Colin Coulson-Thomas

Kogan Page Limited
120 Pentonville Road
London N1 9JN
United Kingdom
First paperback edition, 1998

In a recent "Economist" article, April 22nd - 28th 2000, the preliminary results of research conducted by Bain & Co. into the use of 21 specified management tools by 475 global companies were reported.

Asked why 16 of the 21 tools tracked in 1998 had shown a decrease in use in 1999, executives tended to say things such as, "Organisations are running so fast that people just stick to the tried and true." Two of the biggest losers of "management fashion wars" were Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) and Total Quality Management (TQM). From a sample surveyed in North America, the percentage of companies using BPR and TQM has declined from 80% and 70% respectively in 1995 to close to 40% in 1999. Business process re-engineering that became disastrously associated with the dismantling of great swatches of middle management is doubtless now such a part of business life that it has lost its prominence. Indeed, executives these days are more concerned about "corporate anorexia" and the shortage of talent, than about sacking middle managers.

Against the above evidence on BPR and TQM it is interesting to work through Colin Coulson-Thomas' new book on business transformation. Coulson-Thomas is a prolific writer on BPR and quality management, having authored over 30 books and reports on management and corporate transformation.

"The Future of the Organisation" advocates a further attempt to introduce more holistic and people-centred approaches to management and transformation into organisations and institutions. The book identifies and examines where organisations around the world may be going wrong, and whether or not there might lie the seeds of alternative courses of action within the popular management approaches.

Much of this assessment is focused on the use of BPR and TQM, and backed up by in-depth research into the processes. All this is very interesting - however, the dissemination of research findings and "model building" makes the first part of the book heavy going, and perhaps more suitable for academic readership than for practising managers. The research output and the author's "Issue Monitoring Reviews" undertaken over the last decade on TQM and BPR does not produce any mind-blowing new revelations, but clearly show that we must re-think our approach to management and business transformation.

Writing about TQM, Coulson-Thomas concludes that the research to match current TQM approaches to changing requirements reveal a prevailing sense of unease with existing quality practice, and that there is also a lack of consensus about what quality actually is. TQM's death throes are revealed through additional research findings. Implementation is described as mechanical, and thought to contribute little to learning. People are documenting rather than thinking. Problems are not being regarded as opportunities to learn, and the means by which they are overcome are not being shared within the organisation. The quality heritage is associated more with 'negative' concerns such as the avoidance of legal and quality audit problems rather than innovation and creativity.

Overall, existing quality systems are thought to be costly and bureaucratic. They make an insufficient contribution to "delivered" quality and have little impact upon attitudes and behaviours of employees. They slow response times in bid and opportunistic business situations, when speed of reaction can be particularly critical. Quality is often imposed rather than voluntarily accepted. The focus is also too often "internal" rather than customer relationship focused.

BPR does not receive any kinder treatment than TQM. Coulson-Thomas' research suggests that BPR may have compounded rather than solved problems. Common drivers of BPR include headcount and cost reduction rather than "value to customers". In addition, a "negative" focus upon cost cutting or "squeezing more out of people" is the cause of widespread alienation among employees. Thus, employees are too often victims rather than beneficiaries of BPR.

Coulson-Thomas' conclusion of the assessment of BPR and TQM is that, overall, quality is too general and non-focused, and has a tendency to become formalised and rigid, while re-engineering tends to ignore people factors and motivational aspects.

Where does all this leave the advocates of BPR and TQM? The answer seems to be found in the Holy Grail of "Learning". In themselves, argues Coulson-Thomas, BPR and TQM are neutral instruments. Organisations determine whether the use of these approaches will "help" or "hinder" organisational performance. More positive BPR goals are therefore called for.

Improving learning or the quality of working life are key drivers for far too few BPR initiatives. Existing approaches to BPR could be complemented and supplemented to help ensure that issues and opportunities relating to new patterns of working and learning are taken more fully into account during the course of BPR exercises. This is especially important in a growing number of "knowledge" industries. Learning is a critical core competence for both development and implementation of organisational objectives. In many sectors the basis of competition is the willingness and ability to learn. The quality of learning can be a critical determinant of an organisation's future.

A focus on learning and creativity can be hard-nosed. As the old adage goes, 'what you cannot measure you cannot manage… Therefore, learning can and should lead into intellectual property and improved financial performance. Successful organisational learning also requires practical approaches and recognition of such realities as that people may need to be helped to converse, debate, and to think. Learning should be built into processes to review corporate performance, and the benefits of learning can often be applied outside of the context in which it has risen. Yet many companies do not even consciously consider what they have learned, let alone how this collective learning might be used. The more valued and utilised learning is, the more likely it is to occur. However, a distinction needs to be made between knowledge and learning. Knowledge is a stock while learning is an ongoing activity. Knowledge can exist in abundance, but knowledge accumulated yesterday may not be relevant in today's competitive environment. Commodity knowledge may be without value unless used creatively. The value of knowledge lies in its application to activities that themselves add value. In this sense, what is needed is a capable and competent, rather than a clever and knowledgeable, organisation.

Translating this into BPR and TQM language means that the stress is laid in many approaches to quality upon continuous improvement and feedback and that can be supportive of the learning organisation. Whereas the bureaucratic corporate machine requires periodic overhaul and restructuring, a prime target for traditional TQM and BPR initiatives, the organic company should continuously evolve its nature and how it operates in order to adapt to changes in competitive conditions and circumstances.

Coulson-Thomas goes on to talk about the need for a more holistic and people-focused management approach that is not bogged down or restricted by any 'flavour-of-today' management fads.

"Management must focus primarily upon people, whether customers, suppliers, employees or partners, and upon their anxieties and dreams as well as their needs and requirements. The emphasis should be upon values and their relationships; roles, competencies and behaviours rather than procedures and structures; flexibility and intuition rather than prescriptive and mechanical approaches, the fostering of diversity and creativity rather than the enforcement of standards; learning rather than control. Management also needs to be holistic to understand interrelationships and trade-offs and assemble the combination of elements to deliver multiple objectives and longer-term goals such as renewal and transformation, and if people are to become beneficiaries of change and not its victims."

What follows next are the "back-to-basics" management principles as the author calls for organisations to develop a distinctive and compelling vision, clear and measurable objectives and demonstrable top management commitment to meet the management challenges of today's organisations. In addition, an individual company may need to focus upon such areas as improving the quality of both management and learning, role model behaviour, a more open and sharing culture, and processes that identify and deliver customer value or employee involvement.

"The Future of the Organisation" is an impassioned plea for more people-centred management philosophy, but the book's conclusions and recommendations do not bring anything new to the party that has not been said before. This said, however, to the book's credit, Coulson-Thomas has integrated an impressive amount of research on business transformation and quality management spanning the 1990's. It is this research that hammers the final nail into the BPR/TQM coffin, unless the BPR/TQM community is able to adapt a more people focused, positive approach to business transformation. The book also incorporates models for business review and assessment audit, and each chapter finishes with an extensive checklist. These models and checklists will encourage reflection and hopefully open up internal debate in organisations as well as amongst BPR/TQM practitioners.