Instructor Reserve Case Solutions
Cases
I. Equipto, Inc.
1. In launching a major change to the corporate culture, careful planning needs to be done. At
Equipto, a personable middle manager was chosen as division TQ director. Three days of
training was given to top management. Then division managers chose in-house facilitators
and local consultants to give three to five days of quality training. Teams were pretty much
on their own to develop projects during the first year. Possibly, managers and workers
could had been given just in time (JIT) training on TQ principles and tools, while they were
learning to use them. Also, if managers had been required to use the tools and approaches,
and report on results at the same time that subordinates were using them, it could have been
very reinforcing.
4. It is certainly possible for TQ to be implemented successfully and to have market
conditions to turn down. TQ is no guarantee of corporate financial success. However, if
there is “constancy of purpose” in the installation and application of a TQ process, long–
run success has a much higher probability with TQ than without it. For example, Wallace
Corporation, a Baldrige award winner, had to declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy due to the
drop in oil prices and foreclosure by banks on their business loans.
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II. LANB – Quality in Banking – Case A
1. Los Alamos National Bank (LANB) was established as a community bank in order to fill
a gap that was obvious in a non-typical small town in the USA. Los Alamos was built by
the government to aid in the development of atomic weapons during and after World War
II. The government infrastructure was unable to meet local needs after a peacetime
environment and economy was established, so a more “normal” banking facility was
called for.
2. LANB focuses on employees as valuable assets. It empowers them to handle customer
complaints, gives them extensive training, and rewards them with fair compensation and
profit sharing in the same plan as senior management. In addition, senior management
breaks down the hierarchical barriers by not claiming traditional top management
“perks,” such as reserved parking places close to the building.
3. Technology supports the bank’s mission, as it strives to be more “customer driven” than
its competitors. It is organized to identify customer needs more readily and more
accurately and, then, to respond more quickly and more satisfactorily. Technology is
essential to handle the thousands of bank transactions that take place on a daily and
weekly basis. Therefore, it must be considered a core competency. Without performance
excellence in the “back office” and on their website, customers will quickly lose
confidence in the ability of the bank to handle their financial transactions.
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III. LANB – Quality in Banking – Case B
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1. LANB feels that a sustainability commitment is a good business practice for a number of
reasons. Customers in the region are a unique mix of highly educated scientists and
technicians and farmers, ranchers, Hispanics, and Native Americans. They all have a
bias toward sustainability and care of the environment. In addition, natural resources such
as water, energy, clean air, and good soil are increasingly difficult to develop and
maintain in the desert southwestern region. In addition, it makes smart business sense to
save material and other costs by reducing paper use, and recycling water, among other
measures.
2. LANB is moving beyond its core computational technology needed for everyday banking
transactions to “green” technology. It is making the effort to recycle water, reduce paper
waste through electronic communication, and reduce its “carbon footprint” through the
use of hybrid vehicles.
IV. Can Six Sigma Work in Health Care?
Despite the potential of Six Sigma, a number of steps must be taken before project work
can be started. Six Sigma must be introduced to the hospital staff and physicians. A
framework must be established to manage the initiative.
The agenda for the meeting with Colin might include background, information sharing,
and next steps, as follows.
– Corporate history and organizational profile
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– Information about key management, including senior leaders, and directors of the
four target areas of patient services, quality assessment, financial management, and
human resources
– Level of commitment to quality and understanding of the meaning and philosophy of
1. Are senior leaders interested in quality for the long term, or are they simply looking for
ways to treat short-term symptoms of problems?
2. Are those same leaders willing to be personally involved in training and becoming
champions of the Six Sigma quality effort?
3. Do those leaders understand that changes must/will occur in the corporate culture
which will affect them, as well as everyone in management and non-management
positions in SLRMC?
4. Are the leaders willing to invest financial and human resources in establishing Six
Sigma as a long-term commitment to a quality policy?
5. How will the Six Sigma process and results help to meet strategic objectives, thus
providing strategic benefits to the organizaiton?
6. How will processes be aligned with Six Sigma projects and approaches?
7. What will be the challenges and advantages of using Six Sigma to solve problems
versus how that is currently done?
8. How will Six Sigma projects and results be measured and aligned with current or
future perfomance measurement processes?
9. To what extent will the workforce and managers at all levels have to be trained in
process thinking and a focus on results?
10. How will workforce training, rewards, and recognition for the Six Sigma initiative be
structured?
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