Journey to the Deming: implications for corporate transformation and competitiveness.

Abstract

Corporate entities constantly endeavour to respond to changes in the market by making changes in their structure, systems and policies. While some changes are incremental, there are occasions when an organisation goes through a transformation. Such a corporate transformation could be the outcome of major changes and efforts over a few years, often stemming from the determination of the CEO to achieve certain ambitious goals. The SRF group is a case in point Sharing his experience in an interview with Prof B Mahadevan of IIM Bangalore, Mr Arun Bharat Ram, CMD, SRF Ltd, describes the journey that began with some quality initiatives in 1993 and culminated in the Industrial Synthetics Business of SRF winning the Deming Application Prize in 2004. Exploring the role of focusing on such prestigious awards to bring about corporate transformation, the interview highlights the impact of initiatives such as TQM, which act as an anchor for the entire organisation and bring about a team spirit. Bharat Ram also describes the major changes undertaken in systems, structure and policies, including changing from the traditional management structure to a process based organisation, where many functions are combined to create moving fluid structures. Some of the other issues that he discusses are: the challenges faced in the process and the key role played by the top management and the Sensei; the tangible and intangible benefits, such as the empowerment of the workforce, that have accrued to the organisation; the impact of the initiatives on employees, customers and suppliers; and the way forward in the post-award scenario.