Wanted: Companies to Grow Their Business
IES Pilot Program to Partner with Companies Looking for Competitive Advantage
By Dhirendra Kumar, Ph.D.
The U.S. methodology of 20th century competition should not be the model for
21st century leadership. To compete and lead in the global marketplace, facing
ever-changing customer requirements and an increase in regulatory and
compliance regulations, businesses need a holistic approach.
For more than 50 years, IES has helped industry one problem at a time. Now, in
a new pilot program, IES will partner with companies who want assistance in
developing a holistic approach that will bring success in the global marketplace.
Together, we can hone approaches that could jumpstart other North Carolina
businesses. The first few companies to participate in the pilot program may
receive significant financial support from IES.
Business growth
The process of changing the way any firm does business can be a complex and
overwhelming task. Although overall business growth is the appropriate
approach for most firms, there are numerous hurdles that must be confronted
during the planning and execution of these efforts. Business growth includes a
series of initiatives that relate all functional areas and allow businesses to
achieve growth in revenue and profitability more quickly, more successfully and
for an extended period. Through this rationale, businesses will achieve levels of
innovation and growth that cannot be obtained through more traditional methods.
Business growth is a continuous process, essential to every organization in
implementing its business strategy and achieving its vision. Business growth
also can be defined as one clear vision focused on strategy, process,
organizational and cultural changes, and technology and product development.
This may result in a significant change in the organization and thus substantial
growth in revenue and profit.
Some of the key elements in identifying business growth are:





Dynamic business strategy
Aspects of strategy, processes, organizational design, technology and
cultural change
Continuous improvement – cost reduction, cycle time reduction, quality
improvement, inventory reduction, competitive pricing and communication
The proper metrics – identifiable business benefits, for example, increase
in revenue and profit, reduce cost, and increase in throughput, etc.
Leaders (executive and operations) participation and ownership in
business growth

Continuing education and training of workforce.
Additional reasons for incorporating business growth strategies are:



Increase competitive advantage – If your strategy is to increase
business flexibility and adaptability in the competitive market to
outdistance your competitor.
Focus on core competency – If your strategy is to outsource non-core
products/services and focus more effectively on core business that will
lead to market growth and profitability.
Achieve process optimization and cost savings – If your continuous
improvement process is in progress and want to make dramatic
improvements in cost effectiveness and process quality.
Pilot Program
Business growth will be based on a partnership between IES and a company.
IES will develop and implement business processes for the client with the
commitment to deliver a set of defined business outcomes that result in
substantial gains. The client will have immediate access to IES expertise,
resources and technology. IES will facilitate the development, implementation
and operation of business processes in an effective and cost efficient manner.
IES will offer continuous improvement and innovation to business processes,
enabling growth and the ability to sustain gains over time while facing
competition.
IES would like to partner with companies in the following areas:




Pharmaceutical
Food industry
Automotive
Manufacturing
Interested pharmaceutical or food industry businesses should contact Mike
Joyce, 919-227-6266 or Michael_Joyce@ncsu.edu. Interested automotive and
manufacturing businesses should contact Steve Swain, 336-669-5168 or
steve_swain@ncsu.edu .
Dhirendra Kumar, Ph.D., an IES senior extension specialist, has published “Six
Sigma Best Practices: A Guide to Business Process Excellence for Diverse
Industries.” He has more than 35 years of technical, management, teaching and
research experience with major U.S. corporations and universities.
4