#collaboration

Neil James

Feb 20, 2018
4 min

Cross-Functional Collaboration – A Critical Success Factor For Growth

Many major organisations still have at their core a functional organisation design which has its origins in the ‘scientific management’ principles developed by FW Taylor in the early 20th century. Whilst businesses have evolved various approaches to improve cross-functional or ‘end-to-end’ capability (such as matrix management) the underlying framework for most organisations remains functionally-based. This approach has undoubtedly been successful, with a predominantly funct

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Driving Profitable Collaboration for Growth – Demand Driven S&OP

Neil James

Jan 2, 2018
5 min

Driving Profitable Collaboration for Growth – Demand Driven S&OP

In my previous posts, I have discussed the challenges in deploying an effective S&OP/IBP process which are experienced by organisations across all sectors. These challenges mean that S&OP/IBP rarely delivers the enterprise benefits that were envisioned for the process when it was first conceived and codified by Dick Ling in the 1980s. Perhaps the most common, and significant, challenge to the execution of an impactful enterprise S&OP/IBP process is the lack of cross-function

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3 Reasons why Finance Embrace Integrated Business Planning (IBP)

Neil James

Jul 18, 2017
6 min

3 Reasons why Finance Embrace Integrated Business Planning (IBP)

Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) and Integrated Business Planning (IBP) are often seen as fundamentally supply-chain centred processes which offer somewhat limited direct benefit to other functions, especially Commercial and Finance. The criticality of cross-functional collaboration in S&OP/IBP is also often overlooked. However, a good S&OP/IBP process offers major benefits outside the supply chain function. My previous post highlighted the key outcomes for Commercial lea

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What do Commercial Leaders Really Want from S&OP?

Neil James

Jun 6, 2017
8 min

What do Commercial Leaders Really Want from S&OP?

My experiences as a commercial leader deploying S&OP/IBP have illustrated very clearly the critical need for cross-functional engagement and collaboration, especially between the supply chain, commercial and finance functions. However, it is also clear to me from speaking to supply chain professionals across industry sectors that S&OP is often still deployed and promoted internally as a supply chain process which other functions are asked to support and participate in. My vi

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HR: The Forgotten Partner in S&OP
- 3 key contributions for sustainable enterprise S&OP

Neil James

Mar 2, 2017
6 min

HR: The Forgotten Partner in S&OP - 3 key contributions for sustainable enterprise S&OP

It is now widely recognised that S&OP (or its successor IBP) is much more than a specialist supply chain process and requires a high degree of cross-functional partnership and collaboration across the organisation to deliver lasting results. This aspect of S&OP is also recognised as being the most challenging to deliver and sustain. Whilst there is plenty of practical advice and guidance on some of the more mechanical aspects of the S&OP process (such as process design or ar

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3 Ways Coaching & Mentoring Will Improve Your S&OP Programme

Neil James

Jan 23, 2017
7 min

3 Ways Coaching & Mentoring Will Improve Your S&OP Programme

In my previous article, “3 Tools for Sustainable Cross-Functional S&OP” I introduced the key roles that coaching and mentoring can play in building and sustaining high-impact S&OP. The terms coaching and mentoring are widely known and often used interchangeably but here I am specifically referring to two forms of intervention which in combination are very powerful in supporting the leadership development and organisational changes required for impactful S&OP. Whereas coaching

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3 Tools for Sustainable Cross-Functional S&OP

Neil James

Nov 22, 2016
6 min

3 Tools for Sustainable Cross-Functional S&OP

In my previous articles in this series, I have outlined some of the challenges and approaches to creating a strong cross-functional S&OP process based on my experiences of leading this change in a global pharmaceutical company. However, as any S&OP practitioner will tell you, the initial deployment is really only getting the organisation to the start line – the real value to the business comes from achieving a sustained and improving process. Researchers in this field typic

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The Winning Formula for Building Cross-Functional Collaboration

Neil James

Nov 3, 2016
6 min

The Winning Formula for Building Cross-Functional Collaboration

Over the last 25 years I have led business teams in a diverse range of contexts. In that time, the emergence of cross-functional collaboration and partnership as a critical success factor has become increasingly clear to me. This has been especially true in my experience of the last 3 years in deploying a global Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) process in a major pharmaceuticals business. My previous articles in this series have provided some further background on the drive

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Neil James

Sep 29, 2016
4 min

Arm-in-Arm or Arm’s Length?

The evolving challenge of cross-functional working in pharmaceuticals The pharma industry has long understood the need for close collaboration between key functions to drive business success – with profitable innovation demanding close partnership between R&D and Commercial functions, and effective campaign execution drawing on an effective Marketing and Sales collaboration. However, the winning formula in the pharma sector has developed over the last five years and this has

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