Category: Hoshin Kanri

One of the most popular approaches to strategic planning, Hoshin Kanri has been helping companies like Toyota achieve their most important goals for decades. Focusing heavily on continuous improvement, the Hoshin Kanri methodology is pretty straightforward, but this doesn’t mean it’s always launched perfectly.  Launching Hoshin Kanri can be relatively problematic in many ways and […]

No matter what total quality management or quality management system you want to implement, one truth is that leadership will be required for success. No matter why an organization wants to adopt a new process or methodology, if leadership isn’t fully on board, any attempts to change are dead on arrival.  This is no less […]

Integration of Hoshin Kanri into an Agile workplace can seem somewhat daunting at first glance, given how disparate both approaches are. However, teams on the hunt for a hybrid approach that emphasizes strategic planning might find this combination to be just what the doctor ordered. It does take a deft hand when it comes to […]

The world of Hoshin planning, also known as Hoshin Kanri or more simply as policy deployment, is often considered one of the world’s foremost frameworks for tying together the short-term actions of an organization and its long-term goals. If this sounds pretty simple, it’s because it’s all pretty clear how it should work, but making […]

Even the most well-conceived strategies can fall short without proper execution. Across many industries, leaders spend months or years crafting bold plans, only to see those fade away in the face of daily operations. Why does this happen? There is a persistent execution gap, where organizational strategy fails to connect with the activities that drive […]

As the end of the year approaches, it won’t come as any surprise to learn that businesses all over the world are donating lots of time to strategic planning for the next year. These plans are part of critical efforts, especially in a volatile economy, to look at how to break through any ceilings that […]

The best news you can scream about if you are in business is when you have a clear vision of where you want the company to go and how you want to get there. The problem is that even the clearest vision might fail if you don’t have the right amount of planning […]

In today’s enterprise environment, IT security isn’t a technical function. Instead, it is a critical business enabler. That said, some organizations struggle with aligning cybersecurity initiatives with long-term goals. Misallocated resources, fragmented teams, and missed opportunities are just a handful of the symptoms that result from this misalignment. Hoshin Kanri, a structured planning […]

When considering the various business methodologies available today, you have the option to implement Lean, Lean Six Sigma, Six Sigma, Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, and Hoshin Kanri. The latter is quickly becoming one of the most popular, having originated in Japan during the 1960s and 1970s. It’s quickly become a popular choice over […]

At any moment in time in business when you are looking for a business philosophy that can help you figure out how to enact a strategy, Hoshin Kanri has to be at or near the top of any list. When you think about this process, try to imagine back to when you were […]

Making use of Hoshin Kanri is one way that businesses can fully align their workflows with long-term strategic goals. This is vital for any organization, as having targets to reach is always going to benefit any company. That said, little gets said when it comes down to how Hoshin Kanri can benefit cross-functional […]

Hoshin Kanri vs. OKRS is a debate you’ll likely come across when looking at strategic goals in your organization. Ostensibly, both of these frameworks cover a lot of the same ground, but how they let you act upon your long-term goals and strategy is a different matter altogether. It will come down to […]

Technology is one of the most useful things at your disposal when it comes to your Hoshin Kanri processes. While pen and paper certainly have their place, even in the modern world, the advent of modern software suites has given a shot in the arm to how people are conducting Hoshin Kanri lifecycles. […]

In the world of different management techniques and methodologies, Hoshin Kanri stands out. A Japanese management style, Hoshin Kanri, is no doubt a game changer. For any organization, Hoshin Kanri can help it align goals at every level of the business and direct everyone in the same direction to achieve a common set […]

While the term “Hoshin Kanri” might not be well-known outside of corporate planning circles, it’s a very important idea nonetheless. Designed to get all employees in an organization moving in the right direction, Hoshin Kanri is a Japanese management methodology that has been around since the early 1960s. Some indicators place it origin […]

Whenever you have to develop a strategic plan, you can use several methods to get the job done. However, one such strategic planning tool that often stands out is Hoshin Kanri, and it’s okay if you aren’t familiar with it, even though it might become your new favorite.  Generally used by the manufacturing […]

Strategic planning is a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future.

Strategic planning is a formal, organized, proactive and structured process used by an organization to define its vision, goals, and objectives. The process of strategic planning also includes planning for, and the allocation of the resources needed to reach the stated goals and objectives of the organization. It is the roadmap for achieving your organization’s […]

Today, irrespective of industry, corporations must focus on speed, efficiency and customer value to be globally competitive. Lean and Six Sigma are both powerful tools for improving quality, productivity, profitability and market competitiveness. While Six Sigma is focused on reducing variation using a problem solving approach and statistical tools, Lean focuses on eliminating waste and […]

A high performance culture is the result of high performance actions. An organization should strive to implement actions which deliver the desired performance and assess the results of these actions on the culture. If these actions are successful, performance targets are achieved and a high-performance culture ensues. The pursuit of performance gains starts with defining […]

Some companies approach strategic planning in a way that lends ammunition to those who would question its purpose. Typically, during strategic planning time, executives sequester themselves in a retreat-like setting armed with sales and market projections and some semblance of customer input. The output of this event is a nice, bound presentation that sits on […]

Many companies which choose not to utilize Lean and Six Sigma as key components of how they implement change in their organization say it is because the methodologies are too complicated for their business environment. They claim that they do not have the time to build an infrastructure, train Black Belts and Green Belts and […]

The new millennium brought a great deal of change in the marketplace. As the financial scandals of the 1990s came to light, new regulations were drafted and put into place to avoid such occurrences in the future. U.S. financial institutions must comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which came on the heels of the Enron scandal, […]

Hoshin planning, which focuses on achieving a vital annual stretch goal, has been used successfully by Toyota and other companies in Japan since the 1960s and some top-tier companies in the United States and elsewhere. However, interest in using Hoshin planning now appears to be growing. Bank of America, for example, has made a very […]