Improving business through education: The power of ‘systems thinking’
FEW businesses will escape the ripple effects of the government’s cuts.
However, the cuts do not always have to mean gloom – this is also a time of great opportunity for private enterprises ready to take advantage of the gaps left by the public sector, as well as public sector organisations which are prepared for the cuts, according to Hull University Business School.
Most organisations have fat to trim in times of crisis, but it is important that the ‘easy targets’ of the much maligned training and marketing budgets are not always the first to be chopped.
Instead, the challenge for business leaders is to learn more creative ways to spend budgets that are diminishing in real terms.
The pressing need is to achieve more with the same spend, to become more effective and efficient. It is better to look at the organisation as a holistic whole, taking stock of all systems and processes, and to work from there to establish which areas need streamlining.
This process of ‘Systems Thinking’ challenges current management ideas in order to help organisations, whatever sector or size, to work better and more efficiently.
By eliminating excess processes and waste, it is possible to increase productivity without decreasing head count or having a detrimental effect on working conditions of current staff.
In research conducted by leading academics at Hull University Business School, in conjunction with KPMG, it has been suggested that using systems approaches to work smarter, not harder, could help the public sector to decrease the government budget deficit.
By learning tried and tested systems methods, public sector leaders will be able to radically reorganise their organisations to produce more efficient and effective processes for delivering the services that matter most to the citizen on the street.
Based on a questionnaire sent to representatives across the public sector, the report looks at how Systems Thinking is already being used and its perceived value. It found that although there is strong interest in this area in the public sector, more needs to be done in order to create the savings required.
These principles translate across all areas of business and specific training programmes are available to teach business leaders how to incorporate Systems Thinking into their management processes.
Case study – West Yorkshire Police applies systems thinking
Ian Newsome, Head of Profession, Corporate Review at West Yorkshire Police (WYP) was interviewed as part of the joint report:‘With the growing requirement for public services to work together to address problems jointly, there is an increasing demand to employ Systems Thinking to help our partnerships look at problems of greater complexity and uncertainty.
‘Typically, WYP has drawn upon systems approaches to help improve mutual understanding of partner view points and encourage contribution from often unheard stakeholders, to ultimately improve the productivity of joint service provision.
‘A good example of this has been the introduction of process improvements in the way we respond to anti-social behaviour together with partner agencies within Leeds. To implement this, workshops were organised, involving customers and staff from a wide range of agencies. to engage them in an improvement process that combined elements of relevant systems approaches.
‘The challenge for managers is to take advantage of the potential of Systems Thinking by gaining a better understanding of what is out there and what it has to offer in terms of improvement of services and streamlining processes.’.
