All Posts Tagged With: "integration"
Start Aligning Now!
One of the distinguishing characteristics of Baldrige Award winners is the alignment they achieve of processes, individual performance, measurement systems, strategic plans, and results with the mission, vision, and goals of the organization. When everything and everyone is pulling in the same direction, an organization can produce and sustain performance excellence.
According to the Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado, organizations that decide to systematically improve their management systems can and should work on alignment right from the start. In a presentation at the twelfth Quest for Excellence this year, Monfort emphasized four dimensions that need to be aligned right away:
- Stakeholder needs and relationships
- Organization structures and systems to address those needs
- Performance measures to track performance and progress
- Strategic goals and objectives
You can view the slides in the presentation by visiting Monfort’s Web site here. The presentation is relevant to any type of organization because the concepts, like the Baldrige model, are applicable to all organizations.
The sixth slide in the PDF presentation shows how Montfort defined a student-centered process framework, identifying key stakeholders and their needs and relationships on one slide. The next two slides overlay Monfort’s management control system to show who is responsible for meeting these needs.
Like many organizations, Monfort uses a color-coded stoplight system to show progress on key performance indicators. Slide 11 places the 20 KPIs and the supporting performance indicators on the process framework to show how performance measures align with the framework, color-coded to also show current performance on each indicator. The next…
5Aug2010 | Steve George | 0 comments | ContinuedGet the Information You Need
Do you have the information you need to do your job? Do you have what you need to make critical decisions?
IBM asked these questions of business leaders in a business analytics and optimization study published in April 2009. One-half said they didn’t have the information required to do their jobs. One-third reported that they frequently lacked the information needed to make critical decisions.
IBM defines analytics as “the use of information to find patterns, identify new possibilities, create scenarios, make predictions, and prescribe actions.” Optimization is “a process that entails analyzing opportunities and constraints and then driving decisions about them deep into the organization.”
In August, IBM surveyed nearly 400 business leaders worldwide about how they use information and apply business intelligence. It compared top performers—top quintile based on self-reported performance relative to their peers—and lower performers in the bottom two quintiles. Twice as many top performers as lower performers had mastered three basic characteristics of information management:
- Aware. They were able to gather and use information from inside and outside the enterprise.
- Precise. They could sort through and extract the most relevant aspects of information.
- Linked. They were able to align information with business objectives and across functions.
Organizations that integrate the Baldrige model also master these basics. They have processes for selecting, collecting, aligning, and integrating data and information, and they have processes for using that data and information to do their jobs and make critical decisions. Management by fact is a Baldrige core value evident in the performance measurement systems of Baldrige Award…
28Dec2009 | Steve George | 0 comments | Continued10 Questions to Ask about Everything You Do
The Baldrige Criteria ask how an organization operates. How do you do what you do? Whether the focus is on leadership, strategic planning, customers, measurement, employees, or process management, the questions peel apart the processes you use to get things done.
Before you can write a Baldrige or state award application, you must gather the information you need to answer the Criteria questions. That means interviewing internal subject matter experts about the six process categories and one results category in the Criteria. One way to prepare subject matter experts for these interviews is to reassure them that you will be discussing how they do what they do. A Baldrige assessment is, after all, a snapshot of how your organization operates.
Another step in the preparation is to describe the scope of the information you will be looking for by sharing 10 process questions that we should all be able to answer about the work we do:
- What is your approach to _(the area you are focusing on)_?
- How do you determine customer and stakeholder requirements for it?
- How systematic is your process?
- How do you deploy it to all units that should be using it?
- How is it aligned with your organization’s mission, vision, and goals?
- How is it innovative, transformational, or a role model for similar processes?
- How do you use data and information to evaluate and improve the process?
- How do you compare your performance on key process measures to that of other organizations?
- How do you review performance and use these reviews to improve your processes?
- How do you…
Tracking Your Baldrige Journey
In the 1990s, Honeywell created an internal award program, based on Baldrige, called the Honeywell Quality Value (HQV). Each year, business units submitted HQV applications. Internal examiners evaluated the applications to identify strengths, opportunities for improvement, and scores. Honeywell tracked the scores. After a few cycles, they graphed the scores to see if there was a correlation with key financial measures.
In 1994, the average score for the business units was 330 points. That average increased every year through 1999 when it reached 550 points. In 1994, Honeywell’s operating profit rate was 7%. That rate also increased through 1999 when it reached 13%.
These and other data showed a strong correlation between HQV score and profitability. You see the same correlation when you examine the applications of Baldrige Award recipients. The applications, which you can find here, include results in six key areas. If you look at when an organization started its Baldrige journey and compare that to the trends in its results, you quickly notice the correlation between integrating Baldrige and improving performance.
This chart shows the typical path an organization takes as it integrates the Baldrige model. Most organizations score 250 to 350 points on their first assessment or application. By addressing the low-hanging fruit this first evaluation exposes, an organization can quickly improve during the next couple years.
At 500 points, your management system is becoming a competitive advantage. Earning half the possible points on a Baldrige application may not seem noteworthy, but it means you’re twice as good as almost…
4Dec2009 | Steve George | 0 comments | Continued10 Steps to World Class
What are the characteristics of a high-performing organization? What do they do or how do they act to distinguish themselves? What can your organization do to join their ranks?
The Baldrige model has identified the beliefs and behaviors of high-performing organizations. These 11 core values and concepts, embedded in the Baldrige Criteria and in Baldrige Award recipients, are essential to achieving performance excellence. You can find the complete list here and an explanation of each in the Criteria booklets here.
So how do you get your organization from where it is today to world-class status? Twenty years of Baldrige reveal the steps you can take to create a high-performing organization:
- Lead the transformation. It won’t happen without leaders committed to excellence, and it won’t happen without recognizing that the steps you take will transform your organization. Plan the journey, communicate the plan, measure progress, and facilitate change.
♦To learn more, read Is Baldrige Right for Your Organization, 10 Critical Questions: Senior Leadership, and An Achievable Mission and Vision; - Develop management system experts. You will need these experts to help focus resources and attention on what must happen along your journey. Take a few existing or rising stars and ask them to be Baldrige or state award examiners for at least three years. The training and experience they get will give you the internal expertise you need.
♦To learn more, read How to Become a Baldrige Expert, Make Yourself More Valuable, and The Value of Baldrige Expertise. - Promote curiosity. No organization can change if it is content with the way things are.…
Locking in the Keystones
A “keystone” is the central supporting element of a whole. I believe a high-performing organization has five keystones: (1) mission and vision; (2) core competencies; (3) customer knowledge; (4) organizational learning; and (4) alignment and integration.
I will be posting pages on each of these five keystones. You can look for links to them in the “Pages” column on the home page. As with all posts and pages, I welcome your feedback.
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