Airline Quality

Topic: Management Improvement

The Inmates Are Running The Asylums by Bill Waddell.

For instance, I found something called NWA's [Nortwest Airlines] "Customer First" Customer Service Guide. Incredibly, it includes the statement, "Ensure that you receive a response to your written complaints within 60 days of their receipt by our Customer Relations department." That's right - you tell them about a problem in writing and, by golly, within two months they'll get back to you.

I flew JetBlue Airways last week. The help at the counter was polite and friendly. While this is only one data point (and hardly a "high bar" to meet) it contrasts with most of my flying experience (in my experience Southwest has a good likelihood of meeting this goal). It would be nice if more airlines could be like Southwest (which manages to be profitable in a very challenging industry - LUV stock info).

"The mission of Southwest Airlines is dedication to the highest quality of Customer Service delivered with a sense of warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and Company Spirit."

JetBlue also offers free live TV. Not exactly a big deal to me as a customer, but as I watched I thought of all the times I hear people say it is not possible to improve and thought about the contrast. I would like to compare the challenge of making those improvements and getting live TV on planes flying across the country.

Airline quality worsens, report finds: "Southwest Airlines had the lowest rate of complaints, 0.18 per 100,000 passengers; US Airways had the highest, 1.86."

Airlines' service loses ground in quality rankings: "New York-based JetBlue (JBLU), which started flying in 2000, ranked No. 1 for a third-consecutive year in the study, which is based on various indicators of customer service."

It would be nice if Jetblue can add a pleasant flying experience alternative. The frustration caused by poor airline management has to rival that of poor management at GM and Ford. I must admit I wouldn't likely go into the airline business but there could be great opportunity since I imagine many others also avoid it given the history of losses that industry generates. But given the incredible dissatisfaction of customers, perhaps just managing sensibly will allow a good business opportunity. Southwest has done well for a long time, but they are really the only example (looking only at the US market).

Most Meetings are Muda

Most Meetings are Muda (Waste) from Got Boondoggle:

I will not waste your time and regurgitate all the expert based meeting protocols like following an established agenda, having a meeting plan, taking meeting notes, etc. All these ideas are great and work well. Instead, I have a list of a few meeting musts that may guide you to more productive meeting time.

The post provides good tips on what to avoid. Given how many people know that many meetings are a waste of time, taking steps to improve meeting effectiveness is a good way to gain some credibility for management improvement activities. Doing so is very visible. Unfortunately, even with the simple and good ideas on how to do better - many meetings that are full of waste.

Here are some good tips from 37 folders; 9 tips for running more productive meetings:

Follow up - If you have been utilizing a project manager or note taker (and God knows you should), be sure to use a few minutes at the end for him or her to review any major new projects or action items that were generated in the meeting. Have the PM email the list of resolved and new action items to all the participants.

This is an important step missed far too often. Doing so helps make sure that everyone leaving he meeting has the same understanding of what has been decided: in addition to reviewing new assignments I would suggest review all significant decisions made. Far too often, people have very different ideas on what happened in previous meetings.

The Team Handbook also has good information on running effective meetings.

Curious Cat Management Improvement Dictionary: Muda definition

Why are you afraid of process?

Topic: Management Improvement

Why are you afraid of process? by Seth Godin

I spend a lot of time railing against organizations and teams that fall in love with process at the expense of innovation. This is not a post about that.

It's about the opposite.

Seth Godin does a great job helping people think creatively. I am glad he sees that process management is not in conflict with that. Many others fall into the trap of thinking it is, see our previous post: Not the End of Process.

Process management is necessary for management improvement. That is true in manufacturing, service, government, research and any other environment. The way process management will be done must be modified to be effective. I believe people react negatively to the concept because they see process as the "rules" such as when the explanation for poor service is given as "that is our policy." Don't mix up those excuses with proper process management and improvement strategies.

Related:

• Managing Innovation
• Deming on Innovation
• Fast Cycle Change in Knowledge-Based Organizations by Ian Hau and Ford Calhoun ( a great report on process improvement in a situation many see as outside the scope of process management)
  

Stop Demotivating Employees

Topic: Management Improvement

Why Your Employees Are Losing Motivation by David Sirota, Louis A. Mischkind, and Michael Irwin Meltzer from the Harvard Management Update:

Most companies have it all wrong. They don't have to motivate their employees. They have to stop demotivating them.

Clear, simple and right. Douglas McGregor explored this topic well in 1960. He explained theory X management (managers believe the workers will do only what they are forced, coerced into doing) and theory Y management (managers believe the workers want to do a good job and the managers job is to help them do so) in his excellent book: The Human Side Of Enterprise.

According to the Harvard Business School article:

To maintain the enthusiasm employees bring to their jobs initially, management must understand the three sets of goals that the great majority of workers seek from their work - —and then satisfy those goals:

• Equity: To be respected and to be treated fairly in areas such as pay, benefits, and job security.
• Achievement: To be proud of one's job, accomplishments, and employer.
• Camaraderie: To have good, productive relationships with fellow employees.
  

...
One goal cannot be substituted for another. Improved recognition cannot replace better pay, money cannot substitute for taking pride in a job well done, and pride alone will not pay the mortgage.

It would be nice if we can do a better job in the next 46 years of incorporating theory Y style into our management systems. The article provides good ideas on what management should do. While not amazing new ideas, the ideas presented are good ideas that management far too often fails to properly apply.

Blogging is Good for You

Blogs 'essential' to a good career

For those with blogs this is a nice article to read - good positive reinforcement. It is probably a good marketing move to write an article that bloggers will like. Many will then post their thoughts on your article on their blog.

The article is a bit overly enthusiastic still it includes some good points. And these points are especially valuable for those interested a creating a career in management consulting: particularly as an individual or part of a small firm where the individual marketing can make a difference. Marketing is often one of the most difficult parts of making a successful career as a consultant. As the article says:

You can't make it on your own unless you're good at selling yourself. One of the most cost-effective and efficient ways of marketing yourself is with a blog.

Lean Accounting: What's It All About?

Lean Accounting: What's It All About? by Brian H. Maskell and Bruce L. Baggaley:

Companies using Lean Accounting have better information for decision-making, have simple and timely reports that are clearly understood by everyone in the company, they understand the true financial impact of lean changes, they focus the business around the value created for the customers, and Lean Accounting actively drives the lean transformation. This helps the company to grow, to add more value for the customers, and to increase cash flow and value for the stock-holders and owners.

This article reviews the thoughts presented at the 2005 lean accounting summit. The 2006 summit takes place in September. Jim Womack, Norman Bodek and Richard Schonberger are presenting at the conference.

See the Curious Cat Management Improvement Calendar

Quality and Costs

finding the balance between quality and cost by Thomas Nolan Maureen Bisognano

One of the steps toward a system for improving value is recognizing that waste removal is an essential component of that system, not just a by-product of defect reduction. To alleviate discomfort with setting aims for cost reduction, senior leaders should:

Set aims for cost reduction while also mandating that quality must be maintained or improved by the effort.

In the article they discuss the view provided by Kano's model of customer satisfaction - read more about it.

Deming explained that increasing quality decreases costs. Page 3 of Out of the Crisis: Improve Quality --> Costs decrease because of less rework, fewer mistakes, fewer delays...

Like most models this does not explain everything. Achieving some quality desires does cost more. And the article examines how to look at the issue of cost reduction in health care, where the view that higher quality costs more persists to a larger extent than elsewhere. There is significant room in health care for adopting improvement that will improve quality and reduce costs because the systems are so poorly designed they are both increasing costs and decreasing quality over what could be achieved.

Related:

• Quality Customer Focus
  
• The Improvement Guide: A Practical Approach to Enhancing Organizational Performance by Gerald J. Langley (Editor), Thomas W. Nolan, Lloyd P. Provost and Clifford L. Norman.
  
• Improving Health Care Articles
  
• Deming's 14 points, including: Improve constantly and forever the system of production, service, planning, or any activity. This will improve quality and productivity and thus constantly decrease costs.
  

China's Manufacturing Economy

Topic: economics, manufacturing

Brad Setser posts on manufacturing comparisons: Have China’s manufacturing powers been exaggerated?

I am all for pushing against over-generalizations that get repeated so often that they become conventional wisdom. The oft-stated argument that France isn't growing is one example. In fact, France has grown faster than either Germany or Italy over the past few years, and France grew for the same reason the US grew: soaring real estate prices have pumped up domestic demand.

But I would submit that the real story here is the growth in China's conventional wisdom to improve our understanding of the real situation. I agree with him that the growth in China's manufacturing sector is the most important story.

But, to me, that story is so over-reported that many get the wrong impression. The constant mention of the erroding manufacturing sector on the USA I believe leads many to think it is shrinking and small. Yet output continues to increase and the share of worldwide manufacturing output is holding steady. China is gaining substantial ground but the Chinese increase has largely come from Japan and Europe. To me this understanding is important because of my felling about the misperceptions of many. But this is nothing more than my judgement.

Two factors that are also reported have truth. First manufacturing plants have been shutting down in the USA and the production has been replaced by Chinese production, in many cases. Second manufacturing jobs are decreasing in the USA. However, this decrease is often mentioned as "moving the jobs elsewhere" which to me is misleading since the overall number of manufacturing jobs worldwide continues to decrease. The decrease in the USA has been less than it has worldwide therefore to me the main cause should be seen as manufacturing productivity increases worldwide (though this is open to debate).

By gaining better understanding of what the data actually shows I think we will better be able to predict what will happen in the future and be better able to design sensible policies.

Related previous posts:

• Manufacturing and the Economy
  
• Global Manufacturing Data by Country
  
• US Manufacturing Plant Construction
  
• America's Manufacturing Future
  
• Articles on Management Improvement in Manufacturing
• Manufacturing Jobs Data: USA and China