Driving strategy deployment and performance management using interactive on-line applications and technologies

Jay Snow
President
Resource Management Associates

Jay Washbourne
Vice President of Operations
Williams Furnace Co./Phoenix Manufacturing Inc.

After a successful year of utilizing an on-line application for its Strategic Planning Process tool, Williams Furnace Company embarked on expanding its planning horizon through developing a three year strategic plan starting with metrics and the development of a clear and sound SWOT analysis.

During the first year, the company began a breakthrough new marketing approach to their most promising product line, entered into a program of Lean Manufacturing, and conducted bi-weekly senior management conferences. These and other initiatives were tracked on a real-time basis by all of the participants, allowing them to interact on critical tasks and complement, rather than duplicate efforts. The mission for this effort was:

Translating Our Vision into a Successful Company

• Develop a climate for change
  • Training: process, teamwork, lean concepts
  • Mgt direction: set focus, follow up, lead the effort
• Provide the "tools" for this change
  • Process: Metrics...Strategy...Tactics...Results
  • Tools to make this easier: Big Machines, Y-Change
• Enable our people to grow with this change
  • Celebrate successes
  • Providing the opportunities that growth will enable

During the workshop we will be presenting the step by step approach used by Williams to develop a focused and balanced strategic plan and rollout.

Strategy: Providing strategic leadership by establishing specific financial goals. Developing a S.W.O.T. analysis by product line, at the senior management level, which then served as the guidepost for developing the company goals and objectives.

Scorecards: Utilizing the foundation of a successful scorecard program. The first year saw the development of a set of operational metrics that could be translated into tactical solutions. Building on this, a direct alignment and linkage to the financial initiatives, at all levels, was created using the on-line application's Action Planning capability.

Programs & Projects: Putting together the right tactic's understood by each level, using Six Sigma, Lean and Process Certifications, allowed projects to be successfully linked to the company's overall objectives, and the right processes adopted throughout the organization.

The key was to integrate the strategy at all levels of the company by:

• Agreeing on the strategic process, schedule and expectations
• Setting the financial goals, by product including revenue & margin contribution
• Putting together a vision of the expectations understandable by all
• Having all necessary information integrated on-line, available to employees for use for use in strategy, project and performance management

Next, a working session where agreement was reached on the expected financial results for the next three years with two questions being asked: 1. What does success look like? 2. What do we need to do to achieve our targets?

After these steps were taken, the issues were prioritized and the Goals and Objectives drafted at the senior management levels.

From there on out Site and Department Managers, developed their responses and proceeded to negotiate them with levels above and below, until a consensus on "doable" was achieved.

From these goals and objectives each manager developed his/her Department Action Plans, which had a direct linkage between Strategy, Goals & Objectives and Scorecards.

A great deal of attention is paid to the linkage of the metrics to each level, which forces the necessary 'reality check' as to whether we have a measurable task and that it contributes to the overall progress to achieve the strategy.

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