Paul Connolly, MCA Deputy Chief Executive, interviewed Mike Turner recently in the MCA Hot Seat. The interview is part of the MCA’s Year of Disruption. Disruption can be a whole host of troublesome ‘known unknowns’, which can negatively impact business confidence. Across the Year of Disruption, the MCA is running a series campaigns examining these troublesome ‘known unknowns’. The first campaign is leading on productivity – one of the UK’s most major economic challenges.
How to address poor productivity
The UK’s productivity performance is poor. Since 2008, we have lagged behind our major competitors. Expectations that our early adoption of digital and its potential benefits, such as automation, would improve productive output have proved misplaced. Yet digital services related products continues. The largest businesses in the world are data-driven businesses that do not manufacture in a traditional sense.
Mike makes several pertinent points including:
- the shortage of investment since the financial crash in 2008 and how that has impacted on productivity;
- the risk of adding technology to out-of-date processes without improving those processes as well. Potentially creating problems with data accuracy and quality;
- the importance of data quality in business world where data volumes are increasing so dramatically;
- the difficulty in improving efficiency in the services industry when inputs and outputs are harder to see and manage;
- the need to adopt a holistic approach to embedding quality at all levels of the business;
- fixing the cost element in productivity should not come at the failure of quality. Quality improvement and cost reduction must go hand-in-hand;
- using “assumption-busting” techniques to develop new business models, especially when introducing new technologies;
- designing new products and services with quality in mind, especially introducing Oakland’s version of APQP for services called Advanced Service Quality Planning – ASQP™.
A full video of Mike’s interview is available below. Just click on the play button to watch. Clickon the right hand icon to watch on full screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZt0DxOoY20
