Effective Resource Management - Essay Example

Resource Management For successful performance every organization needs to know what resources it possesses, how those resources are used and how they are controlled. Resource management covers physical resources such as land, plant and machinery; financial resources; and human resources. Resource management lies not only in assessing the viability of a particular strategic proposal, but also in assessing the ability of the organization to adapt to change. The main questions raised in the articles under analysis include the following: Can the firm deal with changes in demand or can it withstand a price war with its competitors Has it the financial backing to invest in new technology Is the age profile of its staff sufficiently balanced to ensure succession Many such questions deal with issues of resource balance. In the article "Motivational Management. Developing Leadership Skills" written by D. M. Eade, the author gives some recommendations as for employees motivation and change strategies, which can be successfully in health care practice. The purpose of the article is to single out the most important characteristics of effective leaders and evaluate the importance of leadership in health care. The author examines employees perception and understanding of the notion of a leader and the role of a leader in the process of management. Summarizing the main features of an ideal leader it is possible to say that being a leader is not a position, but a function. It requires getting the job done. In terms of leadership, the aim is to recruit and develop motivated managers who lead proactively. They are expected to be clear, to delegate and to get others to participate. A key aspect of leadership is that of aligning people with the goals and values of the company. In resource management effective leaders identify productive areas of confusion and uncertainty that exist in society, demonstrate that they do not have all the answers but are willing to learn, and is able to act differently, think differently, and seek inspiration from different sources, than leaders of the past. The obligations of leadership include effective training, deep insight into new tools and advancements and their impact on the future, strong corporate nurturing, and repeated practice could yield the best result, a well-rounded, skilled, and instinctive leader. On the other hand, the author of the article does not include in her discussion such important features of good leaders as the ability to cope with complex technological change in their organizations. The author: "noted that solid strategies are necessary, but not sufficient in and of themselves, for good planning. Detailed action plans based on those strategies are critically important" (Eade , 1996). General leadership skills are not sufficient in enriched environments. It must directly relate to the tools, medium, strategies, and competencies found within this culture. Leader should possess the competencies to use and evaluate new tools, but he/she must also have the insight into the impact these tools will have on the future of organizations. The ability to develop a shared vision for new resources within an organization is an essential part of management, especially in health care. Employees prefer to have a leader who is a self-achiever and motivated to become a role model. Changes in resources often produce a "chaos situation" where change management in the use of instructional technology in teaching and learning becomes increasingly important. The leader must be ready to cope with difficult situations. Effective leaders recognize that what they know is very little in comparison to what they still need to learn. Leading others is not simply a matter of style, or following some how-to guides or recipes. Ineffectiveness of leaders seldom results from a lack of know-how or how-to, nor it is typically due to inadequate managerial skills. Leadership is even not about creating a great vision. It is about creating conditions under which all followers can perform independently and effectively toward a common objective. The second article under analysis, "Transformation - the new type of change" is devoted to marketing and change theory, it analysis the role of marketing and quality management in resource management strategies. According to the research, resource scheduling in the initial planning stage varies depending on the type of project. When planning a construction project the project team may simply consider the type of resources necessary for each activity, equipment or skill groups - for example, electricians or carpenters. However, if planning a process with fewer resources the team may consider not just the skill types necessary but particular individuals, especially if the process has a short duration. The times within the process when certain activities are undertaken can be altered to reduce the overload on critical resources. If the activities can be rescheduled to take account of float within non-critical activities, the overall completion date would not be affected. This approach is used when there are no time constraints or when the change process has cost constraints and the team are seeking to use the minimum number of resources in the most effective way. The research distinguishes the notions of "change" and "transformation", which is important within resource planning. They proposes the following explanation: "Change is viewed as something of an incremental concept that has a tendency to focus upon processes rather than culture, tangible as opposed to intangible. In this sense, transformation is on a higher plane, a new and exciting way of re-engaging managers' attention" (Tosey, Robinson, 2002). In is possible to argue that the manager should have a general knowledge of a number of different functions, but be able to see the business as a whole and integrate the input from different functions to achieve the overall objective. This objective would be the key focus - in particular how it met the organization's overall strategy. Change drivers are caused by innovation rapid technological changes and innovations proposed by competitors within the industry. One of the major changes deals with the specification of goods which may be considered in terms of their design features and performance characteristics. Together these measurements define what the item is and how it is intended to perform its purpose. Also, the specification of a transport may be expressed in terms of its "design" and performance. In this context design i.e. the nature of the transport, movement may be expressed in terms of the origin, destination and route of movement. The third article, "Benchmarking environmental performance at automobile assembly plants", arises such important issues as government regulations and resource planning, life cycle approach and analysis of resource and product usage. It is possible to say that such an integrative approach requires the manager to become more dependent on their team and draw on a wider range of skills. As this approach involves them in more risky undertakings and the need to think further ahead, the ability to identify risks and select ways of overcoming them and to control the work to ensure success will be crucial. As the pace of change in the business environment quickens, the manager needs to have a fuller understanding of their products or industry and how they relate to the overall environment. The article illustrates that the observance of legal rules and regulations is clearly a necessary part of effective employee relations this does not, by itself, make for an harmonious environment at work. Legal dimensions help to regulate the working relationships of people within the organisation. But rules and regulations do not by themselves ensure that disputes will be settled amicably. Human behaviour cannot be made to conform to prescribed rules and regulations just because such rules and regulations exist. The 'systems' approach which seeks to provide rules to govern behaviour needs to be balanced with the 'emergent' approach which seeks to show how people's perceptions need to be taken into account. The author underlines: "One primary criticism of EMS benchmarking is that its focus only on the management system does not accurately reflect a firm's actual environmental impact. Therefore, no matter how popular the use of management benchmarking becomes, it is likely that stakeholders and firms will continue to use performance benchmarking, in all of its forms" (Rothenberg, 2005). Consequently, improving the amount of time a resource is used productively directly translates into improved efficiency. Interestingly, these same reductions in equipment setup times also resulted in improved flexibility. This study pays attention to occupational health and safety conditions. "Internal chemical usage and external emissions must be evaluated for human health risks to workers and the surrounding community" (Rothenberg, 2005). It demonstrates that resource management should pay a primary attention to people employed and their health because employees are the most "valuable assets" of any corporation. The forth article deals with the concept of strategic finance as an important part of resource management. The authors found that the process for estimating the cost is the same as we have used for estimating the time of each of the activities. Regardless of whether we are considering internal cost or external costs, the processes are the same. Many organizations running in-house projects do not estimate the cost of their internal staff working on the project, but do estimate the cost of contractors and suppliers. This is often the case not only for small organizations, but also many multinational companies which do not have systems in place to allow them to accurately track and record the time people spend on individual projects. The authors single out such important features of resource planning as corporate governance and financial resource planning. "They proposed a strategic scorecard as a governance tool for measuring and monitoring the organization's strategic position, options, and risks. Similarly, other professional bodies proposed different sets of key performance indicators (KPIs) and scorecards for corporate leaders to use to monitor the governance system" (Busco et al, 2005, p. 37). They give an example of General Electric Company. They write "in addition to accounting systems, corporate initiatives and projects can play a central role in implementing measurement-based governance" (Busco et al, 2005, p. 37). The efficiency levels are driven by the normal productivity that can be expected from the type of person or equipment allocated to each activity, and the efficient allocation of the person or equipment is driven by the project schedule. It is important that this is tackled from a practical viewpoint and that due consideration is taken regarding normal modes of working and availability. The fifth article, "History of the Start organization", is a good example of different forms of resource management. This article illustrates that to gain in experience, the company needs to develop strategic plan involving different forms of resource management, namely staff, work design, employee appraisal, budgeting strategies, incidental costs, leadership approach, and change theory. Taking into account the research findings, "efficiency is about cost awareness, productivity and the structural improvement of the organisation. When all these guidelines were developed, together with the core values and the leadership characteristics, everything was in place to start with the implementation of the service excellence program" (History of the Start organization, 2002). Consequently, when the budget is produced it is important to consider the practicalities of how resources are used on the project, as well as the efficiency rates that can be expected for the type of work involved. This article shows that every business needs to have a strategy and this strategy must be related to resource management. In order to survive and maintain growth and expansion top management must protect the business from potentially harmful influences, and be ready to take maximum advantage of the challenges and opportunities presented. The major risk under this heading is being unable to exploit success through lack of capital, knowledge, technical skill or resources available. Whilst top management must always accept the need for innovation there is still the decision as to which opportunities it wishes to develop in relation to its resources, and those it chooses not to pursue. An effective business strategy depends upon the successful management of opportunities and risks. It is possible to conclude that resource management consists of different subgroups such as human resource management, physical resources, financial resources, conflict and risk management, which play a significant role in organizational performance. It was found that in every project there is conflict, as a result of the activity of the relationship manager in an environment where such a function has not previously been involved. And the role of a leader is to find ways to resolve this issue. For many organizations with multiple resources it is extremely difficult to schedule resources effectively by hand. This approach can be applied whether the resources are plant and equipment or whether they are groups of workers or individual members of the team. The staff needs to be willing to put in the appropriate effort to ensure that work is correct first time and thereby reduce the amount of rework later into the project. Quality also includes project specific items related to health, safety and the environment. Clearly these will vary significantly between types of work but, in establishing the overall plan and developing the appropriate quality criteria, account should be taken of the health, safety, ecological and environmental issues. Recent years, the increasing need for change was created by internal need to improve technology and labour skills; attitudes of employees; size of organization; need to improve performance. Change is necessary to ensure an adequate supply of staff who are technically and socially competent, and capable of career advancement into specialist departments or management positions. There is, therefore, a continual need for the process of staff development, and training fulfils an important part of this process. Training should be viewed, therefore, as an integral pan of the process of total quality management. The effective leader of the organization should find one of the most appropriate ways to solve this problem - to change a style of management to more progressive one. On the one hand, leader could provide strict control, but in a time the authoritarian style will stop working also. It will not help to make progress. The situation when departments have observed a lack of flexibility and a slow decision-making process is common for many organizations working on the basis of "command and control" style. It does not serve its customers well, and as a result, such situation can decrease company's profitability. Appraisal systems are necessary to measure attitudes, behaviour and performance. With this system, the manager agrees with members of staff set objectives at the beginning of the appraisal period. The appraisal is then based on the extent to which these stated objectives have been achieved. This method provides for participation by staff and also allows for at least some degree of self-appraisal (Bateman, Snell, 2004). Effective resource management is the best process currently available for improving operating effectiveness and creating a competitive advantage. The design retains needed principles from the traditional system; incorporates workable principles, and builds a new team-based system that works to accomplish corporate objectives. The importance is that the process of effective resource management will be of extreme importance in the next 10 years and continues to advance rapidly and change becomes imperative. When an organization develops a highly committed work force, coupled with enlightened management, its self-managed multifunction teams will be able to take on the challenges of the future. With a team-based organizational structure, transformational leadership, and empowered employees, any organization will be equipped with the necessary and proper tools to compete and succeed in the highly competitive business environment of the future. References 1. Bateman T.S, Snell S. A. (2004). Management: the New Competitive landscape. 6th edn., McGaw Hill Irwin. 2. Busco, Cr., Frigo, M. L., Giovannoni, E., Riccaboni, A., Scapen, R. W. (2005). "The Idea is for Financial Professionals to help their Companies address performance and Knowledge management, too". Strategic Finance. pp. 34-43. August. [Online]. Available at: commerce.depaul.edu/sev/contents/8frigofinal.pdf 3. Eade D. M. (1996). Motivational Management. Developing Leadership Skills. [Online]. Available at: www.adv-leadership-grp.com/articles/motivate.htm 4. History of the Start organization (2002). [Online]. Available at: http://www.managementfirst.com/quality/articles/start.php 5. Rothenberg, S., Schenck, B., Maxwel, J. (2005). Benchmarking environmental performance at automobile assembly plants. [Online]. Available at: http://www.managementfirst.com/quality/articles/automobile.php 6. Tosey, P., Robinson, G. (2002). Transformation - the new type of change . July. [Online]. Available at: http://www.managementfirst.com/change_management/articles/transform.php Article 4. Busco, Cr., Frigo, M. L., Giovannoni, E., Riccaboni, A., Scapen, R. W. (2005). "The Idea is for Financial Professionals to help their Companies address performance and Knowledge management, too". Strategic Finance. pp. 34-43. August. [Online]. Available at: commerce.depaul.edu/sev/contents/8frigofinal.pdf (This file is too big). If you cannot find (or open) this article, please contact me, I will send it. Article 1. Motivational Management. Developing Leadership Skills Diane M. Eade Available at: www.adv-leadership-grp.com/articles/motivate.htm Whether you work in a hospital, private practice, health maintenance organization, government facility, or university, you probably supervise other people. Your behavior as a manager has a direct impact on staff performance, productivity, satisfaction, and turnover. In this article, an expert management consultant examines qualities of managers who motivate, providing proven techniques to inspire those who work for you. Perhaps the single most important technique for motivating the people you supervise is to treat them the same way you wish to be treated: as responsible professionals. It sounds simple; just strike the right balance of respect, dignity, fairness, incentive, and guidance, and you will create a motivated, productive, satisfying, and secure work environment. Unfortunately, as soon as the complexities of our evolving health care delivery system mix with human relationships, even the best-intentioned supervisors can find the management side of their jobs deteriorating into chaos. Today's health care providers face expanding workloads, fewer resources, greater patient expectations, increasing threats (e.g., malpractice lawsuits), and closer scrutiny, especially from third-party providers. The art of healing is being transformed into a business. And like it or not nurse practitioners and physician assistants often find themselves in middle-management roles, with tremendous responsibility and little real authority. Job performance is reflected more in the bottom line than in the quality of patient care. Why, in this environment, do some managers thrive while others burn out The answers lie in each manager's ability to inspire trust, loyalty, commitment, and collegiality among team members. The same techniques that work elsewhere in business can bring success in nursing and medicine - whether you're working in clinical practice, administration, or academia. More often than not, though, the task can be accomplished only by replacing learned behaviors with newer, more effective models. UNLEARNING AUTOCRATIC STYLES Good management technique used to be simple. The boss told employees what to do, and they complied. No one worried if somebody's feelings were hurt along the way. Employees who failed to toe the line were either whipped into shape or fired. These authoritarian managers believed that authority should (in a moral sense) be obeyed. Therefore, they expected unquestioning obedience from their subordinates and they, in turn, submissively obeyed their own superiors. What could be simpler Fear ran the work setting. The system was efficient. Health care delivery, in particular, followed this autocratic model. The physician's order ruled, without question or negotiation. Physicians, in turn, had their own hierarchy. Authority was understood, respected, and obeyed. The example set by past generations has led to huge numbers of autocratic managers today. Some lead this way because they honestly, and consciously, believe it is the best management style. For most, however, it is how they were treated throughout their careers (particularly at a first job). The cycle works very much like child abuse, where the abused child grows up to be an abusive adult. If you were managed by an autocrat, it is very likely that your most natural, comfortable method of management reflects that of a previous supervisor, especially your first. Physician assistants and NPs find themselves particularly vulnerable to this cycle of abuse. Both professions faced great hostility from the moment of their inception. Today's NP or PA leaders spent years struggling to prove their professions' full worth, overcoming the mentality that nonphysician providers were hired to answer telephones and empty bedpans. Frighteningly, today's senior PAs and NPs are the product of that mentality. WHY CHANGE While fear as a management style can accomplish impressive short-term results, the long term consequences can be devastating. With demand high and supply short for NPs and PAs, no manager can afford to alienate other clinicians. Similarly, efficient support staff are also becoming harder to recruit and train, as the technology of the workplace speeds along at a blinding pace. Disgruntled employees may vent their frustrations by being rude to patients, performing poorly, quitting, or complaining to upper management; some supervisors may even face lawsuits for treating subordinates unfairly. An autocratic management style feeds high staff turnover and low employee morale. Low morale, in turn, causes a decline in productivity and in the quality of service provided to your patients. And while many autocratic managers still populate the American health care system, reform demanding higher efficiency and productivity will eventually squeeze such managers out of the marketplace. In short, motivational management produces better results; those who focus on positive reinforcement rather than fear and intimidation will be the successful managers in the next millennium. UNDERSTANDING CHANGE Because autocratic management is a learned behavior focusing on dramatic, short-term results, true change can come only from within. Such change requires an understanding of the need for a new management approach. Motivating yourself to change is the first step in learning to motivate others. Decisions that incorporate the ideas of a group of people are vastly superior to the single viewpoint of one person imposed on the rest of the group. Rapid, relentless advances in technology and vast amounts of new information pounding at us every day make it impossible for a single leader to know more than the sum of his or her subordinates. Each team member's knowledge and perspective are essential to good decision making. Decisions that incorporate the ideas of a group of people are vastly superior to the single viewpoint of one person imposed on the rest of the group. In past generations, employees stayed with a company for the duration of an entire career. Today, people change jobs several times during their working years, and many change careers altogether. This adaptation to change gives employees more options. When a well-trained employee quits, the business incurs not only out-of-pocket hiring and training costs, but the "opportunity cost" of having a less effective, brand-new employee who will require 3 to 6 months before becoming a productive, efficient member of the team. Fundamental changes in American society also herald the end of the autocratic manager. The extended family unit - two-parent households supported by closely linked (geographically) grandparents, aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins - is the exception, not the rule. Divorce and geographic mobility undermine the role of the nuclear family. Most managers accept how child care, family leave, and single-parent households are changing the workplace. But what about the void that now exists where once was a powerful family unit of "belonging" The role of the traditional family is being replaced by the workplace. More and more employees look for jobs where people matter. Such employees want to work with managers, not for them. This presents a huge challenge for businesses and creates a responsibility for which most managers are unprepared. BREAKING ESTABLISHED PATTERNS Autocratic management requires less skill and effort than participatory management, so the decision to change requires true commitment. In the autocratic model, you simply exercise your authority, make a decision, and take responsibility for the results. Participatory management means learning and playing by a whole new set of rules. Such change is never easy. The first step toward a new style of leadership is deciding that you need and want to change. Involving your staff in decision making requires diverse and refined interpersonal skills. You need to learn the capabilities and aspirations of each subordinate in order to use participative techniques without wasting vast amounts of time. Time constraints, personality traits, and lack of consistent motivation often combine to work against managers' efforts to develop these skills. Behavior change takes time, focus, and practice. PATHWAY TO SUCCESS Good management, like good health, is the result of daily conditioning. What qualities lead to successful motivational management The following sections - plan; teach; delegate, not dump; encourage independent thinking; build a team; listen; set an example; accept responsibility; and share the spotlight - set forth proven strategies for becoming an effective leader in today's business world. Plan Planning may be the most important and most overlooked aspect of effective management. Take, for example, a practice in which clinicians are expected to see 30 patients each day, or a hospital where each practitioner routinely manages 20 critically ill patients. To that, add walk-ins and emergencies. Triage is random, with little thought given to support and backup. The clinician loses all control of time, constantly running from one crisis to another. Consider, too, the clinician who routinely directs clerical staff to begin work on numerous projects, without establishing priorities or understanding the amount of work involved. Many of the projects are never completed; others are rushed and sloppy. A pattern of "false starts" develops, leaving employees feeling disempowered and frustrated. Good planning involves a sense of strategic direction. What does the team need to do, in a global sense, to get to an established goal What constraints can be identified, and can each member of the team contribute It must be noted that solid strategies are necessary, but not sufficient in and of themselves, for good planning. Detailed action plans based on those strategies are critically important. The key to effective management is how you involve your subordinates in the development of these action plans. Solicit input from all, and listen with an open mind. The people who actually do the work can provide you with invaluable insight into how to get the job done. Negotiate a consensus, and then make certain everyone agrees on who will do what, by when. Once an action plan is adopted, make sure the team has the resources (e.g., funds, equipment, and human power) to execute those plans. Become a Teacher A role model for the effective participatory supervisor is the teacher who views any shortcoming as an opportunity for you to grow, someone who always focuses on your potential when he or she works with you. Such managers consistently support their employees, helping them discover the paths to success. To help yourself reach your potential as a participatory manager, try some of these techniques: First, list the benefits of becoming a good teacher for your subordinates, and share that list with the people you supervise. There's nothing like a public commitment to keep your own motivation high! Next, approach teaching as a reflection of your personal values. Know that your personal power is greatly enhanced when you live up to your own principles and values. Remember that to be an effective teacher you do not need to know everything your subordinates know. Rather, you must invest your energy in creating opportunities for your subordinates to become experts in their skill areas. Then, give them the chance to demonstrate their expertise. View teaching as your primary responsibility. It is not an also-ran for effective managers. And as your subordinates grow, reward them; nurture their careers and professional growth in every way possible. Delegate, Never Dump The easiest way to become good at delegation is to surround yourself with subordinates whose abilities you respect; then you would be foolish not to use them to the best of their capabilities. When people sense that you expect great things from them, they tend to be challenged by that expectation and work hard to live up to it. Load your people with responsibility, provide them with the resources to do the job, and never be punitive when they make mistakes. Delegation crosses the line and becomes dumping when we delegate only the work we don't want to do ourselves; keep all the "glorious" fun projects for ourselves; fail to provide adequate resources for our subordinates to complete their work; delegate all the responsibility and none of the authority for the job; or abandon our subordinates, failing to provide them with timing requirements, project guidelines, or our personal counsel when they need it. Encourage Independent Thinking Consistently encourage your subordinates to come to you with problems and solutions. If they come to you only with the problem, it's your job to elicit their opinion for correcting the situation. Listen to their suggestions; draw them out. Help them to think the solution through. Ask them a series of questions that encourage them and lead them to a workable solution. Such independent thinking demands your recognition that your solution to a problem is not the only solution; it may not even be the best solution. Give your subordinates the latitude to try new options, within reasonable limits, and your workers will start to develop their real potential. Build a Team Similar to the teacher analogy, effective participatory managers strive to build cohesive teams, seeing themselves as the team's captain. The team captain inspires excellence and earns loyalty, serving as a role model to be admired, not feared. The most effective teams comprise members with diverse skills and personalities. These are also the most difficult teams to manage. It can be frustrating work, but the rewards are tremendous when you watch the team become greater than the sum of its parts. In planning, you determined the goals of the team. To manage the team successfully, make sure everyone clearly understands his or her role in reaching those goals. Communicate the rules or norms for operating together. For instance, a rule that many successful teams adopt is, "When you have a problem with any team member, it is your responsibility to discuss the problem directly with that team member. If you approach another team member instead, you will immediately be referred to the team member who has caused you difficulty." As the team leader, it also becomes your responsibility to help integrate the individual personalities of team members. Encourage cooperation and coordination among members. This may occasionally mean sharing the perspective of one member with another to facilitate mutual understanding and respect. Listen Many managers talk about being good listeners, yet this skill often remains an area in need of substantial improvement. The benefits of good listening are numerous. Relationships improve, productivity and work performance are enhanced, team spirit is fostered, morale increases, and your staff gains better perspective and understanding of your mission as health care providers. Good listening skills engender trust. And trust is what separates effective participatory leaders from autocratic managers. If you're listening effectively, the odds are that your subordinate is talking 80% of the time, and you're talking only 20% of the time. When you speak, you ask short, simple questions that draw the person out. What's more, you ask questions in a concerned, nonthreatening style and tone. Good listeners let their subordinates vent when necessary and acknowledge their feelings. It is critical that the listener stay open and nondefensive, conveying genuine concern, no matter what the staff member says. Maintain the attitude that this person is your teammate and wants to improve things. Learn all you possibly can from your teammates so you are able to address their concerns effectively. Demonstrating your concern by helping team members resolve problems to their satisfaction not only strengthens the unit, it also provides flexibility for you when problems that are beyond your control arise. Past successes build trust, so your teammates are much more likely to listen to you and be reasonable when a problem exceeds your authority. Set an Example People rarely learn from what we tell them to do. More often they learn from example. If you have any doubts, go back to the discussion of autocratic managers and child abusers. Not only does the example you set dictate your success as a manager, but it teaches tomorrow's clinicians how to lead. So set a good example. Start by living up to the rules you've already negotiated with team members. Treat each staff person with respect. Be kind and courteous. Keep your cool in crisis situations. Your calm will be just as contagious as your panic and temper flare-ups. Keep your word - to the letter. Nothing undermines trust in a professional setting more precipitously than a manager who breaks his or her commitments. ARTICLE 2. Transformation - the new type of change Available at; http://www.managementfirst.com/change_management/articles/transform.php Worldcom's false profit figures, "Enrongate" and now AOL's dubious accounting. Major corporate scandals such as these have served to reinforce the unpredictable nature of modern management. But as organizations resign themselves to the inevitability of yet more re-structures, re-budgeting and re-alignment in these lean times, we take a look at the changing nature of change. In its current guise, is it really enough to ensure survival And where does transformation fit into all of this Change is everywhere. It is a day to day concern and, in management terms, a relatively old concept. The new word on everybody's lips Transformation. This expression is becoming yet another established part of the corporate vocabulary and is used with more and more regularity in a variety of contexts. Organizations publicize themselves as transformed, consultants proclaim that they can "deliver transformation" and managers cite transformation as an achievement (almost like a finished product). Is there really a difference In the last 40 years, IBM has undergone two self-proclaimed "transformations". The first was when it made the switch from mechanical devices such as typewriters to computers. The second was in 1993 when Louis Gerstner Jr. was appointed CEO and instigated cultural changes. The question is, can either of these changes (both of a totally different nature) be described as transformations, and if so, why is the term 'change' no longer sufficient as a description Is there really a fundamental difference between change and transformation If we take the word of the consultants then the answer is yes. For them, transformation is the only alternative to corporate oblivion where mere change is no longer enough. Change is viewed as something of an incremental concept that has a tendency to focus upon processes rather than culture, tangible as opposed to intangible. In this sense, transformation is on a higher plane, a new and exciting way of re-engaging managers' attention. Then again, when do we ever take just the consultant's word as gospel for anything Perhaps part of the answer lies in the fact that "transformation" is described as a new way to re-engage a manager. Maybe change and transformation are not as far apart on the spectrum as you may be led to believe. Transformation could be seen as simply a means of marking out current thinking and practice as novel and different. In fact, understanding what transformation actually "is" can often be of little practical value. On the other hand, exploring what it implies or how it is perceived can help you to utilize this management technique effectively within your organization. How is transformation defined These three sets of issues are pertinent to understanding the various definitions of transformation in the current corporate arena: Criteria for transformation: from behavior to paradigm: Whilst transformation is often stated to attain a qualitatively different state, there is little agreement on how to tell whether this has actually been achieved due to lack of credible measurement methods. Few, if any, senior managers, academics or consultants clarify this point, preferring to stick to generalizations such as "to qualify as a corporate transformation, a majority of individuals in an organization must change their behavior". Most managers distinguish between transformation and other changes such as restructuring and process re-engineering. This reinforces the assumption that transformation is about generating success where previously there was failure as well as changing beliefs and values regarding the organization's future. To them, transformation is not about incremental alterations but definite qualitative difference. Transformation is bigger, wider, deeper: When contrasted with Organizational Development (OD), Organizational Transformation (OT) is perceived as bigger, wider and deeper. OT is a distinct form of planned change and is often defined in relative rather than absolute terms or on the basis of inherent characteristics, whereas OD is less ambiguous (more of a response to change in order to adapt to new markets). In this sense OD is not proactive enough when it comes to managing change in the 21st century. The material and spiritual: The final definition of transformation is associated with spiritual development, relating to 1. the degree of personal engagement in the transformation process; 2. the extent to which transformation is seen as a process rather than a product; 3. the extent to which transformation can be "engineered". It is also suggested at times that transformation is not always a wholly positive process. Managers acknowledge that such upheaval could engender feelings of resistance and unease amongst employees. The transformation matrix From these perceptions, a practical matrix emerges that maps out the current usage of transformational rhetoric: New business form - the commitment to a new organizational form or entry into a new business. This area is closest to the dictionary definition of transformation. Mergers, Mergers, significant changes of organizational form (e.g. from public to commercial, rather than internal restructuring) and significant changes of business belong in this quadrant. Here "transformation" seems more legitimate as a literal description. Corporate transformation - intentional change programs that emphasis system-wide change through a relatively controlled or planned process such as TQM or Six Sigma. These programs tend to view transformations as a "product". This is often what is meant by a "corporate transformation". Learning organization - transformation involves a particular (but not exclusive) emphasis on new paradigms. This includes the view that a change of mind-set can achieve the potential of both the organization and its people. This is linked closely with quadrant two as often programs such as TQM incorporate a change in culture as well as in systems. OT as "spiritual" development - This is a discourse of transformation typified by a desire to fulfil potential and an emphasis on transformation as a journey that may have no specifiable goal and requires leaps of faith. Evidently transformation has the potential to be inherent in many types of experience and embody a number of issues associated with change, so how do you ensure that this area of management works for you Management Implications Working with transformation: Be aware of the multi-faceted nature of transformation; Make sure you and your colleagues / clients are talking on the same terms. For example, transformational leadership could equally be about spiritual motivation or TQM implementation; Transformation in the context of the above matrix asks some challenging questions about the nature of power and control. Bear in mind that often, the managerial mindset will remain unchanged throughout these paradigm shifts or within "learning organizations" unless these structural issues of power and control are addressed; Be prepared to see more changes when it comes to transformation. As this relatively new term becomes increasingly common, it will be used in many more contexts. Although it may seem so at times, transformation is not a replacement for change management, nor is it a hard and fast, transparent entity. Transformation is a chameleon-like term and as such it is often more revealing to explore in terms of how it is perceived (what it denotes or implies) rather than trying to fully understand what it is. The only thing that will not alter over time is the fact that, in whatever guise it may take, this type of change is definitely here to stay. 31st July 2002 This is a review of an article entitled "When change is no longer enough: what do we mean by "transformation" in organizational change work" originally published in The TQM Magazine, Volume 14 number 2, 2002. The authors were Paul Tosey, Head of Learning and Teaching and Director of the Human Potential Research Group at the University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, and Graham Robinson, Director at Kennedy Robinson Business Development, UK. ARTICLE 3. Benchmarking environmental performance at automobile assembly plants Available at http://www.managementfirst.com/quality/articles/automobile.php In the past, environmental pressures on manufacturing plants arose mainly from government mandates. Citizens interested in protecting themselves from visible types of pollution, like dirty smoke, turned to the government for protection. Compliance with applicable regulations was considered "good" environmental performance. In the last 15-20 years, the types and complexity of environmental concerns have grown. Pollution concerns have expanded to include less visible sources of pollution. General concern for visible smoke has given way to ozone-forming CFC's and concern with visible "dirty" water now including toxic metal content. Environmental concerns have grown, so too has the number of stakeholders a manufacturing plant must respond to about these concerns. Stakeholders now devoting attention to environmental issues include many non-governmental organizations, shareholders, consumers, employees, business partners, and suppliers. Many of these stakeholders are interested in benchmarking environmental performance among firms. Firms are finding they need a mechanism to prove to themselves and to stakeholders their environmental performance over time. Unlike quality, environmental performance for a manufacturing facility cannot be easily measured through a market driven feedback such as product sales and quality perception. A number of different mechanisms have evolved to assess environmental performance of manufacturing facilities. In the US, toxics release inventory data (TRI, under SARA Title III) require plants to release data on total usage of certain chemicals to the public. Both the public availability of emissions data and the number of stakeholders using this data have increased. Yet, a definition of environmental performance has not been agreed upon. There is a variety of opinions of what constitutes "good" environmental performance. Environmental performance can now include such things as what inputs a facility chooses or how efficiently natural resources are used during production. Environmental issues in automobile assembly An auto assembly plant generally consists of welding the main auto body parts, painting the body, and assembling supplied components to produce a complete vehicle. For a typical plant, the "paint shop" is the largest source of environmental concerns through all media including air, water, solid, etc. The paint process consists of numerous steps, of which almost every step raises environmental issues. Sprayed paint and booth cleaning agents emit organic compounds into the atmosphere, overspray is carried by water to form solid sludge needing disposal, and curing ovens (as well as pollution control devices) use significant amounts of energy. Other environmental concerns arise from the use of chemicals in many plant areas, general energy usage for assembly and welding, solid waste, hazardous and other, and general water usage and disposal. Internal chemical usage and external emissions must be evaluated for human health risks to workers and the surrounding community. All of these areas are regulated by governmental agencies in most industrialized countries. "What constitutes 'good' environmental performance and which management characteristics foster it" The ability of a plant to respond to demands for improved environmental performance has significant implications for the cost and quality of plant operations, as well as the public image of the plant and company as a whole. For this reason, it is becoming difficult to evaluate the performance of a manufacturing facility without considering its environmental performance as well. Because of the connection between quality and productivity, many companies are seeking to understand what constitutes "good" environmental performance and which management characteristics foster it. Differing perspectives on environmental performance Environmental benchmarking can be split into four approaches: 1. regulatory 2. gross emissions 3. efficiency 4. life cycle Regulatory In the past, performance was measured almost exclusively by determining how well a facility meets regulations. Measurements for this type of environmental performance include the number of permit violations, for example. Perhaps not surprisingly, US-centered companies are the largest proponents of this type of benchmarking. In an environment where compliance is always the first concern of environmental staff, environmental managers at the corporate level, particularly those with good compliance records, were interested in developing compliance benchmarks so that they could compare their own regulatory record with their US competitors. One limitation of this measure is that the type and meaning of governmental regulations can vary greatly from one region of the world to another. This presents a significant problem for international benchmarking. Comparing the number of permit violations of a plant in Japan to a plant in the US, for example, would tell us little about the actual environmental impact of the plant. The most it could tell us was the extent to which the firm was law abiding within their own social and cultural context. Gross emission This perspective consists of an inventory of the plants total emissions into its surroundings. Both governmental requirements and stakeholders increasingly express interest in assessing plants' gross impact, independent of the number of units produced. As the name implies, the assumption in this perspective is that the greater the gross emissions, the greater the impact will be on human health and the environment. For the community directly surrounding a facility, total emissions can be quite important. One of the most well-known measures of "gross emissions" is the toxic release inventory (TRI). TRI was designed by the US Environmental Protection Agency to disclose the emissions of certain chemicals from large manufacturing sources. While initially created to inform local communities, TRI database is used by a large number of stakeholders. One main benefit of gross emission measures is they are relatively easy to measure and give some indication of the type and amount of pollutants coming from a particular facility. There are, however, several limitations to this approach. One of which is that gross emissions offer little indication of human health impact. Modeling the actual environmental impacts through ecological and toxicological methods provides one means to address this limitation. However, this approach is extremely complex and detracts from the original simplicity of the measurement, particularly due to the lack of emission rate information. Efficiency For efficiency, performance measures indicate the efficiency of materials use, and reductions in waste, per vehicle produced. The main difference between the gross emissions per vehicle and this approach is in the emphasis on efficient use of resources from the input to the output of the plant. For example, energy and water use per vehicle produced are examples of performance measures in this category. In practice, normalized efficiency helps facilities continuously improve overtime against itself and its industry group. Life cycle The life cycle approach expands analysis of resource and product usage beyond the plant boundaries to include all environmental issues from "cradle-to grave". Performing a life cycle analysis (LCA) involves five basic steps: 1. Set the specific goals of the LCA and needs of the users. 2. Gather data to quantify the inputs and outputs throughout the life cycle of the product and/or processes. 3. Group the inventory data by type or particular impact on the environment. 4. Determine the broad impacts on the physical, chemical and biotic environment and on the health of the living organisms for all the resources consumed and outputs released. 5. Use the results of the LCA within a larger decision-making framework. Several companies, such as Volvo and Volkswagen experiment with LCA, and stress the value of looking beyond the manufacturing process itself. In Europe, where smaller, more efficient, cars were popular, this approach was particularly attractive. LCA studies have suggested that the environmental impact of using a vehicle far outweighs the impact from producing the vehicle, at least with regard to energy use. Those firms that produced more energy efficient vehicles would be at an advantage if benchmarking from a life cycle perspective. There a numerous advantages to using LCA benchmarking. Namely, this is the approach that comes closest to assessing the actual impact of a particular product on human health and the environment. However, despite the growing recognition of this approach in the environmental field, life-cycle's implications for environmental management are not fully understood. Expansion beyond the immediate surroundings of the plant makes the measures of performance more difficult than the preceding ways to conceptualize and operationalize environmental performance. Perhaps even more complicated is the issue of valuation. This is one of the most contentious stages in the LCA process, as much divergence and disagreement can occur. Issues of concern are the definition of environmental processes and effects, aggregation of the impacts, and the normative weighting between the different categories. The best approach There is no "one" approach to environmental benchmarking. Different firms have different approaches depending upon regulatory context and company strategy. Product type, corporate and national culture, resource costs and stakeholder demands all play a role in influencing the preferred benchmarking approach. This brings to light the potential biases that decision-makers can have when making decisions about benchmarking metrics. Different metrics can give very different pictures of how a firm or plant is doing. When looking at an environmental benchmarking program, those comparing metrics must be acutely aware the aspects of environmental performance a particular program approach might miss. This is important for managers trying to gain an "objective" view of how their firms compares to others, as well as other stakeholders who are interested in comparatively assessing a firm's environmental performance across cultures. The most robust environmental programs will incorporate elements of all four approaches. As pressures for accountability and stakeholder diversity increase, choosing the approach with which a given firm will look the best is not enough. Firms must supplement strong environmental management systems (EMS) with their benchmarking strategy. Using all four provides a more balanced benchmarking effort, and minimizes limitation that single measure of environmental performance present. Each measure reveals different aspects of a firm's operations and performance, and each measure may appeal to different stakeholders. While these generic approaches can carry across industries, each industry has its own unique set of environmental issues. This might require a modification in the types of benchmarking outlined. More likely, it might also lead to a different set of problems and benefits. Although the focus here is primarily on performance benchmarking, there is also an interest in the benchmarking of management practice itself. Numerous management standards, such as ISO 14000 and EMAS, also illustrate the growing interest in management benchmarking. Most management benchmarking is organized within the framework of an EMS. Critical management variables include environmental policies, employee environmental training, environmental goals, and tracking of environmental data. One primary criticism of EMS benchmarking is that its focus only on the management system does not accurately reflect a firm's actual environmental impact. Therefore, no matter how popular the use of management benchmarking becomes, it is likely that stakeholders and firms will continue to use performance benchmarking, in all of its forms. The relationship between performance and managerial benchmarking needs to be better understood. By understanding how firms chose benchmarking metrics, and how these metrics relate to one another, a benchmarking system can be built that is more effective for firms and their stakeholders. This is a shortened version of "Lessons from benchmarking environmental performance at automobile assembly plants", which originally appeared in Benchmarking: An International Journal Volume 12 Number 1 2005 pp. 5-15. The authors were Sandra Rothenberg, Brian Schenck and James Maxwel ARTICLE 5. History of the Start organisation Available at; http://www.managementfirst.com/resources/indexes/articleindex.htm History of the Start organisation In 1977, the Dutch government, the existing trades unions and employers' organisations set up a new labour market intermediary, called Start Uitzendbureau (Employment Bureau). The mission of the organisation was to help those people who were experiencing difficulties in finding a suitable job. Although the government withdrew five years ago, this socially responsible history is still present. In its early days, Start only functioned as an intermediary in the labour market. However, nowadays the organisation offers a full-service package of products such as recruitment and selection procedures, long-term detachments, outplacement, reintegration, and several types of training and education. Everything Start does, from the role of intermediary in a temporary work contract to the supply of education, has to do with recruiting or developing people. All this is verbalised in Start's statement, "We create careers". By keeping this focus in mind, Start supports its long-term vision to add value to both its customers, who are the people who hire the candidates (flexiworkers) and also to the candidates, who are those people looking for a temporary job. Organisational structure of the company The organisational structure of Start is shown in Figure 1. At the moment the Dutch parts of the Start organisation (Flex Services and Employability Services) are the largest. These are also the divisions where the service excellence program takes place. Although the international part (mainly concentrated in Germany, Spain and Italy) of the organisation is growing fast and, as a consequence, in importance, the board of directors decided to start the service excellence program in The Netherlands with the intention to extend to international activities at a later date. The temporary Dutch labour market: recent developments Recent legal developments have had a major influence on the temporary labour market. In particular, a change of law in 1998 had a large impact on the market. A new law, called the Wet Flexibiliteit en Zekerheid (Law of Flexibility and Security/Guaranty), resulted in the intermediaries for temporary workers, e.g. employment agencies, having to take on the status of employer for many of the staff that they then "lent out" to other organisations. This resulted in a considerable increase in the number of staff employed by the intermediaries which in turn resulted in every player in the market looking for some way of spreading the risks. Another important influence has been the tightness of the labour market. Due to a booming national economy the relative amount of flexwork has declined in recent years. This means that there is often a mismatch between vacancies to fulfil and the (temporary) unemployed people, available to fill them. These developments have made it necessary for the Start company to investigate in what ways it can distinguish itself from competitors. The decision to distinguish in service Because of the historical background of the organisation (i.e. full-service providing and socially involved), Start decided to distinguish itself from the competitors in one very specific way: excellence of service. Such service excellence is expected to result in increased customer loyalty and word of mouth advertising (Schlesinger and Heskett, 1991; Zerbe et al., 1998). Although a direct relationship between service quality and organisational performance, like profit or turnover, is hard to find (Zeithaml, 2000), Start believes that there is a positive connection between excellent service provision and good financial results. The first evidence of such a positive relationship, using Start's own customer satisfaction data and organisational performance data, is described by van der Wiele et al. (this special issue). Benchmarking Walt Disney Company When the decision was made to excel in service to candidates and clients, the major question was how to implement such a service culture and behavior. Start thought the best way to determine exactly what excellent service is was to look for a good benchmark. In this way the rather abstract concept "service" could be made more tangible for the organisation. World-wide Walt Disney Company (WDC) is considered by many writers (e.g. Capodagli and Jackson, 1998) to be the world leader in the field of service management. WDC has a special division, called the Disney Institute, which supports different organisations in creating and managing a culture of service. Start decided to hire the Disney Institute to help with the implementation of its service excellence program. The most important initial step was to formulate a new vision and mission statement for the organisation, which had to be clear and unambiguous for all the employees of the Start-organisation. According to Capodagli and Jackson (1998), the main condition to achieve service excellence is to have a clear organisational mission statement, which must be aimed for by every member of the cast. Together with the development of the mission statement, other company standards and statements were developed, for example the four service standards (accessibility, reliability, service provision and efficiency). These service standards form the framework from which Start provides its excellent service. Accessibility refers not only to physical accessibility, which is very important for a labour market intermediary, but also to openness to each other. Reliability has everything to do with commitment to each other, the involvement of the employees in the organisation and the degree of professionalism. Service provision is the standard which includes the courtesy of employees, their pro-active role and the little extras in their way of working (e.g. be surprising to both candidates and customers). Efficiency is about cost awareness, productivity and the structural improvement of the organisation. When all these guidelines were developed, together with the core values and the leadership characteristics, everything was in place to start with the implementation of the service excellence program. The service excellence program The first step in the program was a leadership-driven training for Start's top managers at the Disney Institute in Florida. During this course, the Start managers were confronted with service excellence in practice. This "see with your own eyes" - experience is extremely important in creating trust in the program. In Disney World, the managers saw what service excellence looks like and its benefits, and that it really is possible to obtain service excellence status. During the course, the managers tested the recently developed Start mission statement: Start will always be an innovative, socially engaged employer and employment intermediary. We create careers and add unique value this way to individuals and organisations. They also tested the developed service standards (accessibility, reliability, service provision and efficiency). These will be the official guidelines for the whole organisation for at least the next three to five years. Therefore, it was extremely important that every manager was committed to the mission and service standards, and so a thorough discussion and deepening of underlying items were considered necessary. The reason that Start decided to give the leadership training to all top managers was that the whole program could be structured as a leadership program. Consequently, the managers have the most important role in the organisation during its implementation. They are the people who have to propagate the ideas and implications of the program and service excellence. According to writers such as Capodagli and Jackson (1998) and Prabhu and Robson (2000), commitment of managers is the most important condition for a quality-driven program such as the service excellence program. It is argued that when top management does not give priority to the implementation, there is no reason for lower level employees to be committed to the ideals. The principles of the management concept that WDC uses to achieve excellence in service and in the complete business are straightforward. The way in which management is consistent in following the concept and the way things are worked out in detail is its strength. The concept starts with the chain of excellence in which excellent leadership creates excellent employees. These employees then provide excellent service to the customers, who will come back again and therefore be responsible for good (financial) results. The Start chain of excellence, see Figure 2, is almost the same as the Disney Chain and can be summarised as follows: Excellent leadership will be achieved through clear vision and mission statements and the distinct role model behavior of managers who are proud of their organisation and know what is expected of them. Excellent employees will be created through excellent leadership, good recruitment and selection procedures, good education and training facilities, and clear guidelines about what is expected of them. Satisfied candidates will be created through excellent employees who see every candidate as a VIP (very individual person), for whom every little detail is covered and for whom the employees carefully assess what the best service is in each specific situation. Satisfied customers will be created through satisfied candidates and excellent employees who treat their customers as individuals for whom every little detail is covered and for whom the employees carefully assess what the best service would be in each specific situation. Satisfied customers will spread the word to others and return again, and thus ensure good financial results. Although the supposed relationship between the separate blocks in the chain seem logical and easy to understand, much research has been undertaken during recent decades to demonstrate these relationships. As already mentioned, an interesting relationship is that between a quality program like this and operational performance. When the actors in such a quality program are specified into the relevant blocks, as Walt Disney Company and Start did in their chain of excellence, it is possible to explore the relationships between the different blocks in a separate manner. The relationship between the first two blocks, which can be put in the field of human resource management, and the last block (performance measurements) have been the subject of considerable study (e.g. Huselid, 1995; Guest, 1997; Arthur, 1994; Youndt et al., 1996). Although these authors considered that there is a positive relationship between these two theoretical concepts or particular parts of those concepts, a direct linear relationship between human resource activities and operational performance is hard to find. Nevertheless, the Start managers believe in their role as leaders and make sure that everything will be done to confirm these relationships. Similarly, the relationship between customer satisfaction and performance has been the been the subject of considerable examination, and Zeithaml (2000) provides a good overview of research undertaken in this area. This relationship has the same characteristics as the HRM-performance relationship. Initially, the connection between the two abstracts appears to be clear, but is without specific empirical research evidence. Ongoing implementation Not only was Start's top management trained at the Disney Institute, but also branch and department managers of the Start organisation received tailor-made training. The "see with your own eyes" experience was again an important issue, with the focus being this time Disneyland Paris. During this training, all the managers learned about the do's and don'ts of service management and their own very important role in it. They are the people who are responsible for ensuring that intermediaries at the branches get all the information and that they will participate in the program. Every manager at the Start organisation was trained at that stage, but this does not mean that the training part is over. Periodically, meetings are arranged to recapitulate on what has been learned and to identify new ideas to strengthen the program. All the future training which Start offers to employees will be adopted to align with the service excellence program. The service box To help the managers with the implementation of the service excellence program, Start developed a tool, called "The service box". This box is periodically filled with a range of information about the program. Videotapes, formats for presentations, a summary of good ideas and other tools and tricks are part of its contents. The managers can use the box to inform or instruct their employees at the branches. The service platforms Since every employee is very important to Start and so are his/her ideas, it was decided to establish service platforms. These platforms (one per region) are the stations where all the ideas, suggestions and ways for improvement are collected and come together. In this way, the ideas can be inventoried and judged. Furthermore, everyone within the organisation knows exactly where he/she can locate his or her ideas. The reward and recognition program In addition to the regular payment system, the organisation developed a special reward and recognition program for the service excellence program. Employees with an excellent idea or employees who are demonstrating behavior that fits well with the service excellence program will be rewarded or recognised for this. An example is the annual Start Award. The service monitor In the Start organisation many different measurements are made. To determine if the relevant items are measured following the chain of excellence, Start is developing a service monitor together with the Erasmus University, Rotterdam. The objective of this monitor is to show the organisation periodically the level of service provision. The Erasmus research team is also examining possible relationships in the chain (van der Wiele et al., this special issue) and is analysing the available data in a more thorough way (Boselie et al., 2000). The main goal is to get an organisational dashboard on which management can easily see the status of their division, region or branch. Evaluating the service excellence program During the first phase of the implementation program, which is characterised by the development and delivery of many supporting instruments, Start management began with an evaluation of the implementation of the service excellence program. This evaluation has been held four times now and it is carried out by telephone interviews with a structured questionnaire. During each evaluation, a sample of about 100 non-management employees was taken, covering all the disciplines Start offers. In Table 1 the results of the evaluation are presented. The results show that there are improvements in the scores for almost all questions during the first three measurements, but during the last measurement most of the scores declined. Perhaps, this has something to do with the restructuring of the organisation, which took place at that time. The first priority was not the service excellence program, but the new structure of the organisation in this specific period. The instruments in the service box, which are for example the introduction video and the videos about the four service standards, are used quite a lot, which demonstrates their value. Also, the service platforms play an important role in the implementation of the program, according to the results of the evaluation. The employees of the organisation are well informed about the program and its background, although there is a decline in the last measurement. They also say that the program is important for the future of the Start organisation. Afterthoughts The tools, tricks and actions discussed in this paper have led to an organisation with a clear mission statement, actively propagated and executed by its managers. It is anticipated that this will lead to highly motivated, proud and satisfied employees who are able to make both candidates and customers so satisfied that they will come back. When this repeat buying behavior takes place, good financial results are expected to follow. One year after implementation of the program, this ultimate goal cannot yet be measured. But, following the results of the evaluations of the program, a number of things have been learned to keep in mind during further implementation: Repeat the basic thoughts of the program over and over again. Repetition of the mission statement, the service standards, etc. is extremely important for the success of the program. It is very important that the managers in the organisation are seen as role models both during and after the implementation of the program. One can see the danger of a lack of role modelling in the results of the evaluation. In the last measurement, when many managers were busy with the new structure of the organisation, the overall opinion of the whole program declined. Lower level employees must have the opportunity to come up with their own ideas and opinions. Figure 1 Structure of Start Flexcompany Figure 2 Chain of excellence Table I Results of the evaluation of the implementation of the service excellence program References Arthur, J.B., 1994, "Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance and turnover", Academy of Management Journal, 3, 37, 670-87. Boselie, J.P., Hesselink, M.G., Paauwe, J., van der Wiele, A., 2000, Human Resource Management and Performance: Commitment Oriented Work Systems Through the Eyes of Employees, ERIM, Rotterdam. Capodagli, B., Jackson, L., 1998, The Disney Way; Harnessing the Management Secrets of Disney in Your Company, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. Guest, D.E., 1997, "Human resource management and performance: a review and research agenda", The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8, 3-6, 263-76. Huselid, M.A., 1995, "The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance", Academy of Management Journal, 3, 38, 635-72. Prabhu, V.B., Robson, A., 2000, "Achieving service excellence - measuring the impact of leadership and senior manager commitment", Managing Service Quality, 10, 5, 307-17. Schlesinger, L.A., Heskett, J.L., 1991, "Breaking the cycle of failure in services", Sloan Management Review, Spring, 17-28. Youndt, M.A., Snell, S.A., Dean, J.W. Jr, Lepak, D.P., 1996, "Human resource management, manufacturing strategy, and firm performance", Academy of Management Journal, 39, 4, 836-66. Zeithaml, V.A., 2000, "Service quality, profitability, and the economic worth of customers: what we know and what we need to learn", Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 28, 1, 67-85. Zerbe, W.J., Dobn, J., Harel, G.H., 1998, "Promoting employee service behavior: the role of perceptions of human resource management practices and service culture", Canadian Journal of Administrative Science, 15, 2, 165-79. This article appeared within Managing Service Quality, Volume 12 Number 3 2002. Read More