Process Improvement Exam Questions Flashcards
October 28, 2015 / 08:30-13.30
The Technical University (TTU) has recently appointed a new president (rector) who wants to make a difference and make use of the creativity of both staff and students to create an organization that can benefit society in a better way.
In an increasingly global economy, where technology is rapidly changing and new business models are replacing old (sometimes leading to the destruction of existing industry) there are demands on the university to play a vital role. TTU views itself as having a primary role as educator and as a research institution, but there is also room for participating in innovation processes by solving technical problems, assisting in testing concepts in laboratories and by conducting investigations and contract research.
TTU has previously been characterized by a leadership model based on a top-down approach where the central administration set the strategies, decided upon priorities and distributed resources. The new president, on the other hand, has a feeling (she has talked to some people) that there is a large creative potential in staff and students that is not being utilized.
One advisor told her that you were trained in change management (theories and practices, and tools such as AIM, PDCA, etc.). She has therefore asked you to come to her office to present your ideas on how a change process could be designed – based on the idea that the creativity of students and staff should be utilized as an integrated component of the new way of working at TTU.
a) How should she start the process? Which tools can be used and how? (4 p)
b) Are there any problems that you could foresee, given your knowledge of both the university world and your competence in change theories? (3 p)
c) What advice can you give for managing the process and mitigating possible problems? (3 p)
a) How should she start the process? Which tools can be used and how? (4 p)
The course is built around change theories and a number of tools that have been presented in lectures, discussed in a literature seminar, trained in workshops and finally applied in a home assignment, e.g. PDCA, AIM, QC and management tools in combination with change theories (Schein, (Lewin, Beckhard & Harris) and Nadler & Tushman.
The rector can start the process in different ways, depending on the perspective you choose to emphasize and motivate – typically identifying and involving people, using a PDCA systematic view, and developing a deeper understanding of the issue at hand, by collecting facts and analyzing the situation – using tools like AIM to understand the situation and root cause (Plan) or some other tools that you can motivate. The answers should be linked to the situation at the university described above – the same holds for question b and c. By answering the questions connected to an empirical situation (here a university that has a specific change challenge) you can show that you can use the theories/tools in practice. This way of connecting theories/tools to an empirical situation also relates directly to the home assignment. The facts you use are provided by the text above and the additional facts that you choose to introduce based on your knowledge of universities.
b) Are there any problems that you could foresee, given your knowledge of both the university world and your competence in change theories? (3 p)
Here it is possible to draw both from personal experience of the university, but it is also possible to use change theories taught in the course, e.g. the three kind of problems that Nadler & Tushman point at as major reasons for failure of change projects – however it is also possible to use other theories (Schein).
c) What advice can you give for managing the process and mitigating possible problems? (3 p)
Based on PDCA and the change theories it is possible to provide advice to the president using the university and its situation/problems/challenges as an empirical input for the advice
131023
- Improvement Processes
a) Reflect upon the practical use of tools such as the 7 QC tools, 7 management tools and AIM. Elaborate upon potential critical areas and what can be done in order to remedy potential weaknesses. (5 points)
b) Sunshine Ltd has experienced severe competition on its main markets and its leadership group expects competition to continue to increase, threatening the survival of the company. Until now it has been able to keep its labour force but for the first time in the company history it might need to lay off a considerable number of workers and middle managers. In order to survive, the leadership group is planning to reorganize and change towards a Lean inspired approach during 2014. Under such circumstances, what is the relevance of the change models presented during the course (e.g. Schein’s and Nadler & Tushman’s models)? (5 points)
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101022
- Improvement Processes
a) The value of qualitative tools such as the AIM-method depends on the way they are applied. Elaborate on the different steps in the AIM-method – what is the purpose with the different steps? Which steps are critical in order to guarantee the quality of the analysis, and why? (5 points)
b) A small sized consultancy firm has been acquired by a larger firm. You have been asked by the new president to assist in implementing a structured way of working, where the consultants are supposed to follow a “best practice approach” developed by senior consultants from the larger firm.
Earlier the individual consultants in the smaller firm have been used to choose their own approach and in addition, the existing incentive scheme motivates the consultants to use their own creativity to create customer specific solutions.
Now, the new president instead wants the consultants to work according to a more standardized “best practice approach”: What kind of recommendation would you provide based on your knowledge of change models and change theory? Base your suggestion on a model(s) presented and used during the course. (5 points)
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101014
- Improvement Processes
a) There are various reasons why group work does not follow an ideal learning cycle. Use a learning cycle (e.g. PDCA) and elaborate upon what kind of reasons can exist why groups do not always follow an ideal cycle. How can groups improve their work through the means of a learning cycle?
b) The value of qualitative tools such as the KJ-method depends on the way they are applied. Elaborate on the different steps in the KJ-method – what is the purpose with different steps? Which steps are critical in order guarantee the quality of the analysis, and why?
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141029
You are hired as the new change facilitator at Mark’s Expense, a start-up company that still has to find a way to make a profit. Your boss was part of the founding group who had been to university together. Today only two of them remain in the company. The employees are a great group of designers, marketing people and sales specialists and there is considerable competence in manufacturing as well. The designs are great, the marketing people believe they do a good job, the manufacturing people are convinced that they carry the burden and the distribution people know that the situation sometimes is totally chaotic and they have to cope with this trying to deliver in time. So there are a lot of diverse opinions among the employees what needs to be done in order to survive but most people are still hopeful and willing to contribute.
Your boss heard that you were trained in the AIM method, change theory and PDCA and believes that this could be where you should start.
a. How would you introduce AIM at Marks Expense? Please, describe the different steps you would take to train the employees and to facilitate an analysis. What would you use AIM for (in a change process).
b. What results do you expect to reach by using AIM – and what are the next steps that you would suggest?
c. In the change theories presented in the course an issue in focus is ‘anxiety’ – elaborate upon what is meant by anxiety and why it is considered important to be aware of and deal with different aspects of anxiety. What are suggested ways of dealing with anxiety when you are planning your change process at Marks Expense?
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091023
Recently a Swedish management consultancy firm was acquired by WHY, a large international firm, and the new general manager in Sweden asks you to help him introducing the “WHY way” in the Swedish subsidiary.
The new managing director, who in his previous position worked in France, comments that the success of WHY primarily is based on the competence of its core team at head office. This team has developed the “WHY Approach”, which is a standardized approach all WHY consultants follow. He adds that an intensive 2 weeks training of the consultants in the head quarter training facilities has been a key ingredient in order to develop competencies among the consultants.
However, his first contacts with his new Swedish employees made him a bit concerned. The Swedish firm has been based on a different business idea, where individual consultants have been stimulated to use their creativity in order to create customer specific solutions and to participate as “process consultants” providing advice during the implementation.
a) What kind of recommendation would you provide based on your knowledge of change models and change theory? Base your suggestion on a model(s) presented and used during the course (e.g. Schein’s and Nadler & Tushman’s models) (5p)
b) Use the “extended” PDCA-cycle to plan the process of integrating the Swedish consultants into the WHY firm. (3p)
c) Reflect upon the strengths and possible weaknesses in your approach to change. (2p)
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