Lanier Case Study
Lanier is one of the leading providers and distributors of the office equipment such as printers and projectors (Lanier, 2015). The primary goal of this paper is to discover the role of the continuous improvement in the company’s success, sustainability, prosperity, and ability sufficiently interact with the customers. This case study contributes to the understanding of the importance of continuous improvement as a primary tool to enhance the efficiency of the organization as a sophisticated mechanism. It could be said that that the continuous improvement determines the overall strategy of the company, has a reflection on all company’s activities, and determines company’s sustainability and success.
Importance of Development of Specific Programs
In the case, it is mentioned that Lanier considered essential to implementing various programs to change the company’s vision and the corporate culture. The primary goal of these programs was to underline the importance of both the service quality and quality of the goods and engage in the trustful relationship with its consumers. The programs help the company discover new niches in the market and maintain sufficient relationships with its customers.
Nonetheless, the implementation and the improvement in different departments was a requirement as the company executed the CI strategy to enhance its overall performance. It is evident that Lanier tends to implement Total Quality Management approach since it utilizes the programs such The Performance Promise, which is aimed to minimize the consumer dissatisfaction and keep the quality of the products on the high level. The primary objectives and intentions of the other companies are similar, as they all aim to enhance the quality of services. It is apparent that CI is a necessity to maintain the continuous flow of the high-quality processes within the organization (Chang, 2005). In the instance of Lanier, it is evident that continuous improvement is the primary driver of the introduction of the new programs since they contribute to the realization of the initial purpose of the integration of the quality of the services and products. It could be said that continuous improvement contributes to the introduction and development of the innovative solutions, as its primary goal is to improve the quality of all the processes within the organization continuously.
In conclusion, it could be said that continuous improvement has a powerful influence on all of the processes within the organizations. It is evident that Lanier is a complex and sophisticated mechanism with the codependent functioning units. In this case, the continuous improvement dramatically affects other processes, as it requires the different parts and departments of the organization develop and evolve simultaneously. It could be said that introduction and implementation of various programs is a consequence of the active implementation of continuous improvement. It is evident that the programs reflect company’s aim towards Total Quality Management since a substantial control of the quality of the interactions and products is introduced and maintained.
Steps, CI Tools, and Techniques
It is evident that Lanier had to implement various stages, continuous improvement tools, and techniques to explain and underline the significance of the quality of the service quality to its customers and employees. Nonetheless, it is evident that Lanier uses elements of multiple techniques and tools to allow continuous development of all the processes. Lanier was able to change from being customer-focused to implementing the continuous improvement process.
As it was mentioned earlier, Total Quality Management was one of the techniques, which was used by the company. It is evident that this approach is aimed at the improvement of the quality of the products and services. Moreover, this strategy encouraged the implementation and development of various programs. It could be said that Total Quality Management contributed to changing the mission of the company and discovering a possible way of the service and product development. In this instance, the primary aim of this technique was to establish the appropriate corporate culture, which will contribute to the development of the continuous improvement. It is evident that implementation of this method assisted in emphasizing the importance of the quality of the services to its clients and employees.
Next step is the implementation of Kaizen principles such as feedback, efficiency, and evolution (Haghirian, 2009). It could be said that the primary concepts of Kaizen were actively implemented. For instance, the importance of customer’s satisfaction was underlined by providing a continuous support to its clients by being available anytime. Lastly, some aspects of lean manufacturing were also introduced. However, it could be said that it might have been a first step, which the company implemented since it is easier to improve the quality of services by providing high-quality products and leaving no possibility to potential satisfaction.
In conclusion, it could be said that implementation of various techniques contributed to the development the new company’s mission and corporate culture. Moreover, these steps allowed the company to underline the importance of services and emphasize their significance for consumers and customers. In this case, the employees were able to discover and evaluate the situation from the client’s perspective. In turn, the employees understood that a high-quality service is an essentiality, and it cannot be considered as an unnecessary supplement to the product. It could be said that Lanier was able to combine the continuous improvement tools efficiently and change its organizational structure.
Is Lanier Successful?
Lastly, it is necessary to determine whether Lanier was able to continue to be successful since the continuous improvement is hard to manage. The management of the processes in the organization is rather complicated since it involves decision-making on multiple levels. Nonetheless, the successful implementation of the continuous improvement is dependent on the ability of the company to establish sufficient organizational approach and introduce relevant metrics (Jurburg, Viles, Jaco, & Tanco, 2015). It is evident that whether Lanier is successful or not is determined by the two factors, which are mentioned above. In this case, the continuous development has to be managed in all departments and areas simultaneously, as the organization acts as a complex mechanism. Additionally, the measurements have to be consistently collected to develop the understanding whether the quality of the processes and services is evolving in the positive direction. It is evident that implementation of these techniques will allow the company to improve the quality of the services and products, attract more customers, and sustain on the market.
It could be said that despite lacking the relevant data about the efficiency of the managerial approach and the metric system, Lanier can be considered as a successful company, which actively implements the continuous improvement. Firstly, it remains the leader in sales in the office equipment segment. Secondly, the variety of the applied programs covers all the areas, which require improvement in term of the service and product quality. Moreover, the usage of the approach offers relevant understanding about the necessity to provide high-quality services along with the core product. Thirdly, Lanier was able to change the fundamental principles of its corporate structure and emphasize the quality as a primary value of the organization. It could be said that the combination of these philosophies contributed to the development of the sufficient corporate image and ability of the company to remain the market leader with the assistance of the continuous improvement techniques, tools, and strategies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it could be said that the case study revealed that continuous improvement is an essential element for the enhancement of the quality of products and services. It is evident that the implementation of continuous improvement techniques results in the development of the departments and areas in the company simultaneously. Moreover, there is a high correlation between the applications of various programs and the continuous improvement, as in this case, these programs are the primary tools for emphasizing the importance of services and changing the corporate culture. Nonetheless, the company combined similar elements of various techniques such as Total Quality Management, Lean, and Kaizen. Consequently, the complexity of the continuous improvement implementation was underlined.
Lastly, it could be said that the sufficient organizational approach and well-established metrics determine company’s success. Nonetheless, it could be said that Lanier was able to combine all the complex elements, introduce new products, and make the organization function as a sophisticated mechanism. It could be said that the understanding of the necessity to change the principles of the corporate culture resulted in the company’s leading positions in the market, trustful relationship with the customers, and stable client base.
References
Chang, H. (2005). The influence of continuous improvement and performance factors in total quality organization. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 16(3), 413-437.
Haghirian, P. (2009). Kaizen. In C. Wankel (Eds.), Encyclopaedia of business in today’s world (pp. 965-966). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Jurburg, D., Viles, E., Jaco, C., & Tanco, M. (2015). Why are companies still struggling to reach higher continuous improvement maturity levels? Empirical evidence from high performance companies. The TQM Journal, 27(3), 316-327.
Lanier. (2015). Web.