Hoshin Kanri in Higher Education

Book excerpt: Strategy, the link between mission and operational plans to improve an institution’s performance, is a critical element to the future success of higher education (HE). Hoshin Kanri (HK), the application of Lean principles and practices to strategy development, deployment, and management, is a systematic and effective approach to support institutional success, particularly when competition is high. Surprisingly, despite its known effectiveness and advantages over other approaches to strategy development, deployment, and management, the application of HK in HE is limited. This book promotes greater awareness, appreciation, and application of HK at HE institutions. The book is divided into four sections: The first section (Introduction to Hoshin Kanri) provides a general overview of HK and its potential contributions when used in HE settings The second section (Case Studies) provides several examples where aspects of HK were introduced at HE institutions. These case studies, which vary in scope, use of HK practices and tools, and identified benefits, offer insights both for helping senior leaders recognize the value of HK (and adopt the HK process) and for on-the-ground experiences using HK tools and techniques – including barriers and challenges – during implementation The third section (Expanding the Application of Hoshin Kanri in Higher Education) includes several chapters on how to begin an HE institution’s HK journey. The chapters include practical steps for gaining support for and implementing HK strategy development, deployment, and management tailored for HE institutions across both typical and novel applications of HK The fourth and final section (Implications for Practice and Research) presents a high-level summary of the "current state" of HK in HE and offers thoughts and recommendations on the "future state" directions for practice, research opportunities, and challenges for HK in HE The book underscores the key benefits HK can offer HE institutions. With its Lean roots of continuous improvement and respect for people, HK offers HE institutions an effective and sustainable approach to strategy development, deployment, and management. HK can be used institution-wide or at any level or area within an institution. While the local application of HK won’t achieve the full benefits possible through institution-wide adoption, it offers a marked improvement over other strategy approaches that fail to respect people and leverage their knowledge, expertise, and insights to apply continuous improvement to move their office, department, or function forward.