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PathMaker: A Powerful Hoshin Planning
Software Solution
Hoshin Kanri, also known as Hoshin Planning or Policy Deployment,
is another great management idea from Japan. Like so many other
modern management ideas, its roots lie in the quality management
literature and practice which brought Japan into the front ranks
of world manufacturing productivity. The ideas in Hoshin aren't
complex. Basically, organizations will set strategy at the top,
but the strategy will reflect ideas that are encouraged to bubble
up from lower levels of the organization. The overall strategy
gets exploded into finer detail as it goes down the organization.
Indicators are established to reflect the achievement of
strategic goals, and they are monitored over time - much the same
as in the Balanced Scorecard method. The strategic plan is
reviewed every year, and new annual goals are set, and progress
towards long-term goals is assessed. A catchball process, of give
and take between levels of the organization, is used to get
alignment throughout the structure. The results, when everyone in
the organization is pulling towards common - and correct - goals,
can be very impressive.
PathMaker helps you set up an effective Hoshin Planning system
without a huge investment. The first stage is to use PathMaker to
develop the strategic plan for the organization, and identify the
key indicators that will be tracked. The second stage is to share
the plan with the next level down, and have each team at the
lower level create its own sub-project. When project files are
stored on network drives, team members can be assigned
appropriate permission levels, and the process of catchball can
begin. As time goes by, indicators can be monitored in Data
Analyst steps on project pathways, and quality improvement
projects can be executed, all within PathMaker. The level of
shared knowledge in the organization increases, and with it comes
alignment, and ultimately, speed.
For details on how to implement a Hoshin Planning system using
PathMaker, please contact
us.
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