1. Ethics :

The first steps is defining ethics, that explains the codes of ethical behavior and how the organization conducts itselves in business.  Ethics remind every member about the organistional responsibilities as a part of the society. This sets the required foundation for the existence of the organisation. Endurance captures this framework and prescribes necessary changes in the policies of the company. Example, if the ethical code is not to copy the design or products of another organisation, the policy will be capturing a suitable clause discourage copying and the message shall be communicated at each leadership level.

2. Culture :

Each organisation has its ‘way of doing things’. Cultural framework prescribes the self-discipline that molds the organisational behavior and it adopts certain values, for example, quality-excellence, low-cost or value, methodical, design, aesthetics, process oriented or solution orientation. At this step Endurance captures the culture of the organisation and adopts different tools to communicate and institutionalize it so that the organisation habits are formed and despite normal staff attrition, organisation keeps its unique way of doing thigs. Example if the culture of the organisation is to focus on ‘value-products’, organisational policies and process will embrace value engineering and cost consciousness and approval process. On the other hand, is customer service is a key value, then delegation of authority should reflect that the authority at the front-end team to go out of its way to solve customer’s fair request instead of a rigorous approval system.

3. Design of PPS :

The third step is to design the organisation or to make the necessary changes in the people, processes and systems or technology (PPS) in an incremental way while keeping the balance between the three to improve the throughput and performance. This step needs a deep understanding on the part of the experts at Endurance about the disciplines of strategy, finance and group behaviors in the context of the location, time and power structures so that the OD program takes shape. It needs commitment and efforts from the leadership team over a longer period in phases. During this process a road map is created for the client which fundamentally does four steps of elimination, improvement, addition and reduction primarily about people, process and systems. Example, an organisation in the food industry was facing continuous decline in margins. OD process suggested a basic improvement on distribution mechanism which required improved inventory measurement and delivery system. This initiative was linked to process control and responsibility was established at logistics and finance units. This stage is largely a blue print stage with initiate to take key changes.

4. Implementation :

The fourth is that of implementation and refining and at this step the organisation begin to direct its resources towards action points, review the results or dashboard and improve on the observed gaps. This step should only be attempted after the blue print or design is mastered so that the organisation can easily direct its energy and resources on its fundamental process of production and delivery. Endurance has tools to monitor the results by way of specialised measurement systems and it calibrates the outcome. Once that perfected product or service is achieved, the process is stabilized by way of trainings, learning and development. This ‘unit of excellence’ becomes the key driver of organisational success or a unit of excellence. Example this could be a real time service delivery, product with is 20% cheaper and 33% more effective or durable. This could be linked to a team, where say the sales performance of a specific team is marveled.

5. Optimisation :

Once the organisational structure, inter-relationship between departments and processes and relevant systems and tools are producing the output and gaps are addressed, the next step of optimization starts.

In the optimization step, a set of KPI goal sheet is clearly defined so that all the efforts of the organisation is channelized to achieve those goals continuously without stress and to achieve a superior quality. In this process the waste is slowly removed and the elements which are contributing to the quality and performance are improved in harmony with other dependent variable.

Endurance uses regression analysis and test of significance techniques along with qualitative scoring and analysis, to achieve an optimum performance equation.

6. Envisioning :

At the sixth stage the process of envision starts. It is fruitful to initiate this stage only after the optimization stage because with problems and daily issues the top management team can not focus on strategy and progress. Constraints and disturbances must be removed before the integration process starts.

The envisioning process is a process of holding or fixing the attention of leadership onto one higher goal or vision for the organisation. The vision of the leadership at this stage is beyond profitability. This stage initiates envisioning the way things are done, new products, and a higher level of organisation purpose is defined.

Example of this stage are when a food manufacturing company achieving a certain tonnage and profitability starts redefining itself as a nutrition management company to improve the health of the society. Another example is for a developer, where the purpose of the organisation shifts from construction of building and towers to designing and constructing sustainable cities in harmony with the requirements of the society.

Endurance uses coaching and leadership development techniques for this stage. There is no single prescribed method for this stage. It needs an expert with years of training to coach and guide, where the solution should be commercially viable and achievable. This needs close co-ordination with the client as they have superior knowledge of their business and a coach would use broader experience and tools to stimulate and integrate leadership vision.

7. Focus :

At the seventh step, organisation invest its resources on a focused area, which could be a new product, territory, service, technology while preserving the balance of all other resources. This is a change management process towards the adopted vision. The continuation, or uninterrupted stream of efforts, initiatives and investment to successfully achieve the vision is the objective of this step focus.

Focus on vision and managing change is an art which required political, social and organisational skills to make the progress.

Endurance uses the change management techniques and a program is developed for the organisation where the specific elements are communication, persuasion, convincing, motivation, information, sharing the reward and celebration.

8. Metamorphosis :

The last step on OD process is absorption and metamorphosis. At a leadership stage when the organisation achieves,

• Harmony in people; process and systems,
• Adequacy of profitability and capital, and
• Realization of vision and purpose,

the key role of the management is preservance of the achievements and performance. The biggest threat to the organisation at this stage is organisation and leadership itself. The role of OD is to absorb the success and move the organisation towards a new cycle of exploration.

Endurance uses the techniques of innovation, entrepreneurship and Blue Ocean strategy of INSEAD to find a new area of business and how to evolve towards that at lowest risk.