Processes or independent thinking?

The world of the large multinational organisation has a high adoption rate of new trends and concepts. This article shares instances of how structures and process can dominate and can become an industry by themselves. This partly refers to my experiences at Shell — a company where learning opportunities are high and included lessons on what not to do.

A process implies that each and every eventuality cannot be catered to and not everyone can have their way. That said, once established, processes tend to become gospel and are then taken over by the mindless ticking-off of boxes. Senior level intervention is required to disable them. That is another torturous exercise.

Town hall sessions with the distributor partners are generally routine affairs. Publicly, there is no tabling of contentious issues except for the fashionable gripes on either side or the use of agile logic to silence the other party. At one such event a participant stood up and said that it was easier to sell the company’s products than to buy from it!

This comment from someone investing in the company’s products brought home the dangers of process dominance and IT system driven ops, with poor appreciation for the ease of doing business. This does not mean the answer is a free for all. It means playing by rules that must be in the context of operating realities and not built purely around control mechanisms.

Global matrix structures have been a trend in recent years. They have several sets of logic behind them and this article does not question any but points out that the victim is single-point accountability and decision making. There is an example of a modest capital investment in West Bengal. The regional business manager sat in Brisbane, Australia, the country general manager in Delhi and project review and operations inputs came from Malaysia — all according to the structure, responsibility matrices and authority levels. So, everything pointed to things working well.

When cost overruns, delays and weaknesses in execution surfaced, they were greeted with surprise. This despite the substantial business with each other and revenue for telecom companies from periodic teleconferences. No one asked what they need to do to rectify, catch up, or make money on the investments? If structure was the cause, then it should be suspended temporarily and and then assess the situation. Remedial action takes effort. There are businesses with low stress on process and structure. Clearly, they remain nimble and operate with single-minded focus on completing projects and managing operations. Maintaining governance, ensuring repeatability and scalability requires process and structure. Achieving a balance between these is the skill. One example is the project management skills of Reliance Industries, where on time delivery, within cost, is the record. They do not allow themselves to be bludgeoned by process and make sure that they don’t compromise on speed.

Let me conclude with the reproduction of a note sent by a senior civil servant to a young man who has just finished probationary service and was entering the world of civil administration. “This is your sub-division. These are the lines on which I want it run. If you make a really serious mistake, I shall have to overrule you, otherwise I shall not interfere. If you want advice I am here to give it. If you want a definite order, you are free to ask for it. But if you make a habit of either you will be of very little use to me”

nanduunni@changeassociate.com

(The writer is a Chennai-based business consultant)

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