Lean Thinking Boards

By CS Divya Momaya

Sep 22 nd 2020

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“LEAN THINKING BOARDS” - these words create curiosity in my mind, as to what is Lean Thinking and how this can help Boards of Indian Companies, to be more efficient and productive , which in-turn can help their companies to grow manifold.

I started researching in deep on these aspects and based on my learnings, sharing this blog today for the benefit of all the Directors, CEOs CFOs CXOs and top management who are working at the top level of the organizations and are in complete control of the decision making process which navigates the growth of the Corporate.

Indian Corporate Sector has been going through turbulent times whether it’s at corporate governance level where either ethics is being compromised or VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguity) world is impacting their business growth. In these times, it becomes really important for the Top Leaders of the Organization to take a pause (which I am sure COVID-19 has given without fail) and think as to newer ways and techniques to lead and implement newer techniques of reducing wastes & Improving efficiencies in the core of their organizations. So Let’s understand what’s Lean Management and How it can help Board Leaders to be more productive, effective.

History of LEAN Management:

AS per Wikipedia - The term "Lean" was coined in 1988 by John Krafcik, and defined in 1996 by James Womack and Daniel Jones to consist of five key principles; 'Precisely specify value by specific product, identify the value stream for each product, make value flow without interruptions, let customer pull value from the producer, and pursue perfection.

Typically Value addition in processes in only around 5 to 10 % and rest of the processes are Non Value adding – for which Customers do not pay us. Lean Thinking looks at locating and removing these Non Value adding activities in business.

John Krafcik coined the term "Lean" in his 1988 article, "Triumph of the Lean Production System". The article states:

(a) Lean manufacturing plants have higher levels of productivity/quality than non-Lean and

(b) "The level of plant technology seems to have little effect on operating performance"

According to the article, risks with implementing Lean can be reduced by: "developing a well-trained, flexible workforce, product designs that are easy to build with high quality, and a supportive, high-performance supplier network.

Toyota Motor Corporation from Japan became first company to implement Lean Production techniques and prepared Toyota’s Production Systems (TPS) and developed Kaizen techniques to improve their productivity.

Who are Lean Boards:

The Organizations cannot implement new techniques or processes unless the leadership at the top is completely involved in it. That’s where the role of Board of Directors as the Top Leaders of the Organizations becomes very critical and it becomes a Lean team which becomes a torch for their implementing Management teams, provides suggestions and monitors closely the implementation of the new techniques to improve overall performance of the organization.

Lean Board Leadership is an approach to managing an organization that with continuous improvement with the long term perspective to work that systematically monitors and achieve small, incremental changes in processes in order to improve efficiency and quality. Further, if we further break up the concept, Lean Thinking can be applied in the Boardrooms as well to improve its effectiveness and productivity.

Ultimate Purpose of Lean Management for the Boards:

The ultimate purpose of the Lean Management is to enhance value for the stakeholders through optimization of resources by eliminating the wastes in time, money and efforts which are scarce resource today. So is the role of the Board of Directors who are primarily responsible to protect and enhance stakeholders’ value.

Why INDIA INC Boardrooms needs to transform to Lean Thinking Boards?

Does Boardrooms today need to think from different perspective of Lean? How the Lean techniques can help boards to improve their efficiencies? Do Boardrooms look for Hidden wastes in their functioning today?

When I see the current situation in India, answer to these questions come out to be quite affirmative. Yes, As India INC and Regulators struggle today to imbibe best practices and culture in the Boardrooms, the incidences like Satyam, HDIL, Gitanjali Gems, Nirav Modi, PMC Co Op Bank, and very recently CKP Cooperative Bank are making it difficult for stakeholders to keep faith and trust on the caretakers of their wealth i.e. the Board of Directors of the Companies, Banks, Financial Institutions and Businesses as a whole.

Again with the entire world scenario changing post COVID-19, the world looks at India as a destination next to become Factory of the World. Unless the Boards of INDIA INC are robust and focused, this dream may shy away behind scams and fear.

Its time, that we move towards Lean Boards which are absolutely focused on continuous improvement through Lean Techniques , which countries like Japan have proven over the decades and such Boards work towards better and better governance so that Future INDIA INC and the World at large looks at Indian Corporate World today with more confidence and trust.

If you are a Director, a Business Owner and you feel your company has potential to become “Indian World Class Company“ and if you want your Boards to be more efficient and productive, then you must attend the webinar arranged by #IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry in association with #Mentormyboard where Mr. @Jayant Shrikhande, an Expert Mentor in Lean Best Practice and techniques with 53 years of Industry experience in companies like L & T , Ricoh India, IBM, Tandons , Tatas and 3 stints in China in big Organisations & having worked directly with Japanese Companies or having Japanese Companies as his customers, is going to share his immense knowledge on Lean Thinking Boards and Best Practices of Effective Boards on 12th May 2020.

Written by:

PCS. Divya Momaya-

Chief Founder, MentorMyBoard

(info@mentormyboard.com)