1. A global aerospace giant
This company had driven revenues close to €40bn with technically excellent products and services; financial performance was outstanding. However there was concern at the top with the poor operational performance in particular on-time on-quality delivery.
A survey had shown them that there was no correlation between supplier performance and the kind of improvement methods used. So instead of following the latest fad, they had a hard look at operational improvement from first principles.
This resulted in an improvement programme:-
- Where the CEO would visit Business Units on a bi-annual basis specifically to discuss operational issues and actions for improvement
- Improvement knowledge and skills training was delivered on a massive scale throughout the organisation
The result was a mobilisation for change at senior levels to deal with a strategic need. And a heavy investment in people to enable them to drive change in operations. But the connection between them was missing. Middle managers in the business units were left feeling that this was just another burden they had to deal with, along with their day-to-day responsibilities.
The key learning point is that there have to be mechanisms created to keep a change programme managed or it will be seen as just another corporate initiative.