Mgt action

Productivity improvement process

The following five-stage process enables any manager at any level in any sector to continually improve his team’s productivity levels, whatever its size   The first stage is strategic, determined by senior management – the other four are tactical viz: A corporate plan – http://www.productivityknowhow.com/?page_id=325 – to define long term aims and broad thrusts to be taken, …

Corporate plans

A good corporate plan should set out where an organisation aims to be in say five years time and, broadly, how it is to get there  It should define the organisation’s business model  by explaining its choices of products and markets – and how it will make money, grow the business and meet demand  Glen …

Analyses of scope

When the actual value of a cardinal is so far off target that alarm bells ring, a fast and comprehensive process is needed whereby the manager of the unit involved can establish the most likely causes of the problem, where best to act and how The analysis is a diagnostic process, essential because there may …

Action decision tree

Continuous improvement (CI) projects

So far, productivity improvement has been prompted by cardinal alarm bells ringing However, managers should not wait for this to happen – they should be forever looking for different ways to improve ‘Kaizen’ is the Japanese word for continuous improvement – kai is change, zen is good – it’s the Japanese way of doing business …

Special improvement projects

There are several acronyms on offer, each offering much the same steps, including: DMAIC from Six Sigma = Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control PDCA from Dr Edwards Deming = Plan, Do, Check, Amend SREDIM from R. M. Currie and Work Study = Select, Record, Examine, Develop, Implement, Maintain   Organisation level projects At organisation level, …