Chapter 4

Policy Deployment
Policy Deployment, as the Western translation of ‘hoshin kanri’, the Japanese strategic planning
and management process involving setting direction and deploying the means of achieving that
direction, with appropriate involvement at all levels of the organizational hierarchy. The chapter
reviews the history and concept of policy deployment and proposes a policy deployment model.
It is argued that this model will enable an organization to deploy, in an effective manner, its
vision, mission, goals, objectives, targets and means.
‘Policy Deployment within a process of long-term planning is one of the features of “the
approach” to Total Quality Control (TQC) by Japanese companies’, Dale (1990). He described
the deployment of the president’s annual management policy plan through the levels of the
organizational hierarchy. The process involves developing plans, targets, controls and areas for
improvement based on the previous level’s policy and an assessment of the previous year’s
performance. The plans and targets are discussed and debated at each level until a consensus
on plans and targets is reached, along with the methods for meeting the goal.

The following are the main characteristics which emerge from this discussion of policy
deployment definitions:

 Clear organizational goals understood by employees from each level of the organization.
 Involvement of employees in the development of action plans.
 All employees and functions are working in the same direction to achieve the
organization’s objectives.
 Regular review mechanism using the PDCA cycle thereby promoting an environment of
continuous improvement.
 Visible display of information.

The key points made by Kondo (1997) are:

 Policy deployment is effective in motivating employees.

 The aim of the process is ‘give and take’.
 For a top-down approach to work senior managers have to be highly respected.
 Results are checked by means of individual managers’ control items.
 The process is an important strategy for allowing top managers to exercise leadership
 Policy is not determined only by short-term considerations.
 Top management must ‘lead the way in whipping up everyone’s energy and
enthusiasm’.
 The purpose of the top management audit is to find and solve problems, discover and
build on strengths, and standardize and institutionalize improvements
 If management audits are carried out in the wrong way, there is a danger they will
become superficial and ritualistic.
 It is important for top managers to talk directly to ordinary workers.
 Kondo (1998) notes that ‘Hoshin Kanri proved extremely effective in furthering
companywide improvement plans by uniting the efforts of all employees.’ The most important
policy deployment concepts to be drawn from the writings of Dale (1990) and Kondo (1997) are:

 Leadership
 Communication
 Control
 Review
 And that there are four stages:
 Policy-setting
 Policy deployment
 Policy implementation
 Evaluation and feedback

What Policy Deployment is Not

Policy deployment is not a solution to all planning problems but a process which enables
managers to plan effectively and translate those plans into actions. Furthermore, although
Integrated Quality Dynamics (1997) consider the description of hoshin kanri as policy
deployment as ‘not the best translation’ (they describe hoshin as a one-year plan with targets
and means and state that hoshin management is not only ‘deployment’), their ‘myths’ are worth
repeating:

 Hoshin is part of QFD.

Hoshin myths
 Hoshin is only for the top management of an organization.
 Hoshin is the corporate policy.
 Hoshin is following the direction of the shining needle.

Hoshin management myths

 Hoshin management is part of QFD.
 Hoshin management works successfully only in Japanese organizations.
 Hoshin management is strategic planning.
 Hoshin management can be implemented without any other TQM methods and
systems.
 The key to successful hoshin management is deployment of targets.
 When implementing hoshin management the starting point is to determine the corporate
vision.
A Check-Reflect-Improve-Scrutinize-Pass (CRISP) Approach to Policy Deployment

In the literature on policy deployment there is consistent reference to cascade and catch ball as
essential elements. However, based on research and practical experience, deployment is the
area where management can have the most impact but often fail to deliver what is necessary.
The cascade processes
Essentially, CRISP entails each individual and team catching the policy, reflecting and
improving upon it, but, before passing the policy up and down the hierarchical chain, having
their work scrutinized by the previous level to ensure the reflection and improvement are in line
with the original. This is the all-important ‘check’ aspect in the PDCA cycle which often does not
occur in an organization’s deployment process. Although, at first sight, this approach may
appear to add unnecessary bureaucracy to policy deployment and extend the process time-
frame, the addition of scrutiny does not have to be viewed as a burden, because the CRISP
approach has the following advantages: often does not work because line managers fail to
communicate with their teams in an effective manner due to lack of time, skills or management
style.