Exhibit 5-4 Responsibility Assignments Compared
Assigned to the individual in charge. Responsibility is defined in financial terms (for example, costs). Emphasis is on achieving optimal financial results at the local level (i.e., organizational unit level).Exhibit 5-4 reveals that in an activity-or process-based responsibility system, the focal point changes from units and individuals to processes and teams. Systemwide optimization is the emphasis. Also, financial responsibility continues to be vital. The reasons for the change in focus are simple. In a continuous improvement environment, the financial perspective translates into continuously enhancing revenues, reducing costs, and improving asset utilization. Creating this continuous growth and improvement requires an organization to constantly improve its capabilities of delivering value to customers and shareholders. A process perspective is chosen instead of an organizational-unit perspective because processes are the sources of value for customers and shareholders and because they are the key to achieving an organization’s financial objectives. The customer can be internal or external to the organization. Procurement, new product development, manufacturing, and customer service are examples of processes.
Since processes are the way things are done, changing the way things are done means changing processes. Three methods can change the way things are done: process improvement, process innovation, and process creation. Process improvement refers to incremental and constant increases in the efficiency of an existing process. For example, Medtronic Xomed, a manufacturer of surgical products (for ears, nose, and throat specialists), improved their processes by providing written instructions telling workers the best way to do their jobs. Over a three-year period ,the company reduced rework by 57 percent, scrap by 85 percent, and the cost of its shipped products by 38 percent.3 Activity-based management is particularly useful for bringing about process improvements. Processes are made up of activities that are linked by a common objective. Listing these activities and classifying them as value-added or non-value-added immediately suggests a way to make the process better: eliminate the non-value-added activities.