Tata Consultancy Services has made big gains by embracing the Tata Business Excellence Model

At Tata Consultancy Services, the spirit of excellence pervades every business task the company undertakes. For India's largest software company, quality is not the mere absence of defects, but the complete satisfaction for all its stakeholders. TCS looks at addressing all the needs of customers, employees, shareholders, partners and vendors, and society at large to ensure long-term growth and success.

TCS needs astute systems to live up to its commitment. The Tata Business Excellence Model (TBEM) is the tool that helps the software giant look at all facets of quality. "While other models are about management of quality, TBEM is about the quality of management," says Bhushan Dewan, vice president, business excellence. "It addresses all practices related to leadership, strategy, customers, knowledge management, human resources, core processes and results."

Apart from diverse certifications such as ISO 9000, CMM and CMMi that TCS has secured, TBEM helps the company win the trust of customers from across in the world. "While conducting due diligence, prospective clients draw a lot of assurance by looking at our processes," says Mr Dewan.

As he points out, TBEM provides a good mix between running the business and changing it. "Every year you are assessed by trained people from other group companies. After an exhaustive and structured assessment, assessors give their feedback, listing the company's strengths and opportunities for improvement (OFI). This makes you look at yourself objectively. When you see that while world-class companies are at 70 per cent of the score and you are not there, it is a moment of truth."

TCS, which adopted TBEM over five years ago, has cross-functional teams to ensure that the feedback received after the assessment is followed up with action. There is an apex business council under which there are eight teams. Even though there are only seven categories under TBEM, the company has an extra team set up exclusively to look into corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

These groups make and promulgate changes in business processes and take stock of the progress made. They ensure that TBEM is not seen merely as a score, but becomes a continuous journey. The results are there for all to see. In 2004, TCS carried away the JRD Quality Value award because of its high score.

Among the factors that have helped TCS climb the ladder of business excellence are the many years of interaction it has had with global companies such as General Electric and American Express. "We are exposed to the best practices of all our customers all over the world," says Mr Dewan. Critical to its success in the structured change process laid out in TBEM is the commitment of the senior management in the company.

But the real differentiators for TCS, says Mr Dewan, are soft resources such as manpower and knowledge management. "While we are trying to automate others, our own work is highly dependent on human beings. The users have to understand the benefit of the model being adopted. It has to be translated for them in such a way that they are fired by the idea of putting their shoulder to the wheel to get the chariot moving. Finally, quality is always the producers' baby."

The fact that TCS adds almost 5,000 people every year to its already 36,000-strong workforce is a challenge. The pressing need is to align and integrate these new people quickly, and structured business processes help the company do this. For one, at the initial three-month training programme that newcomers to the organisation undergo, quality and excellence are introduced in a strong way.

After that TCS does not have to look far to find a solution because the structure is embedded in its processes with the help of information technology. New procedures can be institutionalised speedily with technology. For example, for knowledge management they use e-KMS. "Projects are undertaken in the Hollywood model of management," explains Mr Dewan. "Everyone comes together from various areas: the director, the actors, the cameraman, the editor, etc. The movie is made and then the team disbands. That way we come up with different perspectives and backgrounds and have a good pool of creative ideas. While the project is on, there are many review meetings and all the knowledge generated gets captured because all of us are connected through infotech and have reports and databases."

The other enabler at TCS is its automation platform Ultimatix, through which all employees are connected. It is a tool for communication, sharing knowledge, and operations. Additionally, it even caters to external stakeholders. Customers, for instance, can log on and track the progress of their project.

This goes a long way towards helping TCS build relationships that go beyond the contract with its clients. "Our success at winning large orders is primarily because of the positive referrals and word-of-mouth goodwill we have," says Mr Dewan. The company is planning to take its commitment further by mapping itself in such a way that it becomes an extended department for the customer, who gets quick and easy access.

Various units of TCS follow the concept of 'project management office', which provides customers with a single window for all their requirements. What finally makes TCS special is the fact that it follows the proactive TBEM model, while ensuring that the focus is not on mere compliance. This has gained the company such a good reputation that it has even taken up business excellence consultancy.

TCS is not about to rest on its laurels. "Crossing 600 points on the TBEM scale is only the first step," emphasises Mr Dewan. "We have to innovate with world-class practices to go further."

Uploaded in March 2005