Integrating people, process and technology for a sustainable lean transformation using systems thinking

Abstract

The three critical components of business transformation include People, Process and Technology, yet far too often business transformation efforts concentrate on the transformation process and the enabling technologies; while essentially ignoring the people aspect of the change initiative. Subsequently, these transformation initiatives do not achieve their desired results and/or do not sustain themselves over the long run. Industry research studies have shown that approximately three quarters of all business re-engineering efforts do not achieve their objectives and subsequently do not sustain themselves over the long term, and one of the most commonly sited reason for their failing is due to the lack of focus on the organization's culture. To remain competitive, businesses are trying a variety of new change programs to help them achieve their strategic goals. This paper challenges whether these programs are effective enablers of business transformation or if they focus too narrowly on the change program itself and not on the organizational culture. Lean and Lean Six Sigma initiatives can be effective process transformation methodologies, but their process improvement techniques alone are not sufficient for enabling and sustaining meaningful change. The paper describes the IBM Path Forward Business Transformation Initiative that applies 'Systems Thinking' to help enable organization change. IBM's Path Forward methodology focuses on developing critical organizational competencies around organizational culture transformation in addition to those that concentrate on process improvement; resulting in a more effective and sustainable change effort. The paper also discusses a case study to demonstrate how the Path Forward methodology is helping IBM organizations create and sustain transformational business results. Copyright© (2009) by the American Society for Engineering Management.