An effective strategic management process is vital to the continued success of any organisation. As competition mounts within markets globally, the pressure on organisations to succeed continues to mount. This paper attempts to analyse the situation of a small firm in the South African market. It recognises the challenges faced by this organisation while critically assessing the strategic choices made by this firm in its attempts to continue on its current growth path. In particular, this paper assesses the strategic initiative of the development of an attendance management program to address the identified strategic gaps within Monitored Healthrisk Managers. This assessment excludes an analysis of the current market for such a product, it is presumed that such a market exists, but rather attempts to analyse the position of MHM itself to see whether it has the necessary resources to undertaken such an initiative. In particular, this paper assesses the strategic choice using an abstract of the model developed by Johnson & Scholes to analyse the strategic option using criteria supporting the suitability, acceptability and feasibility of the development of the program. This research is intended to provide a critical assessment of the program which will be used in a report to the management team of MHM serving to illustrate the viability of such an undertaking. / Thesis (MBA)- University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2006.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, August, 2009. / Title from PDF t.p. Includes bibliographical references.

This dissertation reports on the research work of a new business improvement methodology called the design for Six Sigma (DFSS) conducted within a global resources company with specific reference to Manganese Metal Company (MMC), a subsidiary of BHP Billiton (BHPB). The aim of this research was by means of a case study, through action research, to investigate, analyse and evaluate the "Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Verify" (DMADV) model proposed by Picard (2004) with specific reference to a new product design. The study was concerned with identifying the BHPB strategic business reasons, effects and analysing the financial impact of implementing a DFSS project pertaining to a new product design at MMC. The literature review highlighted that DFSS enhances revenue growth, quality and reliability for a new product. The key findings were that DFSS does not exist within MMC and BHPB, the DFSS methodology could improve and enhance the revenue for a new product design at MMC and none of the BHPB customer sector groups are reporting any operating excellence (OE) annualised cost improvement benefits for DFSS projects. The main recommendation emerging from this research is that an integrated DFSS process will enable BHPB to identify critical leverage points for improving the overall financial performance in achieving the FY09 OE objective of $1 billion in annualised cost improvement benefits thus achieving the world class benchmark standard set by General Electric Corporation.

O setor automotivo é um dos mais arrojados em termos de qualidade, demandando a certificação ISO/TS 16949. Apesar dessas empresas dominarem essa certificação, algumas a perdem em auditorias posteriores ou obtêm poucas melhorias além das existentes. Há indícios de que elas não possuam maturidade suficiente para obter ou manter essa certificação, nem diretrizes para melhorar continuamente. Em trabalhos anteriores, constatou-se que empresas certificadas possuíam, no mínimo, nível 2 de maturidade, sendo 1 (mínimo) e 5 (máximo), o que significa uma empresa com processo definido e gerenciável. Entretanto, o que habilita a empresa a melhorar seus índices é ter o processo controlado e integrado. A falta de maturidade de um processo de desenvolvimento de produto (PDP) desencadeia refugos e retrabalhos, comprometendo o uso eficiente de recursos, impactando no tempo e no custo do desenvolvimento e, indiretamente, na qualidade do processo e do produto final. Porém, as empresas certificadas não possuem diretrizes para melhorar seus processos. Para isso, a ISO demandaria algum recurso associado, visando fornecer orientação quanto aos aspectos que precisariam ser melhorados. Considerando que o CMMI é um método eficaz na obtenção de diagnóstico de maturidade e que considera a integração do PDP, esse trabalho visa identificar a associação entre a certificação ISO/TS 16949 e o método CMMI-DEV 1.2. Para isso, apresenta uma revisão sobre PDPs, certificação da qualidade e maturidade de processo. Posteriormente, são associadas as variáveis envolvidas em um processo de certificação ISO 9001 e as variáveis avaliadas na ISO/TS 16949 com as variáveis envolvidas na avaliação do nível 2 de maturidade do modelo CMMI-DEV 1.2. O trabalho explicita quais itens são considerados pela ISO/TS 16949, ressaltando os itens do CMMI que poderiam ser usados para obter um diagnóstico complementar para as empresas que desejam melhorar o fator qualidade, agregando, em paralelo, mais eficiência e produtividade aos seus processos produtivos. / The automotive sector is one of the most daring in terms of quality, requiring because of that certification to ISO/TS 16949. Although these companies dominate this certification, some lose in the subsequent audits or get little improvement beyond existing. There is evidence that they do not have the maturity to obtain or maintain such certification or guidelines to continually improve. In previous work, it was found out that certified companies had at least level 2 maturity, 1 (minimum) and 5 (maximum), which means a company defined and manageable process. However, what enables the company to improve its indexes have the process is controlled and integrated. The lack of maturity of a product development process (PDP) triggers scrap and rework, compromising the efficient use of resources, impacting the time and cost of development and, indirectly, the quality of the process and final product. However, the guidelines do not have certified companies to improve their processes. For this, the ISO would require some resource associated in order to provide guidance on the aspects that need to be improved. Whereas CMMI is an effective method for obtaining diagnostic and maturity that considers the integration of PDP, this work aims to identify the association between the ISO/TS 16949 and CMMI-DEV 1.2 method. Presenting an overview of PDPs, quality certification and process maturity. Later, associated variables are involved in a process of ISO 9001 certification and the variables evaluated in the ISO/TS 16949 with the variables involved in assessing the maturity level 2 with CMMI-DEV 1.2. The paper explains which items are considered by the ISO/TS 16949, CMMI highlighting items that could be used for diagnosis complement for companies that wish to improve the quality factor, adding, in parallel, more efficiency and productivity of their production processes.

O setor automotivo é um dos mais arrojados em termos de qualidade, demandando a certificação ISO/TS 16949. Apesar dessas empresas dominarem essa certificação, algumas a perdem em auditorias posteriores ou obtêm poucas melhorias além das existentes. Há indícios de que elas não possuam maturidade suficiente para obter ou manter essa certificação, nem diretrizes para melhorar continuamente. Em trabalhos anteriores, constatou-se que empresas certificadas possuíam, no mínimo, nível 2 de maturidade, sendo 1 (mínimo) e 5 (máximo), o que significa uma empresa com processo definido e gerenciável. Entretanto, o que habilita a empresa a melhorar seus índices é ter o processo controlado e integrado. A falta de maturidade de um processo de desenvolvimento de produto (PDP) desencadeia refugos e retrabalhos, comprometendo o uso eficiente de recursos, impactando no tempo e no custo do desenvolvimento e, indiretamente, na qualidade do processo e do produto final. Porém, as empresas certificadas não possuem diretrizes para melhorar seus processos. Para isso, a ISO demandaria algum recurso associado, visando fornecer orientação quanto aos aspectos que precisariam ser melhorados. Considerando que o CMMI é um método eficaz na obtenção de diagnóstico de maturidade e que considera a integração do PDP, esse trabalho visa identificar a associação entre a certificação ISO/TS 16949 e o método CMMI-DEV 1.2. Para isso, apresenta uma revisão sobre PDPs, certificação da qualidade e maturidade de processo. Posteriormente, são associadas as variáveis envolvidas em um processo de certificação ISO 9001 e as variáveis avaliadas na ISO/TS 16949 com as variáveis envolvidas na avaliação do nível 2 de maturidade do modelo CMMI-DEV 1.2. O trabalho explicita quais itens são considerados pela ISO/TS 16949, ressaltando os itens do CMMI que poderiam ser usados para obter um diagnóstico complementar para as empresas que desejam melhorar o fator qualidade, agregando, em paralelo, mais eficiência e produtividade aos seus processos produtivos. / The automotive sector is one of the most daring in terms of quality, requiring because of that certification to ISO/TS 16949. Although these companies dominate this certification, some lose in the subsequent audits or get little improvement beyond existing. There is evidence that they do not have the maturity to obtain or maintain such certification or guidelines to continually improve. In previous work, it was found out that certified companies had at least level 2 maturity, 1 (minimum) and 5 (maximum), which means a company defined and manageable process. However, what enables the company to improve its indexes have the process is controlled and integrated. The lack of maturity of a product development process (PDP) triggers scrap and rework, compromising the efficient use of resources, impacting the time and cost of development and, indirectly, the quality of the process and final product. However, the guidelines do not have certified companies to improve their processes. For this, the ISO would require some resource associated in order to provide guidance on the aspects that need to be improved. Whereas CMMI is an effective method for obtaining diagnostic and maturity that considers the integration of PDP, this work aims to identify the association between the ISO/TS 16949 and CMMI-DEV 1.2 method. Presenting an overview of PDPs, quality certification and process maturity. Later, associated variables are involved in a process of ISO 9001 certification and the variables evaluated in the ISO/TS 16949 with the variables involved in assessing the maturity level 2 with CMMI-DEV 1.2. The paper explains which items are considered by the ISO/TS 16949, CMMI highlighting items that could be used for diagnosis complement for companies that wish to improve the quality factor, adding, in parallel, more efficiency and productivity of their production processes.