Baldrige Award Assessment and Organizational Learning: The Need for Change Managements
Matthew W. Ford and James R. Evans, University of Cincinnati
Self-assessment using the Malcolm Baldrige Award Criteria
for Performance Excellence (CPE) has become a widespread practice
among all types of organizations. Empirical evidence suggests
that Baldrige Award-based assessment typically results in
improvements to managerial processes. Although the notion
of process change is embedded within the CPE framework, the
criteria do not explicitly address how an organization manages
such change.
In this article, the linkage between the criteria and change
management is described. It is suggested that an effective
process change management model can be derived from the framework
of the criteria for performance excellence. Using concepts
from the literatures on organizational change, assessment,
and learning, a model for managing change in the context of
the criteria is generated. The change process model parallels
the model of strategic change that has been historically well
specified by the CPE and refines the criteria notion of learning.
These two models are linked by the exchange of information
between the organizational performance review item and diagnostic
self-assessment activities.
Suggestions on how the organizational performance review item
in the criteria can be expanded to incorporate change management
as an explicit area to address are made. These suggestions
include the following:
- Make the change management capabilities embedded in the Baldrige Award criteria more explicit at the process-change level.
- Change the title of item 1.1b from Organizational Performance Review to Organizational Performance Review and Managing Change.
- Add this diagnostic question: How do senior leaders effectively manage organizational change to promote organizational learning and appropriate improvements to the organization’s management infrastructure?
- Add a reference to self-assessment in the item 1.1b notes. This is one possible means for generating diagnostic information that could contribute to developing effective change initiatives and for monitoring the implementation of those initiatives.
These additions would strengthen the CPE’s application as a diagnostic self-assessment tool, and provide clearer guidance to senior leadership toward improvement efforts.
Focus on the Classroom: Flowcharting with Excel
Daniel R. Heiser, DePaul University, and Paul Schikora, Indiana State University
In this article Heiser and Schikora present a method for
teaching the art of flowcharting using Microsoft Excel. The
discussion is relevant for undergraduate and graduate students,
corporate trainers, and novice flowcharters.
The approach used is to treat flowcharting as a graphical
language, complete with its own vocabulary and syntax. A number
of practical suggestions and cautions are offered to enhance
the legibility and communicative power of the tool. In addition,
several extensions are offered to allow customization of individual
process maps to the specific needs of various applications.
These include
- Distinguishing value-added from non–value-added activities
- Illustrating the shift of responsibility between co-workers
- Highlighting the visibility of activity to customers
Fortunately, common flowcharting conventions provide the ability to communicate relatively complex abstract concepts through simple visual cues.
Prioritizing Quality Management and Sociotechnical Variables in Terms of Quality Performance
Constantine Kontoghiorghes, Oakland University, and Deborah Dembeck, Quality Management and Organization Development Consultant
This study sought to identify the critical work environment
variables for quality performance in a service organization.
The study’s theoretical framework was based on total
quality management (TQM) and sociotechnical systems (STS)
theories.
The main purpose of this study was to identify, prioritize,
and describe the most important TQM and STS work environment
variables for quality performance in a marketing services
organization. Given the lack of uniform and consistent definition
of the quality construct, this study operationalized quality
performance in terms of distinct and universal measures that
could be applicable in a variety of settings. Through empirical
analysis this study was able to bridge some of the existing
gaps in knowledge by identifying the most critical work environment
variables that pertained to distinct quality performance indicators.
Further, by relying on both TQM and STS theories, this study
has helped create a more holistic conceptual framework for
studying quality improvement in a service organization and
reinforced the link between the two theories.
In this study Kontoghiorghes and Dembeck identified the following
TQM and STS variables to be critical components for quality
performance in a marketing services organization.
- Satisfaction with internal processes
- ISO 9001 achievement
- Commitment of peers toward quality
- Having easy accessibility to others
- Effective communication channels within and between work teams
- Excellent relationships between work teams
- A structure that makes it easy to improve processes
- Availability of tools and equipment to perform tasks
- Having enough time to perform job in a professional manner
- Employees who are quick to respond to unexpected problems
- Key processes that are regularly measured and audited
In terms of quality management practice, this study may assist practitioners to better assess organizational needs relative to quality performance, and thus be able to implement more targeted interventions. By replicating this study in other work settings researchers will be able to determine the extent to which the identified critical work environment variables are indeed crucial in other work settings or industries.
Introducing Statistical Thinking to the Food Industry—Facilitating and Inhibiting Factors
Frøydis Bjerke, and Margrethe Hersleth, Matforsk—Norwegian Food Research Institute
During the 1990s, Matforsk (the Norwegian Food Research
Institute) taught applied statistics to personnel from the
Norwegian food industry, focusing on the simple tools of statistical
process control (SPC) and experimental design. Through this
work, observations revealed that many companies have difficulty
applying these methods to their processes and quality improvement
projects. Therefore, a study on factors that might facilitate
or inhibit the introduction of applied statistical methods
in the industry was initiated.
In 1997, eight Norwegian food companies participated in a
training program focusing on simple statistical tools. The
participating persons and companies are the subjects of this
study. The result of this study shows that several factors
affect the success of applying statistical methods. For example,
- Management’s involvement and insight into statistical methods
- Systems for internal distribution of competence
- Some aspects of corporate culture
Although this material is from the food industry, these
findings likely apply to many branches of industry and manufacturing.
This article discusses the results from the study in detail
and considers the challenges of introducing statistical thinking
to nonstatisticians.
The challenge of introducing statistical thinking to the nonstatisticians
is mainly on a nonmathematical level. The key to succeeding
is quite complex, even if basics like data collecting systems,
knowledge of tools and methods, time, and motivation are provided.
The organization must be able to respond to both structural
and cultural changes in order to achieve statistical thinking.
Thus, if the concept of statistical thinking shall pervade
the whole organization, the pressure must be increased on
the top and intermediate levels of management. If this increased
pressure comes from the organizations’ surroundings in
general and their customers in particular, it will be more
effective.
Factors Related to Employee Perception of Their Leaders’ Commitment to Implement Continuous Quality Improvement
Lee Jones, Florida State University
The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related
to how frontline employees within a large university perceive
their leaders’ commitment toward implementing continuous
quality improvement (CQI) on the job. Investigating these
factors provides a framework for how leaders and frontline
employees might come to create a shared vision for organizational
outcomes.
The major findings of this study suggest that leaders within
higher education will have to alter the way they manage to
ensure that a climate is developed that will include the knowledge
and skills of all employees within the organization. Other
study findings include the following:
- Employees generally have a positive attitude about their jobs and their managers.
- A substantial, positive, statistical relationship exists between middle managers’ perceived knowledge and skills of CQI and their commitment toward implementing CQI on the job. This relationship may suggest that managers who have a positive perception of their knowledge and skills of CQI tend to be committed to implementing CQI on the job.
- A low, positive relationship exists between frontline employees’ perception of their knowledge and skills of CQI and frontline employees’ perceptions of their managers’ commitment toward implementing CQI on the job. The practical significance of this relationship is questioned and discussed.
- No positive correlation between middle managers’ perceived knowledge and skills of CQI and frontline employees’ perceptions of their managers’ commitment toward implementing CQI on the job was found.
Among the recommendations for practice are the following:
- All managers need to manifest their knowledge and skills by committing themselves to the principles of CQI.
- Frontline employees need to know that their managers have CQI knowledge and skills, and employees need to see and feel the positive affects of their managers’ knowledge and commitment.
- Universities that are attempting to implement CQI throughout the campus, or in specific departments, must design their training activities so that the managers’ actual knowledge and skills are measured before and after the training.
- Managers who are cognizant of their knowledge and skills before the training would be in a better position to assess their management style relative to the CQI principles.
- Frontline employees must feel that the CQI training is relevant to their roles.
- Frontline employees need to be given opportunities to demonstrate their CQI knowledge and skills on the job. One way frontline employees can do this is to facilitate group training sessions.
- The next phase of training must match frontline employees with managers, to begin a departmental dialogue about how CQI fits within the current processes of individual departments. Placing managers and frontline employees in training where they deal with the realities of their work environments will assist in closing the huge gap that sometimes exists between managers and frontline employees.
- A significant number of employees had either a good or excellent perception of their knowledge and skills.
Thus, each department may implement cross-functional work teams that provide frontline employees with opportunities to demonstrate their knowledge and skills by actually facilitating a work team of which management is a part.
