What are the most important elements of the process-improvement approach pursued at tunica?

Organizations need to have a continuous improvement system being implemented at each level of the organization in order to bring efficiency and to accomplish the targets towards quality outcomes set by the corporate management of the organization. In accordance with the case study, Tunica pursued a process-improvement approach with the aim to bring improvement and eradicate the limitations and weaknesses. The process- improvement approach implemented by the Tunica has several elements that have great importance in promoting improvement in the Tunica. In the case study, lean management was considered as the best approach for process-improvement. lean management process- improvement approach is consist of defects, overproductions, extra processing, not engaging people, inventory, waiting, transportation, and motion. these elements have a strong role in improving the overall process through different dimensions of the process as through implementing this process improvement approach Tunica reduced the waiting and developed plans towards inventory management.

 Basically, process- improvement system used for the Tunica is based on the 5 days activities. in these days several other elements and approaches towards the process improvement are used as the implementation of Kaizen DOWNTIME, Value stream map, 5 whys lean tool, 5S (storming), and Post Kaizen Pillars. Tunica implemented the process- improvement approach in the business with the aims and goals that were required to be achieved. HHHhhhhhhere several benefits and advantages are mentioned below that are the results and outcomes of the process- improvement system/ approach implemented by the tunica in the business.

Daily problem solving Implementing Lean Operations

Through this process- improvement approach implementation employees and management in the Tunica was able to resolve the problems that they were used to face on the daily basis. Daily problems in the organization as the delay because of over-processing or extra motion and damages in the inventory because of the poor system of transportation were causing to affect the overall performance of the business. Through the process-improvement approach, the workforce was capable to resolve such issues that were a great benefit for the workforce and Tunica.

Reduce of stress Implementing Lean Operations

Process-improvement approach enables the organization to perform well and face, fewer difficulties and issues in the process as a result of this problems were reduced that caused to reduce the stress.

Easiness in operations Implementing Lean Operations

Tunica earned another vital benefit related to easiness in the operations held in the workplace and whole organization. In accordance with the point of view of the CEO of Tunica lean management was causing to make the operations easy by eliminating the complexity and extra motions.  

Waste elimination Implementing Lean Operations

Process- improvement approaches followed by the Tunica are capable to eliminate the wastes. In the case of tunica lean management approach also known as 8 wastage elimination approach reduced waste through making changes in the process and designing the right way of doing work. 

Employee’s engagement Implementing Lean Operations

Employee's engagement and satisfaction towards the job causes to bring improvement in their performance that benefits the organization in many ways an improvement in the quality of production/ services, production efficiency (related to cost) and increase in the sales. However, employee’s engagement also causes to reduce employee’s turnover rate in the organization. Similarly, through implementing the process- improvement approach in the organization Tunica increase the employee’s satisfaction level and employee’s engagement towards their job.    

Cost saving Implementing Lean Operations

The above mentioned all benefits as production/service efficiency, reduction in the process complexity and elimination of the waste are also causing to reduce the cost of operations. Through the use of process- improvement approach Tunica was able to save cost. According to estimation annually reduced and saved cost because of improvement in the process of Tunica was $3 million.

Profitability Implementing Lean Operations

Definitely cost saving, reduction in the cost of operations, efficiency in operations, control on the cost of quality and reduction in waste increased the profit margin for the Tunica. As a result of this not only sales were improved but also the cost of operations was reduced thus Tunica earned the profit in two ways.

Cultural shift Implementing Lean Operations

 Last and the most desired benefit in the Tunica was the cultural shift in the workplace. Through the use of improvement approach towards processes of the organization, Tunica was able to make changes in the overall culture of the organization and make a corporative and positive culture that benefits the organization.

 What would be the advantages and disadvantages of adopting an export-driven approach to process improvement at the Me- Tripoli’s facility, in contrast to the employee-centered approach used at tunica? Which approach would you recommend for Metropolis, and why? 

In the Tunica employees centered approach was used to bring improvement in the operations and processes of the organization. The approach is known as employees centered because in this approach the main emphasis was on the employees of the organization at level. As the desired outcomes were to bring improvement with the help of employees therefore in Tunica training sessions were given to the employees. While in the Metropolis the corporate level management of the organization is going to implement an expert-driven approach that is relatively different from the employee-centered approach even when the main focus of both approaches is to make improvement in the process.

Basically, the difference in both approaches is about the role and importance given to the employees and managerial staff at each level of the organization. In the expert-driven approach, the organization will have a small group of experts who will work with the employees and workforce with the purpose to bring improvement. In the expert-driven force employees will not be obliged to leave their work for a specific period of time and attend the training session towards the process improvement as it was in the employees- centered approach implemented at the Tunica. The major advantage and disadvantages of the expert-driven approach are mentioned below:

Advantages Implementing Lean Operations

The major advantage of the expert-driven approach is that it will not influence the daily work routine of the employees as in this approach employees are not required to attend specific classes and training session to get information about the required changes.

Through this approach, we can save the cost that Tunica was used to bear because of pauses and breaks in the work for training sessions.

In this approach, all-time support can be available from the expert's groups. As the personal work to contribute to process improvement so employees can better understand what is actually desired by them. Rather than just getting instruction practical approach is many times easy to understand.

Disadvantages Implementing Lean Operations Implementing Lean Operations

The major disadvantage of the expert-driven approach is the increase in the cost as in this approach a small group of experts will be recruited to contribute to the improvement. Salaries and compensations paid to them are relatively more than the cost incurred in implementing the employee's centered approach for improvement in the process.

The small group of experts cannot work with all employees, therefore, there are chances that the organization may ignore some areas that require improvement.

The expert-driven approach will also take less time in comparison to the employees-centered approach for bringing improvement in the operations.

Recommendation Implementing Lean Operations       

In accordance with the analysis of both approaches and the advantages/disadvantages of expert-driven approach, I would recommend to use the expert-driven approach in the Metropolis rather than implementing the employee-centered approach. in fact, in my views, both approaches are well and highly efficient regarding their purpose but a little combination of both approaches will be a good choice. I recommended the expert-driven approach because the expert-driven approach is relatively easy to implement and the high-skilled expert employees can increase the knowledge and bring improvement in the working style of labor, workers, and managerial staff in the better way as compared to the employees-centered approach. However, if the expert’s salaries and compensation packages are causing to increase expense in the budget, on the other side elimination of the training cost is also decreasing training expense in the budget. Cost and expense of training all employees are definitely more than the salaries and compensations paid to the experts, therefore, it can be concluded that expert-driven approach will also benefit the Metropolis in monetary terms by saving cost. Thus the whole discussion and analysis recommend that Metropolis should have the expert-driven approach to bring improvement in the processes and maximize the profit margin generated from operations after meeting expenses.

Assume Hirsch has decided to follow a high-involvement approach similar to the one he led at Tunica. What challenges and risks do you anticipate Hirsh will face in moving forward at metropolis, and how should he be prepared to respond?

In the tunica employees centered approach for the process- improvement was used in this approach importance was given to the employees as in this approach employees had a high level of involvement. The approach was designed and implemented for the employees, employees were personally involved in the process of improvement and the evaluation of this approach was also based on measuring and viewing the changes and effectiveness came into the behavior and performance of the employees. Even the approach was to bring effectiveness in the process but it was mainly focused on the employees to make them able to adopt a better system and bring changes in their process to promote effectiveness.

If the Hirsch is going to take the decision in the favor of high- involvement approach that is relatively similar to the process- improvement approach being implemented at Tunica than the possible challenges and risk are mentioned below:

The high-involvement approach may result in the insufficient coverage of key service area.

There is also risk and challenges associated with budgeting as high- involvement of the employees in the process improvement will increase the cost and expenses because Metropolis will have to organize employees training sessions that can increase the cost and expenses in the budget.      

High- involvement can increase the risk of conflicts 

High- involvement may also take more time as without accomplishing the goals and target set about the understanding level and performance level towards a process they may not advance or move forwards ahead. 

Through following the highly –involved approach organization will face challenges in managing the work routine as it will take employees away from their responsibilities and duties about the work. 

Hirsch can respond in different ways to the above-mentioned risks and challenges caused by giving importance to the highly-involved approach. For instance, he can reconsider his decision of implementing the high-involved approach if results and outcomes are not meeting the expectations. However, he can also identify the risk and challenges that was strong more long-lasting effects on the overall improvement process through Pareto Analysis and then he can make alterations in the approach to get the desired outcomes. while he can also make a strict schedule and budget to control the financial and time resources possible to incurred in designing and implementing the highly- involvement approach. For the challenges raised because of pauses and breaks in the work, routine Hirsch can provide a solution as setting the free time for training and inviting employees on off-days for a short period of time. He can get the idea about the possible weaknesses and challenge from the case of Tunica to plan solution in advance. Thus through responding towards the challenges and risk in the planned and positive way Hirsch can limit the disadvantages and caused to increase the advantages of this approach.

Assume service scores for the area you manage, Harrah’s me-Tripoli’s hotel housekeeping, have declined over the past year. As part of the LEAN rollout at metropolis, you and some of your front-line employees will participate in a kaizen event focused on improving guest-room housekeeping operations. What KPIs (key performance indicators) would you propose to track to determine whether the changes implemented through the kaizen effort actually improve performance?

As a service and operations manager for the hotel housekeeping cleaning of the guest room is under my duty. After the implementation of the lean wastage management approach in the hotel, I have to measure and evaluate the improvement in the performance.  There are several ways through which we can determine whether the improvement is made in the performance or not? If the performance is improved then at what level of improvement? Basically, the main purpose of all the activities and implementation of the various approaches to improvement is to encourage improvement in the employee's performance that is a key to maximize profit margin. However, through evaluating and measuring, we can also keep accountability.

Therefore it is really important to determine the improvement in the performance as through this we can take the decision that whether we have to continue the process or have to make changes in the approach as desired outcomes are not accomplished. The best way of tracking the improvement in the performance through the kaizen approach is to use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).  will address the areas as the objective of the workplace, safety, quality of output, inventory, delivery efficiency, and productivity increased as a result of the Kaizen approach. I will propose the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).  about the cleaning of the guest-room. For this, I will develop the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). _ Indicator Board that will address the time spent, daily performance and barriers to service.

However, in the end, I will evaluate that in how much time, how much cleaning and improvement is made in the guest room. for instance through removing barriers and implementing improvement I will state that in guest room 60% improvement is made in the last week while spending an additional 30 minutes in room cleaning. I will make the statement after measuring that how many improvements are made from the total requirements (percentage) and calculating the total time spent on the improvements. While the activities as changing bed sheets, cleaning room towel, changing curtains, room dusting and window cleanings will be listed on the Standard work cards that will help out me in setting key performance indicators and achieving the targets towards guest room cleaning. Thus through calculating and viewing the scores and achievements towards the KPIs and targets about guest room cleaning I can measure the improvement in the performance. For instance, just a few targets achieved are the indicator of the poor performance while if the maximum targets are achieved then we can claim that performance is improved in the result of Kaizen implementation.            

Hirsch has been given 20 minutes at an upcoming meeting to pitch his idea for a process-improvement program to the rest of the metropolis leadership team. What should he do before he gives the pitch? How should Hirsch organize this pitch and what information should he include?

Hirsch should thoroughly understand what the requirements are and how the Metropolis can meet these requirements before he gives the pitch. Comprehensive understanding and research can help out him in giving the best idea to the Metropolis leadership team. He should be familiar with the possible risks and challenges associated with each approach towards the process improvement. In the 20 minutes duration, Hirsch can organize a highly effective pitch as he is already experienced with modern approaches of process- improvement that was implemented under his supervision in the organization prior to the metropolis.

He needs to divide and estimate the time duration spend on explaining each area of the Pitch. However, before giving the pitch, he should share his own experience towards the process- improvement program that will grab the attention of the managerial staff and leaders of the metropolis as people usually give importance to the opinion when the person is experienced. Therefore success story of the right implementation of the lean management approach in the Tunica and its positive outcomes can be a fine example to quote while pitching the idea. However, a comparative analysis of cost incurred and profit generated from implementing the process improvement program should be also included in his pitch so he can convince the leadership team in an effective manner.

 In beginning, he should address information about the different available approaches for process- improvement. Then he should emphasize a particular one that he wants to recommend. While after that he should have to present comparative analysis and conclude by presenting the information about the benefits and advantages. In the Pitch rather than discussing the limitations and weaknesses of the other approaches for the process- the improvement he should focus on explaining the benefits and potential for profitability in the process- improvement approach on which the Pitch of idea mainly depends. Thus, in a summarized and comprehensive way, he presents all the important information.