How Company Ltd Gained from Change Needs Assessment

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How Company Ltd Gained fromChange Needs
Assessment?

• www.benchmarking.fi

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2
Wide Applicability of the Assessment

• The assessment can be supported by relevant
  books to create practical ideas and courage to
  raise targets prior to the assessment.
• The following 30 pages contains a practical case
  how the book Managing Change Practical
  Strategies for Competitive Advantage was applied
  in the assessment.

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Development Must Get Started Without Delay

• Company Ltd was not yet in crisis but
  profitability was in steep decline.
• The owners identified significant needs for
  improvements to be able to meet emerging, tough
  competition.
• If the company did not start development
  activities without delay, the crisis would be
  upon them.
• The company had very poor development traditions.
  In spite of that they were in a hurry to get the
  required development program started.
• A new manager joined the company and people were
  very reserved towards him.

4
The Book Managing Change Gave a Stimulus

• The president and quality manager in the company
  got familiar with the synopsis and applications
  of the book in Internet.
• They purchased the book for themselves, read the
  book through Quick Notes of the book, and ordered
  books for every member of the management group.

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The Assessment Was Conducted in the Client Server
Application

• Installing the Software on the Main Users
  computer
• Creating the assessment project
• Installing the Software on the Users computers
• Responding questionnaires
• Analyzing results

Server
User
User
3,4,5
3,4,5
1,2,4,5
Main user
2,5
Consult
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The Software for Organizing and Conducting the
Assessment

• The Software and the related
• gguide book includes instructions
• or how to conduct the assessment
• And how to fully exploit it as well
• as templates, a case and examples
• Of documents needed in the
• assessment and to be easily
• Modified for actual needs.
• The PC Application
• ffacilitatess selection and
• modification of questions, the
• printing of questionnaires,
• gathering data and comments,
• calculation, sorting, analyzing,
• printing and showing results
• graphically.

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The Assessment Was Conducted as Follows

• 5 Summaries of
• the results

• 1 Reading the book

• 6 Feedback
• Workshop

• 2 Preparation for
• the assessment

• 3 Interviews

• 7 Development
• training

• 4 Evaluating
• development needs

• 8 Development
• program

• Priority
• Current
• Target

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The Book Inspired the Whole Management Group
Phase 1. Reading the book

• The management group members read the book and
  were inspired by its content.
• They decided to fill in the Learning Report of
  the book and agreed to use the book.

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The Change Needs Assessment Was Started
Phase 2. Preparation for the assessment

• The questionnaires in the book encouraged the
  management group to familiarize themselves with
  the Change Needs Assessment.
• They appreciated most its systematic and simple
  approach. The form of inquiry was totally new
  for them and arose their curiosity.
• When testing the questionnaires reveled that
  differences of opinions were significant to be
  more thoroughly discussed in the feedback session
  of the assessment.

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The Goals of the Assessment
Phase 2. Preparation for the assessment

• The objective of the assessment
• was to commit the key people
• in an organization to
• identifying and inspiring
• improvement needs and
• opportunities.
• The new president of the company
• wanted to get to know the management
• group members (8) and to get their
• individual views and proposals for development.
• His aim was to do it in a fast, systematic and
  inspiring way. As a newcomer it was crucial for
  him to make an impressive start to his career in
  the company.

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Clarifying Business Targets and the Business Idea
Phase 2. Preparation for the assessment

• Business Targets

• The company had a strategic plan which included
  business targets.
• In order to create a more uniform understanding
  and basis for evaluation of the improvement
  needs, they revised the plan in accordance with
  the ideas in the book Managing Change.

Business Idea
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Interviews by thePresident of the Company
Phase 4. Interviews

• The Presidents goal was to create easy, natural
  and inspiring relations with the management group
  members, to ask their views about issues that are
  not dealt with in the questionnaires.
• He devoted an average of two hours to the
  interview with each management group member.

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Interview Summaries
Phase 4. Interviews
For the feedback workshop he prepared the
following summaries

• What do we feel is best in our work?
• Where are our energies wasted?
• What is the success of the company based on?
• For what should we be prepared?
• What could be the most important visible
  measurements in the company?
• What would you personally like to be involved in
  developing?

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Creating Questionnaires
Phase 3. Evaluation of the improvement needs

• Nine question groups were selected from the
  software question base. The content of the
  questions was adapted.

• Business strategy
• Capability strategy
• Product management
• Process management
• Management of change
• Development management
• Managing my own change
• Operational performance
• Financial strategy

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Providing Responses into the Software
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results
The management group members responded the
questions through ranking priority and
evaluating current and target performance.

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The Results Were Analyzed in the Calculation
window
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results
Everyone could view, analyze and print results on
their own computers.
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Results Were Shown Graphically
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results

• Chart shows development needs in the monitored
• question assessed by the participants in the
  assessment.

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Results Were Shown Graphically
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results
The table shows an average need for improvement
and comparison between participants.
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Development Needs of Each Question GroupThe
most crucial question groups, concerning
development needs, were identified and monitored
through comparing the overall grades of the
question groups.
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results
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Comparing Individual Overall Gradesof the
Question Groups
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results
In the calculation window they could compare
individual overall grades of the
question groups.
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Monitoring Each Question Group by QuestionThe
most crucial questions in each question group
were identified and monitored as well as an
enormous variation between management group
members.
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results
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Printing the Comments
Phase 5. Summaries and analyses of the results
The table below, presents a sample of the comment
summary for the product management question
group
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Running the Feedback Workshop
Phase 6. The feedback workshop
The management group members (8) and eight other
key people in the organization (total 16)
participated in the Feedback Workshop

• The morning was used for presenting and
  discussing the results of the assessment, and the
  afternoon for group works.
• The groups were prepared the development
  proposals to be decided by the management in the
  later phase (an example as follows).

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Arguments forDevelopment needs for product
management
Phase 6. The feedback workshop

• A small company operating in the global market
  must master product management exceptionally
  well.
• Product applications for different customer needs
  are too expensive to design and produce.
• Orders must be checked several times prior to the
  start of production requiring extra resources and
  causing delays in deliveries.
• The current products are not modularized and not
  suitable for serial production.

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Proposal by the Group
Phase 6. The feedback workshop

• The group of representatives from each
  department,
• headed by the product development department,
  should,
• within two weeks, meet to prepare a preliminary
  plan of
• how to implement product management and
• start development of the next product family.

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Seminar Based on the Book
Phase7. Development training

• In addition to the Change Needs Assessment the
  extended management group (16) participated in a
  two-day seminar on the issues presented in the
  book.
• The major goal of the seminar was to get familiar
  with the various development models to be applied
  to the development issues identified in the
  assessment.
• Particular emphasis was placed on the holistic
  view of development as well as managing change
  issues to get the change also to happen in
  practice.

• Strategic management
• Product management
• Process management
• Development management
• Managing change

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Seminars Dealing with Individual Development
Models
Phase7. Development training

• Because process management
• was regarded as one of the primary
• development issues, a two-day
• business process improvement
• seminar was organized for
• the company.

• In the later phase one day training
• in product management
• was organized.

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Planning and Launch of the Development Program
Phase 8. Development program

• The management group decided to
• launch the program to renew the
• whole product range and apply
• modern product management
• approaches like modularization.
• The program for business
• process improvement was launched
• to create better conditions for
• process management and to
• exploit the opportunities brought by
• the new product range.

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The Book Increased Understanding and Inspiration.

• The book is practical and its message is easy to
  understand.
• It provided a clear picture of the holistic view
  of development, various development models and,
  particularly, management of change.
• Real life cases and related theories as well as
  improvements achieved and results also encourage
  us to set our own targets higher.

Tapio Hintikka, President, Hackman Group
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We Got Development Started

• The extend management group, 10 people, were
  involved in the assessment. They and additional 5
  key persons attended a two day seminar following
  the assessment.
• We found the assessment and related book an
  excellent source of inspiration to start a
  systematic development program.
• We identified improvement areas and,
  surprisingly, really large differences in
  individual opinions of needs for improvements.
  Particularly, we got new and practical ideas for
  product and process management resulting in real
  improvement actions.
• Furthermore, the seminar dealing with the
  holistic view of development presented in the
  book, deepened our understanding of systematic
  development work

Matti Salonen, President, Tammermatic Ltd