KEY MANAGEMENT MODELS
• Structure influences behaviour
• Policy resistance
• Espoused theory vs. in-use
• Ladder of inference
• Balance inquiry and advocacy
• Data vs. abstractions from data
• Testing assumptions
• Complementary dialogues and discussion
• Defensive routines
• Suspending assumptions
• Acting as colleagues
• Surfacing own defensiveness
• Practising
• Shared vision of individuals
• Commitment, rather then compliance
• Envisioning through sharing visions, listening and free choice
• Acknowledging current reality 3 Shared vision
• Creative vs. emotional tension
• Subconscious
• Clarifying personal vision
• Holding creative tension with focus on results and seeing current reality
• Making choices 1 Personal mastery
Figure 44.1 Senge’s five disciplines
From THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE by Peter M. Senge, copyright © 1990, 2006 by Peter M. Senge. Used by per-mission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc
How to use it
The five disciplines necessary to create a learning organisation are:
1 Systems thinking. Systems thinking is the cornerstone of the learning organisation. This is the discipline that integrates the others into a learning organisation, and fuses all disciplines into a coherent body of theory and practice.
2 Personal mastery. Organisations learn only through individuals who learn.
Individual learning does not guarantee organisational learning. Nevertheless, without it there is no organisational learning. Personal mastery is the
discipline of ‘continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, focusing our energies, developing patience, and seeing reality objectively’.
3 Mental models. These are ‘deeply ingrained assumptions, generalisations, or even pictures and images that influence how we understand the world and how we take action’. The discipline of mental models starts with turning the mirror inward, learning to unearth our internal pictures of the world, bringing them to the surface and holding them up to rigorous scrutiny. It also includes the ability to carry on ‘learning-full’ conversations that balance inquiry and advocacy, where people expose their own thinking effectively, and throw that thinking open to the influence of others.
4 Building shared vision. Senge claims that the capacity to develop and share a clear picture of the future situation is important for leaders to inspire employees to learn. Such a vision has the power to be elevating and may encourage experimentation and innovation. It can also foster a sense of the long term, which is fundamental to the ‘fifth discipline’.
5 Team learning. Team learning is viewed as ‘the process of aligning and developing the capacities of a team to create the results its members truly desire’ (Senge 1990: 236). It builds on personal mastery and shared vision – but these are not enough. People need to be able to act together. When teams learn together, Senge suggests, not only can there be good results for the organisation, but members will learn more quickly than they would otherwise.
Final analysis
Senge has written his book The Fifth Discipline to both inspire managers and leaders, and to identify which interventions can be made to turn an organisation into a ‘learning organisation’, and how this can be done. Senge is especially concerned with localness and openness in an organisation.
The question is whether Senge’s vision of the learning organisation and the cor-responding disciplines has contributed to more informed and committed action with regard to organisational life. Although there are some problems with Senge’s con-ceptualisation, it makes people prosper. The emphasis on building a shared vision,
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team working, personal mastery and the development of more sophisticated mental models, and the way he runs the notion of dialogue through these, does have the potential to realise more pleasant and creative workplaces. The use of systems thinking to integrate other dimensions of The Fifth Discipline also allows us to have a more holistic understanding of organisational life.
References
Flood, R.L. (1998) ‘Fifth Discipline: review and discussion’. Systemic Practice and Action Research, 11 (3): 259–73.
Senge, P.M. (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The art and practice of the learning organi-sation. New York: Currency.
Senge, P.M. (1999) The Dance of Change: The challenges of sustaining momentum in learning organisations. New York: Currency/Doubleday.
The big picture
The name six sigma originates from statistical terminology. Sigma is the mathe -mati cal symbol for standard deviation. Six sigma is a measure for the maximum number of defects that is allowed in a system. At the six sigma level, 99.999998 per cent of all products must be good, i.e. have to fall within the tolerance limits. This implies that no more than 3.4 defects are produced in 1 million opportunities. This level can be achieved by reducing the variation of the process and controlling it. To reach this quality level, the processes must be improved. However, process and quality improvements are not the ultimate goal – financial improvement is the goal.
Six sigma first became rooted at Motorola. To confront heavy Japanese compe-tition, in 1987 Motorola started to focus on quality improvement. The engineers at Motorola decided that the norm they were using, of defects per 1,000 units, was no longer appropriate. They therefore decided to measure the defects per million.
Allied Signal and General Electric have perfected the method. These firms have realised huge benefits by saving billions of dollars while improving customer satis-faction. Nowadays, six sigma projects are implemented not only in manufacturing firms, but also in the service industry.
Six sigma claims that focusing on reduction of variation will solve process and business problems. By using a set of statistical tools to understand the fluctuation of a process, management can begin to predict the expected outcome of that process. If the outcome is not satisfactory, other statistical tools can be used to further understand the elements that influence the process.
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Six sigma 45
When to use it
Six sigma is used to improve the operational performance of an organisation by identifying and dealing with its deficiencies. Six sigma projects help to achieve better financial results by improving quality and process reliability. Every six sigma project has to focus on financial improvements and cost savings. The six sigma philosophy suggests that top management should not authorise a project that does not have a savings target of at least $175,000.
Six sigma is a top–down method where management has to communicate the goal of each project and audit it. The organisation’s employees carry out the proj-ects in a very structured way. The employees have one of the following roles:
l Executive management champions – the CEO or other key management team members who have a clear overview of the six sigma projects.
l Master black belts – external consultants, who train the black belts and support six sigma projects.
l Black belts – the project leaders; they execute overall project management.
l Green belts– the project leaders of a part of a project, who implement six sigma projects.
l Project teams– each green belt has a project team. These employees are trained in the six sigma techniques.
The infrastructure of a six sigma project is unique for every organisation.
Nevertheless, general requirements for successful implementation can be deter-mined:
l A good understanding of statistical tools and techniques;
l Spending adequate resources on the definition phase;
l Spending adequate resources on the implementation phase;
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Figure 45.1 The six sigmas
l Effective management leadership and commitment;
l Undergoing a cultural change before implementation;
l Having an effective communication plan;
l Providing adequate training for the improvement teams;
l Having black belts with the ability to facilitate.
How to use it
Six sigma includes five steps: define, measure, analyse, improve and control (com-monly known as DMAIC).
1 Define– first of all, a selection of the processes that must be improved has to take place, and the goals for improvement should be defined (SMART).1 2 Measure– after the definition phase, data are collected to evaluate the
performance of the current process for future comparison.
3 Analyse– the difference between the current state and the desired state is determined in this phase.
4 Improve– the process is subsequently optimised based on the analysis.
5 Control– the new improved processes should be controlled and formalised.
Final analysis
Six sigma comprises hard and soft techniques. The harder ones involve a struc-tured, problem-solving approach, statistical process control tools (applied using DMAIC methodology), and project management techniques. The softer ones involve people management, creativity and improvement motivation.
Benchmarking is used in six sigma projects. The important characteristics of the product, the client, the internal process and the manufacturing system are com-pared with the products and processes of competitors. This is useful for financially oriented management, because the comparison at process level makes it possible to use six sigma techniques.
In six sigma projects, it is important to have vision and enthusiasm, but a require-ment for successful projects is a well-defined infrastructure for training, support and project co-ordination.
Reference
Breyfogle III, F.W. (2003) Implementing Six Sigma: Smarter solutions using statistical methods. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Note
1 SMART ! Specific, Measurable, Acceptable, Realistic and Time-specific.
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The big picture
The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model helps to establish an appropriate organisational architecture and a corresponding man-agement system with which to build an excellent organisation. The EFQM excellence model is based on the premise that excellent results with respect to per-formance, customers, people and society are achieved through partnerships, resources and processes. It is result-oriented and has a strong customer focus.
The model explains performance gaps and identifies improvement directions. It is a non-prescriptive framework, underpinned by so-called ‘fundamental elements’:
l leadership and consistency of purpose;
l management by processes and facts;
l employee development and involvement;
l continuous learning, innovation and improvement;
l partnership development;
l public responsibility.
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