Appleton Greene & Co – Business Operations
Appleton Greene & Co Mr Ashade is an approved Senior Consultant at Appleton Greene and he has experience in management, production and customer service. He has achieved a Masters of Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering. He has industry experience within the following sectors: Energy; Oil & Gas; Manufacturing; Utilities and Electronics. He has had commercial experience within the following countries: United States of America and India, or more specifically within the following cities: Dallas TX; Houston TX; Saginaw MI; Laurel MS and Bangalore. His personal achievements include: Top Account Management Award; implemented operational improvement processes; improved plant operations performance; strategic planning for Fortune 500 and grew revenues $24M to $75M. His service skills incorporate: strategic planning; sales improvement; process improvement; vendor management and performance measurement. Appleton Greene & Co
To request further information about Mr. Ashade through Appleton Greene, please CLICK HERE.
Executive summary
Business Operations
Business Operations in the most native sense can be thought of as the heartbeat of any successful organization. In other words, it is the implementation of one’s stated Business Strategy or Business Model. One can also look at it as the interconnecting highway that allows various parts of the organization to co-depend on one another to be successful. Sales cannot be successful without the operations team to ensure top quality products. Operations cannot be successful without feedback from the marketing team on the perceived quality of the product or services. And Operations team cannot continue to operate without the finance team ensuring timely cashflow. And so in its most basic element, one can look at Business Operations as the management of the relationship between the cost of goods sold and the revenue generated from their sale. We have all heard stories of the once upon a time giants of the industry that suddenly woke up one day and realized they were no longer relevant and realized they had ignored the signs until it is too late. We also have many lesser known stories of the small companies that had a great offering, but didn’t understand how to navigate the market dynamics properly and ended up going bankrupt. The common denominator is that each became too comfortable operating as is and then waiting till it was too late to make the necessary changes to survive. Appleton Greene & Co
But before one can make the necessary improvement to any particular area, one must understand where they currently are. To do this, one can utilize a 5-level process maturity continuum that goes as follows: Level 1: Initial (Chaotic, Adhoc) – This is generally an undocumented, reactive process that usually mainly seeks to stoke the largest fires; Level 2: Repeatable – This is a more developed, yet still most reactive process that has shown levels of repeated success and so therefore as long as the change agent is still present within the company, it can still be utilized; Level 3: Defined – This is the stage where the process is documented and understood as the standard of operations though mostly static with updates done on a fairly low degree over time; Level 4: Managed – This is the stage management can effectively manage current AS-IS process. They then can introduce feedback loop mechanisms that allow for timely process improvement, without material degradation of the process; Level 5: Optimization – At this state, process performance is optimal and the further improvement is only achievable via innovative technological interventions. No matter what part of the organization one is dealing with, this metric system can always act as a compass to ensure continuous growth and improvement. Appleton Greene & Co
Service Methodology
While undertaking a process improvement initiative it’s important to utilize a methodology. In order to ensure a successful outcome, I follow the below 6 steps: 1. Define The Problem – A mutual understanding of the scope of the problem is essential being that this will help set the tone for which department(s) within the organization would be essential in helping to eventual help resolve the issue(s). This would could involve either one or more of the following toolsets: brainstorming sessions, ideation workshops, interviewing of key stakeholders and questionnaires. The data points collected in this exercise will help to either further enhance the proper identification of the problem; 2. Determine the Root Cause(s) of the Problem – Once the symptom(s) has been identified, and a tentative definition of the problem has been achieved, then the next step would be to see which (internal/external) (departments/agents) control each identified symptom so as to make sure if they are also required in Step 1, a parallel effort to include them in the problem definition takes place; 3. Identify Multiple Solution Options – In this step a creative problem solving exercise takes place to generate a number of potential solutions, while making sure they relate to the identified problem so as to ensure continuous focus on identified topic; 4. Select a Solution – In this process, the identified solution(s) are then analyzed for strength’s and weakness and then ranked. Then a “feasibility” test is then deployed looking at the following factors: Can it be implemented in an acceptable time frame; Can it be implemented within stated budget boundaries; How reliable is this solution; Will there be an efficient utilization of system and resources; Is it flexible enough in a potential ever changing environment. Appleton Greene & Co
Once it passes the above test, then the next step would be to identify if the solution(s) are technically feasible in the current environment, and if the respective change agents that will implement this find it acceptable. To test its acceptability, below is the methodology: Would the stakeholders support the solution and consider it an appropriate utilization of their time and energy; Are the risks manageable; Will the solution benefit the intended audience; Would it benefit the organization; 5. Implement the Solution – Once a solution is identified, the following must take place: What must be done and who will implement it; What will be the start date and key milestones to monitor; What actions will be carried out and why are they considered essential checkpoints to the viability of the solution; 6. Evaluate the Outcome: This is where the question “Did this resolve and address the identified problem statement” gets answered. Once this is identified as an agreed upon solution, the next and equally important step would be to introduce a feedback loop that ensures continuous improvement overtime and eliminate the potential of the solution becoming irrelevant at a future date, or at least trigger a review of the implemented solution when necessary. Appleton Greene & Co
Service Options
Companies can elect whether they just require Appleton Greene for advice and support with the Bronze Client Service, for research and performance analysis with the Silver Client Service, for facilitating departmental workshops with the Gold Client Service, or for complete process planning, development, implementation, management and review, with the Platinum Client Service. Ultimately, there is a service to suit every situation and every budget and clients can elect to either upgrade or downgrade from one service to another as and when required, providing complete flexibility in order to ensure that the right level of support is available over a sustainable period of time, enabling the organization to compensate for any prescriptive or emergent changes relating to: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Information Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing; or Production. Appleton Greene & Co
Service Mission
The Business Operations Strategy objective is to insure proper alignment between a client’s stated strategy and its various internal departments to ensure optimal success. This objective is achieved by enlisting Senior Consultant (Mr Ashade) to engage with identified key stakeholders to help ensure success of implemented solutions drawing upon his vast array of experience in various departments within the organization such as Sales, Corporate Planning, Finance, and Operations, understanding how they operate and relate to one another. Benefits that could be enjoyed by the client are as listed, but not limited to: improved ROI (Return on Investment), reduced TCO (total cost of ownership), introduction of change management where necessary, continuous process improvement, and a periodical CSAT (Customer Satisfaction) assessment to ensure continuous feedback on acceptability of proposals. Appleton Greene & Co
For More Information
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Client Telephone Conference (CTC)
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Business Operations CLICK HERE.