Global Logistics and Supply Chain Strategies - June 2008 - (Page 38) such as the replacement of the CEO or sale of the company. Ampuja torpedoes the notion that large companies, because of their bureaucratic nature and inbred conservatism, are less likely to enact major change within the organization. On the contrary, he says, it’s the smaller companies that pose a greater problem in this regard. Often the same entrepreneurial spirit that drove initial success will resist outside advice. Or a less-experienced executive will inundate the consultant with repeated questions about basic concepts. “The worst is the guy who can’t get out of his own way,” says Ampuja. “He says it’s going to take six weeks, then it stretches to six months.” One client spent more than five years on an engagement, only to say that it wasn’t ready to make a commitment to the plan laid out by the consultant. A year later, the company was in bankruptcy. Simon Says: Stop Horror story #3: The consulting arm of IBM was working to implement a supply chain event management system for a large retailer. The effort was intended to integrate processes between the company’s powerful merchandising group and the logistics and sales and marketing departments, all of which had been operating as silos. The complex project involved the use of dashboards and key performance indicators, to create a high-level view of the supply chain for all managers. Then, nine months into the job, a new executive vice president of the client’s merchandising group came on board, recalls Karen Butner, supply chain management lead with IBM’s Institute for Business Value. The manager advanced the opinion that the entire effort amounted to nothing more than “another e-mail system.” IBM, along with other executives within the client company, had to scramble to convince the doubter that it was much more than that. After months of delay, he relented, with the program resulting in zero stockouts during a major ad campaign. Dashboards can also be an effective way to chart the progress of the engagement, Butner says. The existence of hard numbers helps in retaining the support of key individuals. It can even engender some healthy competition between department managers. “They want to see the bars go up like any other campaign,” she says. When an engagement fails, the seeds might have been planted at the very beginning, Butner says. Many times companies don’t clarify what they are seeking to achieve. Lacking clear direction, they cannot properly assess the effort as it progresses through various stages. An overall mission statement, combined with specific targets, is essential. A consulting engagement should be treated like any product launch, with deliverables, milestones and responsible parties sharply defined, Butner says. Periodic reviews ensure that everything is running smoothly. A well-crafted plan will also account for scope creep, allowing for adjustments if necessary. Finally, Butner urges consultants to conduct post-engagement reviews to measure client satisfaction, assess how well the proj- sultancy that has the experience, capability and the bandwidth to support you throughout the engagement,” says Bob Shecterle, vice president and group director of research with the Aberdeen Group. Even if the firm agrees not to walk away, it must have the resources to finish the job in a satisfactory manner. The best consultant can be stymied by poor change management. Nari Viswanathan, research director with Aberdeen, recalls a large manufacturer that was a year into mapping all of its business processes, prior to installing new supply chain software. But all it ended up doing was automating existing processes, because some key individuals within the company were not brought into the loop during initial discussions and ended up The burden of implementation is on the client. “We can give you the road map, but you have to drive the car.” — Jack T. Ampuja of Niagara University ect met expectations, and identify lessons learned along the way. IBM will even come back months later to confirm that the new procedures are on track, she says. Making that assessment isn’t always easy, though, given the difficulty of determining precisely which factors led to improvements in the company’s supply chain. At such times, a consultant that agreed to a gain-sharing arrangement might find itself arguing with the client over how much it is owed. An Unwelcome Exit Horror story #4: A wholesale distributor of hydraulic valves and parts needed to revamp its warehouse management programs. The company chose a small consultant that it had used for another part of the business. Six months into the engagement, after extensive mapping of the client’s processes, the lead consultant on the project left the firm, which had no suitable replacement on hand. The company was left trying to complete the task by itself, then had to hire another consultant. “Make sure you’re engaging with a conblocking real change. It’s essential, says Viswanathan, to identify an internal sponsor who can oversee the implementation, guided by the proper metrics for judging progress. Whether the target is perfect orders, better customer service or some other major improvement, the company must clearly lay out the relevant metrics, then identify the individual who is responsible for each one. If all of the metrics are not aligned toward a common goal, “then you are not looking at a successful project,” he says. Choosing the right metrics in the first place is no simple task. A good consultant will look at the best practices of other companies to come up with a meaningful goal for improvement, says Shecterle. Without such prep work, Viswanathan adds, the client is unlikely to complete an engagement within the designated scope, budget and time. To keep the project on track, the consultant and key members of the client’s organization should form small working teams that hold status meetings on a 38 JUNE 2008
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