COIT12203 Workflow Analysis and Management

Introduction

The drastic improvement of technology has remained to be a contributing factor to most of the organization in the modern societies. For the last few decades, most of the organization have experienced development and advancement in their performance because technology has created an opportunities for the same firms. Honeywell International Corporation is one of the remarkable firms that have felt the changed in their performance due to the development and improvement of the technology. In this context, Honeywell organisation has adopted the concept of business re-engineering as the primary form that the firm deploy to conduct its business activities. Persson, and Jeppsson (2017) asserts that most of the employees in an organizational setting tend to become resistance to changes due to various reasons. Some of the employees feel that change may make them an comfortable or may even lead to losing of their jobs.

Consequently, the dramatic changes that Honeywell organization has experienced failed to materialize because of the resistance to change. For that matter, this case study will attempt to discuss in detail the various radical changes with an aim to uncover how this particular organization achieved it success. For that information captivated in this study, it will remain used to facilitate and help other organization to be on their toes to ensure that they achieve success by residual transformation.

2. THE ORGANISATION’S STRATEGY
3. Honeywell International Corporation

Christin Jurisch et al. (2014 p.50) reveals that Honeywell is an industrial automation firm responsible for designing, manufacturing and configuration of the control unit systems that air regulators that stay used in the commercial buildings. The vision of the organisation is to ensure that their clients can attain the excellent control capability process. The organisation has deployed various marketing strategies that have played a vital role in the success of the organisation. For instance, the organisation has developed a marketing plan and marketing strategies, which includes promotion strategies. In the marketing planning process, Honeywell has developed a rigorous review of the marketing functions that articulates for the marketing objectives and goals thus helping the organisation to increase its profitability.

According to Grant (2016 p. 78), back in 1989, Honeywell management team started the WCM program for the examining the lagging organisation performance results. Technically, WCM played a crucial role in the establishment of the ambitious goals, short cycle production, defect reduction in the firm, and material management. According to the management team, the sole purpose of this program was to reduce the defect by a significant factor of ten in the production department, and the cycle time by a factor of five. Additionally, this kind of program also considered the dogma of environmental conservation for both the employees and the production of goods. In that regard, the organisation remains to be an ethical-social firm. In that point of view, the WCM also narrowed down to support teamwork am the employees in the firms. In essence, the program avoided the concept of assigning the specific task to the employees within a particular area of the factory and adopted the philosophy of charging the employee on building the entire product.

Jurisch et al. (2016, p.795) evaluates that, Honeywell organization happens to structure its business depending on the various characteristics that remain based on the time of product, market and technology used. This type of restructuring tends to reflect changes that the organization faced to the operation and working of the workforce by the introduction of changes and programmes implementation. Additionally, the organization has made it clear that it is even changing to a total plant paradigm. The organization is still expanding its operation to the charge of the bio and medical devices. Honeywell International Corporation remains managed by Darius Adamczyk as the chairperson and CEO. The organization deploys a transactional form of leadership where there is an effective communication between the managers and the workforce. This form of leadership has also contributed to the success of the organization as the duties remain delegated to the various workers in the organization and get them done according to the instructions.

Considering Mashhadi et al. (2016, p.400), Honeywell being an excellent organization that is purposed to achieving its goals and objectives, the organization tends to face various competitions from the rivals in the market platforms. Honeywell have continued fighting so that they can overdue the fellow competitor by deploying the porter five-force model for scanning the opportunities in the market platforms. For instance, the firm has offered the satellite communication and cockpit system responsible of the repulsion of the Honeywell aerospace products. Nevertheless, the organization has engaged the concept of turbocharger, which remains purposed to improve the efficiency and performance of the greater vehicles.

4. PROCESSES AND DEFECT DIAGNOSIS
5. The TotalPlantTM paradigm

Zaidi et al (2016 p. 100) shows that the entire plant paradigm is one of the remarkable systematic follows of events that remained deployed in Honeywell industries to trigger for change. It went further to the provision of a level of dissatisfaction among the employees. Technically, the paradigm deployed four central principles for success. Therefore, each of the four principles is ideal for the understating the systematic follow of the event in the Honeywell industry to attain change. The central principles of this concept are teamwork, communication, process mapping, and fail-safe.

Pollack and Pollack (2015) argues that in any operating organisation, there are some of the critical challenges that employee must face. For the organisation to overcome these problems, training and education on how to deal with the important situation to find the solution is critical. Therefore, in the context of the Honeywell industries, for the four total plant paradigm principles to make sense, there was a need for the employees to be trained ion them and empowered so that they clearly understand them and gain knowledge on how to use them.

Fig 1. Diagram showing totalplant paradigm, (source: https://www.automationworld.com/ge-drives-brilliant-factory-concept-home)

6. Process mapping

According to Zaidi et al. (2016 p. 100), process mapping is a concept that stays used in the file of business to refer to the model that individual use to understand the logical flow of any business activities in the graphical form. This activity is carried out by an experienced facilitator and allows the trainees to learn. Therefore, this knowledge will enable employees to understand how all the process in the organisation works across functional boundaries. The training programmes that remained deployed in the Honeywell industries were education. Currently, Honeywell is celebrating their multibillionaire revenue income because they implemented this form of applying the change. Importantly, this model used help individual to critically understand the result of the organisation since it gets people involved in understanding how and why the organisation is successful.

Nassar and Moawad (2018) reveal that process mapping has eight steps that must maintain followed for the process to work effectively. The first action is the process of identifying the process. The customers of different products are listed after the product the team of a different outcome is selected for the consensus. The second step is the identification of the boundaries. This explains the total period that it takes the product to reach the client. Thirdly, ensure that each team has a cross-functional representation of each firm do that all individuals that are included in the production of the product are done. Fourthly, the creation of the transformation map, the map will cover all the activities that involve the information and product flow in the entire organisation. The fifth step is the identification of the cycle time of the whole levels in the process.

According to Zaidi et al (2016 p. 100), the cycle time is calculated by considering the total time taken by the product to travel through the processing process. The sixth step is the identification of the opportunities for further improvement, but they should not be adding the resources. Some of the opportunities that were identified in the organisation included the typical waiting and storage steps. The seventh step revolves around the must do the map. This make makes a clear description of the improvement that has been made in the organisation. It also includes the pictures and so that it depicts how the process will look like after the entire process has been improved. Finally, the last step is to develop the final implementation plan, which has to cover the implementation confirmation. Therefore, having deployed the above steps, the team has the responsibility to prioritise the opportunities for improvement basing their reasoning in the cycle time of quality.

Fig 2: Process-mapping diagram (source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/This-shows-what-the-process-map-looks-like-when-2-redo-loops-are-highlighted-with-dotted_fig6_267450514) 

7. Teamwork

According to El-Sayed (2017 p. 56), teamwork is another important factor in the Honeywell industry deployed to identify the defect. In reality, collaboration does not happen naturally. There must be dedication and effort to earn it. For the employees or people to accept change, there is the need for training them ion the importance of the change and working together. Honeywell deployed then manufacturing vision that was used to create the basis and background of teamwork. This concept tends to the genesis and the crisis of cooperation as it articulated that all employees own the success of the overall activities of any organisations.

8. Fail-safe

Sanchez-Ruiz and Blanco (2017) reveals that, failsafe is an ideological method that remains used in the discipline if business to identify the defect, scrutinise it and understand the central cause of the same. Moreover, it contains the side of offering the solution to the identified problem. Ideally, a rational thought for this point of view is that failsafe is a method that guarantees defect free in an organisation. Technically, as process mapping is responsible for diagramming the entire industries activities, fail safing remains purposed to diagnose a deficiency in an organisation. For that matter, fail-safe has a various aspect that defines it. Honeywell industry deploys the PDCA cycle to offer the roadmap to the team working among the employees to ensure no errors that happen in the rest of the working time.

Additionally, by considering the PDCA cycle, it offers a sound method of data collection and technology is vital for effective data transmission and delivery. For instance, in the Honeywell industry, it has placed its priorities and massive investment on the state-of-the-art innovation. The fail-safe methodology has various steps that should stay followed to identify a problem. The first step involves the identification of the defect in an organisation. This suggests the epitomising data by the use of the Pareto chart. After critical analysis, the problem is logged, and it reveals the type of defect and the possible outcomes. The second step is the identification of the primary cause of the issues. It is the responsibility of the team members to identify in the mapping process where red flag exists and rectify accordingly. The third step involves majorly with the generation of the alternative solutions to the defects. The fourth step is primarily evaluating and choosing the solution. This is the screening of the entire solutions that have been presented and choose the best alternative among the rest. Finally, an implementation action plan remains created. In this section, all individuals who are affected by the change are identified. Therefore, the responsible team considers the clients, suppliers and offer support to the team. Additionally, the team also have the power to decide how the device will stay created and finally implemented.

Fig 3: Fail safe diagram (source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237453215_A_BPR_case_study_at)

9. ROLE OF PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY

In the contemporary societies, the human resource has remained ranked as the central resource for the organisation to achieve its goals and objectives. Ideally, human resource tends to play a significant role in an organisation to deliver higher profitability benefits. Scholars reveal that employees cannot remain compared to other organisational resources. This is because all other regulatory resources require the command from the human resource for it to happen. Therefore, it is essential to acknowledge the impact that employees and technology have presented in the various industries in the world.

10. Communication

Communication is a vital aspect for the business to run smoothly. Currently, the most difficult situations that most of the organizations are suffering from are poor communication channels and mechanism. Information remains to be an essential and sensitive ideology that needs to be handled carefully so that it passes the intended meaning. For that reason, Honeywell industries present an effective communication channels and program t to overcome the various communication conflicts that might arise in the firm. Again, Honeywell offers an effective conflict resolution training that remains aimed to help the teams to deal with any conflict that may arise in a positive way.

Therefore, the concept that is gained via training plays a significant role in managing an organization as it reduces the number of conflict in the firm and increasing mutual understanding. Moreover, the strict management of Honeywell industries have also facilitated for the people to change. For instance, the pushing of the people to meet what is beyond the way expectation makes them to think and realize that they need to change their plan and how they do their things. Generally, the role of communication skill is to ensure that there is no conflict and fight in an organization and increasing the profitability of an organization.

11. Information technology

AlShathry (2016 p. 510) opines that most of the organisation currently depends on technology to perform their operations. For instance, the Honeywell industries entirely depend on information technology automation for it to have their daily activity done in their plant. Since this industry is solely used to produce automation and devices that must be of higher quality, it needs to incorporate information technology so that it can win their clients’ attention. The primary purpose of information technology in Honeywell industries to ensure the company produces world-class products since the production process tends to have the various complex manufacturing process. Therefore, all the information technology that remains deployed in the organisation is viewable at each stage of the production cell. Besides, information technology remains used in the organisation to support the offices that are integrated into the total systems. The organisation engineers and computer experts ensure that the systems are running continuous and no defect occurs.

Persson and Jeppsson (2017) assert that the top management tends to use the information system to monitors and evaluate the production performance in the various department of the organisation. In conjunction to back in 1989, the organisation had not established a well sustainable IT in the organisation a factor that contributed to the failure of the firm hitting their targets. The information technology remained incorporated in the firm via the mapping process that could support production and later transformed the system to match the map. Currently, the It department of Honeywell is one of the most advanced experts who are capable of linking technology to the manufacturing process thus contributing to the great strides to the line of service provision with the need of the business.

12. IMPLEMENTATION AND EXECUTION

According to Mathew et al (2015 p.129), Honeywell happens to have the four-core mechanism that tends to facilitate more profitability thus contributing to the greater success. The central arrangements are active communication channels and programs, teamwork, fail-safe, and process mapping. Under normal circumstance, what typically makes a difference between success and failure is the mechanism of execution deployed. In that a regard, it remains to be a responsibility of the top management to conduct education to the workforce on the concept of the central four-core aspect so that they understand their importance.

Taylor et al. (2015 p. 6) asserts that for the managers to achieve this ideology, they have to employ a facilitative form of leadership so that employees can see the need for change. Besides, provision of remuneration to the various teams that meet their target needs to be activated so that the workforce is motivated. Again, organisational structure is another aspect that is vital for the achievement of the objectives and goals of an organisation. A sensible thought for that line is that the environment should be made conducive to support new technology and innovations. In essence, the execution process tends to flow from the top managing corporate vision to the management and workers in the context of strategic planning.

For Honeywell, the ideology of change is not a big deal because the industry has remained embracing this philosophy for the past numerous decades. Additionally, Honeywell has been ranked as the top industries that exploit quality management. This ranked has been achieved since the organisation is consistency with training programs and reward of value. For that reason, the concept of execution is much more comfortable in this organisation as compared to other organisations. Even though the organisation is well organised, there are some of the execution barriers seen in the firm. According to the Honeywell journal, the most significant barrier that the organisation is experiencing is the execution challenge with the middle of the management rank. This remains to be a challenge because the middle management continues to be experts in the specific areas. For that matter, the managers are not capable of seeing the importance of the cross-specialisation due to the limit of the mind to the flow of material form of handling a problem.

Honeywell industry has successfully incorporated the integrated corporate social responsibility as one of the social innovation for the running of their activities. Honeywell decides to adopt this form of social innovation with an aim to balance their social, environment, and economical responsibilities. It uses mainly normative form of performance to ensure that it impact everybody in the organization. The main drawback of this innovation is that this form is not designed to produce direct to the organization or improves the performance of the firm in lieu of that matter; it is dedicated to the creation of the favourable environment for the working of the employees.

Sanchez-Ruiz and Blanco (2017) evaluates that the substantial experiences a rough time for change mainly behavioural change. Ideally, the study shows that behavioural change is one of the hardest changes that individuals are facing, as it needs to takes time and patience. The manager of the organisation asserted that for the organisation to see the difference in their organisations it need to take time and patience. Therefore, for the organisation to see changes in their performance, adoption of the various mechanism like those deployed in Honeywell industry will play a significant role for them to see worth plan change and proper execution plan.

Implementation and execution process of Honeywell organization (source: https://xray-delta.com/2012/05/02/lean-six-sigma-at-honeywell/)

14. Lesson learnt

1) The power of business mapping process; from the discussion above, it is clear that without business mapping process, business processes tens to be difficult. This policy tends to offer insightful information on the systematic identification of gaps in the improvements.

2) Execution defines the real difference between success and failure; according to the data captured from the Honeywell industries, the mechanism that it provides tends to be a vital aspect for embracing change in an organisation. Additionally, it reveals that for change to occur there is a need to develop an action plan and extensive, aggressive execution plan.

3) Always aim higher; goals that are set higher than what is usually expected tends to trigger for change as people will realise that they need to change what they are doing to meet the standards put across. Therefore, placing stretch goals is one of the vital lesson learnt in this discussion.

Conclusion

Conclusively, Honeywell remains to be a manufacturing firm that produces high quality controls. In this context, the research encountered some of the limitations; the first limitation was the sample size deployed limited the study to the generalizability. Additionally, this case study bases it specificity to the industries. Again, it is clear that change is painful to all organisations. Therefore, for the organisation to see and feel the change, there is the need for them to take time and patience as most of the scholars have revealed that even making the study of evolution is almost close to impossible. Finally, for the organisation to accept change, there is the need for the managers to educate their employees on the importance of change and how it will impact their current jobs and their future organisations.

References

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