Management commitment for

successful suggestion systems

Andrew E. Marx

Introduction ● The suggestion must present a

Everything mankind has and will have solution to the problem, potential
in the future is and will be the result of problem, process or situation.
Wind
people’s ideas. Ideas are derived not ● The suggestion must be in writing.
only from people of above average
● The suggestion must be signed by
intelligence, but also from those of
the proposer, even should the
average intelligence. Some of the more
system provide facilities for
progressive companies in the history of anonymous suggestions.
modern management realized the
potential value of their employees’ ● The suggestion must be
ideas for the improvements in the acknowledged on receipt. As a
precaution; to indicate which Forest
general functioning of their
organizations. They have realized that suggestion was received first, the
“idea power is the most tremendous date and time of receipt must be
human force in the world”[1, p. 3]. stated on the written suggestion[3,
A precondition, though, is that the p. 547].
ideas must be used in an organized
way. This can be done by means of a Management commitment
formal suggestion system. Not only According to The Penguin English
Fire
does the suggestion system offer Dictionary commitment is “an act of
employees the opportunity to make committing to a change or trust;
suggestions regarding all the factors especially a consignment to an
which influence productivity but also institution; an agreement or pledge to
they can benefit through monetary do something in the future; something
and/or other tangible rewards. pledged; loyalty to a system of thought
or action”[4, p. 163]. The pledge to do
something in the future means to
suggest that something be done in any Mountain
A formal suggestion system possible way and to be dedicated to
Most managers believe that, if a that something. This also applies to
suggestion box is placed at a strategic management commitment to sug-
point and emptied on a regular basis, gestion systems. In fact, management Figure 1. The Japanese war flag
the organization has a formal commitment is the most important
suggestion scheme. This is not the case cornerstone for the success of the
– at most it is an informal system. suggestion system. management support. If management
A formal suggestion system can be Management commitment will be does not support the suggestion
described as a formalized procedure to discussed in an analogue to a Japanese system, it is not committed and, if it is
encourage the employees to think war strategy of using a flag consisting not committed, there will be no
creatively about their jobs and their job of four symbols, namely the wind, the suggestion system. It is therefore
environment and to come forward with forest, the fire, the mountain(see important to keep management
ideas for which they will be rewarded Figure 1)[5]. informed by means of reports on a
on a specific basis, if acceptable and to regular basis – at least once a month. A
the advantage of the organization. The wind: keeping management typical report[2] is shown in Table I.
In order to be considered a formal informed
With this information, it will be clear
system, all the following elements The wind symbolizes the four winds
to top management in which way the
must be present: which are symbolic of information
coming from the four cardinal bottom line of the organization is
● The system should be approved influenced – the main concern of top
directions. Management cannot
and supported by top management. Reports to management
support something it knows nothing or
management[2, p. 3]. should highlight how the operations of
very little about. There are certain
● The suggestion must indicate a things which top management must the suggestion system met its basic
problem, potential problem or know, presented to them on a periodic predetermined objectives. This
opportunity to improve an existing basis, for them to be willing to initiate, information will enable management to
process or situation. maintain and expand the level of make good decisions.

16 Work Study Vol. 44 No. 3, 1995, pp. 16-18, © MCB University Press, 0043-8022

Report items
The number of suggestions
received
The number of suggestors who
participated in the scheme
The number of suggestions
evaluated
The average time to process
a suggestion
The number of accepted
suggestions
The number of rejected
suggestions
The total amount of paid
awards
The average award per
suggestion
The total cost of keeping the
programme running
The total estimated first year’s
savings for adopted suggestions
The average savings per adopted
suggestion
The least single award payment
The highest award payment
The total amount paid for
tangible suggestions
The total amount paid for
intangible suggestions
Table I. Report for the month/year
Keeping management interested and
involved is important to the
achievement of desired results. Most
importantly, keeping the suggestion
system in front of management through
reports, will help them to make
positive decisions which concern the
suggestion system.
The forest: planning in advance
The forest on the Japanese war flag
symbolizes scouts being sent into the
enemy camp to study the situation.
Management should use the
information which was given to them
by means of the reports to plan
proactively for the future. Top
management should be fully aware of
the basics of the suggestion system, its
purpose and goals, the average life
Current Corresponding period for
month/year previous year
span of a suggestion, the average return
on investment for a suggestion and any
other aspect which may influence the
decision-making process on the
suggestion system. If there is
insufficient information, scouts should
be sent out to gather the necessary
information. One of the outstanding
aspects of this phase is to create the
right climate in the organization for
suggestion systems. The total climate
for suggestion system effectiveness
involves the management style of the
individual managers and the organi-
zational culture. The management style
should be McGregor’s Theory Y
style[6, p. 315]. This means that
managers must believe that people are
creative and imaginative, and they will
fail to display this only as a result of
imposed constraints or a lack of
challenge; employees will set and
achieve worthy goals without
continuing intervention. Given the
opportunity, employees will exercise
self-direction and self-control if they
are committed to objectives.
Management should realize that the
average person can learn to accept and
even seek responsibility. This
management style will encourage
employees to participate in the system.
Another ingredient of the total
climate in the organization is the
culture of the organization. According
to Mondy and Noe[7, p. 326], manage-
ment must be aware of the types of
corporate culture that the organization
may wish to emulate, and one
particular culture may prove to be
superior to the other. Most behaviour-
ists advocate an open and participative
culture. This type of culture is
characterized by trust in subordinates,
open communication, consideration
and supportive leadership; group
problem solving; worker autonomy;
information sharing and high output
goals. This is similar to the
characteristics of the theory Y
management style.
The opposite of the open and
participative culture is the closed and
autocratic one. This culture may also
be characterized by high output goals.
These goals, however, are more likely
to be declared and imposed on the
organization by autocratic and
threatening leaders. The emphasis is on
the individual rather than on teamwork.
The greater rigidity in this culture
results from strict adherence to a
formal chain of command, narrower
spans of management and stricter
individual accountability. Suggestion
systems tend to be more successful
with an open and participative culture.
The fire: implementing strategies
When the Japanese war flag is raised,
the planning phases of wind and forest
have been thoroughly executed and the
fire phase is about to commence. The
fire signifies that, when they are ready
to attack, they will do so like lava from
a volcano. Attack means action time.
There are many ways in which
management can join the attack. In
fact, it should not join the attack, it
should lead it and can do so in the
following ways[8, p. 107]:
● getting actively involved in the
strategy planning and goal setting
of the suggestion system and
making it known to all employees;
WS May/June, 1995 17
 ● viewing the suggestion system as
an important management tool to
improve productivity and
profitability, and not regarding it
as part of the fringe benefits of the
employees;
● putting suggestion system reports
on the top management meeting’s
agenda and insisting on reports
from the system’s manager,
reviewing the results and the
future plans;
● making top management’s
involvement known to lower
levels of management and to the
employees by writing articles on
suggestion systems for publication
in industry journals, management
periodicals and house magazines;
signing letters of congratulations
to suggestors; actively par-
ticipating in awards ceremonies
and promotion of suggestion
systems at every occasion;
● insisting on press coverage for
highlights of suggestion system
activities such as awards and
participation rates;
● using suggestion-system activities
as an appraisal yardstick for
measuring the progress of a
department and the supervisor’s
effectiveness;
● making the suggestion system a
cost centre which must eventually
be a profit centre (it should have
its own budget which should be
sufficient to fund the awards,
stationery, printing of publicity
material and other operating
expenses such as salaries of the
administrators and funding of
competitions);
● appointing a high calibre person to
be the suggestion system manager
(this person should not be an
individual who does not fit in
somewhere else – the person must
have the status and prestige to gain
the necessary respect of the other
employees) and a “back-up”
person should be trained to stand
in when the systems manager is
not available;
● conducting periodic formal
employee attitude surveys to
18 Work Study
determine the degree of
suggestion-system effectiveness
and with a view to improving
employee attitudes;
● allowing the systems manager
flexibility and a certain degree of
autonomy within a certain
framework, for example to arrange
departmental competitions and
new reward and recognition
techniques.
Top management’s involvement in the
attack to make suggestion systems a
success creates a cascade effect down
to baseline employees, which will
encourage them to become active in the
system.
The mountain: backing up and
reinforcing
The last symbol on the Japanese war
flag is the mountain, which represents
the fact that headquarters is always
protecting the rear, so that the soldiers
can concentrate on the front-line
fighting. Management should have a
clear and understandable suggestion-
system policy. This will put the
employees at ease because they know
exactly what will be done when
tendering a suggestion and what they
can expect.
Departmental heads and supervisors
should get all the information they
need to motivate their subordinates to
participate in the system. After
endorsing the suggestion-system
manager’s reports, it should be made
available to all the departmental heads
and supervisors.
Management must be patient,
especially with a new or newly revised
system. Enough time should be given
to achieve its short-term objectives, for
example to get as many employees as
possible to participate in the system.
The long-term objective should be for
it to become a profit centre, but
management must give it a chance.
Summary
Suggestion systems can be a
fundamental component of the
management process and should be
viewed as a contributing partner with
other key staff functions in influencing
employee understanding and
attainment of both the organization’s
and their own individual goals.
Suggestion systems are a legitimate
management discipline, one which can
have a tremendous influence on the
attitudes and work performance of
employees. Suggestion systems,
therefore, must be responsible for
carrying their part of the management
load, and they must be held
accountable for the effectiveness of
their activities. Their management
priorities must be tied closely to the
organization’s business goals.
Finally, it should be clear that the
four war flag symbols must harmonize
to become truly viable. That is the task
of management.
References
1. Seinworth, H.W., Getting Results
from Suggestion Plans, 1st ed.,
McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1948.
2. Marx, A.E., A Practical Guide on
Implementing Suggestion Systems,
Juta & Co., The Rustica Press, Cape
Town, 1992.
3. Scheer, W.E., Personnel Admini-
stration Handbook, 2nd ed., Dartneff
Press, Chicago, IL, 1979.
4. Penguin Reference Books, The
Penguin English Dictionary,
Penguin Books, Harmondsworth,
1985.
5. Goshi, A., “Rebuilding the Japanese
way”, Sunday Star, 1 August 1993.
6. De Cenzo, D.C. and Robbins, S.P.,
Personnel/Human Resources Man-
agement, 3rd ed., Prentice-Hall,
Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1988.
7. Mondy, R.W. and Noe, R.M. III,
Human Resource Management, 5th
ed., Allyn & Bacon, Boston, MA,
1993.
8. NASS, The Key Program for
Maximum Suggestion System
Results, NASS, Chicago, IL, 1977.
Andrew E. Marx is based at the Department
of Business Management, University of
Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, Republic of South
Africa.