Making a Continuous Improvement Culture Part of Your Vision 2020 PROFESSOR PETER HINES

The last twenty years has seen a consistent application of Continuous Improvement (CI) by practitioners and a series of academic articles promoting the approach as well as identifying its possible weaknesses. The vast majority of these have been within a manufacturing context. However, perhaps strangely there has been a lack of attention to the possibility of applying CI to the very academic institutions that these articles stem from. This paper seeks to make a tentative first step in doing so. Implementing Lean Within a University The Cardiff University is in the process of translating the “lean value system” (Hines et al. 2004) to an academic environment. Work began within the development of a Lean Implementation approach that sought to provide a more concrete, holistic methodology to transformations within organisations. Improvements should be made with an awareness of the effect that these changes will have on other aspects of the organisation. For real change to occur, major mental, transformational shifts need to take place at the upper levels of the institution. These shifts in thinking need to then be effectively communicated and cascaded through all levels of the organisation. Fig. 1. The Lean Iceberg Model (Hines et al, 2008) It is useful conceptually to see this as a Lean Iceberg model (Fig. 1). Within the model, technology, tools and techniques that affect processes are the visible aspect of a lean enterprise. However, the vast majority of the ice structure lies beneath the surface, invisible to outside observers. It is this enabling, anchoring mass which makes the Iceberg the powerfully strong force to be reckoned with. Realising that the enabling elements of the iceberg are essential to a successful, sustainable transformation is only part of the initiating mindset required by a lean implementation team. There also needs to be an appreciation of the right mix of “above water” and “below water” activities. It is also important to realise that the iceberg’s components are all interdependent. For example, effective strategy and alignment can only be delivered through strong leadership, which in turn, will only be successfully realised within a positive organisational culture that is receptive to learning and improvement. In a professional service environment it is more appropriate to focus more broadly and initially, especially on muri, in order to engage staff in a lean transformation. The reason for this is that large parts of the activity within a university are of a support nature and hence would, within a traditional lean thinking approach, be regarded as necessary-but-non-value-adding or nonvalue-adding.