Category: Hoshin Kanri

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]