The document discusses business transformation and how it differs from continuous improvement activities. Business transformation involves fundamentally rethinking and redesigning core business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in areas like cost, quality, and speed. It requires taking a clean slate approach, understanding customer needs, and building new systems and policies from there. The document outlines when transformation is needed, what it requires including leadership support and cross-functional teams, and the typical phases of transformation including discovery, inspiration, design, and implementation.

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Cross-Rhodes
Rethinking How Work Gets Done
Business Transformation
Business transformation is more than superimposing a patchwork of continuous
improvement activities on current operations. Transformation starts with a clean
canvas. It takes an objective look at customer needs, industry, market and
technology trends, and builds systems and polices to best support the objectives of
any particular business. Quite simply business transformation involves the
fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve
dramatic improvements in critical performance areas such as cost, quality, service
and speed.
Transformation involves the reengineering of what we call core processes. Core
processes encompass everything it takes meet a marketplace need through a chosen
business strategy. We focus on workflow, not organizational charts:
1. Sequences of activities: Rather than viewing work as discrete, individual
activities from department to department, think of it as a river flowing
continuously.
2. Implements a strategy: Strategy requires the commitment and cooperation
of the entire organization. One department in isolation can not succeed.
3. Provides product or service to the customer: A core process includes all
business processes leading up to the actual delivery of the product or service
to the end customer.
How is business transformation different than TQM
TQM is the best way to manage discrete business processes to achieve optimal
performance. Business transformation rethinks the entire process to achieve radical
improvements in business performance. When the current way of doing business is
not working, it is time for transformation.
Contact Stafford Squier at 206-605-7709 or Stafford@cross-rhodes.com
th
Cross-Rhodes Associates, LLC., 197 8 Street–PH203; Boston, MA 02129
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2.
Cross-Rhodes
Rethinking How Work Gets Done
When is it time for business transformation?
1. Are your customers demanding more for less?
2. Are your competitors likely to provide more for less?
3. Is your actual cycle time more than twice the time it takes do the work?
4. Have your incremental quality improvement efforts (TQM) been stalled or
been a disappointment?
5. Have investments in technology not panned out?
6. Are you planning to introduce radically new products and services or serve
new markets?
7. Are you in danger of becoming unprofitable?
8. Have your downsizing and cost‐cutting efforts failed to turn the ship around?
9. Are you downsizing, merging or consolidating operations?
10. Are your core business processes fragmented?
If your answer is “yes” to any one of these questions it is probably time for business
transformation. If you answer “yes “ to two or more, it is definitely time to put
together a team of people who can step back and ask “what could this look like if we
started from scratch?”
What does business transformation require?
Leadership
To be successful transformation efforts need the full support of
management/leadership, who must be open to reassessing processes they may have
created.
Transformation Team:
A diverse cast representing different functions and levels in the organization needs
to be involved:
Top management as initiators and sponsors of the new vision
•
Project manager driving schedule
•
Contact Stafford Squier at 206-605-7709 or Stafford@cross-rhodes.com
th
Cross-Rhodes Associates, LLC., 197 8 Street–PH203; Boston, MA 02129
cross-rhodes.com

3.
Cross-Rhodes
Rethinking How Work Gets Done
Core transformation team that also serves as a steering committee in
•
addition to their own task responsibilities
Research sub teams
•
Design teams
•
Implementation team
•
In smaller organizations the same individual may represent one or more of these
functions.
Phases of transformation:
Discover
Contact Stafford Squier at 206-605-7709 or Stafford@cross-rhodes.com
th
Cross-Rhodes Associates, LLC., 197 8 Street–PH203; Boston, MA 02129
cross-rhodes.com

4.
Cross-Rhodes
Rethinking How Work Gets Done
Benchmark existing workload: We quantify how much work is required to support
the current customer base. How many orders come in on any given day? What is the
nature of those orders (new work, rework repair)? How many orders are completed
on any given day? How long does it take to produce those orders? How much does it
cost to produce those orders?
Customer Segment Requirements: We conduct customer interviews to determine
what their expectations are. We must know what products and services your
customers want.
Current State Analysis: We take a bird’s eye look at the current process. This allows
us to see the complexities involved in running the business and highlights
opportunities to simplify and increase efficiency.
Inspire
Design options/specifications: We force participants to think critically and
creatively to identify new ways of doing business. Ideas are then tested against the
company’s business strategy. The surviving ideas become design specifications that
serve as the preliminary blueprint for the project.
Design
Process­flows: Building upon the principles, specifications and options developed in
by the group, we create a high level sketch of the new processes.
Business modeling: Development of detailed business maps, procedures and
operating principles as well as the design of supporting infrastructures
(performance measures, job requirements, compensations systems, technical
infrastructure).
Validation: Validation of the new design is done through interviews and modeling
the business processes against key assumptions about workload and future growth.
Validation is completed by running a pilot program to demonstrate that the new
business processes are effective.
Contact Stafford Squier at 206-605-7709 or Stafford@cross-rhodes.com
th
Cross-Rhodes Associates, LLC., 197 8 Street–PH203; Boston, MA 02129
cross-rhodes.com

5.
Cross-Rhodes
Rethinking How Work Gets Done
Implementation:
The entire organization applies and institutionalizes the new design into its day‐to‐
day operations.
What’s next?
When you implement your new business process and start to benefit from increased
customer satisfaction and new efficiencies you will be able to answer no to the
question is it time for business transformation.
But we all know business is not a static endeavor. When you start to get positive
answers to the question “is it time for business transformation?” you need to
assemble the troops and put on your transformational thinking caps again. Your
team may be able to handle this on their own, as we will have transferred the skills
and methods of business transformation to key members of your team. But if you
need our services, we are more than willing to be called back.
Contact Stafford Squier at 206-605-7709 or Stafford@cross-rhodes.com
th
Cross-Rhodes Associates, LLC., 197 8 Street–PH203; Boston, MA 02129
cross-rhodes.com