Prioritizing areas for improvement - a mind map based approach

A new approach to rapidly decide which areas should be focussed first in initial assessment

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By Jagadish C.A. (Rao) , Founder of q-Maxim

V 1.0 21-12-2012

DEVELOPED BY THE AUTHOR. TECHNIQUE HAS SOME SEMBLANCE TO MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY MCKINSEY’S PROBLEM SOLVING APPROACH & KPI TREE. INFORMATION IS ORGANIZED IN MIND-MAPS

THIS PRESENTATION DESCRIBES A NEW APPROACH TO QUICKLY DECIDE WHICH AREAS OF THE COMPANY THE CONSULTANT SHOULD ASSESS FIRST IN CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT & TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJECTS. ONLY PUBLICLY AVAILABLE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPANY IS USED FOR THE PURPOSE

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•Background of the concept

•Case study

•EFQM traditional approach based on submission

• The new integrated continual improvement approach

•q-Maxim’s transformational approach

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contacts, background of founder q•What next? contacts, background of founder q-Maxim

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Background of the concept

• As a management consultant, I have to carry out rapid assessment of organizations as a first step before prioritizing on few high impact improvement projects. In most cases, limited time is available for preliminary discussions with the top management. In view of this, it necessary to decide beforehand as to which are the areas the discussions should focus on.

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Background of the concept

• Based only on publicly available information, it is possible to quickly gain valuable insights about the company. It is also possible to short list priority areas for discussions. Publicly available information could be in the form of annual/ quarterly financial reports, management discussions, announcements, analysts’ reports, news items, etc.

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Background of the concept

• The approach I follow is to develop number of hypotheses, group them, crystallize the thoughts in the form of a mind-map, decide which of the hypothesizes are probable & decide on important areas for discussion with the top management. The approach is somewhat similar to drawing a KPI tree & also McKinsey’s problem solving approach. This concept is illustrated in the case study which follows.

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•Background of the concept

•Case study

•EFQM traditional approach based on submission

• The new integrated continual improvement approach

•q-Maxim’s transformational approach

•

contacts, background of founder q•What next? contacts, background of founder q-Maxim

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Case Study

• The case study illustrated in this presentation pertains to a 30 year old, publicly traded, formerly family owned company in the garment export business. The company’s clientele consists of who & who of international fashion industry. The company has several manufacturing locations and is one of the largest in the field in the country.

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Case Study

• Few years ago, the company was taken over by a huge multinational P-E (private equity) firm. As a part of restructuring several changes were made. E.g.- family run management was replaced by experienced professional management, Lean Six Sigma was implemented (guided by international firm), firm was recapitalized with fresh equity & cash injection, factories were modernised, etc.

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Case Study

• However, financial performance has been seesawing between profits and losses in the recent years.

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Case Study

• Topic of the assessment is :Why is the company making losses?

• Put in another way – which areas to assess first to get better insight into the reason(s) for losses.

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•The concept some background

•Case study

•Mind- maps setup

• The new integrated continual improvement approach

•q-Maxim’s transformational approach

•

contacts, background of founder q•What next? contacts, background of founder q-Maxim

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Mind- maps setup

• The first mind-map pertains high level view of major areas of interest. This in turn is linked to the second map which pertains to operational management (production). The second map is shown in some detail. Second map is blown up into parts for better clarity

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Mind- maps setup

• Some of the hypotheses are based on publicly available information about the company rest are based on author’s knowledge/experience.

• Areas shortlisted to focus first are enclosed in red square boundaries.

• Note: Only operational management (production) area is shown in this presentation and information shown is not comprehensive.

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•The concept some background

•Case study

•Mind- maps how they are setup

• mind maps two levels

•q-Maxim’s transformational approach

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contacts, background of founder q•What next? contacts, background of founder q-Maxim

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TOP LEVEL MIND-MAP OVERVIEW HYPOTHESIS –LEVEL #1

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SECOND LEVEL MIND-MAP OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT [PRODUCTION] HYPOTHESIS –LEVEL #2

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Mind- maps two levels

• Similar approach can be used in wide variety of applications such as

– Information gathering & collating in IT projects

– Organizing process documentation in ISO standards’ implementation

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•The concept some background

•Case study

•Mind- maps how they are setup

• mind maps two levels

•q-Maxim’s transformational approach

•

contacts, background of founder q•What next? contacts, background of founder q-Maxim

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q-Maxim’s transformational approach overview

• The approach explained in the previous slides also forms the basis for rapidly carrying out initial assessment in q-Maxim’s 2 stage transformational approach

(flow chart in next slide )

q-Maxin’s 2 stage transformational framework

Discuss with people at all levels, look at evidence

Study information

HOA Report :

1. Strong points

2. OFI, suggestions

Discuss, Prioritize OFI based on set criteria

Organization wide OFI list id#, effort estimate, responsibility resources, timelines

Begin individual initiatives e.g. Taguchi DOE for yield improvement

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Assessment & gap analysis

based on q-Maxim’s proprietary

Methodology based on EFEM

& Lean

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•The concept some background

•Case study

•Mind- maps how they are setup

• mind maps two levels

•q-Maxim’s transformational approach

•

contacts, background of founder q•What next? contacts, background of founder q-Maxim

CONTACT US FOR DETAILS (DETAILS NEXT PAGE)

QUESTIONS?

DOUBTS?

WHAT NEXT?

WOULD YOU LIKE TO DISCUSS FURTHER TO BEGIN TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY?

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q-Maxim

Jagadish C.A. (Rao) (profile next slide)

Founder, President jagadish.chandra@qmaxim.com

qmaxim001@gmail.com +91 9538328704

+91 80 2693 1804

Visit us at : qmaxim.in blog: qmaxim.wordpress.com

Note : Contents of this presentation, concepts, data, style are proprietary & confidential in nature and must not be shared with third parties

Need clarifications OR more detailed information OR preliminary free assessment OR run similar program in your company?

Contacts:

Profile of Jagadish C.A., Founder of q-Maxim • B.Tech (Metallurgical Engg., NIT-K,Surathkal, India, 1st class distinction)

• ASQ (American society for quality) certified Six sigma Black belt • ASQ certified Manager of Org. Excellence/ Quality • Certified EFQM assessor extensive experience assessing companies,

fashioning transformational roadmap & implementing EFQM model • Juran QI facilitator, Cert. adv. Industrial experimentation, Analytics • ISO 9001:2008,14001,QS-9000 (TS 16949) lead auditor • ~30 years experience in Manufacturing and transactional fields, 5.5 years as

management consultant • Exposure to McKinsey, Juran, Six Sigma cost optimization approaches • Rich experience in Quality, process management, R +D, Technology, Cost

reduction, Management consultancy. Extensive experience in using advanced methodologies for problem solving and optimization

• Extensive exposure/ knowledge of heavy process oriented manufacturing – Aluminium cast house, Steel, Welding, casting, foundry, Metallurgy, etc

• Widely travelled – India, north America, Europe, M.E.

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