Steve Downton, Downton Service Management Consultants Ltd, Noventum Group
Businesses may desire to optimise their performance to optimise profits, but when the practicalities of the day to day operation are scrutinised, it becomes clear that the meaning of optimisation should be clarified, in order that a business can achieve it. A number of senior executives were asked to define optimisation during one of the senior executive forums held at the SME this year and it became apparent that there was no one solution or common agreement as to what optimising a business meant.
Many companies have called optimisation: how to make the most of what they have, driving up productivity and driving down costs, seeking ever higher customer satisfaction levels. As soon as the environment changes, targets change as well and the process starts allover again.
Optimisation is about achieving a balanced position: accepting a realistic compromise between excessive profit- making and over-delivered service levels. Balance and consistency of approach is valuable in today's changing environment as it allows for a more effective and rapid response to changing requirements and therefore it is important to understand optimisation.
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