High-performance businesses manage processes explicitly

Such companies recognise that most of the value of their company lies in a few key processes. As a result, they tend to concentrate on these processes, making them explicit and managing their performance effectively.

Process thinking is a sound basis for sustained improvements in business performance.

Six Sigma originated at Motorola in the late Eighties as a way of using quality control tools to improve business processes.

After Jack Welch recognised that "customers value consistent, predictable business processes that deliver world-class levels of quality", he made Six Sigma Quality an integral part of GE's culture.

This initiative has been the foundation of the company's enduring financial success over the last decade: GE saved more than $500 million while increasing the success rate of new products, shortening cycle times and reducing production time.

Marketing is a process, so process thinking can transform marketing performance!

The idea of marketing as a process is not new. However, if marketing is a process, we need to treat it in the same way as we do other important processes. As a business discipline.

Process thinking helped to transform manufacturing performance before migrating into healthcare and financial services at companies such as GE Mortgage Insurance, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, Honeywell and HSBC.

Now companies can use these same principles to transform marketing into a business discipline and make marketing investment and effort more effective and productive.

Process, schmocess. What are the benefits?

Defining, deploying and managing common processes creates sharper focus on common marketing goals among all members of the marketing team.

Using the same approach, method and terminology increases both the consistency of the team's activities and the quality of its deliverables. It also enables better resource coordination.

Defined processes deliver measurable outcomes. This creates a basis for more effective performance management at the level of process, programme and individual.

Dissemination and incorporation of successful practices reduces risk to an organisation's long-term marketing memory. It also minimises dependency on the skills of key individuals.