Presentation to ASQ Section 1508 by Dr Wende Brown, Oct 2008

1. Connecting Your Culture
to Quality Improvement
Wende Huehn-Brown
Ph.D.
October 13, 2008
Prepared for:
Overview
Improvement
Methodologies Culture
Continuous Improvement
Understand Leadership
Roles
Connect Learning
Requirements
Support Collaboration
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2. BPM Institute
Improvement Methodologies in Use (multiple responses allowed)
Six Sigma
70% Balanced Scorecard
Lean Enterprise
60% Total Quality Management
Rummler-Brache
50% Process Reengineering
PQMI
40% Activity Based Costing
Value Chain Analysis
30%
Theory of Constraints
SCOR
20%
TMF eTom
VCOR
10%
ISO 9000
0% Sarbanes-Oxley
Percent Response CMMI
Other
Adapted from: BPM Strategies, BrainStorm Group, Inc (2006)
Cross Industry Survey
Research Focus
Are lean enterprise and six sigma
approaches applied to drive
continuous improvement?
Mixed Results
Does your organization have a
cultures that strives for continuous
improvement?
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3. Analysis of Results
Population variance (F test) major issues:
Leaders committing adequate resources and
showing long-term commitment.
Leaders committing adequate resources and
improvements linking to strategic goals,
objectives, and metrics.
Linking improvements to strategic goals,
objectives, and metrics and focusing these
initiatives on the customer.
Analysis of Results
Population mean (t test) major issues:
22 sets of questions highlighted concerns on
the mixed execution of key characteristics for
continuous improvement.
11 of these issues
related to supply chain
management !
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4. Analysis - Suppliers participation issues with …
Leaders supporting initiative with their behavior and
decisions.
Organizations committing adequate resources.
Management showing long-term commitment.
Linking improvements to strategic goals, objectives, and
metrics.
Continuous learning shared, encouraged & acted on at all
levels.
Organizations challenging, synthesizing & sharing results.
Using cross-functional teams.
Initiatives focusing on the customer.
Benefits consistently realized that have a positive impact.
Analysis of Results
Population mean (t test) major issues:
Initiative focusing on the customer with issues
of:
Continuous improvement practiced daily
by everyone that is fast enough and broad
enough.
Employees involved and satisfied at all
levels of the organization.
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5. Analysis of Results
Six critical relationships identified (correlation
analysis):
1. Leadership supporting initiatives with their behavior
and decisions and management showing long-term
commitment.
2. Continuous learning is shared, encouraged and
acted on at all levels and continuous improvement
practiced daily by everyone yielding fast and broad
enough changes.
3. Continuous learning is shared, encouraged and
acted on at all levels and organizations challenging,
synthesizing, and sharing results of projects.
Analysis of Results
Six critical relationships identified (continued):
4. Continuous improvement practiced daily by
everyone yielding fast and broad enough changes
and focusing on their customer.
5. Continuous improvement practiced daily by
everyone yielding fast and broad enough changes
and employees being involved and satisfied at all
levels of the organization.
6. Organizations challenging, synthesizing, and
sharing results of projects and focusing on their
customer.
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6. Questions …
Are you surprised?
Where do we go from here?
How can we put continuous
improvement back into our culture?
Leadership
Learning
Collaboration
Continuous Improvement
Intended to focus on creating an ongoing improvement
journey (long-term):
Combat Complacency
Discontinuous Flexibility
Snail Pace Change and Innovation
Strive for Excellence
People & Process Knowledge & Skills
Technology Across Supply Chain
Systems Thinking Challenge Assumptions/Status Quo
Culture in which Everyone is Involved
“Way of Life” Evolving
Mindset (not Tools) Sense of Urgency
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7. Leadership Role in Improvement
Directs and support initiatives by reinforcing
approaches with own behavior and decisions
Performance measurement systems and rewards
Giving support (i.e. time, money, training, resources)
Communications (i.e. newsletters, reports, information)
Regular progress review meetings (i.e. week, month)
Participation in actual events or projects
Follow through on various needs to complete projects
Encouragement (not blaming) and Ideas (not know it all)
Attend training too (not exempt, but involved in learning)
Respect for everyone and work to build trust
Build consensus and connect decisions to achieving goals
Others ….
Leadership Role in Improvement
Commit adequate resources to facilitate and
support needs.
Watch time constraints and balance output with
improvement (often treated optional)
Listen and help in overcoming roadblocks that are
preventing progress (go to the source for the facts)
Caution if fighting daily fires, may be too deep
reacting to crises and not managing the system
Balance continuous improvement with innovation
Focus on priorities that improve customer value
Build a stronger foundation (i.e. stabilize system)
Understand trade-offs and interdependencies
Others ….
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8. Leadership Role in Improvement
Commit to supporting approaches as a long-term
journey.
Avoid ‘flavor of the month’ mindsets
Do not get complacent (you are never done)
Do not judge results too prematurely
Watch pace of improvement (do not be too slow in
getting people involved)
Keep communications ongoing
Illustrate results and lessons learned
Share vision and evolving environmental conditions
Support experimentation
Others ….
Leadership Role in Improvement
Changes and improvements pursued in approaches
need to be linked directly to strategic goals,
objectives, and metrics
Choose metrics that drive the ‘right’ behavior
Watch resistance to change metrics that are flawed
Link metrics to rewards and incentives
Build understanding on what the strategic goals and
objectives are and why (‘big picture’)
Connect opportunities for improvement to strategy
Explain strategic needs and challenges openly
Understand risks and alternatives
Respond quickly to changing conditions
Others ….
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9. Learning Requirements in Improvement
Continuous learning needs to be shared, encouraged,
and acted on at all levels of the enterprise
Embed in the way an enterprise operates (formally and
informally)
Watch inability to find the time or resources that effects
committing to learning long-term
Changes and improvements are limited and resisted when
knowledge is not shared adequately
Use variety of methods (i.e. self-study, on-the-job, educational
degrees, event out-briefings & lessons learned, central database
& Intranet website, suggestions, rewards & incentives, pre-
project training, coaching & mentoring, open door policies, etc.)
Providing corporate training support (i.e. master black belt) that
travels across all multiple locations in the organization
Others ….
Learning Requirements in Improvement
Continuous improvement is meant to be practiced by
everyone throughout an organization.
Stimulate broader ideas and faster changes over time
People are anxious to improve, but often don’t have the
knowledge needed which results in limited involvement
or resistance to change
Plan actions at all levels of the organization to build
learning, responsibility, and collaboration
Focus improvements on needs to be more competitive
Use cross functional teams better on improvements
Build trust and open work environment
Nurture people to become part of the system
Others ….
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10. Learning Requirements in Improvement
Organizations need to challenge, synthesizes, and
shares results of improvement projects across the
enterprise
Keep communications ongoing (i.e. publishing,
posting, explaining results to everyone, reinforce)
Share projects across the organization (cross
functional learning as well as other opportunities)
Assign responsibility and accountability for projects
Use metric scorecards in several places that are at a
level where people understand how their behavior
and decisions impact those results
Watch thinking contradiction is lack of cooperation,
drive more constructive feedback with alternatives
Others ….
Support Collaboration
Use cross functional teams for improvement
approaches
Grow use not only internally, but extend across the
enterprise into the supply chain
Grow further expertise and use other experiences for
broader ideas
May be time consuming or more difficult, but vital for
growing more competitive needs and abilities
Learn other processes or systems to better understand
interdependencies and complexities
Make improvement needs more obvious and visual
Others ….
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11. Support Collaboration
Suppliers participate in improvement initiatives
Loosing out on potential opportunities when not linking
suppliers to improvement initiatives
Often seen in limited areas or issues
Many organizations rely on suppliers for specialist needs
Watch perception you need to “fix your own house” first
when suppliers may help with these challenges
Consider evolving trends: environment, markets, energy,
technology, competitors, transportation, political, etc.
Competition is between supply chains
Focus on win-win initiatives
Others ….
Support Collaboration
Improvement approaches should help to better focus
on the customer.
Need quality information on current & future expectations
Must meet and exceed specific requirements
May offer training and suggestions for mutual gains
Should drive improvement projects and priorities
Watch overreacting to isolated customer issues (can lead
further system complexity and other issues)
Earn customer quality awards/certifications for suppliers
Get customers involved in improvement projects as it can
lead to further opportunities
Link metrics to customer expectations (use feeding
metrics to leverage and push lower level performance)
Do customer surveys prior new jobs or designs.
Others ….
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12. Support Collaboration
Benefits need to be consistently realized from with the
improvement approaches to show a positive impact on the
enterprise
Watch communicating results that are conclusive or
persuasive (sends mixed message)
Understand that poor economic conditions may not illustrate
results affectively (i.e. macro measures may not illustrate
impact of improvements)
Balance qualitative/quantitative & short/long-term measures
Many organizations struggle to design measures at the right
level of the organization to support quick feedback
Use metrics to help sustain the results and point to further
improvement opportunities
Develop a plan for organizing, controlling, and leading
progressive benefits
Others ….
Support Collaboration
Overall, employees at all levels of the enterprise need to be
involved and satisfied with the improvement program
Erratic efforts and results are driving frustrations
Often employees have doubts and discomforts due to not
experiencing leadership, learning, collaboration
Watch employee perceptions as it directly affects their
level of participation
Focus on building a mindset for improvement
“… culture is 10 to 20+ years old ...”
“we've always done it that way … why change?”
Build daily improvement as a habit practiced by all
Align direction, thoughts, actions, and decisions
Must have knowledge in order to see and act
Others ….
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13. Closing Recommendations
Are your improvement approaches creating
continuous improvement?
Not just a buzz word for management’s initiatives
But a structured operating environment or culture
Must not forget the basic aspects of leadership,
learning, and collaborating
Weaknesses affecting competitive abilities and
dissatisfaction in improvement methodologies
Erratic deployment of continuous improvement affects
overall results and needs to be better understood
The operating environment is dynamic
Can not be complacent nor operate in vacuum
Support change and challenge status quo
Questions
?
Wende Huehn-Brown
Phone: 727-341-3131
Email: huehnbrown.wende@spcollege.edu
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