Case Study 1
TATA Consultancy Services: Organization Development at a Global Information Technology Organization
1999 onwards
Over the last six years, FLAME TAO Knoware has worked with a global IT organization, a relationship that commenced with an invitation for a diagnostic assessment of its culture in 1999, and enabling it to define a developmental roadmap ahead. Over the years, FLAME TAO has partnered the organization in its performance management systems, establishing a change platform, organization restructuring, and alignment.
It has been a contributor to lower attrition rates, and numerous awards for best HR practices and top employer over the last few years. The awards include the Hewitt award and DQ awards.
Intervention on Organization Development:
The Macro-design
Strategic Fitness
Case studies illustrating intervention design
Case Study 2
EID Parry (I) Ltd.
Explicating many areas of the FLAME TAO approach :
This case study is not the most recent, but, it is one that serves as a useful illustration as it explicates many aspects of our approach.
EID Parry is today a model in the Sugar industry in India. It was not that way in 1990 when Raghu Ananthanarayanan started working with them. The Murugappa Group had taken over the Parry group a couple of years earlier, the initial “cleaning of the augean stables” had just been completed. There were many questions about the road ahead. Raghu was called in to assess the group and recommend ways to set the group on a growth path.
- The Assessment : Through a series of one on one interviews and factory visits, each company in the Parry group as well as its top management was assessed and the underlying processes that impacted the culture were explicated. The management decided that Parry Sugar would be the pilot for the OD transformation work.
- Parry Sugar : Nellikuppam was the only sugar factory in EID Parry at that time. Consequent upon the VRS and labour negotiation that were part of the initial turnaround, the morale was very low. The management practices were archaic and almost feudal. If there was no significant improvement, the factory would have been closed.
- Key interventions : It was clear from the start that the issues of morale and mindset had to be worked hand in hand with the improvement of operations. The first set of interventions took the form of a 5 day workshop. The 1st three days focused on the human issues and the last two on basic tools for continuous improvement. The entire group of about 200 managers went through this in a 3 months period. They made a combined presentation to the top management on how they saw themselves take ownership and how they could transform the factory.
- Two key processes were redesigned immediately : These were- the Goal Alignment process and the Budgeting process. The natural business cycle was 18 months starting from planting of the cane till the sale of sugar from the fields planted. This became the basis for strategy and goal alignment and the 18 months plan was divided into 6 month segments for control purposes. The strategy creation and goal alignment were done in a large group with all key stakeholders present i.e., EID Parry top management, all divisional heads and their key “reportees”. A context of trust and dialogue had been created in the workshops and it was therefore easy to work across levels and departments to arrive at well negotiated set of goals. The idea of “link responsibility” became an important element of this process where goal commitments meant a commitment to ones peers as well as to ones boss.
- On going productivity focus : Along with the goal alignment process, shop floor improvement was initiated. Two critical methods were taught in the workshop: a throughput mapping process and “five why relations diagram”. Using the two methods, critical lacunae in the throughput were identified at every stage of the process from planting (including R&D) through to desptach of sugar out of the factory. Both cross functional teams as well as departmental teams worked on this. Remarkable improvements were seen on critical areas like machine availability and cane inflow.
- Redefining job position : The third and critical element of the intervention was redefining jobs based on the idea of throughput replacing the traditional job description. A huge “kalyana mandapa” was hired for this work. The entire set of managers were made to simulate the organization throughput by each one sitting facing their key customer. A clear supply chain and conversion chain of nursery, planting and factory formed the spine of the flow. The support functions like R&D, Maintenance, HR, Finance, QC etc. formed “one wing” of the bird like form that emerged. The Managerial and decision making functions (for whom the hands-on managers were internal customers) formed the other “wing”. Each person negotiated the key deliverables from this immediate “internal supplier”. The “internal customer contracts” were finalized with the CEO of EID Parry giving his “seal of approval” seated on a dais and having a “birds eye view of the great bird that was taking shape”.
These three interventions converged to make EID Parry the most improved company of the Murugappa Group in 2 years. We then consolidated the process through visioning and institution building.
The Visioning workshop was conducted in 1994 and about 40 senior managers spent 3 days offsite. The process started with small cross functional groups sharing “stories” of the past and sharing possibilities of the future. They then worked on a “visualisation” and drew independent pictures of the “10 years from now” reality. Each one discussed his picture within small groups and a few group collages of the envisaged scenario were drawn. Till now there was no “judgment”, only adding on. The group scenarios were discussed and debated and new teams were formed who drew the entire “EID Parry of 2000”. The outcome was a vision of a system that “took water from the environment and returned water, cleaner than it took” and the turnover of less than Rs. 100 crore at the time of visioning would top Rs. 450 crores by the year 2000. The entire plan was put into a document that became the basis of review. EID Parry achieved this milestone in 1999!
The process of growth however, was not without its pains. The demands of individual change of hearts and minds to move from a feudal organization to a throughput centred, technology and research focused organization was not easy. Especially as new factories were bought in the expansion phase. The CEO realized the importance of this as the key to “soil conditioning” as he was fond of calling the OD exercise. A series of unstructured learning labs were held where there was a deep sharing as well as fierce confrontation that happened in a context of mutual respect and non judgmental listening. The CEO was not only present in these labs, but would actively participate in self disclosure and enquiry that formed the heart of the learning labs. This modeling set the tone for a process where shame and guilt for ones lacunae and inadequacies as well as a fear of failure were addressed.
Management process became more robust as a result of this: facts were shared without hesitation. Issues were discussed and debated intensely without personalization. A culture of celebration and replenishment took root.
In a few years, Nellikkuppam had changed unrecognizably. Ordinary people who were written off created history. Our active engagement with EID Parry ended in 1997 but, the organization has sown many seeds on the fertile soil created through these interventions and today EID Parry is a model in the sugar industry.
Case Study 3
EPCOS India Pvt. Ltd.
EPCOS India
Private
Limited
established
in
1996
is
a
premier
supplier
of
film capacitors
which includes DC capacitors, AC capacitors
and Power Factor capacitors.
EPCOS
revenues
in
2003 were
Euro
21.5
million
and
current
revenue
in
2006
is
Euro 32.2
million. The
firm is a
leading
supplier
of
AC capacitors
and
Power
factor
capacitors in the
domestic
market and exports these
to
the
European
market.
The Nashik
plant
has
been
identified as one
of
the highly
profitable plants of EPCOS worldwide and
there is steady
expansion
year on year.
Through
steady
implementation of Lean
and
Six Sigma
initiatives
EPCOS
is
improving
its
business performance
and
customer
requirements.
It
has also
won
several
awards
from
its
customers,
and professional
bodies
like
ELCINA,
Quimpro,
and
NIMA, etc.
The company
is
poised
to
expand
its
business multifold in the next three to five years
and establish itself as a significant contributor to
revenues of EPCOS worldwide.
Business & Technical Situation
The
environment
in 2001 to 2003 demanded
cost effective operations to
survive the
downfall of
‘Component
Industry’
at
the global
level.
EPCOS
decided
to
move its
‘Production
Lines’
to
more cost
effective locations –
this
resulted
in
transfer
of
facilities
from
Europe
to
South
America
and Asia.
While
the
pace of
transfer
was
to the
expected
and
satisfactory
levels,
development
of
skill levels did not
meet
the
pace. This
led
to
quality,
cost and
delivery
targets
not
being met
optimally.
Best
practices
were not
in
vogue; consequently solutions
were
sub optimal
and
resource
capability utilization
was under par due
to lack of knowledge in best
practices.
Solution :
ƒ
Initial
Step
The
first
step
was
to
assess
the
current
maturity
level
of
the
company
in
various
people
and process
best
practices
as
per
FLAME
TAO
models
and
lean
(TPS)
best
practices.
Upon
mapping
& assessment a
road
map
was
co-created
comprising
of
the initiatives to
be
undertaken,
including the levels of lean competencies
to be achieved for the first year and.
The
transformation
journey
was
modeled
around
the
‘learning
through
practice’
approach
and typically the implementation initiative
was through
a unique
’teach-train-transfer’
methodology.
ƒ The
Intervention Process
The
process of
the intervention
was on a three tier scale:
-
The
1st
tier
was involvement
and
followed
by
active
engagement
of
all
Unit
Heads
and
the Head
of Functions through actual
implementation of various lean practices in
live projects.
-
The
2nd
tier
included
typically the Executives
and Supervisors, and
-
Finally the 3rd
tier
addressed
the
Operators
at
the shop floor.
As the
change
initiative
was unfolding,
a
review
process was established
to
monitor
progress
and to
sustain
&
standardize,
by
implementing Plan Do
Check
Act
(PDCA)
and
Standardize
Do
Check Act (SDCA) cycles’ wherever
results
were attained.
ƒ The
review team
Initially
a
core
team
for
each
of
the
key
lean
practices
was
formed
to
disseminate
the best practices
and ensure
standardized ways of practice
and implementation.
Benefits
1. 5’S’
for
workplace
discipline
through
organization &
standardization
of
work
place
aimed
at reducing searching time, creating space and
providing clean surrounding
Achievements:
2. Total
Productive
Maintenance to improve
Overall
Equipment
Effectiveness
by
involving
cross functional teams in multi
disciplinary movement
training
& involvement to maximize output.
Achievements:
3. SMED to reduce Set up & Changeover
times.
Achievements:
-
The
average
changeover
time
across
the
organization
has
reduced
by
almost
60%,
in es it has been reduced by 90%.
-
In one Unit the
change over time reduced from 105 min’s to
5 min.
4. SEDAC
as
a
team oriented problem
solving
approach
to
achieve
quantum
improvements
in reducing scrap, rework and raw
material cost
reduction.
Achievements:
-
SEDAC projects resulted in reduction in scrap,
relevant to the
project to the
tune of 30%
-
In one scrap level
reduced from 17.5% to 7.5%
-
Cost reduction
of 11 % was achieved in plastic can washer
capacitors.
-
In
metal
top
assembly
rejection
of
metal
top
assembly
was
reduced from
2 per
thousand
to 2.8 per ten thousand
-
In Film plant rejection due to
external
oxidation was reduced from 1.19% to
0.35%.
-
In another project rejection was reduced from
1.2% to 0.3%.
5. Value Stream approach to reduce Lead
Times to serve the
Customer faster
Achievements:
-
Value added
ratio
(from
1st
operation)
in
PFC
is
improved
from
11.5%
to
23%
after
rearranging the operations
and
adding
conveyor
for
single
piece
flow.
Capacity,
Labour productivity
& EBIT have
enhanced
due to this.
-
Value added ratio
in
MKK
is
improved
from
48%
to
57%
after
adding
conveyor
&
single piece flow at assembly.
-
Value Added
ratio
in
AC
Unit
improved
from
18.3%
to
22.85%
after
changing
to
more
effective layout.
Tools
and
Techniques
deployed
1. Hoshin Kanri – Policy Deployment and alignment
processes
2. Organization
and
people maturity
mapping
tools like OIM, EUM and EDQ.
3. People processes
like common presentation, time management,
project
management
and
recognition platforms.
4. Lean tools
like 5 ‘S’, TPM, Value
Stream
Mapping,
SEDAC, Poka
Yoke
5. Programs in Creativity tools
and Six
Thinking hats
6. Shop
floor coaching and mentoring
7. PPAP processes
especially Process
flow and
P FMEA
8. Quality Function Deployment and D-FMEA
9. Safety Management |
