Hoshin Kanri: Policy management in Japanese-owned UK subsidiaries

This paper presents the findings from an]ESRC two-year research project about Hoshin Kanri (policy management). Hoshin Kanri:is a form of corporate-wide management that combines strategic management and operational management by linking the achievement of top management goals with daily management at an operation level. The research explored practice in real time in three Japanese manufacturing UK-based subsidiaries. This paper consists of: an introductory review of the Hoshin Kanri and Japanization literature; a description of the research and a presentation of the three case studies and the main specific issues; and a discussion of the model and the parts played by lean working and TQM, catchball and nemawashi, strategic management, and the uniqueness of Hoshin Kanri, especially in relation to conventional planning, MBO (management by objectives), and the balanced scorecard. Hoshin Kanri is found to be an organizing framework for policy-based objectives. These are translated into QCDE (quality, cost, delivery, education) targets which are used in daily management to drive progress. Hoshin Kanri employs a participative approach to developing and deploying objectives, and is driven by a process of review. Hoshin Kanri must be managed as a process. Some of the main issues include changes in organization and personnel, problems with administering periodic review, and cross-functional working in departmental forms of organization.