Resilient Leadership for New Age Business Services

Editor's Note

In the situation we find ourselves in today, it is quite difficult, if not impossible, to not worry about covid, its impact, and the changes it has brought about in our lives. We talk of it, discuss it, write of it and certainly think of it often. We also read of it often, even if we really do not want to. This life-changing event has created history. In the era of high-speed information transfer, this single event has had a significant impact on politics, business, society and us in our personal capacity. And yet, life does go on. After the initial shock, we have redefined ourselves to best suit the circumstances.

Much like post the disasters of the past, the human ability of endurance has ensured that we come through successfully, and possibly in a better shape. We are rediscovering ourselves and our environment – including the business environment.

In the past we, at SSF, have spoken volumes about self-initiated disruption and even the need to ‘force’ it – to relook at the processes and the business. The pandemic has imposed an external disruption so drastic that it has taken everyone by surprise. Almost every person, whether in social life or otherwise, has stories to tell about the handling of the changed situations.

Hindsight is always perfect. There is a distinct possibility that we could have managed the pandemic and its impact better. However reflecting on how the state of affairs were eventually managed in a dramatically changed circumstances can tell us a lot about our preparedness to manage change generally. Several businesses and their business service centers did respond very well to the pandemic. Those were the companies and centers where the degree of alertness, agility, and adaptability was high. Those were also the companies where the leadership demonstrated their resilience. Maybe, that is what resilience is all about – about our ability to convert adversity into strengths, to quickly bounce back and become better than before, and to lead the change without waiting for an endorsement from others.

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “If we change ourselves, the tendencies in the world also change. We need not wait to see what others do.” To Gandhi’s point, if we want to see transformation, we need to lead it ourselves. And there are several examples of that exact sensibility. This edition of Process Edge has stories about Shared Service organizations and leaders who took control of their destiny, turned around these so-called adversities, and in fact, even redefined the value proposition for better. Intelligent and bold leadership is probably the only key to success. Our stories are all around successful corporate leadership, timely interventions, and farsighted vision. We have ‘crystal gazing’ by one of the seasoned practitioners to forecast for 2025. Most companies in the world have quickly learned the tricks of adoption of new age technologies, but the most successful ones are those who have used them intelligently.

Leadership is likely to be a big challenge in the new world. Things will be required to be done differently. Processes will evolve like never before. It might be relatively easy to clinically change the way processes were done hitherto, but extremely difficult to change mindsets of people who have done it their way for ever. On the other hand, there are leaders willing to change with the times, often transforming themselves too, in the process. Our stories are all of the latter – and other interesting observations.

We hope this edition will add to your journal of information and give you an insight into the events of the business process world.

Stay engaged and stay safe.

Edition Publish Date: September 2020

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Table of Contents

The Rise of Resilience
REFLECTING ON COVID-19 IMPACT & BUSINESS TURNAROUND
ARATI DESAI

Implementing FSSC in a Manufacturing Organization
JOURNEY AND EXPERIENCE
AVIJIT KUNDU

Building Business Resilience
AUTOMATION WITH A HUMAN CENTRIC APPROACH
VIJAY SAMUEL

Gazing into the Crystal Ball
A FORECAST FOR 2025
Dr SANJEEV RASTOGI

Creating a Specialized Service Unit
ON A CONTINUOUS JOURNEY OF REDISCOVERY
NEERANJAN DESAI

Journey Towards the Fabric of Holistic Growth
REDEFINING VALUE PROPOSITION OF A GLOBAL IN-HOUSE CENTRE
KAUSHIK MAJUMDAR

Key Success Factor for Next-Gen Shared Services
MANAGING & ADAPTING CHANGE THROUGH DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
SRIVIDYA KANAN

Finance: A Journey to the Future
AN EXTRACT FROM THE ACCA – PwC REPORT
ACCA

Future of Work with Changing Technology Landscape
A REPORT ON SSF’S DIGITAL LEADERSHIP e-SUMMIT 2020
TEAM SSF

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