A lot of organizations develop excellent strategies but face issues during execution. This gap between planning, implementation, and execution leads to unmanaged attempts and aims. One of the approaches that decisively addresses this problem is Hoshin Kanri or Policy Deployment. BMGI India uses this systematic method to assist organizations in achieving alignment, focus, and measurable results at every tier.
Learning Hoshin Kanri Techniques
Hoshin Kanri is a technique for planning and executing strategies which developed in Japan. It aims to align an organization’s vision with its goals and ensure that every level of the company contributes to the greater vision. The methodology focuses on:
Selecting a handful of breakthrough objectives
Cascading goals through the organization
Aligning efforts through collaboration and joint responsibility
Tracking progress with clear indicators and metrics
BMGI India's Deployment Approach
BMGI India modifies the Hoshin Kanri method according to the requirements and the development stage of the organization. Their deployment model usually follows these steps:
1. Clarifying strategic priorities
The top executives set the organization’s vision and outline a small number of win-oriented objectives that advance it. These are often far-reaching goals which are expected to cut across several departments.
2. Building the X-Matrix
BMGI India guides participants in the development of the Hoshin X-Matrix. This is a schematic representation of deep-seated organizational relationships. It helps transparently capture alignment of longitudinal objectives, major initiatives, success evaluation indicators and responsibilities by different organizational units.
3. Cascading Goals through Catchball
Through dialogue at all organizational levels, catchball sessions ensure strategic goals are well understood and constructively refined. This captures participation from floor-level workers to the executive level.
4. Monitoring and Evaluating Other Objectives
Each initiative has assigned metrics as per their key performance indicators, along with a defined rhythm of evaluations. Performance adjustment milestones are made by BMGI India through setting up business monitoring groups with pre-set evaluation intervals and performance dashboards.
5. Fostering a Constructive Feedback Culture
Systems and processes is not where focus ends for BMGI India. They implement team reflection, outcome evaluation, and multi-faceted learning to system changes to bolster the culture for draw down from and allocate resources towards reasoned improvement.
A Manufacturing Firm that Hoshin Kanri Worked On
BMGI India was contacted by an agile automotive components manufacturer in order to enhance core business processes. Through the automotive components manufacturer’s five year growth plan with growth milestones, strategic plan execution was met with functional team alignment challenges.
Methods used:
To maximize quality, operational efficiency, and new product development BMGI India set up leadership level workshops to triangulate those strategic performance objectives.
An X-Matrix was created to link each objective to key initiatives like metrics and responsible teams.
To guarantee ownership, catchball sessions were held throughout business units to plan the necessary refinements.
A system was created to automate a dashboard for constant monthly monitoring to close gaps as soon as they are identified.
Results:
In the first year, ~90% of the initiatives were completed by the set deadlines.
The customer complaints received decreased by 35%.
The New Product Development (NPD) cycle was shortened by 25%.
There was increased team satisfaction within the organization as a result of role clarity with respect to their functions.
The Hoshin Kanri methodology as deployed provided the organization with the ability to transform their strategy into tangible objectives while cultivating a collective responsibility ethos within the organization.
Conclusion
As demonstrated, Hoshin Kanri is not simply a tool for planning. It is a method to systematically integrate strategy and execution and foster focus at every level within an organization. With the support of BMGI India, companies can adopt this approach to accelerate change, eliminate delays in execution, and enhance collaboration at all organizational tiers. By aiming intent with guided action, precision in achieving objectives becomes attainable.
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