Implementing the fourth stage of the Balance Scrorecard system at a manufacturing company
THE CUSTOMER’S MARKET SITUATION AND BUSINESS CHALLENGE
This client of Develor- a Danish company, which started selling products in Hungary in 1970, established their subsidiary here in 1996. In addition to sales activities, the Törökbálint-based trade company also performs repair services. As a part of its long-term strategy, the company commenced production in its plant in Tatabánya in 2000. In 2001, a new unit manufacturing complete pumps was added to the engine factory. The factory sells its products not only in the domestic market but also in the entire international market. In 2007, another pump factory commenced operation in Székesfehérvár. With that, the company has the largest pump manufacturing capacity in Hungary.
Setting up an organisational structure that supports the company’s medium and long term strategic objectives to a maximum, and developing organisational competencies represented a major business challenge. The domestic company commenced a thorough work of organisational development built on the basics of the Balanced Scorecard system. Develor’s task was to cooperate in formulating a structure that best supports strategic objectives.
THE SOLUTION
Since the company had worked with other consulting companies before, the decision-makers confirmed experience in terms of expected results. Develor’s proposed course of action offered a specific solution that matched the strategic framework adopted by the client company and could be linked to the fourth stage of the BSC, Learning and Growth. In line with that, a detailed work plan was developed to determine the availability of Human Capital, Information Capital and Corporate Capital.
THE DETAILS OF IMPLEMENTATION
After the acceptance of the strategy work plan, a very constructive working relationship evolved with the senior management through detailed coordination of expectations, which was retained all throughout the project. As a result of this active co-operation by the senior management, the strategic job families that tend to influence the success of implementing the strategy most were selected. Then, in cooperation with the extended management, the basic, managerial and professional competencies of key importance with respect to these job families were selected. A detailed description of current competencies and expected level of competencies was defined.
After this, the staffs working in the strategic job families was subjected to a 360-degree competency assessment, the results of which were used to produce a draft development plan and a detailed competency dictionary that contains the definitions of all the examined competencies, scale degrees and expected levels.
In parallel with that, assessment and auditing of the Information capital was being carried out, which constitutes the second main stage of the project, and then the medium-term development and investment plan was produced in cooperation with the competent management. The primary objective of this was to set the right direction for the company management in terms of determining the key applications within the Company that they need to pay special attention to, for adequately supporting strategic objectives.
In the closing stage of the project and as a part of availability of the Corporate capital, a Corporate Culture survey was conducted with the whole office staff. The attitudes and the elements of corporate culture examined in the survey were defined in cooperation with the senior management. After determining of the results of the Corporate Culture survey, both individual and corporate level development plans were fine-tuned.
The whole development process featured a strong project approach, with thorough participation of the very professional, expert and competent senior management. As a part of the company approach, both professional workshops and written communication were bilingual, in English and in Hungarian.
THE IMPACTS OF DEVELOPMENT
The short-term impacts were visible as early as at the workshops, by a perceptible change in co-workers’ attitude, approach and way of thinking. It is important to mention that the workshops also provided excellent opportunities for team building, as the teams performed for a shared goal, amidst professional challenges. In addition to the development process itself, the workshops and professional tasks all reflected that the company management was committed to operating the company even more efficiently in the future.
The diagnostic and development stage also concluded with a specific and palpable result. A number of delivered documents and toolkits were handed over to the management, which would help them oversee the effectiveness of co-workers and organisations most involved in initiatives represented in their strategy map. Using this toolkit, future key developments can be traced and feedback can be provided. The Balanced Scorecard system for organisational development and strategy planning proved excellent in practice both in the course of preparation and execution work.
Connecting solutions
NEWS
The key method of the proposed project is the use of the unique Sociomapping method which is able to analyze and visualize relationships in a team or a group. With this method, we can capture failing cooperation, problematic relationships and continuously improve the cooperation effectiveness.
Study visit about the application of Kirkpatrick methodology
Develor organized a three-day regional best practice sharing workshop for a 10 people delegation of the Slovenian Labor Office (ZRSZ) about the application of the world-class, Kirkpatrick planning and measurement methodology.