Arun Hariharan

Founder and CEO

Arun Hariharan, author of Continuous Permanent Improvement (ASQ 2014), and The Strategic Knowledge Management Handbook (ASQ 2015) is a strategic quality, knowledge management (KM), and performance management practitioner with nearly three decades of experience in these fields. He has worked with several large companies and helped them achieve substantial and sustained results through quality and customer focus. He is the founder and CEO of The CPi Coach, a company that provides partnership, consulting, and training in business excellence and related areas. Former roles held by Hariharan include president of quality and knowledge management at Reliance Capital Ltd, and senior vice-president of quality and knowledge management at Bharti Airtel Ltd, India. He is a frequent speaker at quality and KM events around the world. He is also the author of more than 50 published papers on quality and KM.

Wed, 04/13/2011 - 11:48
Business Process Management Systems Must Be InterlinkedPerformance measurements must be an integral component of the business process definition
Wed, 09/27/2017 - 12:03
In my October 2013 column, “Standardize to Improve,” I dealt with business process mapping in detail. Business process management systems (BPMS) comprise the entire gamut of documenting process steps, assigning ownership to process owners, and…
If It Ain’t Broke, Fix ItThe best time for permanent improvement is when there is no problem
Thu, 09/07/2017 - 12:02
In the last week of August 2017, two extreme weather events occurred on opposite sides of the world. Hurricane Harvey brought record-breaking rain and catastrophic flooding to Houston, Texas, causing loss of life, mass evacuation of people, and…
Why Employee Freebies Are Bad for QualityYour employees need to experience exactly what your customers experience
Wed, 03/15/2017 - 11:59
A mobile services company provides free mobile services to its employees. The employees never receive a bill for voice or data services. If an employee faces a problem, he just talks to a colleague in the relevant department (or somebody who knows…
Are You Losing Opportunities for Improvement?Customer complaints: Get over the unpleasantness and do something
Wed, 03/16/2016 - 12:54
The other day, I visited a retail outlet of a wireless services provider to get information about its international roaming packages. The company has a few thousand outlets nationwide; they’re called “relationship centers” staffed with half a dozen…
Generalization: The Enemy of Root Cause AnalysisKeep asking <em>why</em> until you reach the root cause
Wed, 03/02/2016 - 14:28
A horrific accident on Dec. 16, 2015, claimed the life of an airline service engineer: He was sucked into the live engine of an aircraft. The engineer had been standing on the ground supervising the aircraft being pushed in reverse from its parking…
What Technology Can and Can’t Do for QualityIt takes humans to build the right organizational culture
Wed, 02/03/2016 - 13:01
Technology is a useful tool in quality. That said, there are limits to what technology can do. Here’s my summary of its advantages and disadvantages for quality professionals. 1. Data and measurements. Technology can help you automate measurements…
Qualities of a Successful Quality ProfessionalHow do you measure up?
Tue, 01/12/2016 - 11:02
I don’t claim to be qualified to advise other quality professionals. However, having had an opportunity to work for many years in this field with reasonable results and also having made my share of mistakes, I’ve observed that certain qualities…
Is Quality Only for Operations?Rooting out the mindset that ‘quality isn’t relevant here’
Tue, 12/08/2015 - 17:54
During my years of experience helping companies with quality, I’ve observed that in some, any conversation and initiatives related to quality seem to revolve around operations. In manufacturing companies, this tends to be the actual production…
The CEO’s Role in Knowledge ManagementBelief is the most important factor
Mon, 11/23/2015 - 07:31
I do not presume to preach to business leaders (CEOs and other senior managers). However, having helped a number of organizations and their leaders with knowledge management (KM), I’ve observed certain leaders who are able to achieve greater and…
How to Profit From Your Knowledge AssetsNew knowledge evolves from existing knowledge
Wed, 11/04/2015 - 14:11
When I visited one of the world’s most advanced car manufacturing plants at Toyota City, Japan, one of the many things about the manufacturing process that struck me as remarkable was that from start to finish, whether molding steel sheets into…