HONEYWELL

The Organization
Honeywell International Inc. is a global company specializing in a number of technology-intensive
businesses including aerospace, automotive, and control systems. The company's strengths include
its strong brand name, large market capitalization, and leadership in product research and
development. Formed through a merger between AlliedSignals and Honeywell, Honeywell
International created the Six Sigma Plus (SSP) program, a quality program designed to meet its
specific needs including its E-Business and less-explicit processes. In particular, the SSP program is a
comprehensive customer-focused quality program created by combining Six Sigma, Malcolm
Baldridge, and the European Foundation quality models.
Analysis
Honeywell's primary challenge is to sustain the Six Sigma Plus program in a meaningful and
beneficial way. There are
several underlying factors that are critical to the success of the SSP program. Honeywell must be
sensitive of these factors
and act accordingly to ensure that the SSP program continues its momentum and remains relevant
to the corporation's
strategic goals. These critical success factors include:
Top management commitment and focus: Management must be clear and visible in its support of
initiatives. It must send a
strong and consistent message to the organization, ensuring that its claims are backed by actions
and sufficiently allocated
resources. Without the full support of top management the front-line supervisors and employees
will not take ownership of
the program, making the initiative unsustainable.
A common reason for failure of new corporate initiatives is lack of or inconsistent of support by top
management.
Insufficient allocation of resources leaves employees frustrated and incapable of effectively
implementing the program. It
also sends the message that the effort is not important to top management; rather it is simply
another management "buzzword".
Diversion of top management's attention from an initiative can also occur as a natural response to
troubles in the business
environment. There is strong evidence to support this in Honeywell's case, following its failed
merger attempts with GE
and the September 11 terrorist attacks. This led to financial difficulties, which consequently
redirected management
attention from the SSP program.
Alignment with corporate strategy: This issue goes back to an initiative's relevance to the company's
long-term and strategic
goals. Any initiative that is adopted must be assessed to ensure that it is a tool that helps
management fill the gap between
its current situation and its strategic objectives. For example, if the strategic goal of the company is
to primarily establish
itself as the highest quality manufacturer of a product, it should implement relative quality
programs. Initiatives that are not
aligned with this primary goal will only divert precious resources and attention away from the
objective and do not affect
the bottom-line. In developing a quality program that meets its specific business needs, Honeywell
seems to have addressed
this issue. Honeywell's challenge however, is to reassess its strategy and ensure that the program is
still relevant to its goals.
Planning: Sustaining the SSP program also depends on comprehensive plans that consider the short-
term and long-term
objectives as well as resource and personnel required to achieve the goals. If too little resources are
allocated, the
implementation will be ineffective and targets will not be met. If the objectives are set too
aggressively or too much
resource is allocated to the program, the company runs the risk of diverting attention from the
effort when problems in the
business or economic conditions arise. This may be one of the reasons why Honeywell International
lost its focus on the
program during the unfavorable conditions in the early 21st century.
Alternatives
The following alternatives are some possible future courses of action for Honeywell International
regarding its management
of quality programs.
1.Honeywell could abandon the SSP program and apply a simpler quality management program that
concentrates on
maintaining the current levels of quality and efficiency. This solution would reduce the complexity
of the quality
management system and free-up resources that could be used elsewhere. However, without the
SSP program, the company
will have a difficult time maintaining the current position of the company. The benefits of the SSP
program will also not
extend to and any new products and processes that will be developed in the future.
2.The second alternative is to reassess the business and its strategies and adopt only the portion of
the SSP program that is
most relevant. For example, Honeywell could decide to maintain only the Six Sigma quality
management system that is
more relevant to manufacturing processes, which is Honeywell's core business. This solution again
reduces the complexityand resource requirements of the management system while leveraging the
benefits of a proven program that it already has
in place. However, before the merger, Honeywell and AlliedSignals both showed tremendous
benefits from the HQV and
Six Sigma programs, respectively. Therefore, abandoning either program can result in potential
opportunity costs for
Honeywell International.
3.A third alternative is to adopt a new quality management system that while being less complex,
promises to offer the same
benefits as the SSP program. A major disadvantage of this action is that in doing so, Honeywell
International will be
abandoning its investments and the expertise in an already established program. Many companies
that take such actions end
up wasting time and resources on various programs without getting the opportunity to reap any
benefits. In such companies,
the employees often loose confidence in the leadership and fail to fully cooperate or take full
ownership of the program.
Therefore, this alternative would not be advisable to Honeywell International.
4.The last alternative involves continuation of the current programs with better awareness and
attention to the critical
success factors mentioned earlier.
Recommendation and Implementation
The course of action recommended to Honeywell International is to continue with the SSP program.
However, continued
survival and success of the program requires that Honeywell address and correct several key issues.
First, Honeywell's top management must remain as a predominant and visible figure in advocating
and promoting the SSP
program. This will ensure that the employees continue to see the importance of the program.
Management must also
ensure that it continues to recognize and reward the key successes of the program. Honeywell's
management should
continue the Quest for Success program, which was designed to achieve this goal.
Second, Honeywell should set short-term and long-term objectives for the program and
communicate them clearly with the
organization. This will help clarify the roles and responsibilities of the employees and eliminate
ambiguities. Management
should ensure that it does not set objectives that are too aggressive. In doing so, Honeywell will be
spreading its resources
thin. Consequently, when confronting difficulties it may divert its attention away from the SSP
program, which will have
long-lasting devastating consequences for the effectiveness of the program.
Third, the top management must reassess its business strategies and ensure that the SSP initiatives
concentrate on the main
objectives. Aligning the goals of the program to the business strategy is helps the bottom-line and
ensures that limited
resources are properly allocated and used where they are most effective.