A Knowledge-based Approach to Performance Excellence

This Paper suggests a
“Knowledge-based” approach to Performance Excellence; in the US called the
Baldrige Award framework. As basis are the Baldrige award questions as outlined
in the Baldrige National Quality Program 2000 Criteria for Performance
Excellence, www.nist.gov
A “Knowledge-based”
Approach is a ”filter” or a perspective to “see” the organisation. If you try
to be “Knowledge-based” you regard the organisation as consisting of Knowledge,
People and relationships between people; the organisation’s Intangible
Assets. A knowledge-based approach recognises the fact that performance
excellence does not exclusively mean financial performance. Under a knowledge-based
approach the primary objective of actions is to enhance the value of all
assets of the organisation by enhancing knowledge flows, by generating
intangible revenues, reducing intangible costs and enabling knowledge creating
processes. The financial value created is only one of the outcomes of a
knowledge-based approach. The framework is attached in the Appendix.
Examples of knowledge flows are the
sharing of knowledge between an expert and a novice, or between two divisions.
An intangible revenue can be the flow of ideas or leads from customers and
partners, an intangible cost is the loss of knowledge from involuntary staff
turnover or the loss of knowledge shared because a low level of low trust in
the organisation. The theory of the knowledge-based approach is outlined in “A Knowledge-based
Theory of the Firm to guide Strategy Formulation”, published in
Intellectual Capital Journal
A major difference between standard
Baldrige award questions and a knowledge-based approach is that the
knowledge-based Baldrige questions put higher emphasis on human competence and
human relationships as the means to achieve performance excellence.
The other major difference is that a
knowledge-based approach puts more emphasis on knowledge flows and environments
for knowledge creation for achieving excellence in performance.
A knowledge-based framework for
performance excellence requires a fundamental shift in strategic balance. First
of all the organisation will add more emphasis on innovation, collaboration and
knowledge creation as well as knowledge enabling the processes. The
organisation will also have to approach the markets for new talent as
strategically as the customer markets and have to develop the same market
strategy development process for both customer markets and talent markets,
including a process to develop strategic objectives, action plans, and related
plans for how to attract and keep talented individuals.
Each one of the 2000 version of the
Baldrige award questions has been scrutinised against the perspective to
determine to what extent it can be regarded as “knowledge-based”. The proposed changes have been highlighted in blue colour.
The analysis reveals that the
existing Baldrige ward questions are 49% knowledge-based. The most
knowledge-based categories are 1. Leadership and 3. Customer Focus. The least
knowledge-based are 4. Information and Analysis and 7. Business Results.
A knowledge-based approach adds or
changes 42 questions. A summary is shown below.
Table of Changes
|
Category |
Original Number of questions |
Thereof already Knowledge-based in
whole or part |
Additions (whole or
part questions) in a Knowledge-based Approach |
|
1 Leadership |
11 |
8 |
2 |
|
2. Strategic Planning |
10 |
2 |
3 |
|
3. Customer & Market Focus |
13 |
11 |
5 |
|
4. Information & Analysis |
5 |
1 |
4 |
|
5. Human Resource Focus |
18 |
11 |
24 (Category changed to Competence Focus) |
|
6.Process Management |
21 |
10 |
6 |
|
7. Business Results |
10 |
0 |
8 |
|
Total |
88 |
43 (= 49%) |
42 |
Category 5. Human resource Focus is
replaced by 5. Competence Focus.
New Item 5.1 Talent Market
Strategy is added.
Previous 5. Human Resource Focus is
demoted to an Item and is renamed 5.2 Competence management.
The Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award was an American reaction to the Japanese quality
challenge and was signed as law in 1987. The Foundation for the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1988. In Europe a similar initiative since 1991 is known as
the European Quality Award.
Although the guidelines are
updated every year the Baldrige
award approach and language still reveal their roots in the Industrial Era and
the questions are better suited for “Old Economy” companies. A knowledge-based
approach will make the process more relevant for Knowledge Era organisations
and for the Public Sector.
Brisbane 2001-09-21
Dr. Karl-Erik Sveiby
Questions for achieving Performance Excellence with a Knowledge-based Approach
Blue bold questions
are original Baldrige questions, which already are Knowledge-based.
Blue bold underlined
questions are new Knowledge-based Questions currently not in the Baldrige
framework
Black text is original Baldrige framework
text not being changed.
Senior leaders must
address values and performance expectations, as well as focus on customers and
other stakeholders, empowerment, innovation, learning, and organisational
directions.
Also your organisation must address its responsibilities to the public
and support its key communities.
Senior leaders must effectively and
systematically guide your organisation and review organisational performance.
1.
How
do senior leaders set, communicate, and deploy organisational values,
performance expectations, and focus on creating and balancing value for
customers and other stakeholders through your leadership structure to all
employees?
2.
How
do senior leaders establish and support employee empowerment and innovation,
and organisational and employee learning?
3. How do senior leaders set clear directions
and seek future opportunities for your organisation?
1.
How
do senior leaders systematically review organisational performance and
capabilities to assess organisational health, competitive performance, and
progress relative to performance goals and changing organisational needs?
2.
What
are your Key performance measures that are regularly reviewed by senior
leaders?
3.
How
do senior leaders translate organisational performance review findings into
priorities for improvement and opportunities for innovation?
4.
How
are Key recent performance review findings, priorities for improvement, and
Opportunities for innovation documented?
How are they deployed throughout the organisation and, as appropriate,
by suppliers/partners and key customers to ensure organisational alignment?
5.
How
do senior leaders use organisational performance review findings and employee
feedback to improve their leadership effectiveness and the effectiveness of
management throughout the organisation?
Your organisation must address its
responsibilities to the public and practice good citizenship.
The organisation, its senior
leaders, and employees must actively support and strengthen the organisation's
key communities. A systematic process
must be in place to identify key communities and determine appropriate areas of
emphasis for organisational involvement and support, consistent with
organisational business objectives.
Your organisation must have a clear
strategy development process, including a process to develop strategic
objectives, action plans, and related
talent market strategy plans. Also your organisation must deploy the plans
and track performance.
Your organisation must have a
strategy development process to strengthen your organisational performance and
competitive position. Your key
strategic objectives need to be clearly defined.
1.
What
is your strategic planning process? Including key steps and keys participants
in the process.
2.
How
do you consider the following key factors in your process? Include how relevant
data and information are gathered and analysed.
·
Customer and market
needs/expectations, including new product/service opportunities;
·
Competitive environment and
capabilities, including use of new technology;
·
Financial, societal, and other
potential risks;
·
Needs/expectations
of potential new talent;
·
Employee capabilities and needs;
·
Operational capabilities and needs,
including resource availability; and
·
Supplier and/or partner capabilities
and needs.
What are
your key strategic objectives and the timetable for accomplishing them? In setting objectives, how do you evaluate
options to assess how well they respond to the factors in 5.1 above that are
most important to your performance?
Your organisation must have a strategy
deployment process. Your organisation's
action plans and related performance measures must be clearly defined. Project the performance of these key
measures into the future.
1. How do you develop action plans to implement key
strategic objectives? List key short-
and longer-term action plans. Identify
key changes, if any, in your products/services and/or your customers/markets
and be able to explain the reasons for the changes to employees throughout the
organisation?
2.
(Prev. human
resource requirements) Expanded to 5. Talent
Market Strategy Plan and Competence Focus).
3. How do you develop a system to allocate resources
throughout the organisation to ensure they are aligned with strategic
objectives, and that your overall action plan is achieved?
4. How do you define key performance measures and/or
indicators for tracking progress relative to action plans?
5. How do you communicate and deploy strategic
objectives, action plans, and performance measures/indicators throughout the
organisation to achieve overall organisational alignment of work and resources?
1. Define the two- to five-year projections for key
performance measures and/or indicators.
Include key performance targets and/or goals, as appropriate.
2. Determine the projected performance of competitors and
key benchmarks, as appropriate, for the same time period as your projected
goals. The basis for these comparisons
must be clear.
Your organisation must determine
requirements, expectations, and preferences of customers and markets. Also your organisation must build
relationships with customers and determine their satisfaction.
Your organisation must determine
short- and longer-term requirements, expectations, and preferences of customers
and markets to ensure the relevance of current products/services and to develop
new opportunities.
1. How do you determine target customers, customer groups,
and/or market segments? How do you
consider the requirements of customers of competitors and other potential
customers and/or markets in this determination?
2. How do you listen and learn from current,
former, and potential customers to determine key requirements and drivers of
purchase decisions? If determination methods differ for
different customers and/or customer groups, define the key differences and show
how your techniques for learning about the requirements of these groups vary
according to real differences among the customer groups?
3. How do you determine and/or project key
product/service features and identify their relative importance/value to
customers for purposes of current and future marketing, product planning, and
other business developments, as appropriate.
How do you use relevant information from
current and former customers, including marketing/sales information, customer
retention, won/lost analysis, and complaints, in this determination?
4.
How
do you evaluate and improve your listening and learning methods to keep them
current with changing business needs and directions?
5.
How
do you determine which customers provide the most valuable knowledge to your
employees?
Your organisation must determine the
satisfaction of customers and build relationships to retain current business
and to develop new opportunities.
1. How do you determine key access mechanisms to
facilitate the ability of customers to conduct business, seek assistance and
information, and complain? Document the
key mechanisms used.
2.
How
do you determine key customer contact requirements and systematically ensure
all employees involved in the customer response chain understand and adhere to
these contact requirements?
3. What is your complaint management process to ensure
that complaints are resolved effectively and promptly (ideally at the first
point of contact)? How do you ensure that all complaints received are
aggregated and analysed for use in overall organisational improvement?
4.
How
do you systematically build relationships with customers to ensure repeat
business and/or positive referral?
5.
How
do you evaluate and improve approaches to provide customer access and build
relationships to keep them current with changing business needs and directions?
6.
Who
are our Key Customers? What intangible revenues do they bring?
7.
How
do you select and improve relationships with those customers that provide the
highest intangible value to your organisation?
1. What processes, measurements, and data do
you use to determine customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction? How do you ensure that
measurements capture actionable information that reflects customers' future
business and/or potential for positive referral? Define any significant differences in
processes or methods for different customer groups and/or market segments.
2. How do you systematically follow up with
customers on products/services and recent transactions so your organisation can
receive prompt and actionable feedback for use in improving products and
services and preventing future problems?
3. How do you obtain and use information on
customer satisfaction relative to competitors and/or benchmarks, as
appropriate, to improve your offerings and support strategic planning?
4.
How
do you evaluate and improve approaches to customer satisfaction determination
to keep them current with changing business needs and directions?
1.
How do you determine what and how much
knowledge your customers need from you?
2. How
do you ensure that your customers have all the knowledge they require to serve
their customers to a high degree of satisfaction?
Your organisation must have a performance
measurement system and a way to analyse performance data and information.
Your organisation must provide
effective performance measurement systems for understanding, aligning, and
improving performance at all levels and in all parts of your organisation.
How do you address the major
components of the organisation's performance measurement system, including the
following key factors?
Your organisation must analyse
performance data and information to assess and understand overall
organisational performance.
1. How do you perform analyses that examine the overall
health of the organisation, including key business results and strategic
objectives, to support senior executives' organisational performance review and
planning?
2. How do you ensure that the results of
organisational-level analysis are linked to work group and/or functional-level
operations to enable effective support for decision making?
3. How does analysis support daily operational decision
making throughout the organisation, and ensures that measures align with action
plans?
4.
How
do you perform analyses that examine how knowledge flows, intangible revenues
and intangible costs affect the overall business results?
Your organisation must approach the markets for new talent
as strategically as the customer markets and have the same clear talent market
strategy development process as you have for customer markets, including a
process to develop strategic objectives, action plans, and related plans for
how to attract and keep talented individuals.
Also your organisation must deploy the plans and track performance.
a.
What is your strategic planning process for
the talent markets? Include key steps, key sources of talent and key
participants in the process.
b.
How do you consider the following key
factors in your process. Include how relevant data and information are gathered
and analysed:
i.
Talent market needs/expectations
ii.
Competitive environment for talent and
capabilities, including use of new technology;
iii.
Financial, societal, and other potential
risks;
iv.
Customer requirements and needs;
v.
Operational capabilities and needs,
including resource availability; and
vi.
Supplier and/or partner capabilities and
needs.
What are your key strategic objectives for the talent markets and the timetable for accomplishing them? In setting objectives, how do you evaluate options to assess how well they respond to the factors in 5.1a above that are most important to your performance?
Your organisation must have a Strategy deployment process for the
talent markets. Your organisation's
action plans and related performance measures must be clearly defined. Project the performance of these key
measures into the future.
1.
How do you develop action plans to
implement key strategic objectives?
List key short- and longer-term action plans. Identify key changes, if any, in your products/services and/or
your talent markets and be able to explain the reasons for the changes to key
customers.
2.
How do you develop a system to allocate
resources to ensure they are aligned with strategic objectives, and that your
overall action plan is achieved?
3.
How do you define key performance measures
and/or indicators for tracking progress relative to action plans?
4.
How do you communicate and deploy strategic
objectives, action plans, career plans and performance measures/indicators
throughout the organisation to achieve overall organisational alignment of work
and resources?
1.
What are your two- to five-year projections
for key performance measures and/or indicators? Include key performance targets and/or goals, as appropriate.
2.
How does your projected performance compare
with competitors for talent and key benchmarks, as appropriate, for the same
time period as your projected goals?
The basis for these comparisons must be clear.
Your organisation must
systematically build its competence base in alignment with the strategy. Your organisation must enable employees to develop
and utilise their full potential, aligned with the organisation's
objectives. Also your organisation must
build and maintain a work environment and an employee support climate conducive
to performance excellence, collaboration,
full participation, and personal and organisational growth.
Your organisation's work and job
design compensation, career progression, and related employee practices (the knowledge creation space), must enable
your people to innovate, create knowledge and
achieve high performance in your operations.
Your organisation's education and
training must support the achievement of your business objectives, build
employee knowledge, skills, and capabilities, and contribute to improved
employee performance.
1.
How
do you ensure that the organisation's system for education and training
balances short- and longer-term organisational and employee needs, including
development, learning, and career progression?
2. How do you design education and training to
ensure it keeps current with business and individual needs? Include how job and
organisational performance are used in education and training design and
evaluation.
3.
How
do you seek and use input from employees and their supervisors/managers to
design and set education and training needs and expectations?
4.
How do you deliver, evaluate, and improve formal and informal education, training,
and learning, as appropriate?
5.
How do you address key developmental and training needs of the entire workforce,
including diversity training, management/leadership development, new employee
orientation, and safety, as appropriate?
6.
How do you ensure that training and education address the topics of performance
excellence, such as ensuring that employees learn to use performance measurements,
performance standards, skill standards, performance improvement, quality
control methods, and benchmarking, as appropriate?
7. How do your reinforce knowledge and skills
on the job?
8. How do you ensure that employees know how
to use the knowledge sharing tools available?
9. Who are our key People? What are our core
competencies?
Your organisation must maintain a
work environment and an employee support climate that contribute to the well
being, satisfaction, and motivation of all employees.
1. How do your address and improve workplace health,
safety, and ergonomics. How do
employees take part in identifying these factors and in improving workplace
safety? Include performance measures
and/or targets for each key environmental factor. Also identify significant
differences in requirements, if any, based on different work environments for
employee groups and/or work -units.
2.
How
do you ensure that the office environments are designed to support knowledge
creation and knowledge sharing?
1. How do you enhance employees' work climate via
services, benefits, and policies?
Ensure these enhancements are selected and tailored to meet the needs of
different categories and types of employees, and individuals, as appropriate and insure that they are conducive to collaboration.
2. How do you ensure that the work climate considers and
supports the needs of different categories and types of employees?
3. How do you create a collaborative climate
throughout the organisation?
4. How do you ensure that your get new talent
up to speed fast?
1. How do you determine the key factors that affect the
well being, satisfaction, and motivation of employees and other competence providers?
2.
How do you
develop and implement formal and/or informal assessment methods and measures to
determine well being, satisfaction, and motivation systematically of employees and other competence providers? Methods and measures should be tailored to
examine the needs of different categories and types of employees. In addition, use indicators such as employee
turnover, absenteeism, grievances, and productivity to assess and improve
employee well being, satisfaction, and motivation?
3. How do you determine which customers your
people learn from and gain most of their satisfaction from?
4. How do you ensure a planned departure of
employees leaving you? How do ensure that their key competencies are not lost
with their departure?
Your organisation must have a
process management system including customer-focused design, product and
service delivery, support, and supplier and partnering processes that involve
all work units.
Your organisation must manage
effectively key product and service design and delivery processes.
1. What are your design processes for products/services
and their related production/ delivery processes?
2.
How
do you incorporate changing customer/market requirements into product/service
designs and production/delivery systems and processes?
3.
How
do you incorporate new technology into products/services and into
production/delivery systems and processes, as appropriate?
4. How do you ensure that design processes systematically
and thoroughly address design quality and cycle time, transfer of learning from past projects and other parts of
the organisation, cost control, new design technology, productivity,
and other efficiency/effectiveness factors?
5. How do you evaluate production/delivery process design
to ensure it effectively accommodates all key operational performance
requirements?
6. How do you evaluate, coordinate, and test design and
production/delivery processes to ensure capability for trouble-free and timely
introduction of products/services?
1. What are your key production/delivery processes and
their key performance requirements?
2. How does your day-to-day operation of key production/delivery
processes ensure meeting key performance requirements?
3.
What
are your key performance measures and/or indicators are used for the control
and improvement of key work processes? Include how real-time customer input is
used to improve work processes.
4.
How
you improve production/delivery processes to achieve better process performance
and improvements to products/services, as appropriate? How are improvements consistently shared
with other organisational units and processes, as appropriate, throughout the
organisation?
Your organisation must manage
effectively its key support processes.
1. What are your key support processes?
2. How do you determine key support process
requirements incorporating input from internal and/or external customers, as
appropriate?
What are the key operational requirements (such as productivity and
cycle time) that your suppliers and/or partners must meet to fulfil your
overall requirements?
3. How do you design these processes to meet all the key
requirements?
4. How does your day-to-day operation of key support
processes ensure meeting key performance requirements? How do you determine and use in-processes measures and/or
customer feedback in your support processes?
5.
How
do you improve your support processes to achieve better performance and to keep
them current with business needs and directions as appropriate? How are
improvements shared with other organisational units, as appropriate?
6.
What
are the key support processes for knowledge sharing and knowledge creation?
Your organisation must manage
effectively its key supplier and/or partnering interactions and processes.
1. Who are your key Suppliers/ Partners? What key products/services and knowledge do you purchase from suppliers
and/or partners?
2. How do your incorporate Key performance requirements
into suppliers and/or partners process management? What key performance requirements must your suppliers/partners
meet to fulfil your requirements?
3. How do your ensure that your performance requirements
are met? How do you provide timely and actionable
feedback to suppliers and/or partners to enable them to improve their
performance quickly? Include key performance
measures and/or indicators and any targets used for supplier and/or partner
assessment.
4. How do you minimise overall costs associated with
inspections, tests, and process and/or performance audits?
5.
How do you
provide business assistance, knowledge,
and/or incentives to suppliers and/or partners to help them improve their
overall performance and to improve their abilities to contribute to your
current and longer-term performance?
6.
How
do you improve your supplier and/or support processes, including your role as
supportive customer/partner to keep current with your business needs and
directions? How are improvements shared throughout your organisation, as
appropriate?
7.
How
do you select and improve relationships with those suppliers that provide the highest
intangible value to your organisation?
1. How do
you ensure that the individuals know how to maximise their learning that takes
place on-the-job?
2.
What tools and processes do you have to
support learning-on-the-job?
Your organisation's performance and
improvement in key business areas must include customer satisfaction, product
and service performance, financial and marketplace performance, human resource
results, supplier and partner results, and operational performance. Also your organisation must track and
improve performance levels relative to competitors.
Your organisation's customer-based
results must include customer satisfaction and product and service performance
results. Your results must be segmented
by customer groups and market segments, as appropriate and include appropriate
comparative data.
1. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of customer satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and
satisfaction relative to competitors?
2. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of customer loyalty, positive referral,
customer-perceived value, and/or customer relationship building, as
appropriate?
3. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of product and service performance?
4.
What
are your current levels and trends in key measures and/or indicators of
knowledge transfer to/from customers?
Your organisation's key financial
and marketplace performance results must be segmented by market segments, as
appropriate, and include appropriate comparative data.
1. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of financial performance? Include aggregate measures of financial return and/or economic
value, as appropriate.
2. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of marketplace performance? Include market share/position, business
growth, and new markets entered, as appropriate.
Your organisation's competence-based results must include
employee wellbeing, satisfaction, development, and work system
performance. Segment your results by
types and categories of employees, as appropriate. Include appropriate comparative data.
a. Competence Focus Results
1. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of employee well being, satisfaction and dissatisfaction,
and development?
2. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of work system performance and effectiveness?
3. For talent markets: what are your current
levels and trends in key measures and/or indicators of positive referral,
perceived value by potential recruits, and/or talent relationship building, as
appropriate?
4.
What
are your current levels and trends in key measures and/or indicators of
competence growth, competence renewal, competence utilisation and competence
stability?
Your organisation's key supplier and
partner results must include appropriate comparative data.
Display data regarding current
levels and trends in key measures and/or indicators of supplier and partner
performance. Display data regarding
performance and/or cost improvements resulting from supplier and partner
performance and performance management.
Your organisation's key operational
performance results that contribute to the achievement of organisational
effectiveness must be tracked and improved.
Include appropriate comparative data.
1. What are your current levels and trends in key
measures and/or indicators of key design, production, delivery, and support
process performance. Include productivity, cycle time, and other appropriate
measures of effectiveness and efficiency.
2. What are your results for key measures and/or
indicators of regulatory/ legal compliance and citizenship. Display data regarding results for key
measures and indicators of accomplishment of organisational strategy.
3. What are your current levels and trends in
key measures and/or indicators of knowledge transfer to/from suppliers?
4.
For
Partners: What are your current levels and trends in key measures and/or
indicators of supplier satisfaction, dissatisfaction, and satisfaction relative
to competitors?
5.
What
are your current levels and trends in key measures and/or indicators of
supplier loyalty, positive referral, supplier-perceived value, and/or supplier
relationship building, as appropriate?
6.
What
are your current levels and trends in key measures and/or indicators of product
and service performance?
APPENDIX 1
INPUT DRIVER DATA, MEASURES PROCESS/ SYSTEMS RESULTS

The Knowledge Strategy Framework
APPENDIX 2
For more information on a
Knowledge-based Approach:
-
please read http://www.sveiby.com.knowledgetheoryoffirm.htm
ã Karl Erik
Sveiby 1997-1999 All rights reserved
