspects makes sense. A 2015 research shows that absenteeism, a widely recognized indicator of employee wellbeing, costs U.S. employers $225.8 billion annually. Meanwhile, inefficiency-related issues cost companies between 20% and 30% of their annual revenue. Product is a bit more complicated. While executives will agree that product and service quality is key to business success, many focus on the quality of the product and overlook the market fit. Meanwhile, the lack of market need for a product accounts for 42% of business failures.
Bahtera has taken the 3Ps concept to heart and incorporated it into our business DNA. The first stage of our long-term business transformation process included the establishment of our new logo, which takes a simple but unique liquid shape that gives a sense of fluidity and openness next to Bahtera’s company name as a stamp of excellence. Made up entirely of circles and ellipses, the shape represents totality and stability. It comprises different interconnected components that show transformation and partnership among different parts.
Delving deeper into our foundation of the company, the logo uses our corporate color. Blue signifies trustworthiness, professionalism, and confidence grounded in commitment to integrity, while orange signifies warmth and passion – our commitment to being ALIVE every step of the way. This logo is a promise: a representation of our spirit of transformation, our strong bond with our partners, and the strength of our commitment. This includes our commitment to continuous improvement around the 3Ps of people, process, and product, which are represented by the three connected dots that make up the entire shape.
This new logo is meant to be the foundation of our continuous improvement through tangible actions. It is imperative that such commitment is visible from the very top. Studies show that leadership support is key to the success of continuous improvement projects. A study on 204 lean projects shows that 21% yield no improvement, while 79% of the projects that yield improvement regress after the first year. Meanwhile, continuous improvement projects that have strong support from the management shows 35% greater improvement after a year.
This top-down approach is implemented every step of the way, initiated at the management level and trickled down to the middle management and the entire staff. Our recent business transformation exercise started globally through a company-wide revamping that completely rejuvenated our purpose, vision, and mission as a company and translated into an overhaul in the way we do business. This is followed by an intensive dissemination of these changes to everyone in the company, which we believe to be a long-term process that builds overtime. This way, we are building a continuous improvement culture that hopefully will last for years to come.
