GETTING IT DONE - NEW ROLES FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVES

A decade of process improvement has transformed the way most corporati ons operate and, at the same time, the job of the senior executive. To p-down autocrats are out and bottom-up teams are in. The message seems to be: Get the processes right, and the company will manage itself. B ut this message belies a simple truth: Managers, not processes, run co mpanies. In fact, process-focused companies need move top-down managem ent, not less. However, today's activist executives must operate very differently from executives of the past. Given the complexities of mod ern business competition, no single individual can do all that it take s to achieve success for a company. Success depends on the willingness and ability of the entire senior executive group to address not just their individual functional or divisional responsibilities but also th eir collective responsibility for the company as a whole. Only senior managers can rise above the details of the business, recognize emergin g patterns, make unexpected connections, and identify the points of ma ximum leverage for action. In fact, a study on innovation practices at some 550 American, European, and Japanese companies across a wide var iety of industries has shown that none of the best-known programs - to tal quality management, reengineering, the formation of self-managing teams, or the institution of cross-functional processes - are enough t o produce faster and more effective product development. What really s eparates the best performers from the rest is the role that senior exe cutives play.