Sensitization

I had been following the developments with regard to the oil price hike starting with the meeting of the political affairs committee, the briefing by the finance ministry followed by the press conference by the minister for Petroleum, the reaction of the industry and stock markets and finally, the almost apologetic address to the nation by the Prime Minister justifying the hike. While one can question the need for a government to meddle in the price of a commodity, it will remain a reality in India for the forseeable future. Though inflationary, the price hike and the related reduction in customs and excise duties was unavoidable given India's dependence on imports. These are challenging times for the governments economic advisors.

For some industries, the alarm bells had already started ringing since the weekend with the 10% hike in the price of aviation fuel. This following a 14% hike in ATF in Apr has made the airlines scramble for cost cutting measures and creation of secondary revenue streams like the proposed charge for check-in baggage.

The precipitous rise in commodity prices during the past few months have already sent many other industries into a tizzy in an attempt to balance competitive pressures and high input costs. The bottomline is that the world as we knew it is changing dramatically. The foundations of tried and tested business models that have withstood the boom and bust cycles of the industrial era and even adapted to the changes of the information age are again being challenged in unprecedented ways. One of the toughest transitions that most managements have to make is the one from calendar based planning to event based planning, requiring higher and higher levels of flexibility in processes and systems. The task appears daunting and only about 20% of companies worldwide are even aware of the enormity of the challenges ahead.

So what should companies do to sensitize and adapt the organization for the changes ahead?

For starters, strategy needs to move down from the boardrooms and executive councils to the frontlines of the organizations. Increasing the level of strategic awareness across the board and then aligning individual, team, departmental and business unit goals to the strategic objectives are the first steps that would prepare the organization for change. A typical BPM initiative would start with a strategy audit that drives the first stake in the ground from which all progress would be measured. This sensitization or creating awareness and aligning the organization is a critical aspect of change management, and more important than the subsequent activities of selection and implementing a BPM system to support performance management.