Little BIG Things in Operational Excellence

325 Pages·2021·3.552 MB·English

by  Debashis Sarkar

DEBASHIS SARK AR
Operational excellence is an attainable destination. In the post- OL
COVID world, operational excellence has taken centre stage as PIT
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business organizations try to manage costs and adapt to changing R
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needs of the customers. AE
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This book is a guide for organizations looking to transform through IB
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strategy, culture and the application of operational excellence N L I T T L E
methodologies. It lays down a step-by-step approach of designing a AI
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process and discusses critical dimensions that include processes,

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data, automation, change management and culture. It presents a
X
groundbreaking way of doing things and defines strategies to identify CT
H
and prioritize opportunities, implement improvement plans, monitor, E B I G
LI
continuously improve and sustain results. With value-adding activities N
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and disciplines applicable globally, Little BIG Things in Operational EG
NS
Excellence covers it all—processes, people and operations.
C
I
EN
A thought-provoking book where you
D
learn about operational excellence not
E
only from the author’s experience but
B
also from stories and events beyond the A
T H I N G S I N
business world.… S
H
Bhargav Dasgupta, MD and CEO,
I
ICICI Lombard General Insurance S

S OPERATIONAL
Debashis Sarkar, one of Asia’s leading A
organizational improvement experts, is the R
Managing Partner at Proliferator Advisory K
& Consulting, with clients in Asia, Africa, A
E XCELLENCE
Europe and the Middle East. R
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the dissemination of usable knowledge by publishing innovative
and high-quality research and teaching content. Today, we
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Advance Praise
‘It is a thought-provoking book where you learn about operational
excellence not only from the author’s experience but also from stories
and events beyond the business world.…’
Bhargav Dasgupta,
MD and CEO,
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd
‘It is a s superb collection of examples and lessons learned, which will
avail the reader with a wealth of opportunities to focus on the right
topics to improve operations and, more importantly, avoid making
the mistakes others have already done.’
Anatolijus Fouracre,
CEO, Swiss Post Solutions, Vietnam;
Member of the Executive Board, Swiss Post Solutions
‘In his book on Little BIG Things in Operational Excellence, Debashis
Sarkar provides a comprehensive view of sustainable operational
excellence. His numerous practical examples from various domains
will provide an actionable road map to create operational excellence
in one’s own organization. I am looking forward to reading this book
with great anticipation.’
Dr Manu K. Vora,
Chairman and President, Business Excellence, Inc., USA;
Fulbright Specialist, US Department of State, USA
‘I have known Deb for 10 years. He is an outstanding individual and
a man of high integrity and ethics. He leads from the front and is a
very inspiring leader—notably humble. His knowledge is profound
and intense. There is tremendous learning from him. He explains the
most difficult and complex content in a very simple way so that
everyone can understand. He is always up to date. I would recommend
and encourage everyone to read this book. We will be the beneficiaries.’
Vishwanathan Gopalan,
Director—Finance, Global Delivery Centre,
BNY Mellon
‘Little BIG Things in Operational Excellence is a delightful read,
evidence based and full of insights. Debashis has this amazing ability
to unearth nuggets from compelling stories. Clearly, these can come
handy as we navigate the challenges of operational excellence.’
Sashidharan Menon,
Group Head of Compliance and
Corporate Governance, Bank of Sharjah, UAE
‘Operational excellence is pivotal to achieving competitive advantage.
The compelling stories and experiences shared by Debashis make the
book one of the finest in the field of operational excellence. The ‘little
big things’ can do wonders; I enjoyed reading every bit of it.’
Gautam Mahipal,
Managing Director, APAC Regional
Controller at State Street
‘Debashis’s book is a must-read for operational excellence practitioners
who want to bring people, processes, operations strategies and
technologies together to deliver value in a changing world.’
Alice Crochet,
Editor, Process Excellence Network, UK
‘I have known Debashis for his work in operational excellence over
more than a decade. He has this innate ability to offer simple guidance
but produce big impact transformationally. The book brings simplicity
to the field of operational excellence. I wish the readers of the book a
wonderful useful voyage into how to make business perform better.’
Ravi Krishnamurthy,
President, SBILIFE

Copyright © Debashis Sarkar, 2021
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage or retrieval
system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
First published in 2021 by
SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd
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www.sagepub.in
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Published by Vivek Mehra for SAGE Publications India Pvt. Ltd. Typeset in 10.5/13.5 Adobe Caslon Pro
by Fidus Design Pvt. Ltd, Chandigarh.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2021943005
ISBN: 978-93-5479-006-5 (PB)
SAGE Team: Neha Pal, Megha Dabral, Ankit Verma and Dally Verghese
Dedicated
to
Ma and Baba
and
Mr K. V. Kamath
(First President, New Development Bank)