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Integrating businessexcellence and innovationmanagement Developinga culture for innovationcreativity and learningJens J Dahlgaard amp Su Mi Park DahlgaardPublished online 30 Nov 2009

To cite this article Jens J Dahlgaard amp Su Mi Park Dahlgaard (1999) Integratingbusiness excellence and innovation management Developing a culture forinnovation creativity and learning Total Quality Management 104-5 465-472

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TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT VOL 10 NOS 4amp5 1999 S465plusmn S472

Integrating business excellence and

innovation management developing a culture

for innovation creativity and learning

JENS J DAHLGAARD amp SU MI PARK DAHLGAARDResearch Group on Quality Productivity and Innovation Department of Information Science The

Aarhus School of Business Fuglesangs AlleAcirc 4 DK - 8210 Aarhus V Denmark

Introduction

After a discussion about what `business excellencersquo is this paper will focus on the wayan international companyETH Pioneer Electronics CorporationETH is trying to achieve businessexcellence The dereg nition of business excellence tells usETH and the case study indicatesETH thatbusiness excellence can only be achieved by building excellence into both the hard side andthe soft side of the organization

A business excellence dereg nition

The European Quality Award Model developed by EFQM changed its name in 1998 to `TheEuropean Model for Business Excellencersquo Ian Raisbeck dereg ned business excellence at apresentation at the Third World Congress in Sheyacute eld (1998) in the following way

The overall way of working that results in balanced stakeholder (customersemployees society shareholders) satisfactionETH and so increasing the probability oflong term success as a business

This dereg nition reg ts very well with the intended use of the European Business ExcellenceModel but apart from that the dereg nition does not seem to have found broad acceptancemaybe because the dereg nition is diyacute cult to remember if you do not relate it to the above-mentioned model The following dereg nition may have a better chance of being rememberedand hence accepted by a wider group of business people

Business excellence is dereg ned and achieved through `the 4Psrsquo

middot excellent people who establish

middot excellent partnerships (with suppliers customers and society) in order to achieve

middot excellent processes (key business processes and management processes) to produce

middot excellent products which are able to delight the customers

The reg rst `Prsquo in the dereg nition relates to `peoplersquo which agrees well with the existing knowledgethat success with total quality management (TQM) and business excellence can never beachieved without having support from the people (managers as well as other employees)

0954-41279904S465-08 1999 Taylor amp Francis Ltd

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S466 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

The second `Prsquo which relates to partnership agrees very well with the new EuropeanBusiness Excellence Model launched in April in Geneva In this model there is an increasedfocus on partnership as a key enabler There are many types of partnerships in a companySome of them are internal partnerships between departments or between people and someof them are partnerships with external stakeholders such as suppliers customers and societyAll these partnerships are aimed at improving the third `Prsquo ie business and managementprocesses in order to deliver excellent products and services (the fourth `Prsquo) to the customers(internal as well as external customers)

The dereg nition also reg ts very well with the lessons learned from the USrsquos best-runcompanies which were documented in Tom Peters and Robert H Watermanrsquos best-seller In

Search of Excellence (Peters amp Waterman 1982) The most signireg cant lesson learned was thatthe success criteria for excellence comprised `2Ssrsquo related to hardware (strategy and structure)and `5Ssrsquo related to the software of the organization (style systems stathorn (people) skills andshared values) The reg rst `2Ssrsquo comprise partnership and processes and the last `5Ssrsquo arerelated to people To be excellent in business required that the companies become excellentin both the hardware and the software of the organization This learning point is still validtoday Another learning point from the USrsquos best-run companies was that quality andproductivity improvements always go through people This is an eternal truth which hasbeen the real background for starting with people and partnerships in the `4Prsquo dereg nition ofbusiness excellence

If a company succeeds with the `4Psrsquo mentioned above the following `2Psrsquo will usuallyfollow as a consequence proreg t to the owners and pension to the stathorn The `4Prsquo dereg nitionhas then been extended to a `6Prsquo dereg nition without making the dereg nition more diyacute cult toremember

Pioneer Electronics Corporation case

In August 1998 Pioneer Electronics Corporation announced world-wide a transformationinto a new corporate identityETH a rebirthETH where a new corporate philosophy (vision andmission) goals and objectives and positioning strategy were formulated (see more aboutPioneer in the paper by Martensen and Dahlgaard in this issue of Total Quality Management)The announced corporate plan was called `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo An overview of the contentsof the vision is illustrated in Fig 1

The driving energy for the `rebirthrsquo is illustrated in Fig 1 by the `Pioneer spiritrsquo whichdepends on Pioneerrsquos management policy and corporate philosophy and the managementstyle and company culture In relation to Pioneerrsquos management style and company culturethe following three company values (the roots) were emphasized

(1) ` Positive and active We aim to be capable of self-reformrsquorsquo Pioneer must be positive inits way of thinking and acting But this demands a new company culture whichbuilds upon creativity and a positive mind for changes in the environment Therefore` an environment dedicated to the progression of the individual that allows each andevery person to grow and work to the best of their abilityrsquo rsquo must be set ` Equallythe organization must be macr exible in its approach to the individual and his her ideasrsquorsquo

(2) ` Fair and reasonable Our aim is for sound unbiased managementrsquorsquo Pioneer wants toexercise fair and reasonable management towards all employees to ensure that theemployees have positive thoughts so that they can respond in a positive way andhereby better fulreg l customersrsquo wants and needs and increase customer satisfactionPioneer has set customer satisfaction as one of the most important goals for Pioneerto achieve in the future

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S467

Figure 1 Pioneer Electronic Corporationrsquos new corporate identity (Pioneer Vision 2005)

(3) ` Speedy and macr exible We aim to be responsive to the marketrsquorsquo Pioneer wants to be ahighly responsive organization which is market oriented This asks for an organiza-tion which is open-minded and creative and understands how to respond to changesin a quick and macr exible way ` For example the planning production and marketingdivision must promote active exchanges of information and human resources andshould be looking for external business links with other enterprises and organisationsrsquo rsquo

The corporate philosophy ` Move the heart and touch the soulrsquorsquo is related to the establishmentof loyal customers as well as loyal employees through partnership and the managementpolicy ` Customer satisfaction is our ultimate goalrsquo rsquo is related to processes and products

Pioneer states that ` it is essential that we take positive steps to both revitalize and changethe ways in which we think and operatersquo rsquo This view demonstrates Pioneerrsquos interest in theconcepts of the learning and creative organization and the necessity of a dynamic changePioneerrsquos president was quite aware that formulating a new vision is not enough for changingthe company culture (Hildebrandt et al 1991) in the intended directionETH it may take a longtime to go from vision to reality The following quotation shows some of the early considera-tions about how to implement the strategies needed in order to make the vision come true` To prevent our vision from ending up as an empty wish we plan to discuss strategies forindividual business visions at the Business Strategy Conference as well as at other conferencesto ensure that our strategies are reasonable and acceptable to everyonersquorsquo

The change in Pioneerrsquos company logo and corporate identity was believed to raisemany questions from employees and customers Pioneer found it essential to communicate

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S468 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

ethorn ectively with its customers Pioneer believed that punctual extensive and relevant informa-tion was required for its employees to make them ` fully understand our new identity andapply it in all areas of our activities from development and production to sales and marketingservices to name a fewrsquorsquo

When Pioneerrsquos president presented `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo it was at a conference wheredepartment and section managers participated ` During that conference we remacr ected onPioneerrsquos basic corporate philosophy and ascertained once again Pioneerrsquos reasons forexistence as a company this process of remacr ection is essential if Pioneer is to make a newstart The discussion that followed proved quite meaningfulrsquo rsquo (Pioneer)

Implementation at Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The president of Pioneer Corporation stated that everybodyrsquo s participation is needed in theimplementation of the new corporate identity Members of the corporate identity projectteam in each country are responsible for implementing the change and all regular employeeswere asked to participate in reforming the corporate culture It was stressed that everyoneshould be involved To achieve a high level of involvement among all employees Pioneertried to make sure that everyone was well informed and actively communicating with oneanother As a matter of fact the president encouraged all employees to engage in constructivedialogue over any point of disagreement rather than blindly following orders

The top management group of Pioneer Denmark which consisted of the companyrsquosthree top leaders began to prepare for the `rebirthrsquo after the corporate presidentrsquos New Yearspeech 1998 where the changes needed were presented for the reg rst time The top manage-ment group decided to participate in a 5-month education and training programme onTQM and business excellence run by the leading postgraduate education institution inDenmarkETH DiEU (prize-winner of the European Business Excellence Award 1998)

During the 5 months the three top managers received education 2 days per monthBetween the monthly sessions they worked hard to apply the lessons learned in their companybecause one aim of the course was that the participants should gradually write a self-assessment report on their own company At each 2-day session time was allocated so thatthe responsible professors could give feedback to the participants about their understandingsof the applied self-assessment model (the European Business Excellence Model) and theidentireg ed strengths and opportunities for improvements At the end of the course the self-assessment report on Pioneer Denmark was reg nalized and defended at an oyacute cial exam Allthe three top leaders agreed that the report was very valuable for the start up of the needed`quality journeyrsquo (Dahlgaard et al 1995) They also agreed that participating in theprogramme had been an excellent learning process where they gradually learned about thenecessary principles tools and techniques to achieve success on the `quality journeyrsquo Theyalso learned gradually that several of their old paradigms or mental models had to bechanged if they really wanted to have success with changing the corporate identity andcorporate culture

During 1998 the following activities were decided as a consequence of the top manage-ment grouprsquos commitment to change

(1) February A Lotus Notes suggestion system was established The evaluationcommittee was the top management group with the Managing Director chairingthe committee

(2) May A quality coordinator was hired to work full time coordinating the changeprocess

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S469

(3) June The self-assessment report was reg nalized and the top management group metto decide on a plan for implementation of the identireg ed improvement projectsThe preparation for running an employee satisfaction survey was done

(4) August The employee satisfaction survey was run on 12 August and the resultsof the survey were presented to all the employees on 21 August The employeeshad the reg rst opportunity to involve themselves in groupwork where the aim wasto identify the most vital areas for improvement On the same day the new corporatevision was presented by the Managing Director to all the employees

(5) August When `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo was introduced the change was communi-cated to employees (21 August) dealers and the press (28 August) All employeeswere the reg rst to be informed A letter signed personally by the head of PioneerEurope was sent to each employee with a Corporate Identity Concept Bookexplaining the changes All dealers and supply chains and the press received writtenmaterials in the form of a folder describing the ideas behind the new logo and thenew corporate identity and how it will be implemented within Pioneer DenmarkFurthermore they have been informed in face-to-face meetings about the newproducts (with the new logo) to be launched Advertising campaigns were run inorder to announce the changes

(6) September The top management team visited DiEU in order to learn (benchmark)about ways to follow up on the results from employee satisfaction surveys and toget advice about how to assure a continued progress in `the quality journeyrsquo Thethree top managers also discussed and decided which policies and procedures itwas important to address and focus on A `QiP steering grouprsquo (quality in Pioneer)consisting of six people was established Members of the group were the ManagingDirector the quality coordinator and four `ordinary employeesrsquo selected from10plusmn 15 volunteers

(7) October The QiP steering group had its reg rst meeting It was decided to run acustomer satisfaction survey in November The necessary interviews with themost important customers were done together with other necessary preparationsincluding construction and test of the questionnaire

(8) November A customer satisfaction survey was run All the important customerswere invited to participate in the survey

(9) December The results of the customer satisfaction survey were analysed (Presenta-tion of the results to all employees and the most important customers was done inJanuary 1999)

(10) December All employees participated in a 2-day education programme (Dahlgaard1996) The title of the programme was `Move the heart and touch the soulrsquo Theaim of the programme was to focus on how to build up personal visions togetherwith the corporate Pioneer Vision so that both were in harmony with each otherDuring the 2-day programme the participants were introduced to team-buildingand some of the simple quality tools (brainstorming ayacute nity diagram reg sh-bonediagram etc) The programme consisted of lectures and groupwork where theemployees had the opportunity to discuss what they had learned during the lecturesThere was for example groupwork dealing with the meaning and importance ofthe corporate values `fair and reasonablersquo `positive and activersquo and `speedy andmacr exiblersquo

(11) December At the end of the 2-day programme the employees were asked to comeup with the reg ve core values which were of utmost importance for them in workingtogether with other people The core values are called positive values in Fig 2

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S470 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

Figure 2 Positive values (core values and competencies) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The employees were also asked to come up with reg ve false values which in theiropinion were a barrier to working with other people These false values are callednegative values in Fig 3

How the company will use these results has not been decided but there is an understandingthat the identireg cation of these values is essential for understanding the company culture andfor changing the culture in the right direction (Dahlgaard et al 1998) Understandingacceptance and practice of the most important core values are a precondition for establishingpositive and proactive partnerships within Pioneer Denmark Without such internal proactivepartnerships it is impossible to create external proactive partnerships and hence it will bevery diyacute cult to establish business excellence The important core values decided by PioneerElectronics Corporationrsquos head oyacute ce can only be practised locally if they are combined orsupported by the local core values This is now the challenge of the people in PioneerDenmark as well as the local employees in all the Pioneer companies all over the world

February 1999

The Managing Director states that the 2-day education programme has really improved theculture and the atmosphere in the company The employees are now more open and friendlywith each other and more supportive The total market has declined which has createdproblems but compared to previous situations from the past the employees are now actingmuch more positively The Managing Director evaluates this culture change as a necessityfor the continued process of trying to achieve Pioneerrsquos new corporate `Vision 2005rsquo

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S471

Figure 3 Negative values ( false values) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

Conclusion

In this paper change and business excellence have been discussed from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view Because Pioneer has just started its journey to realize its newcorporate vision it is too early to report in detail how business excellence will be achievedThe case of Pioneer Denmark illustrates what was done in the reg rst year of the transformationprocess The case also illustrates how a company has balanced the hard side of TQM andbusiness excellence with the soft side It demonstrates that a top management group can doa lot within a year if they really show leadership and commitment This was exactly what theManaging Director (Leif Hansen) and his two associates in the top management groupshowed after having reg nalized the 5-month education programme on TQM and businessexcellence The same type of leadership and commitment is dereg nitely needed in all Pioneercompanies and divisions all over the world if the new corporate identity (`Vision 2005rsquo ) is tocome true within the next 5 years Pioneer Denmark may come up as an excellent role modelin the Pioneer family of companies because the company has started the journey to businessexcellence in an impressive way

References

DAHLGAARD SMP (1996) Some experiences with a Japanese training package on human motivationProceedings of ICQrsquo96 Yokohama JUSE

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S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

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The second `Prsquo which relates to partnership agrees very well with the new EuropeanBusiness Excellence Model launched in April in Geneva In this model there is an increasedfocus on partnership as a key enabler There are many types of partnerships in a companySome of them are internal partnerships between departments or between people and someof them are partnerships with external stakeholders such as suppliers customers and societyAll these partnerships are aimed at improving the third `Prsquo ie business and managementprocesses in order to deliver excellent products and services (the fourth `Prsquo) to the customers(internal as well as external customers)

The dereg nition also reg ts very well with the lessons learned from the USrsquos best-runcompanies which were documented in Tom Peters and Robert H Watermanrsquos best-seller In

Search of Excellence (Peters amp Waterman 1982) The most signireg cant lesson learned was thatthe success criteria for excellence comprised `2Ssrsquo related to hardware (strategy and structure)and `5Ssrsquo related to the software of the organization (style systems stathorn (people) skills andshared values) The reg rst `2Ssrsquo comprise partnership and processes and the last `5Ssrsquo arerelated to people To be excellent in business required that the companies become excellentin both the hardware and the software of the organization This learning point is still validtoday Another learning point from the USrsquos best-run companies was that quality andproductivity improvements always go through people This is an eternal truth which hasbeen the real background for starting with people and partnerships in the `4Prsquo dereg nition ofbusiness excellence

If a company succeeds with the `4Psrsquo mentioned above the following `2Psrsquo will usuallyfollow as a consequence proreg t to the owners and pension to the stathorn The `4Prsquo dereg nitionhas then been extended to a `6Prsquo dereg nition without making the dereg nition more diyacute cult toremember

Pioneer Electronics Corporation case

In August 1998 Pioneer Electronics Corporation announced world-wide a transformationinto a new corporate identityETH a rebirthETH where a new corporate philosophy (vision andmission) goals and objectives and positioning strategy were formulated (see more aboutPioneer in the paper by Martensen and Dahlgaard in this issue of Total Quality Management)The announced corporate plan was called `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo An overview of the contentsof the vision is illustrated in Fig 1

The driving energy for the `rebirthrsquo is illustrated in Fig 1 by the `Pioneer spiritrsquo whichdepends on Pioneerrsquos management policy and corporate philosophy and the managementstyle and company culture In relation to Pioneerrsquos management style and company culturethe following three company values (the roots) were emphasized

(1) ` Positive and active We aim to be capable of self-reformrsquorsquo Pioneer must be positive inits way of thinking and acting But this demands a new company culture whichbuilds upon creativity and a positive mind for changes in the environment Therefore` an environment dedicated to the progression of the individual that allows each andevery person to grow and work to the best of their abilityrsquo rsquo must be set ` Equallythe organization must be macr exible in its approach to the individual and his her ideasrsquorsquo

(2) ` Fair and reasonable Our aim is for sound unbiased managementrsquorsquo Pioneer wants toexercise fair and reasonable management towards all employees to ensure that theemployees have positive thoughts so that they can respond in a positive way andhereby better fulreg l customersrsquo wants and needs and increase customer satisfactionPioneer has set customer satisfaction as one of the most important goals for Pioneerto achieve in the future

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S467

Figure 1 Pioneer Electronic Corporationrsquos new corporate identity (Pioneer Vision 2005)

(3) ` Speedy and macr exible We aim to be responsive to the marketrsquorsquo Pioneer wants to be ahighly responsive organization which is market oriented This asks for an organiza-tion which is open-minded and creative and understands how to respond to changesin a quick and macr exible way ` For example the planning production and marketingdivision must promote active exchanges of information and human resources andshould be looking for external business links with other enterprises and organisationsrsquo rsquo

The corporate philosophy ` Move the heart and touch the soulrsquorsquo is related to the establishmentof loyal customers as well as loyal employees through partnership and the managementpolicy ` Customer satisfaction is our ultimate goalrsquo rsquo is related to processes and products

Pioneer states that ` it is essential that we take positive steps to both revitalize and changethe ways in which we think and operatersquo rsquo This view demonstrates Pioneerrsquos interest in theconcepts of the learning and creative organization and the necessity of a dynamic changePioneerrsquos president was quite aware that formulating a new vision is not enough for changingthe company culture (Hildebrandt et al 1991) in the intended directionETH it may take a longtime to go from vision to reality The following quotation shows some of the early considera-tions about how to implement the strategies needed in order to make the vision come true` To prevent our vision from ending up as an empty wish we plan to discuss strategies forindividual business visions at the Business Strategy Conference as well as at other conferencesto ensure that our strategies are reasonable and acceptable to everyonersquorsquo

The change in Pioneerrsquos company logo and corporate identity was believed to raisemany questions from employees and customers Pioneer found it essential to communicate

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S468 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

ethorn ectively with its customers Pioneer believed that punctual extensive and relevant informa-tion was required for its employees to make them ` fully understand our new identity andapply it in all areas of our activities from development and production to sales and marketingservices to name a fewrsquorsquo

When Pioneerrsquos president presented `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo it was at a conference wheredepartment and section managers participated ` During that conference we remacr ected onPioneerrsquos basic corporate philosophy and ascertained once again Pioneerrsquos reasons forexistence as a company this process of remacr ection is essential if Pioneer is to make a newstart The discussion that followed proved quite meaningfulrsquo rsquo (Pioneer)

Implementation at Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The president of Pioneer Corporation stated that everybodyrsquo s participation is needed in theimplementation of the new corporate identity Members of the corporate identity projectteam in each country are responsible for implementing the change and all regular employeeswere asked to participate in reforming the corporate culture It was stressed that everyoneshould be involved To achieve a high level of involvement among all employees Pioneertried to make sure that everyone was well informed and actively communicating with oneanother As a matter of fact the president encouraged all employees to engage in constructivedialogue over any point of disagreement rather than blindly following orders

The top management group of Pioneer Denmark which consisted of the companyrsquosthree top leaders began to prepare for the `rebirthrsquo after the corporate presidentrsquos New Yearspeech 1998 where the changes needed were presented for the reg rst time The top manage-ment group decided to participate in a 5-month education and training programme onTQM and business excellence run by the leading postgraduate education institution inDenmarkETH DiEU (prize-winner of the European Business Excellence Award 1998)

During the 5 months the three top managers received education 2 days per monthBetween the monthly sessions they worked hard to apply the lessons learned in their companybecause one aim of the course was that the participants should gradually write a self-assessment report on their own company At each 2-day session time was allocated so thatthe responsible professors could give feedback to the participants about their understandingsof the applied self-assessment model (the European Business Excellence Model) and theidentireg ed strengths and opportunities for improvements At the end of the course the self-assessment report on Pioneer Denmark was reg nalized and defended at an oyacute cial exam Allthe three top leaders agreed that the report was very valuable for the start up of the needed`quality journeyrsquo (Dahlgaard et al 1995) They also agreed that participating in theprogramme had been an excellent learning process where they gradually learned about thenecessary principles tools and techniques to achieve success on the `quality journeyrsquo Theyalso learned gradually that several of their old paradigms or mental models had to bechanged if they really wanted to have success with changing the corporate identity andcorporate culture

During 1998 the following activities were decided as a consequence of the top manage-ment grouprsquos commitment to change

(1) February A Lotus Notes suggestion system was established The evaluationcommittee was the top management group with the Managing Director chairingthe committee

(2) May A quality coordinator was hired to work full time coordinating the changeprocess

Dow

nloa

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] at

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S469

(3) June The self-assessment report was reg nalized and the top management group metto decide on a plan for implementation of the identireg ed improvement projectsThe preparation for running an employee satisfaction survey was done

(4) August The employee satisfaction survey was run on 12 August and the resultsof the survey were presented to all the employees on 21 August The employeeshad the reg rst opportunity to involve themselves in groupwork where the aim wasto identify the most vital areas for improvement On the same day the new corporatevision was presented by the Managing Director to all the employees

(5) August When `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo was introduced the change was communi-cated to employees (21 August) dealers and the press (28 August) All employeeswere the reg rst to be informed A letter signed personally by the head of PioneerEurope was sent to each employee with a Corporate Identity Concept Bookexplaining the changes All dealers and supply chains and the press received writtenmaterials in the form of a folder describing the ideas behind the new logo and thenew corporate identity and how it will be implemented within Pioneer DenmarkFurthermore they have been informed in face-to-face meetings about the newproducts (with the new logo) to be launched Advertising campaigns were run inorder to announce the changes

(6) September The top management team visited DiEU in order to learn (benchmark)about ways to follow up on the results from employee satisfaction surveys and toget advice about how to assure a continued progress in `the quality journeyrsquo Thethree top managers also discussed and decided which policies and procedures itwas important to address and focus on A `QiP steering grouprsquo (quality in Pioneer)consisting of six people was established Members of the group were the ManagingDirector the quality coordinator and four `ordinary employeesrsquo selected from10plusmn 15 volunteers

(7) October The QiP steering group had its reg rst meeting It was decided to run acustomer satisfaction survey in November The necessary interviews with themost important customers were done together with other necessary preparationsincluding construction and test of the questionnaire

(8) November A customer satisfaction survey was run All the important customerswere invited to participate in the survey

(9) December The results of the customer satisfaction survey were analysed (Presenta-tion of the results to all employees and the most important customers was done inJanuary 1999)

(10) December All employees participated in a 2-day education programme (Dahlgaard1996) The title of the programme was `Move the heart and touch the soulrsquo Theaim of the programme was to focus on how to build up personal visions togetherwith the corporate Pioneer Vision so that both were in harmony with each otherDuring the 2-day programme the participants were introduced to team-buildingand some of the simple quality tools (brainstorming ayacute nity diagram reg sh-bonediagram etc) The programme consisted of lectures and groupwork where theemployees had the opportunity to discuss what they had learned during the lecturesThere was for example groupwork dealing with the meaning and importance ofthe corporate values `fair and reasonablersquo `positive and activersquo and `speedy andmacr exiblersquo

(11) December At the end of the 2-day programme the employees were asked to comeup with the reg ve core values which were of utmost importance for them in workingtogether with other people The core values are called positive values in Fig 2

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S470 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

Figure 2 Positive values (core values and competencies) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The employees were also asked to come up with reg ve false values which in theiropinion were a barrier to working with other people These false values are callednegative values in Fig 3

How the company will use these results has not been decided but there is an understandingthat the identireg cation of these values is essential for understanding the company culture andfor changing the culture in the right direction (Dahlgaard et al 1998) Understandingacceptance and practice of the most important core values are a precondition for establishingpositive and proactive partnerships within Pioneer Denmark Without such internal proactivepartnerships it is impossible to create external proactive partnerships and hence it will bevery diyacute cult to establish business excellence The important core values decided by PioneerElectronics Corporationrsquos head oyacute ce can only be practised locally if they are combined orsupported by the local core values This is now the challenge of the people in PioneerDenmark as well as the local employees in all the Pioneer companies all over the world

February 1999

The Managing Director states that the 2-day education programme has really improved theculture and the atmosphere in the company The employees are now more open and friendlywith each other and more supportive The total market has declined which has createdproblems but compared to previous situations from the past the employees are now actingmuch more positively The Managing Director evaluates this culture change as a necessityfor the continued process of trying to achieve Pioneerrsquos new corporate `Vision 2005rsquo

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ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S471

Figure 3 Negative values ( false values) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

Conclusion

In this paper change and business excellence have been discussed from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view Because Pioneer has just started its journey to realize its newcorporate vision it is too early to report in detail how business excellence will be achievedThe case of Pioneer Denmark illustrates what was done in the reg rst year of the transformationprocess The case also illustrates how a company has balanced the hard side of TQM andbusiness excellence with the soft side It demonstrates that a top management group can doa lot within a year if they really show leadership and commitment This was exactly what theManaging Director (Leif Hansen) and his two associates in the top management groupshowed after having reg nalized the 5-month education programme on TQM and businessexcellence The same type of leadership and commitment is dereg nitely needed in all Pioneercompanies and divisions all over the world if the new corporate identity (`Vision 2005rsquo ) is tocome true within the next 5 years Pioneer Denmark may come up as an excellent role modelin the Pioneer family of companies because the company has started the journey to businessexcellence in an impressive way

References

DAHLGAARD SMP (1996) Some experiences with a Japanese training package on human motivationProceedings of ICQrsquo96 Yokohama JUSE

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ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S467

Figure 1 Pioneer Electronic Corporationrsquos new corporate identity (Pioneer Vision 2005)

(3) ` Speedy and macr exible We aim to be responsive to the marketrsquorsquo Pioneer wants to be ahighly responsive organization which is market oriented This asks for an organiza-tion which is open-minded and creative and understands how to respond to changesin a quick and macr exible way ` For example the planning production and marketingdivision must promote active exchanges of information and human resources andshould be looking for external business links with other enterprises and organisationsrsquo rsquo

The corporate philosophy ` Move the heart and touch the soulrsquorsquo is related to the establishmentof loyal customers as well as loyal employees through partnership and the managementpolicy ` Customer satisfaction is our ultimate goalrsquo rsquo is related to processes and products

Pioneer states that ` it is essential that we take positive steps to both revitalize and changethe ways in which we think and operatersquo rsquo This view demonstrates Pioneerrsquos interest in theconcepts of the learning and creative organization and the necessity of a dynamic changePioneerrsquos president was quite aware that formulating a new vision is not enough for changingthe company culture (Hildebrandt et al 1991) in the intended directionETH it may take a longtime to go from vision to reality The following quotation shows some of the early considera-tions about how to implement the strategies needed in order to make the vision come true` To prevent our vision from ending up as an empty wish we plan to discuss strategies forindividual business visions at the Business Strategy Conference as well as at other conferencesto ensure that our strategies are reasonable and acceptable to everyonersquorsquo

The change in Pioneerrsquos company logo and corporate identity was believed to raisemany questions from employees and customers Pioneer found it essential to communicate

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ber

2013

S468 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

ethorn ectively with its customers Pioneer believed that punctual extensive and relevant informa-tion was required for its employees to make them ` fully understand our new identity andapply it in all areas of our activities from development and production to sales and marketingservices to name a fewrsquorsquo

When Pioneerrsquos president presented `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo it was at a conference wheredepartment and section managers participated ` During that conference we remacr ected onPioneerrsquos basic corporate philosophy and ascertained once again Pioneerrsquos reasons forexistence as a company this process of remacr ection is essential if Pioneer is to make a newstart The discussion that followed proved quite meaningfulrsquo rsquo (Pioneer)

Implementation at Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The president of Pioneer Corporation stated that everybodyrsquo s participation is needed in theimplementation of the new corporate identity Members of the corporate identity projectteam in each country are responsible for implementing the change and all regular employeeswere asked to participate in reforming the corporate culture It was stressed that everyoneshould be involved To achieve a high level of involvement among all employees Pioneertried to make sure that everyone was well informed and actively communicating with oneanother As a matter of fact the president encouraged all employees to engage in constructivedialogue over any point of disagreement rather than blindly following orders

The top management group of Pioneer Denmark which consisted of the companyrsquosthree top leaders began to prepare for the `rebirthrsquo after the corporate presidentrsquos New Yearspeech 1998 where the changes needed were presented for the reg rst time The top manage-ment group decided to participate in a 5-month education and training programme onTQM and business excellence run by the leading postgraduate education institution inDenmarkETH DiEU (prize-winner of the European Business Excellence Award 1998)

During the 5 months the three top managers received education 2 days per monthBetween the monthly sessions they worked hard to apply the lessons learned in their companybecause one aim of the course was that the participants should gradually write a self-assessment report on their own company At each 2-day session time was allocated so thatthe responsible professors could give feedback to the participants about their understandingsof the applied self-assessment model (the European Business Excellence Model) and theidentireg ed strengths and opportunities for improvements At the end of the course the self-assessment report on Pioneer Denmark was reg nalized and defended at an oyacute cial exam Allthe three top leaders agreed that the report was very valuable for the start up of the needed`quality journeyrsquo (Dahlgaard et al 1995) They also agreed that participating in theprogramme had been an excellent learning process where they gradually learned about thenecessary principles tools and techniques to achieve success on the `quality journeyrsquo Theyalso learned gradually that several of their old paradigms or mental models had to bechanged if they really wanted to have success with changing the corporate identity andcorporate culture

During 1998 the following activities were decided as a consequence of the top manage-ment grouprsquos commitment to change

(1) February A Lotus Notes suggestion system was established The evaluationcommittee was the top management group with the Managing Director chairingthe committee

(2) May A quality coordinator was hired to work full time coordinating the changeprocess

Dow

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by [

Uni

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ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S469

(3) June The self-assessment report was reg nalized and the top management group metto decide on a plan for implementation of the identireg ed improvement projectsThe preparation for running an employee satisfaction survey was done

(4) August The employee satisfaction survey was run on 12 August and the resultsof the survey were presented to all the employees on 21 August The employeeshad the reg rst opportunity to involve themselves in groupwork where the aim wasto identify the most vital areas for improvement On the same day the new corporatevision was presented by the Managing Director to all the employees

(5) August When `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo was introduced the change was communi-cated to employees (21 August) dealers and the press (28 August) All employeeswere the reg rst to be informed A letter signed personally by the head of PioneerEurope was sent to each employee with a Corporate Identity Concept Bookexplaining the changes All dealers and supply chains and the press received writtenmaterials in the form of a folder describing the ideas behind the new logo and thenew corporate identity and how it will be implemented within Pioneer DenmarkFurthermore they have been informed in face-to-face meetings about the newproducts (with the new logo) to be launched Advertising campaigns were run inorder to announce the changes

(6) September The top management team visited DiEU in order to learn (benchmark)about ways to follow up on the results from employee satisfaction surveys and toget advice about how to assure a continued progress in `the quality journeyrsquo Thethree top managers also discussed and decided which policies and procedures itwas important to address and focus on A `QiP steering grouprsquo (quality in Pioneer)consisting of six people was established Members of the group were the ManagingDirector the quality coordinator and four `ordinary employeesrsquo selected from10plusmn 15 volunteers

(7) October The QiP steering group had its reg rst meeting It was decided to run acustomer satisfaction survey in November The necessary interviews with themost important customers were done together with other necessary preparationsincluding construction and test of the questionnaire

(8) November A customer satisfaction survey was run All the important customerswere invited to participate in the survey

(9) December The results of the customer satisfaction survey were analysed (Presenta-tion of the results to all employees and the most important customers was done inJanuary 1999)

(10) December All employees participated in a 2-day education programme (Dahlgaard1996) The title of the programme was `Move the heart and touch the soulrsquo Theaim of the programme was to focus on how to build up personal visions togetherwith the corporate Pioneer Vision so that both were in harmony with each otherDuring the 2-day programme the participants were introduced to team-buildingand some of the simple quality tools (brainstorming ayacute nity diagram reg sh-bonediagram etc) The programme consisted of lectures and groupwork where theemployees had the opportunity to discuss what they had learned during the lecturesThere was for example groupwork dealing with the meaning and importance ofthe corporate values `fair and reasonablersquo `positive and activersquo and `speedy andmacr exiblersquo

(11) December At the end of the 2-day programme the employees were asked to comeup with the reg ve core values which were of utmost importance for them in workingtogether with other people The core values are called positive values in Fig 2

Dow

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ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S470 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

Figure 2 Positive values (core values and competencies) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The employees were also asked to come up with reg ve false values which in theiropinion were a barrier to working with other people These false values are callednegative values in Fig 3

How the company will use these results has not been decided but there is an understandingthat the identireg cation of these values is essential for understanding the company culture andfor changing the culture in the right direction (Dahlgaard et al 1998) Understandingacceptance and practice of the most important core values are a precondition for establishingpositive and proactive partnerships within Pioneer Denmark Without such internal proactivepartnerships it is impossible to create external proactive partnerships and hence it will bevery diyacute cult to establish business excellence The important core values decided by PioneerElectronics Corporationrsquos head oyacute ce can only be practised locally if they are combined orsupported by the local core values This is now the challenge of the people in PioneerDenmark as well as the local employees in all the Pioneer companies all over the world

February 1999

The Managing Director states that the 2-day education programme has really improved theculture and the atmosphere in the company The employees are now more open and friendlywith each other and more supportive The total market has declined which has createdproblems but compared to previous situations from the past the employees are now actingmuch more positively The Managing Director evaluates this culture change as a necessityfor the continued process of trying to achieve Pioneerrsquos new corporate `Vision 2005rsquo

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S471

Figure 3 Negative values ( false values) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

Conclusion

In this paper change and business excellence have been discussed from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view Because Pioneer has just started its journey to realize its newcorporate vision it is too early to report in detail how business excellence will be achievedThe case of Pioneer Denmark illustrates what was done in the reg rst year of the transformationprocess The case also illustrates how a company has balanced the hard side of TQM andbusiness excellence with the soft side It demonstrates that a top management group can doa lot within a year if they really show leadership and commitment This was exactly what theManaging Director (Leif Hansen) and his two associates in the top management groupshowed after having reg nalized the 5-month education programme on TQM and businessexcellence The same type of leadership and commitment is dereg nitely needed in all Pioneercompanies and divisions all over the world if the new corporate identity (`Vision 2005rsquo ) is tocome true within the next 5 years Pioneer Denmark may come up as an excellent role modelin the Pioneer family of companies because the company has started the journey to businessexcellence in an impressive way

References

DAHLGAARD SMP (1996) Some experiences with a Japanese training package on human motivationProceedings of ICQrsquo96 Yokohama JUSE

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S468 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

ethorn ectively with its customers Pioneer believed that punctual extensive and relevant informa-tion was required for its employees to make them ` fully understand our new identity andapply it in all areas of our activities from development and production to sales and marketingservices to name a fewrsquorsquo

When Pioneerrsquos president presented `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo it was at a conference wheredepartment and section managers participated ` During that conference we remacr ected onPioneerrsquos basic corporate philosophy and ascertained once again Pioneerrsquos reasons forexistence as a company this process of remacr ection is essential if Pioneer is to make a newstart The discussion that followed proved quite meaningfulrsquo rsquo (Pioneer)

Implementation at Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The president of Pioneer Corporation stated that everybodyrsquo s participation is needed in theimplementation of the new corporate identity Members of the corporate identity projectteam in each country are responsible for implementing the change and all regular employeeswere asked to participate in reforming the corporate culture It was stressed that everyoneshould be involved To achieve a high level of involvement among all employees Pioneertried to make sure that everyone was well informed and actively communicating with oneanother As a matter of fact the president encouraged all employees to engage in constructivedialogue over any point of disagreement rather than blindly following orders

The top management group of Pioneer Denmark which consisted of the companyrsquosthree top leaders began to prepare for the `rebirthrsquo after the corporate presidentrsquos New Yearspeech 1998 where the changes needed were presented for the reg rst time The top manage-ment group decided to participate in a 5-month education and training programme onTQM and business excellence run by the leading postgraduate education institution inDenmarkETH DiEU (prize-winner of the European Business Excellence Award 1998)

During the 5 months the three top managers received education 2 days per monthBetween the monthly sessions they worked hard to apply the lessons learned in their companybecause one aim of the course was that the participants should gradually write a self-assessment report on their own company At each 2-day session time was allocated so thatthe responsible professors could give feedback to the participants about their understandingsof the applied self-assessment model (the European Business Excellence Model) and theidentireg ed strengths and opportunities for improvements At the end of the course the self-assessment report on Pioneer Denmark was reg nalized and defended at an oyacute cial exam Allthe three top leaders agreed that the report was very valuable for the start up of the needed`quality journeyrsquo (Dahlgaard et al 1995) They also agreed that participating in theprogramme had been an excellent learning process where they gradually learned about thenecessary principles tools and techniques to achieve success on the `quality journeyrsquo Theyalso learned gradually that several of their old paradigms or mental models had to bechanged if they really wanted to have success with changing the corporate identity andcorporate culture

During 1998 the following activities were decided as a consequence of the top manage-ment grouprsquos commitment to change

(1) February A Lotus Notes suggestion system was established The evaluationcommittee was the top management group with the Managing Director chairingthe committee

(2) May A quality coordinator was hired to work full time coordinating the changeprocess

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S469

(3) June The self-assessment report was reg nalized and the top management group metto decide on a plan for implementation of the identireg ed improvement projectsThe preparation for running an employee satisfaction survey was done

(4) August The employee satisfaction survey was run on 12 August and the resultsof the survey were presented to all the employees on 21 August The employeeshad the reg rst opportunity to involve themselves in groupwork where the aim wasto identify the most vital areas for improvement On the same day the new corporatevision was presented by the Managing Director to all the employees

(5) August When `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo was introduced the change was communi-cated to employees (21 August) dealers and the press (28 August) All employeeswere the reg rst to be informed A letter signed personally by the head of PioneerEurope was sent to each employee with a Corporate Identity Concept Bookexplaining the changes All dealers and supply chains and the press received writtenmaterials in the form of a folder describing the ideas behind the new logo and thenew corporate identity and how it will be implemented within Pioneer DenmarkFurthermore they have been informed in face-to-face meetings about the newproducts (with the new logo) to be launched Advertising campaigns were run inorder to announce the changes

(6) September The top management team visited DiEU in order to learn (benchmark)about ways to follow up on the results from employee satisfaction surveys and toget advice about how to assure a continued progress in `the quality journeyrsquo Thethree top managers also discussed and decided which policies and procedures itwas important to address and focus on A `QiP steering grouprsquo (quality in Pioneer)consisting of six people was established Members of the group were the ManagingDirector the quality coordinator and four `ordinary employeesrsquo selected from10plusmn 15 volunteers

(7) October The QiP steering group had its reg rst meeting It was decided to run acustomer satisfaction survey in November The necessary interviews with themost important customers were done together with other necessary preparationsincluding construction and test of the questionnaire

(8) November A customer satisfaction survey was run All the important customerswere invited to participate in the survey

(9) December The results of the customer satisfaction survey were analysed (Presenta-tion of the results to all employees and the most important customers was done inJanuary 1999)

(10) December All employees participated in a 2-day education programme (Dahlgaard1996) The title of the programme was `Move the heart and touch the soulrsquo Theaim of the programme was to focus on how to build up personal visions togetherwith the corporate Pioneer Vision so that both were in harmony with each otherDuring the 2-day programme the participants were introduced to team-buildingand some of the simple quality tools (brainstorming ayacute nity diagram reg sh-bonediagram etc) The programme consisted of lectures and groupwork where theemployees had the opportunity to discuss what they had learned during the lecturesThere was for example groupwork dealing with the meaning and importance ofthe corporate values `fair and reasonablersquo `positive and activersquo and `speedy andmacr exiblersquo

(11) December At the end of the 2-day programme the employees were asked to comeup with the reg ve core values which were of utmost importance for them in workingtogether with other people The core values are called positive values in Fig 2

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S470 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

Figure 2 Positive values (core values and competencies) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The employees were also asked to come up with reg ve false values which in theiropinion were a barrier to working with other people These false values are callednegative values in Fig 3

How the company will use these results has not been decided but there is an understandingthat the identireg cation of these values is essential for understanding the company culture andfor changing the culture in the right direction (Dahlgaard et al 1998) Understandingacceptance and practice of the most important core values are a precondition for establishingpositive and proactive partnerships within Pioneer Denmark Without such internal proactivepartnerships it is impossible to create external proactive partnerships and hence it will bevery diyacute cult to establish business excellence The important core values decided by PioneerElectronics Corporationrsquos head oyacute ce can only be practised locally if they are combined orsupported by the local core values This is now the challenge of the people in PioneerDenmark as well as the local employees in all the Pioneer companies all over the world

February 1999

The Managing Director states that the 2-day education programme has really improved theculture and the atmosphere in the company The employees are now more open and friendlywith each other and more supportive The total market has declined which has createdproblems but compared to previous situations from the past the employees are now actingmuch more positively The Managing Director evaluates this culture change as a necessityfor the continued process of trying to achieve Pioneerrsquos new corporate `Vision 2005rsquo

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S471

Figure 3 Negative values ( false values) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

Conclusion

In this paper change and business excellence have been discussed from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view Because Pioneer has just started its journey to realize its newcorporate vision it is too early to report in detail how business excellence will be achievedThe case of Pioneer Denmark illustrates what was done in the reg rst year of the transformationprocess The case also illustrates how a company has balanced the hard side of TQM andbusiness excellence with the soft side It demonstrates that a top management group can doa lot within a year if they really show leadership and commitment This was exactly what theManaging Director (Leif Hansen) and his two associates in the top management groupshowed after having reg nalized the 5-month education programme on TQM and businessexcellence The same type of leadership and commitment is dereg nitely needed in all Pioneercompanies and divisions all over the world if the new corporate identity (`Vision 2005rsquo ) is tocome true within the next 5 years Pioneer Denmark may come up as an excellent role modelin the Pioneer family of companies because the company has started the journey to businessexcellence in an impressive way

References

DAHLGAARD SMP (1996) Some experiences with a Japanese training package on human motivationProceedings of ICQrsquo96 Yokohama JUSE

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S469

(3) June The self-assessment report was reg nalized and the top management group metto decide on a plan for implementation of the identireg ed improvement projectsThe preparation for running an employee satisfaction survey was done

(4) August The employee satisfaction survey was run on 12 August and the resultsof the survey were presented to all the employees on 21 August The employeeshad the reg rst opportunity to involve themselves in groupwork where the aim wasto identify the most vital areas for improvement On the same day the new corporatevision was presented by the Managing Director to all the employees

(5) August When `Pioneer Vision 2005rsquo was introduced the change was communi-cated to employees (21 August) dealers and the press (28 August) All employeeswere the reg rst to be informed A letter signed personally by the head of PioneerEurope was sent to each employee with a Corporate Identity Concept Bookexplaining the changes All dealers and supply chains and the press received writtenmaterials in the form of a folder describing the ideas behind the new logo and thenew corporate identity and how it will be implemented within Pioneer DenmarkFurthermore they have been informed in face-to-face meetings about the newproducts (with the new logo) to be launched Advertising campaigns were run inorder to announce the changes

(6) September The top management team visited DiEU in order to learn (benchmark)about ways to follow up on the results from employee satisfaction surveys and toget advice about how to assure a continued progress in `the quality journeyrsquo Thethree top managers also discussed and decided which policies and procedures itwas important to address and focus on A `QiP steering grouprsquo (quality in Pioneer)consisting of six people was established Members of the group were the ManagingDirector the quality coordinator and four `ordinary employeesrsquo selected from10plusmn 15 volunteers

(7) October The QiP steering group had its reg rst meeting It was decided to run acustomer satisfaction survey in November The necessary interviews with themost important customers were done together with other necessary preparationsincluding construction and test of the questionnaire

(8) November A customer satisfaction survey was run All the important customerswere invited to participate in the survey

(9) December The results of the customer satisfaction survey were analysed (Presenta-tion of the results to all employees and the most important customers was done inJanuary 1999)

(10) December All employees participated in a 2-day education programme (Dahlgaard1996) The title of the programme was `Move the heart and touch the soulrsquo Theaim of the programme was to focus on how to build up personal visions togetherwith the corporate Pioneer Vision so that both were in harmony with each otherDuring the 2-day programme the participants were introduced to team-buildingand some of the simple quality tools (brainstorming ayacute nity diagram reg sh-bonediagram etc) The programme consisted of lectures and groupwork where theemployees had the opportunity to discuss what they had learned during the lecturesThere was for example groupwork dealing with the meaning and importance ofthe corporate values `fair and reasonablersquo `positive and activersquo and `speedy andmacr exiblersquo

(11) December At the end of the 2-day programme the employees were asked to comeup with the reg ve core values which were of utmost importance for them in workingtogether with other people The core values are called positive values in Fig 2

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S470 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

Figure 2 Positive values (core values and competencies) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The employees were also asked to come up with reg ve false values which in theiropinion were a barrier to working with other people These false values are callednegative values in Fig 3

How the company will use these results has not been decided but there is an understandingthat the identireg cation of these values is essential for understanding the company culture andfor changing the culture in the right direction (Dahlgaard et al 1998) Understandingacceptance and practice of the most important core values are a precondition for establishingpositive and proactive partnerships within Pioneer Denmark Without such internal proactivepartnerships it is impossible to create external proactive partnerships and hence it will bevery diyacute cult to establish business excellence The important core values decided by PioneerElectronics Corporationrsquos head oyacute ce can only be practised locally if they are combined orsupported by the local core values This is now the challenge of the people in PioneerDenmark as well as the local employees in all the Pioneer companies all over the world

February 1999

The Managing Director states that the 2-day education programme has really improved theculture and the atmosphere in the company The employees are now more open and friendlywith each other and more supportive The total market has declined which has createdproblems but compared to previous situations from the past the employees are now actingmuch more positively The Managing Director evaluates this culture change as a necessityfor the continued process of trying to achieve Pioneerrsquos new corporate `Vision 2005rsquo

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S471

Figure 3 Negative values ( false values) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

Conclusion

In this paper change and business excellence have been discussed from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view Because Pioneer has just started its journey to realize its newcorporate vision it is too early to report in detail how business excellence will be achievedThe case of Pioneer Denmark illustrates what was done in the reg rst year of the transformationprocess The case also illustrates how a company has balanced the hard side of TQM andbusiness excellence with the soft side It demonstrates that a top management group can doa lot within a year if they really show leadership and commitment This was exactly what theManaging Director (Leif Hansen) and his two associates in the top management groupshowed after having reg nalized the 5-month education programme on TQM and businessexcellence The same type of leadership and commitment is dereg nitely needed in all Pioneercompanies and divisions all over the world if the new corporate identity (`Vision 2005rsquo ) is tocome true within the next 5 years Pioneer Denmark may come up as an excellent role modelin the Pioneer family of companies because the company has started the journey to businessexcellence in an impressive way

References

DAHLGAARD SMP (1996) Some experiences with a Japanese training package on human motivationProceedings of ICQrsquo96 Yokohama JUSE

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by [

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eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

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2013

S470 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

Figure 2 Positive values (core values and competencies) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

The employees were also asked to come up with reg ve false values which in theiropinion were a barrier to working with other people These false values are callednegative values in Fig 3

How the company will use these results has not been decided but there is an understandingthat the identireg cation of these values is essential for understanding the company culture andfor changing the culture in the right direction (Dahlgaard et al 1998) Understandingacceptance and practice of the most important core values are a precondition for establishingpositive and proactive partnerships within Pioneer Denmark Without such internal proactivepartnerships it is impossible to create external proactive partnerships and hence it will bevery diyacute cult to establish business excellence The important core values decided by PioneerElectronics Corporationrsquos head oyacute ce can only be practised locally if they are combined orsupported by the local core values This is now the challenge of the people in PioneerDenmark as well as the local employees in all the Pioneer companies all over the world

February 1999

The Managing Director states that the 2-day education programme has really improved theculture and the atmosphere in the company The employees are now more open and friendlywith each other and more supportive The total market has declined which has createdproblems but compared to previous situations from the past the employees are now actingmuch more positively The Managing Director evaluates this culture change as a necessityfor the continued process of trying to achieve Pioneerrsquos new corporate `Vision 2005rsquo

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S471

Figure 3 Negative values ( false values) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

Conclusion

In this paper change and business excellence have been discussed from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view Because Pioneer has just started its journey to realize its newcorporate vision it is too early to report in detail how business excellence will be achievedThe case of Pioneer Denmark illustrates what was done in the reg rst year of the transformationprocess The case also illustrates how a company has balanced the hard side of TQM andbusiness excellence with the soft side It demonstrates that a top management group can doa lot within a year if they really show leadership and commitment This was exactly what theManaging Director (Leif Hansen) and his two associates in the top management groupshowed after having reg nalized the 5-month education programme on TQM and businessexcellence The same type of leadership and commitment is dereg nitely needed in all Pioneercompanies and divisions all over the world if the new corporate identity (`Vision 2005rsquo ) is tocome true within the next 5 years Pioneer Denmark may come up as an excellent role modelin the Pioneer family of companies because the company has started the journey to businessexcellence in an impressive way

References

DAHLGAARD SMP (1996) Some experiences with a Japanese training package on human motivationProceedings of ICQrsquo96 Yokohama JUSE

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

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eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT S471

Figure 3 Negative values ( false values) identireg ed in Pioneer Electronics AS Denmark

Conclusion

In this paper change and business excellence have been discussed from both a theoreticaland a practical point of view Because Pioneer has just started its journey to realize its newcorporate vision it is too early to report in detail how business excellence will be achievedThe case of Pioneer Denmark illustrates what was done in the reg rst year of the transformationprocess The case also illustrates how a company has balanced the hard side of TQM andbusiness excellence with the soft side It demonstrates that a top management group can doa lot within a year if they really show leadership and commitment This was exactly what theManaging Director (Leif Hansen) and his two associates in the top management groupshowed after having reg nalized the 5-month education programme on TQM and businessexcellence The same type of leadership and commitment is dereg nitely needed in all Pioneercompanies and divisions all over the world if the new corporate identity (`Vision 2005rsquo ) is tocome true within the next 5 years Pioneer Denmark may come up as an excellent role modelin the Pioneer family of companies because the company has started the journey to businessexcellence in an impressive way

References

DAHLGAARD SMP (1996) Some experiences with a Japanese training package on human motivationProceedings of ICQrsquo96 Yokohama JUSE

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013

S472 J J DAHLGAARD amp S M P DAHLGAARD

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1995) The Quality Journey A Journey without an End (MadrasProductivity Press)

DAHLGAARD JJ KRISTENSEN K amp KANJI G (1998) Fundamentals of TQM (London Chapman amp Hall)HILDEBRANDT S KRISTENSEN K KANJI G amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1991) Quality culture and TQM Total

Quality Management 2 pp 1 plusmn 10MARTENSEN A amp DAHLGAARD JJ (1999) Integrating business excellence and innovation managementETH devel-

oping vision blueprint and strategy for innovation in creative and learning organizations Total Quality

Management 9 Nos 45 Special IssuePETERS T amp WATERMAN RH (1982) In Search of ExcellenceETH Lessons from Americarsquos Best-run Companies

(Glasgow Harper Collins)

Dow

nloa

ded

by [

Uni

vers

ity o

f L

eeds

] at

12

40 1

9 Se

ptem

ber

2013