校友观点：冯金益Roger — Hybrid Operations at VUCA Era
CHEMBA16校友 冯金益Roger Feng
Deckers Brands | Deckers China Business Unit Senior Operations Manager
The global spread of COVID-19 has upended the way Countries are governed, Business operations and individual interact, and revolutionized people’s perceptions. One cannot help but ask: what will the future human society looks like? Where should the world go? How should individuals in the workplace prepare for the future work?
The Pandemic era has given everyone a deeper understanding of VUCA. The VUCA is a set of Volatile, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. In the 2020s, it is imperative to understand and transcend the VUCA.
In the VUCA era, the black swan and gray rhino incidents are coming, and the living environment of enterprises is becoming increasingly difficult. Resilience derives from adversity, crisis will continue to occur in the VUCA environment, bitter cold plum blossoms, crisis makes heroes. We need to have the ability to recognize and coexist with crises, to build organizational resilience in calm times, and to meet crisis management in times of turmoil, so that we can “walk to the poor” and still have the calmness of “sit and watch when the clouds rise”.
1. Risk Assessment is a must.
As for the international cooperate how to face these challenges, as suddenly the covid cases around of the world, and a lot of countries boundary lock down, the Operations and Supply Chain facing big challenges from the Product Development to finished product launching into market, as the industry of manufacturing, caused later decision making, later materials delivery, delay production schedule and delay finished products, customer later received products, facing airfreight and purchase order cancellation, loose marketing share.... Risk assessment for each function is a must for short term contingency plans and long-term business strategies and the long-term solution thinking lifetime with COVID virus.
2. Embracing the change and re-organization: SCOE & OM BU Model.
As the uncertainty and impact of the business operations and Supply Chain. We need to think how to create a “New Normal” hybrid working way for the operations and supply Chain. Business travel constraints due to the airlines shut off by COVID virus spread, for the Global Cooperate start to proceed the COVID precaution and prevention state as employee’s safety is top priority. Monitoring the manpower of each region and doing testing and take vaccination. as a global company have different countries operations for the different functions, for minimize the travels constraints, we create a hybrid SWAT operations team for monitoring the different regions business operations. All the regions manufacturing is re-organized by the Business unit, the Business unit head are control the whole BU business from Product Development, Commercialization, costing, mold, materials (Upper/Bottoms), fit and wear test analysis, Planning, production and quality, shipping, and logistics… compare with previously organization this is more Dynamic working way for cross-functional and wide-view consideration and easy decision making. While the customer demand is tremendously increased VS current capacity and teams are run fast for sourcing factories from the southeast countries and inland China, strategic sourcing become a guideline for the manufacturing locations, based on the good quality and on time delivery with reasonable cost.
3. What is hybrid operations structures compare with previously Hierarchy organization?
It is a hybrid organization structure which is the combination of the functional teams and the geographic organization, become a dynamic team form the ground by local. For all regions BU together, we called it local by local governance and become a Global operations structures team. What advantages that can achieve through the BU OM structure:
1) Make decision wide considerate and quick response.
2) Minimize Silos.
3) Hierarchy leaders free from day-to-day, can be a support team with brand side.
4) Resolve issue by long-term sustainable solution.
4. So far (BU) built based on existing partner factories’ location and business scale and as the China BU expanded fast as a lot new on boarded T1 factories and separated as South and North China BU operations team.
Business expansion like the seeds spirit, where there is a sparkle that will be rise for a fire. The foundation will be because we have a SWAT team for structure the key elements of the organization, keep cross functional training with internal and external, and set up the millstone for the different stage training, practice, and review, celebrate and encourage the team members work toward the goal. Therefor The BU operations not only focus on a certain function anymore, but He (She) also will overall mange the operations of the business unit including all functions from Product creation, development, commercialization, costing, molds, materials, planning, production, quality, fit and wear, delivery, etc.…
5. What Is the Change to Factories (T1 vendor)?
As below briefed: factories will facing one proper window that is Hybrid (cross-functional) OPERATIONS management for resolving the issues quickly…
In the VUCA era, port lock down, container shortage, vessels timelines changeable, Same as T1, and T2 suppliers of the materials, whole operations and supply chain really impact, caused materials cannot delivered to T1 vendors on time, and T1 vendors cannot deliver the Finished product to the Marketing on time, so the strategics will be the manufacturing operations local by local and supply chain of the materials will also local by local, as cost and transportation, manufacturing lead time will save a lot, as also T1 vendors have vertical supply the materials or semi-product, components inside house, that also will be easy monitoring the quality and schedule, to meet the on time production delivery with good quality, as some market are domestic, good for the marketing DTC ( Directly to Consumer). From the market and sales aspect as the COVID Prevention and precaution, with social distance control, and caused the e-com to be the top Chanel of the sales of the products.
With Post Covid era, the digitalization become the hot topics at all kinds of the business operations. even manufacturing process optimization and Science and Technology innovation, etc.… currently we can use the technology to do remote controls for the global office and regions through the WeChat, teams, ZOOM meeting, Video Conference with the local on-site employees in different countries to exchange the ideas for the decision making. So, the Change is anywhere, the only constant is always changing…embracing the change, take the challenge… to be better of yourself…
