DMAIC is one of the strategies used in management to improve business processes and manage them effectively. It was developed by Motorola company, and now it is a part of the Six Sigma management philosophy. It consists of several stages, including define, measure, analyze, improve, and control, that create its abbreviation. This system helps not only to construct the relations in the company but resolve issues. Therefore, DMAIC can be applied to the case of Garden Depot to find the solution to the problems by establishing the rules and norms in the workplace and increasing motivation.
The first thing that needs to be accomplished to improve the business processes of Garden Depot is an analysis of the situation. In this case, identifying unwanted consequences during the Improve phase is crucial. It helps to find the section that needs to be controlled or re-evaluated. In other words, it provides stability and predictability to the results. For example, new problems may appear as the solution focuses on one issue. Therefore, it is important to eliminate them as soon as they appear. To address them so quickly, it is crucial to know them. At this point, identifying undesirable effects facilitates speed and increases predictability of results, mitigating possible negative consequences.
The next stage for dealing with unwanted consequences is establishing Control phase elements. However, to accomplish that, the issues need to be properly further investigated, emphasizing the problems that might have a larger impact on the overall solution. This would help not only to find the proper comprehensive solution but to find the proper Control elements can be found to control the effects during the next DMAIC stages. As the management systems are complex and large, like in the case of Garden Depot (Koopmans, 2007), it would be impossible to establish Control elements for every risk. In other words, taking full control of the operations is hard. However, this deep and additional research into the issues with a larger impact can help determine the nature of their effects and the outcomes they provide. Then, it becomes easier to focus on them, monitor, control, and even implement some fast mitigative solutions.
Now it becomes clearer how all the DMAIC phases help to address and control unwanted consequences. First, no issue can be tackled without its assessment. Thus, it is important to define the problem, find the gaps, opportunities for growth, goals of that growth, and the customers’ needs (Ishak et al., 2019). Then, all these activities and numbers need to be measured during the Measure stage to identify the company’s position compared to the ideal. The reasons for the gap between this ideal and the reality of the company are analyzed during the Analyze phase. The opportunities and solutions are also drafted and applied during the Improve stage, while also the risks of variations or negative impacts are mitigated by controls. These controls provide stability, as was mentioned before. Thus, it is impossible to establish controls for the unwanted consequences without going through all the stages.
In the case of Garden Depot, the main problem is employee conflicts, so resolving them is the goal. In addition, their relationship represents the most significant risk for the company. In other words, the solution should focus on providing benefits aimed at them and their performance (Smętkowska & Mrugalska, 2018). It follows that I need to choose to create a positive culture based on an understanding of control. My knowledge will allow me to implement appropriate rules and regulations with strict controls and rewards and punishments to encourage positive compliance. The problem-solving strategy also has to focus on management as they need to be trained, guided, and motivated accordingly. This strategy can provide me with the best degree of risk reduction and unintended consequences.
References
Ishak, A., Siregar, K., & Naibaho, H. (2019). Quality Control with Six Sigma DMAIC and Grey Failure Mode Effect Anaysis (FMEA): A Review. In IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering (vol. 505, no. 1, p. 012057). IOP Publishing.
Koopmans, K. (2007). The Garden Depot (R. M. A. Grasby, Ed.). Richard Ivey School of Business.
Smętkowska, M., & Mrugalska, B. (2018). Using Six Sigma DMAIC to improve the quality of the production process: a case study. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 238(3), 590-596.