Preface

Operational Excellence. Corporate leaders embrace it for a competitive edge in today’s challenging global market. It is heralded as the antidote to slipping revenues. And industry titans like Toyota tout it as a business necessity (Liker 2004). But what exactly is it?

While more and more companies are aggressively pursuing Operational Excellence by employing Six Sigma, Lean, and other continuous improvement methods, the concept itself remains vague. It has yet to be practically defined in a way that can be taught and applied, especially to industries other than manufacturing. The result: companies comprising mostly offices and business processes, such as insurers, hospital administrative practices, financial companies, banks, and service organizations lack an applicable definition of Operational Excellence. And there is little (if any) written material on how to achieve it in the office—until now.

To achieve Operational Excellence, it takes more than just a strong leader with passion and drive. The key ingredient is practical knowledge that can be applied quickly and easily by following a process, a step-by-step guide to move the office services from point A to point B. The practical knowledge and the guide together create a road map that can be read and shared with each employee to rapidly move a company forward.

That process is described in the pages that follow. The knowledge is practical and hands on, but told through a story to make it more applicable to what companies face each day. It is not intended to solve problems in the office or provide solutions. In fact, this type of thinking is what often restricts companies from achieving Operational Excellence. Rather, the information provided explores different concepts and ways of thinking to offer a fresh look at the office and business processes. It is intended to educate and teach companies how to grow their businesses by achieving Operational Excellence in their offices.

Once applied to all areas of the organization, the end result is a business that does not require management intervention to deliver the services provided by the office. Instead, management focuses on offense, or activities that grow the business. The net result is a business that is designed to grow year after year.

Enjoy reading, apply the knowledge, and grow your business.

REFERENCE

Liker, Jeffery K. The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004.

Kevin J. Duggan

Founder, Institute for Operational Excellence

President, Duggan Associates