Importance of Teamwork in Philips Electronics Order Instructions: Module Project This week you will be starting work on your Final Project for this module.
The purpose of the Final Project is to apply the concepts and techniques of the module to the analysis of real-world situations or problems. Students are expected to use diverse sources of information and to carry out an original analysis rather than summarise or rehash existing work. Students are encouraged to use situations and data from their own experience where possible.
Your task for Week 5 is to prepare and hand in a proposal including the nature of the project, the sources of information you plan to use, and the most important concepts and techniques to be applied. You will receive feedback on the proposal in Week 6, which will give you time to make adjustments.
For this project, you will study the Philips Electronics model of business excellence through speed and teamwork (BEST). You will find this model described in detail in Case Study 11 of your textbook:
Oakland, J. S. (2003) TQM: text with cases (pp. 454–470). 3rd ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
You will also read the following brief but important journal article:
Adebanjo, D. (2001) ‘TQM and business excellence: is there really a conflict?’, Measuring Business Excellence, 5 (3), pp. 37–40.
Your task for the project is:
1. To assess the BEST model, with particular reference to the importance of teamwork in a company like Philips Electronics.
2. To evaluate the model against Adebanjo’s proposition that ‘business excellence and quality can and need to complement each other to provide organizations with the operational and business success they aspire to and which is necessary for survival in today’s market.’
3. To show how BEST tools and competencies could be applied to the pursuit of business excellence in your company or another company you think could benefit from using the model.
The Required articles are in the attachments,
Importance of Teamwork in Philips Electronics Sample Answer
To assess the BEST model, with particular reference to the importance of teamwork in a company like Philips Electronics.
Philips Business Excellence through Speed and Teamwork (BEST) model is a business excellence initiative that began in 1999. BEST model is the hallmark of Philips success. In addition, the model defines what the organization’s has to perform so as to increase its profits. In Philips speed and teamwork is vital component of the BEST model (Oakland, 2005).
Speed
Improvement initiatives might be clear, accurate and focused however like business process they are extremely slow, as such fail to deliver. Therefore Philips carefully puts into consideration its operation techniques and look for approaches to smartly operate while reducing cycles of processes. Reduced process cycles lead to acceleration learning speed.
Teamwork
The organisation understands that it can only perform well in teams, share knowledge and communicate with one another. In Philips teamwork is the main element of competitiveness and the basis for attaining its full potential. Through sharing best practices as well as support, the organisation is capable of outperforming its rivals (Dong , Vinod & Steven 2010).
To evaluate the model against Adebanjo’s proposition that ‘business excellence and quality can and need to complement each other to provide organisations with the operational and business success they aspire to and which is necessary for survival in today’s market.’
A number of researchers believe that the current quality systems can complement one another to provide desired outcomes for continuous upgrading. The proposition by Adebanjo has been shared recognized by a number of experts particularly when it comes to aspects of quality and business excellence in organisations(Adebanjo, 2001). With respect to Philips BEST model and its function in complementing business excellence and quality it’s necessary to focus on the key principles of BEST so as validate Adebanjo’s propositions. For example, as an element of TQM firms develop a culture where workers are considered as important assets, categorized in teams to transfer knowledge and skills and a culture important in accomplishment of business excellence. On the other hand, BEST initiative individuals are seen as knowledge as well as skill sources, and ensuring quality in all their duties. With a firm, employees should work in teams as this is the main basis of quality improvement (Oakland, 2005). Focus on teamwork in BEST model can be evaluated against enablers and internal stakeholders in excellence and TQM respectively, as a form of off value that is offered. However, attention should focus to important tools so as to effectively monitor performance, process management and identify gaps in the BEST program (Metaxas & Koulouriotis 2014).
- To show how BEST tools and competencies could be applied to the pursuit of business excellence in your company or another company you think could benefit from using the model.
Philips BEST tools and competencies are important in business excellence. For example, balanced business scorecard (BBS) tool at Philips concentrates on important factors that can lead to the success of the business while providing the organization with different perspectives including competence, processes, customers and financial. In addition, Process survey tool (PST) presents a platform for assessing business process and designing an enhancement plan that helps the team to evaluate components to increase the performance of the process. With Headquarter audits (HQA) that provides assessments used by leadership to achieve business excellence. PBE assessments allow the identification of areas that require upgrading and put the necessary drivers to help increase business excellence.
On the other hand, competencies are important particularly in managing business procedures which produce products and service to meet clients’ needs. For example, knowledge management is regarded as an important competence for Philips, as such, the firm creates, acquires and disseminates it and in turn convert it into business competence the fundamental source of competitiveness. Professional competencies such as manufacturing, professional, logistics and performance that can be used to increase performance while leadership competencies that describe the conduct of each manager that is in turn applied to ensure business excellence.
Importance of Teamwork in Philips Electronics Bibliography
Adebanjo, D. 2001. ‘TQM and business excellence: is there really a conflict?’, Measuring Business Excellence, 5 (3), pp. 37–40.
Dong Young Kim, Vinod Kumar, Steven A. Murphy. 2010. European Foundation for Quality Management Business Excellence Model. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management 27:6, 684-701
Metaxas, I. N & Koulouriotis. D. E. 2014. A theoretical study of the relation between TQM, assessment and sustainable business excellence. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence 25, 494-510
Oakland, J. S. 2003. TQM: text with cases (pp. 454–470). 3rd ed. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.
