The Challenges of the COO’s Job

by | Aug 19, 2014

It’s tough being the operations guy. You have to “make it happen” in terms of cost savings and sometimes you are even responsible for the top line. The COO is often responsible for a vast swath of the business aside from some administrative functions such as legal and finance. As a result, the pressures on the COO are intense and getting worse.

First, you have to deal with cost savings that are increasingly illusive to find. All of the “low hanging fruit” has already been harvested. Things like fixed cost takeout and continuous improvement “sprints” have largely run their course, so it’s time for something new. Plants that can be closed have been closed, transportation routes that can be optimized have been optimized and procurement spend that can be lowered has been lowered.

Second, the COO has to deal with increasing complexity. Customers are still demanding last minute shipments, changes to orders and different transportation methods.   But, they are also demanding new packaging, new configurations and formulations, and line extensions. All of these bring added pressure to the supply chain. This additional complexity requires additional changeovers on the production line, new packaging and ingredients, new suppliers and new processes. And, you need to make sure you quantify and include this “cost of complexity” into the products to make sure you are really making the profit you think you are making.

Finally, there is the day-to-day blocking and tackling to get quality product out of the door. Major impediments such as severe weather events and strikes are hard to predict and seemingly more common. Recently, we’ve seen major operations disruptions at UPS and 1-800-Flowers and research suggests that most companies will undergo some sort of significant service interruption at some point. The companies that are prepared and have well thought through disaster recovery plans will suffer the least damage.

The job of the COO is definitely getting tougher. “More with less” is the order of the day and there is no sign of things letting up. However, the best performing COOs have an opportunity to make their operations a source of competitive advantage that cannot be easily replicated. Creating this “edge” will not only enable successes for your organization, but you might even get a promotion out of it!

READ MORE

The Magic of Mortals

The Magic of Mortals

Daily we wake up to new developments in automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning (ML). Across sectors and industries, automated solutions prove highly successful in surpassing the capacity of the human brain for certain tasks, improving...

read more
Leveling Up: How to Hone Your Skills at Home

Leveling Up: How to Hone Your Skills at Home

Leaders have been trying to crack the code on talent development for years. Recent studies have shown, however, that strength-focused leadership [read: intentionally elevating the qualities that already come naturally to us] is the clear winner for developing talent...

read more
Fake Case Study: Jack of all trades vs. Master of One

Fake Case Study: Jack of all trades vs. Master of One

  Listen to any earnings call or executive presentation and you will likely hear the terms “top line” and “bottom line.” These are words used to describe a business’s performance. According to Investopedia, the words are defined as follows: Top line refers to the...

read more
Your Personality Is Showing

Your Personality Is Showing

There I was, minding my own business one evening, digging into my organization's SEO performance (as one does), when I came across something interesting. Search terms related to "MBTI" — or the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, developed by Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel...

read more
Lessons From a Change Manager Who Hates Change

Lessons From a Change Manager Who Hates Change

Hello. My name is Monique, and I’m a change manager who hates change.   After years of receiving “consulting therapy” from various mentors, I am now able to say these words out loud and proudly. But for a long time, it felt more like an admission of guilt. I mean, who...

read more
Creativity as a Cure

Creativity as a Cure

The topic of creative solutioning has been front and center these days as we talk more and more about organizational adaptability in the face of dynamic and uncertain times. For example, I recently read about a project that got me thinking about specific priorities...

read more
Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company — Why Now?

Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company — Why Now?

Big news over here as we close out the year - we have been acquired by Pariveda, a 750-person consulting firm in 12 markets across North America! We are now “Thought Ensemble, a Pariveda Company” and I’ll be serving as the Managing Vice President continuing to lead...

read more
Thought Ensemble Joins Pariveda Solutions!

Thought Ensemble Joins Pariveda Solutions!

Dallas, December 9, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pariveda, a leader specializing in solving complex technology and business problems, announces the acquisition of Thought Ensemble. With the addition of Thought Ensemble, Pariveda now provides holistic business strategy,...

read more
Thoughts on Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

Thoughts on Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

It was about a year ago that we first started hearing about Colorado’s Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (SB19-085) and I knew it was going to be national news. We’d just gotten past the “Rocky Mountain High” jokes, and our lovely state was trying to break new ground...

read more