1. The five factors include:
1. Staff motivation
2. Efficiency of management towards implementing changes
3. Business culture
4. Advance up-to-date machinery
5. Flexibility of workers towards changes
2. The five barriers are:
1. Inflexibility in operation
2. Human resource problems
3. Lack of co-ordination
4. Poor communication channels
5. Untrained workers
3. Supply chain consists of all parties which are involved in moving a product or a service from producer to the customer. It includes the manufacturer, material suppliers, transporters, wholesalers, retailers etc.
4. In a loosely coupled system workers will be less dependent on their superiors and will show initiative under such a system and there tend to be more trust between workers and management. The corporate culture will eradicate bureaucracy and promote flexibility within its operations.
5. Effectiveness - A measure of the extent to which a planned action meets its objectives, costnot being a
consideration
Kaizen - A Japanese business improvement philosophy of continuous and incremental improvement.
Buy in - A term describing the engagement, commitment or interest of various stakeholders in a project,
idea or decision.
Productivity - A comparative measure of the value of outputs and inputs
Innovation - An idea that is usable and has value.
6. The five ways are as follows:
1. The ability of business to make profit is affected by external factors such as competition
2. Business expansion plans are affected by external factors such as inflation
3. Organization’s product portfolio can be affected by social factors such as ageing population
4. Organization’s method of production may be affected by changes in technology
5. Organization’s man power planning can be affect by legal factors such as minimum wage
7. The two examples of performance measures in each of the following categories are:
Cost: :1. Efficiency rate (Total Cost / Output);
2. Labour productivity (Total Output/Total labour employed)
Quality: 1. Defect rate ;
2. Sales returns or customer complains
Time: 1. Lead time ;
2.Production cycle time
8. The 5 features of a learning organization includes:
1. Knowledgeable workforce
2. Maximum flexibility
3. Motivation
4. Competitive advantage
5. Innovation
9. The 4 methods of analysing risk associated with innovation and continuous improvement are:
1. Continuous improvement balanced scorecard
2. Cost determination and reduction (CDR)
3. Failure modes and effects analysis
4. Force Field analysis
10. The following options apply: a,b,d
11. Gap analysis involves comparison of actual situation with the set goals and targets. Any deviation identified is known as a gap and can be filled by taking control actions. It can be used to test creative culture by comparing existing culture with the set objectives and desired results. During the process if a difference is identified between the two positions then there is a gap and organization’s culture needs further improvement.
12. The following information should be communicated to stakeholders to obtain approval for a proposed change management process:
1. What is change management process?
2. Why the change process is necessary?
3. Potential benefits of the proposed change management process and also the risks involved.
13. 5 key messages that should be communicated to promote continuous improvement within an organization as an essential part of doing business are:
1. Competition becoming more intensive
2. customers becoming more demanding ;
3. changing market conditions ;
4. Changing way of life ;
5. Price and cost pressures
14. Transition involves all the actions that are involved in changing the state of a process.
15. Transition is considered to be an important factor when implementing continuous improvement process within the organization as it involves all the activities being carried out on inputs to convert it into finished goods. Inefficiencies in these sub-processes will lead to wastage of time and resources. Continuous improvement and innovation is unlikely to exist where processes involves under-utilization of resources.
16. Contingent event is an uncertain event on occurrence of which an organization will be affected. Contingency planning helps an organization to respond to events that are uncertain. The consequences of these events can be disastrous forthe organization and may lead to closure in extreme situations. Hence contingency plan allows an organization to meet uncertainties and reduce the adverse impact of such events to the minimum. This reduces overall risk.
17. The following principles are important to keep in mind when gathering evidence and information to evaluate continuous improvement systems and processes:
1. Relevancy
2. Timeliness
3. Evidence based conclusions
4. Cost effectiveness
5. Reliability
18. 5 methods that could be used to monitor and evaluate a continuous improvement process are:
1. Productivity Measures such as labour cost per unit ; capital cost per unit
2. Variance analysis : a comparison between set targets and actual figures
3. Appraisal system
4. Customer feedback system
5. Benchmarking
19. Organizational characteristics that are likely to enhance innovation includes:
1. More accountability given to workers and increased sense of ownership among workers
2. Maximum staff involvement
3. Appreciation and recognition
4. Hands off style of leadership with workers being trusted
20. Organizational characteristics that are likely to inhibit innovation includes:
1. Hierarchical structure
2. Lack of appreciation and more criticism- workers blamed for their mistakes
3. Lack to clear direction and focus
4. Role culture
References:
Hugoes, M.H. (2006) Essentials of supply chain management, 2nd ed., John Wiley & Sons.
Ortiz, C.A. (2009) Kaizen and Kaizen event implementation, 1st ed., Prentice Hall.
Waters, S. (2009) The contingency plan, Nick Hern Books.
