BSBMGT608 Manage Innovation and

Continuous Improvement

Strategic Goals
To aim 8 percent of productivity improvement as a goal, adaptation of products must be
satisfied by preferences of customers. There is purpose of making customer centric
organization. Increase of the effective processes for better coordination is also considered.
The financial objective is to streamline financial growth and revenue by 8 percent. Customer
strategic objectives are increase improvement in customer relation management and
customer retention and maintenance of outstanding customer service, introduction of new
products in existing and new market.
Process for identifying needs and preferences of customers
Uninterruptedly reviewing the need identification process and collecting data from the
particular and existing customers to recognize the trends of purchasing behavior and
preferences of customers by customer relation department.
Quality orientation process
Monitoring, planning, and correcting in quality management must be initiated and total
commitment from the employees at all levels must be ensured for total quality management.

Process for unity

 To make a reduction of employee confliction, job descripts accuracy and feedback
constructive to employees to gain unity of objective for quality management, performance
appraisement must be employed.
Brief consultation session
To obtain feedback of employees and management for improvement in the
proposed strategies, the intend strategies are disseminated at all levels in organization.
The ideas of improvement in technology and customer service were agreed. They
did not like to suffer further cost for training. They have resisted launching new products
and heavy promotion for the brand awareness. The operational level employees have
favored to have freedom for joining the labor unions and like most of the proposed
strategies, but they are against of having been monitored at work place. For generating
viewpoints of people, brain storming session and NGT techniques have been employed.
The focus of discussion has been on the decentralized structure, better performance
appraisal system, information and knowledge management and specific skills-based
training.
Benefits
 Efficiency. A continuously improving business is continually improving efficiency.
As you implement the systems to get more done in less time, you save money on labor
and increase customer satisfaction by turning out a higher-quality product.
 Engagement. Employees who work in an environment where they are expected to
make continual improvements are more interested in their work than employees who are
expected to simply show up and get the job done. Interested employees are satisfied
employees who stay with your company longer and go the extra mile to satisfy customers
and fix problems.
 Customer satisfaction. As your products and services continually improve, you'll be
better able to meet customer needs. Your offerings will have fewer flaws because your staff
will be devoting time and energy toward resolving difficulties. These efforts will be in part a
response to customer feedback, and their implementation will improve the customer
experience.
 Effective systems. When continuous improvement is part of a quality management
effort, your business will put systems in place to continually evaluate and upgrade its

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operations. These systems will give your company the tools it needs to build quality into its
DNA as an intrinsic aspect of its identity.
Disadvantages
-Incremental improvement. Continuous improvement is usually implemented as an
incremental process in which advances are made in small steps according to an
established set of assumptions. To have a formal continuous improvement program in
place, your team will have defined a set of desirable objectives and will be working toward
these outcomes. However, sometimes real improvement comes from shattering a mold and
exploring an entirely different direction.
- Stifled innovation. If your business has defined the ways it wants to grow and improve, it
may limit itself to a specific type of development and close itself off to other possibilities. It
addition to missing opportunities, this creates the possibility of stifling rather than rewarding
the creativity of your staff.
- Inadequate implementation. Although continual improvement itself tends to be good for an
organization, it may not be implemented effectively. Objectives may not be communicated
clearly, or managers may not be sufficiently motivated in following through with
improvements. If your staff isn't sufficiently motivated or if they feel like their efforts are
wasted, your continuous improvement program may create more problems than benefits.

Performance Improvement Strategy

Target Area Research Data Organizational Skill

Performance concern Research is in progress Deficiency of knowledge regarding

new lines
Expected standard of To generatean correctly To be effectively produce the
performance accurate data and to enable products on a daily basis, meet the
meaningful analysis regarding production deadlines
market

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 Agreed improvement action Set up a team to do research Hire engineer consultant. Establish
on the market good communication in the company.
Support Conduct effective training in Intensive training lead by engineer
writing research and handling consultant.
complex data.
Time management training.
Hire a consultant
Review date To be reviewed every quarter Every Month
of year
Review note Effective training is needed. Outsource the part of the production
process which A.C Gilbert could not
do effectively while waiting for the
engineers train to be able to deliver
expected performance.
Date to achieve Within 4 months Within 4 months

Gaining lots of knowledges, doing research and planning will help A.C Gilbert to know
which target market to engage and what is the current trends going on the market by
having an accurate research data. It is hard for the engineers to keep up by having a lot
of new lines introduced in such a short amount of time. These would help A.C Gilbert to
be better prepared to compete with competitors in the market which in the end going to
give A.C Gilbert competitive edge against other company

Reviewed Performance Improvement Strategy

Target Area Research Data Organizational Skill Management
Skills

Performance concern Research is in progress Deficiency of knowledge regarding Ineffective

new lines management lead

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 to lack of
performance
Expected standard of To generate an correctly To be effectively produce the products Good workforce
performance accurate data and to enable on a daily basis, meet the production and increase of
meaningful analysis regarding deadlines sales due to
market upgraded spirits.
Agreed improvement Set up a team to do research Hire engineer consultant. Establish Internal
action on the market good communication in the company. promotions
Support Conduct higher training in Intensive training lead by engineer Bonus
writing research and handling consultant.
complex data.
Time management training.
Hire a consultant
Review date To be reviewed every quarter Every Month
of year
Review note Effective training is needed. Outsource the part of the production Management
process which A.C Gilbert could not skills training
do effectively while waiting for the
engineers train to be able to deliver
expected performance.
Date to achieve Within 4 months Within 4 months Within 4 months

KRAs
Financials- As the scenario shows, A.C. Gilbert continually made loss from 1962 to 1967. In
order to improve the organizational goal to accomplish $20 million sales, Company should
take the following strategies:
 Reduce unnecessary expenditure –A critical part of saving for many people is to
reduce spending on “wants” to allow room for savings.

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  Keep investment costs low
 Increase marketing- Conduct marketplace research to learn which messages speak
to your target audience. Run ads and promotions in limited locations and check the
results before spending your entire budget. Incorporate some way to monitor
marketing communications, such as using coupons, electronic codes or website
traffic statistics.
 Pricing strategies- Find out what your competition is charging and raise or lower
your prices based on your goals. Lowering your prices can increase revenues to
make up for lower margins. Raising your prices can create a higher perceived value
in the minds of consumers and increase your margins. Raising your prices can also
increase your revenues without increasing sales.
Customers- A. C. Gilbert had a limited range of top-quality toys and focused on educational
toys and mainly aimed at boys rather than girls before 1950’s. When it moved into the
1960s, there were huge culture changes across the world, which impact in toy markets.
After Jack Wrather, an opportunistic businessman, took over the company in 1962. The
company changed the focus from traditional boys’ toys to ranges for pre-school children
and dolls aimed at girls. Now it is 21st century, the company’s short-term objective is
expanding their target customers from middle and upper class to lower class. The long-term
objective is increasing market share in emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia (China,
South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia etc.)
KPI
 Staff retention

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The company should retrain experienced engineers to meet new production
requirements due to increase new lines.
 Quality standards
It is important to maintain current quality standards and even to exceed market
expectations.
 Production times
It is important meet key retail sales periods, otherwise the company will miss the
opportunity to increase sale.
 Sales budgets
Necessary first step in structuring an overall budget for A. C. Gilbert. With an
accurate projection of future sales, keeps expenses in line and protects the
company from failing.
 Profit budgets
It is important to set an acceptable profit goals, which stimulate employees to use
their existing knowledge to attain the goal.

RISK ANALYSIS

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Cost-Benefit Analysis
Activity $
Material 17,000
Research 9,000
Instructor 70,000
Marketing 20,000
Total cost 143,000

ROI=Operational savings/Cost of Training

ROI=148,000/143,000 ROI= 1.03; Positive ratio
This means ROI was 103% or $1.03 for every $1.00 spends for the training.

Recommendation
ROI is concerned about whether the training is benefiting the organization. In the other
hand, most training evaluation is concerned with whether learners acquire knowledge and
skills and apply them to work.By having the new strategy in place A.C Gilbert would have;
Work safety practices improvement
result in customer service and productivity improvements
Employee with new skills for workforce gains, adequate skills to meet the needs of
your operation for now and in the future
Stimulate to employees and demonstrate that company isalways ready to invest in
them.
Loyaltyimprovement and staff retention. In turn, retention is a saving to company.

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