Operational excellence : a case study
Franklin, Adam (2023)
2023
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202304307002
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202304307002
Tiivistelmä
Service design is an iterative, human-centered process that is focused on finding solutions or strategies to overcome customers’ problems. Although effective many large service providers have been turning to other improvement approaches such as lean and six sigma to help improve their quality, reduce costs, and increase their overall operating efficiency. This can then lead to different strategies, methodologies, and approaches being used across a business which potentially creates confusion and wastes resources.
The aim of this case study was to determine whether or not a holistic approach to service improvement using the concept of operational excellence could be used. By using this approach a business could potentially improve the effectiveness of its innovation, design, and development of new products and services. Understanding the similarities between the different improvement methods and their intent is important because it could allow companies to better leverage the benefits of each approach to ultimately build better products and services.
In order to answer this question a case study was used on a Nordic financial services business with around 7000 employees. The focus centered on their digital and operational development teams who used a variety of improvement methods ranging from service design, agile and lean. The case study was run for a period of 6 months and included a number of different research methods including interviews, observations, and benchmarking.
From the results of the study, it was found that using multiple improvement methods in isolation did create waste and inefficiency within the business. The methods focused on their own respective area without consideration of areas of the business that were not within the scope of their activity. This resulted in tactical-level improvements that did not leverage the full capabilities of the improvement approach that they were using. Some of the issues identified could be improved by taking a more strategic approach and by refining the current way of working however, an operational excellence framework would provide the case study business with a clearer structure for driving improvement that would also help drive better collaboration and ensure a more strategic approach.
The aim of this case study was to determine whether or not a holistic approach to service improvement using the concept of operational excellence could be used. By using this approach a business could potentially improve the effectiveness of its innovation, design, and development of new products and services. Understanding the similarities between the different improvement methods and their intent is important because it could allow companies to better leverage the benefits of each approach to ultimately build better products and services.
In order to answer this question a case study was used on a Nordic financial services business with around 7000 employees. The focus centered on their digital and operational development teams who used a variety of improvement methods ranging from service design, agile and lean. The case study was run for a period of 6 months and included a number of different research methods including interviews, observations, and benchmarking.
From the results of the study, it was found that using multiple improvement methods in isolation did create waste and inefficiency within the business. The methods focused on their own respective area without consideration of areas of the business that were not within the scope of their activity. This resulted in tactical-level improvements that did not leverage the full capabilities of the improvement approach that they were using. Some of the issues identified could be improved by taking a more strategic approach and by refining the current way of working however, an operational excellence framework would provide the case study business with a clearer structure for driving improvement that would also help drive better collaboration and ensure a more strategic approach.