BSBMGT516C FACILITATE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Assessment Task 1- Case Study

1. It is clear that A2Z is in trouble and it is important to make some changes and improve its
operations promptly in order to keep up with competition. In order to make sure that the
employees are involved in the decision taking, I will arrange a meeting with some employee
representatives. In this meeting I will say to them that the company is not doing very well,
because sales have gone down by 25%. This is because we are operating in the high end market
and our products are expensive. I will explain to them that this is very important to change. I will
also present to them the three suggestions from senior management. Then some brainstorming
will be used in order to involve the employees in the process. This means that they we will try to
solve this problem with lateral thinking. In other words, all of us need to evaluate each idea and
find the pros and cons of each one and then select what we think that is the best one. I think that
the most viable option is to diversify our product range to include middle and low-range
products. I think that this is better, because in this way we will keep up with the low prices of the
competition and be able to still sell luxurious furniture but also cheaper and normal furniture.
This is the best option, because it can increase sales (which is the problem), without the need for
moving the factory or for layoffs, as the other options suggest.

2. In this case, I would initiate continuous improvement with the use of force field analysis,
which is a continuous improvement tool. To be more specific, this analysis will show to us which
factors are really causing the problem and it can show to us what exactly we need to do. So the
factors that are causing the problem are that we have a narrow product range, that we charge
expensive prices because we aim at the high end market and that we cannot deal with
competition who are charging lower prices. So we need to focus and deal with those problems. It
is important to communicate those initiatives with the stakeholders of the company. I will do that
by arranging different meetings with the employees, the other managers and the suppliers in
order to explain those initiatives to them.

3. I would ensure that the chosen option meets sustainability requirements by using the best
practice. In other words, it is important to make sure that we have word class performance, that
we are committed to change, that our company is a learning organisation, that we have effective
communication and that all employees are responsible for their actions. If we make sure about all
those things, then we can ensure that our option will meet sustainability requirements.

4. The proposal to the senior management will be that the best option is to diversify our product
range to include middle and low-range products. This is because our main factors that are
causing the problem are that we have a narrow product range, that we charge expensive prices
because we aim at the high end market and that we cannot deal with competition who are
charging lower prices. So the option will address all those factors that are causing the problem.
In order to do so, we need to find suppliers that can supply us with supplies that are cheaper and
use those to make a wider product range, including cheaper furniture. It is also important to train
our staff regarding the new production process. In order to achieve that, mentoring will be used
in order to show to them what exactly needs to be changed. To be more specific, the production
supervisor will act as mentor and he will explain to them the new changes in the production
process. Moreover, coaching will be used. This means that a production consultant, who will be
the expert in this field, will train the employees in the new production process.

5. Problem definition statement template (Appendix 1)

What is the impact of the problem?

Direct The direct impact of the problem is that we have a drop in sales by 25%

Indirect The indirect impact is that this might cause us to reduce operations, make
layoffs and get our of business eventually, if the problem persists.

Who is being impacted and how ?

Directly The shareholders because they get less profits. The managers because of
the poor sales results.

Indirectly The employees because they can not get bonuses and the creditors
because it will get harder to repay our debts.

What behaviour needs to change?

Narrow product range, Expensive prices because we aim at the high end market,
cannot deal with competition who are charging lower prices.
Who has that behaviour?
The production department, the sales and marketing department and the purchasing
department
 Summary statement:
We need to diversify our product range to include middle and low-range products. In
order to do so, we need to find suppliers that can supply us with supplies that are
cheaper and use those to make a wider product range, including cheaper furniture. It is
also important to train our staff regarding the new production process. It is also
important to make a promotion strategy to notify our target market that we also
produce middle and low-range furniture.

Action Plan template: (Appendix 2)

Project: diversify our product range to include middle and low-range products

Goal/Objective: Increase sales, keep up with competitions

What? How? Who? When? Status

Find new suppliers Networking, purchase Purchase 20/06/2015
quotations Department

train staff for new Mentoring, coaching HR department 25/06/2015

production process

New promotion Advertisement, social Sales and 30/06/2015

strategy media Marketing
department

In my organisation, the knowledge management system that we use is knowledge sharing. More
specifically, the managers in my company are also effective leaders and they are open to
communication. They not only be role models and set the example to follow, but they strongly
believe that knowledge should be shared. So they actively do that by mentoring their team
members, and this is how knowledge is managed top-down.

6. In order to monitor organisational progress against the mentioned option, I will first set some
Key Performance Indicators. Those KPIs will be number of new suppliers that we have found, %
of suppliers that get us lower cost products, number of staff attending mentoring and training and
amount spend on advertising. Those KPI could easily be used in order to show us progress
against the option and the included tasks. In the case that some adjustments are necessary, we
can do that by addressing the specific problem and brainstorming with the people involved in
order to find together the best idea in order to make the necessary adjustments and fix the
problems. I will communicate these adjustments to the team and other stakeholders with
meetings and also with memos.

Assessment Task 2 – Written Questions

Question1. TQM stands for total quality management and it is a continuous improvement model.
To be more specific, this model is all about improving productivity and product quality in order
to get more profits or to increase customer satisfaction. In other words, is means to constantly
improving processes in an organisation in order to save money and to improve quality.

Question 2. When we have a Lean Manufacturing focus, the elements within a manufacturing
environment that need to be reduced/ eliminated are the ‘seven wastes’, which include
overproduction, waiting, transporting, inappropriate processing, unnecessary inventory,
unnecessary / excess motion and defects.

Question 3. The 5s are part of the lean manufacturing focus. To be more specific, those are five
actions that need to be taken in order to reduce waste. Those are sort (to remove unnecessary
objects), straighten (arrange all items in order), shine (clean workplace), standardize (keep high
standards of housekeeping) and sustain (standardize and improve previous steps).

Question 4. The benefits and features of six sigma are:

 Systematic and fact-based problem solving methodology
 Includes tools and skills to reduce variation within processes and to create a culture
committed to eliminating waste and product variations
 Rigorous and disciplined metric, methodology and management system
 Understanding and meeting customer requirements
 Aligning key business processes to achieve these requirements
 Utilizing rigorous data analysis to minimize variations in those processes; and
 Driving rapid and sustainable improvement to business processes.
Moreover, DMAIC is a major element in the six sigma and it includes define, measure,
analyzing, improve and control.

Question 5. The PDCA-Cycle means plan, do, check and act. To be more specific, this cycle is a
methodology on what to do for continuous improvement and it includes setting goals and
objectives (plan), implementing plans (do), compare actual results against expected outcomes
(check) and make adjustments or improvements (act).
Question 6. Normal distribution curve:

7,35% 8,5% 34% 34% 8,5% 7,35%

-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3

Question 7. Two conditions when a scatter diagram should be used include are when we have
two variables that can be measured numerically and that are continuous.

Question 8. In this case, the organisation is the organisation is using a range of strategies to
encourage its staff to assume responsibility and use their initiative. More specifically, it has a
suggestion box for good ideas which shows that the management values its employees and wants
to utilise their working knowledge, but it also rewards good suggestions which provide an extra
motivation for participation. Moreover, they have regular meetings to discuss and take decisions
democratically, where every employee has a saying. The fact that Jenny assigns tasks for the
next meeting to the participants is another proof that the organisation is actively involving the
employees.

Assessment Task 3 – Case Study

1. I think that this refers to using the best practice in order to implement continuous
improvement. To be more specific, this A2Z solutions decided not only to standardize the
practices but also to use the same practices in countries around the world. This, in terms of
continuous improvement is very beneficial because it shows that the company has a vision for
world class performance and that it is committed to change and to learn in order to improve
operations. Moreover, this standardize of the procedures will improve efficiency in the
organisation and reduce wastage because the employees in any case will know what is the most
efficient and standard way to perform their tasks.

2. It is very important for a manager to inform the employees on the outcomes of continuous
improvement plans. In order to do that I will use the following:
 Meetings (to explain what are the new changes and how they will implemented and also
to solve any questions they might have)
  Job standards (in order to define the new standards that will reflect the new, standardised
procedures)
 Work instructions (in order to explain in detail how to perform some specific tasks)
 Policy documents (in order to outline the new polices and procedures and also to what
level the employees are expected to perform).

3. In order to document those data and present them in a clear way, I can use the following:
 A histogram to see if material wastage is reduced over time
 A control chart to show if warehouse material has been increased by 20%
 A KPI to measure the participation rate of employees in the two-day training
 A control chart to represent the production flow, in order to see if there are stops in the
production
 A KPI to measure delivery schedule (% of deliveries that are being met).
All these data will show a clear picture about the progress and the effectiveness of the
implemented continuous improvement system. They will also be stored in hard and soft copies in
accordance with the policies and procedures of the company in order to be available for future
use.

4. I think that purchasing is a very complex sector that needs constant monitoring in order to
make sure that the company remains competitive and meets its production targets. All those are
crucial for the success of a company. For this reason, I think that an area that needs additional
attention is about purchasing. More specifically, the company needs to constantly be on the
search of new suppliers that can supply materials with lower cost. This is very important to do
continuously because the company operates in a global market and the competition is harsh. I
can source data about that from the purchasing department of the company. Moreover, an area
that I think needs further improvement is about overworked staff. This is because nothing has
been suggested in order to deal with this issue. Perhaps hiring more employees would solve this
problem. I can source data about that from the human resources department of this company.