Time to Take a Leap

Editor's Note

Humanity is going through some very tough times. Never before in our living memory have the conditions of the world been as daunting as now. It is as bad for the people of the planet as it is for the businesses. However, the never-say-die spirit of humans is very much alive and kicking. The fact that we shall overcome this brownout is not under question. The only concern is when – and what the new-look world be like. For both humans as well as businesses the world is not likely to be the same. This global pandemic threat would bring about several new possibilities that would have to be kept in focus by all of us. We would have to be innovative at levels we never thought possible and we would have to be open to adopt or adapt to novel ways of conducting our businesses and ourselves.

India under lockdown is in a major turmoil. Only essential goods and services are being allowed. Having said, experience shows that the definition of ‘essential’ is situational and time sensitive. Elements that are considered critical to produce the basic essentials too are getting added to the permissible list. For instance, manufacturing activity is not considered essential, unless it manufacturing tools and equipment that produce essentials. On the other hand, work from home which was selective, is becoming the ‘new normal’, not as a BCP, but as a BAU.

In this edition of Process Edge, we present a new way of looking at the business of shared servicing and outsourcing of business services. For years we have discussed the topic under the term Business Process Management. This term (BPM) has served us well by clearly setting up boundaries of our conversations and thereby, gave us a focused approach to the unique problems of remote services management. It is now time for the industry leaders to expand their horizons to much beyond their service centers and domains. For this purpose we have attempted to create a framework, which can help these service centers to do just that. We call it the ESM framework – Enterprise Service Management. The wider ESM framework and the focused BPM structure, used together in tandem can boost professionalism, purpose and eventually value of the centre and its leadership. We hope you, the practitioners, begin to think in these terms and engage with us to help us make the framework agile as we go along.

It is certainly a far cry for the Business Services industry – from its early stages in the 90s to now – to have achieved a significant and strategic foothold in the business world. The services industry as it stands today has become a necessary strategic tool for organizations intending to gain or maintain their competitive edge. Romi, a BPM Achiever award winner, takes us through the insights of how the industry shaped in the past three decades and how is it likely to demand unique solutions from us – as business leaders, not just service managers. Showing another form of uniqueness is an example of a highly people-oriented company that has used the natural affinity towards CSR to attract some of the best talent within its fold. Continuing with our endeavour in sharing perspectives, is an example of a company that has set up its best-in-class, wide-spectrum service centre in record time, an example of how cutting edge execution process as well as supporting technologies can bring about a revolution in the procurement function, using analytics and an example of how leaders can help keep their teams motivated by keeping themselves in the right frame of mind during these testing times.

We hope you find this edition of use to you in your regular operations as well as setting long-term horizons. Stay safe and stay connected....

Table of Contents
COVER FEATURE

Time to Take a Leap
PATHWAY TO WORLD CLASS ENTERPRISE SERVICES

Shifting Paradigms to the New Core Operating Ecosystem
THE COE OF A FUTURISTIC BUSINESS SERVICES INDUSTRY

Employee Engagement During ‘WFH’ Scenario
WHERE ‘I’ COMES BEFORE ‘WE’

To be the ‘Best in Class’ Shared Services
EN ROUTE TO BECOMING A STRATEGIC BUSINESS PARTNER

Building a Strong Foundation for Business through CSR
AN EFFECTIVE SOCIAL INNOVATION PROGRAM

Decision Transformation Delivering Bottom-line Impact
SECURING STRATEGIC EDGE WITH PROCUREMENT ANALYTICS

9th Annual Global Business Services Conclave – Event Brief
THE ‘CODE’ OF DISRUPTIONAL ENGINEERING – KEY TO VALUE DELIVERY IN BUSINESS SERVICES

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