Overcoming Misconceptions and Cultivating Standard Innovative Enterprises
1、 In terms of understanding
Misconception 1: Enterprise standardization is useless, investing manpower and material resources but cannot bring benefits to the enterprise
There are many companies and individuals who have this kind of understanding. The reasons are roughly as follows: firstly, the purpose is incorrect. For example, many companies implement the ISO 9000 quality management system not out of the need to enhance quality management and improve customer satisfaction within the company. Some simply follow the trend, while others are forced by customer pressure, with the sole purpose of obtaining a certificate. Secondly, view management issues as simple procedural files. Taking ISO 9000 as an example, many companies were enthusiastic about its implementation at the beginning, but after establishing it, they did not truly achieve results. The companies believed that implementing the system was the responsibility of the quality and production departments, and that it was about compiling a management manual, without realizing that this was not a simple surgical operation, but a process of "transformation". Thirdly, it is related to the stage of enterprise development and the overall social environment. When a company is still in its early stages and cash flow is still a problem, it is not realistic to ensure that all activities meet standard requirements. Enterprise standardization is applicable to enterprises that have entered a steady state of development and have a certain scale. The influence of social environment also objectively exists. For example, certification agencies are rampant, and in order to compete for customers, some certification agencies intentionally lower their certification requirements and engage in money certificate transactions, disrupting the overall environment. In fact, enterprise standardization is the activity of establishing common and reusable rules for actual or potential problems in order to achieve the best order within the scope of enterprise production, operation, and management.
Misconception 2: Middle and senior managers believe that management standards and work standards are stumbling blocks that prevent them from making arbitrary decisions
The key to successfully implementing standardization in enterprises lies in people's understanding, especially the attitude of the top leaders. In many enterprises, senior leaders do not attach great importance to enterprise standardization and have weak determination to promote standardization. This is partly due to insufficient understanding and comprehension of standardization, and partly due to the problem of perfunctory formality in standardization itself, which is detached from the actual situation of the enterprise and has poor operability. In addition, in the daily management of enterprises, many cadres, out of consideration for personal relationships and face saving, have relaxed their standards as they are implemented. In some cases, they openly trample on the system under the guise of "gray level management", without realizing that the true meaning of "gray level management" lies not in this. Although standardization has the characteristic of "coordination", its essence should lie in the word "equality". The so-called "one ruler to measure to the end". If the person using the ruler can speak freely, how can the measured length be reliable? After a long time, no one uses the ruler anymore. Therefore, in the case of standards, the authority of the standards should be maintained, and in areas not covered by the standards, appropriate "grayscale management" can be carried out.
Misconception 3: Employees believe that their leader's instructions can override standards
A major characteristic of Chinese society is the lack of contractual spirit. As the basic unit of social and economic activities, the characteristic of enterprise management activities is that "rule by man" is greater than "rule by law". Standardization emphasizes the rule of law. Many middle and senior level leaders fail to lead by example and often make instructions that violate standards, while employees lack awareness of maintaining the authority of standards. Once this situation occurs, the standardization system of the enterprise will collapse in an instant.
Misconception 4: Implementing standards is an additional burden beyond daily work content
We often say that there is a phenomenon of "two skins" in the operation of the system, that is, the system is one skin and the actual management is the other skin. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that we see the implementation of standards as a burden. Implementing the system with such ideas will naturally not yield good results. Let's take a different perspective. When it comes to doing something, first think about whether the system or standards have requirements for this aspect. If so, what are the requirements, and then do it according to the requirements. In this way, we can combine theory with practice, deepen our understanding of the system while doing things, and no longer see the system as a burden, but as a work assistant and partner. Over time, not only can we improve work efficiency, but we can also cultivate good professional ethics.
Misconception 5: Standardization is the responsibility of the standardization functional organization and has nothing to do with other personnel
Many employees of enterprises mistakenly believe that standardization is far away from them, but in fact, it is right beside you. For example, the processes and operating procedures of production positions are themselves a manifestation of standardization - they belong to the technical standard system; The various systems implemented in enterprises, big and small, are specific forms of enterprise standardization - they belong to the management standard system; Require on-site management to implement 5S, which is a specific form of standardization - they belong to the work standard system. In fact, every transaction, every position, and every person in the enterprise are constantly participating in the standardization activities of the enterprise. The main responsibilities of standardization functional organizations lie in three aspects: participating in industry standardization activities, organizing the establishment and improvement of enterprise standard systems, and supervising and evaluating the implementation of enterprise standardization.
2、 In terms of practice
Misconception 6: Lack of dedicated functional organizations engaged in standardization. Even if standardized functional organizations are established, they often lack corresponding power allocation and cannot take effective supervision and incentive measures
Most companies are aware of the important role of standardization in management, and they also specify standardization personnel or departments within the company, but usually on a part-time basis. This may be due to considerations of labor costs, but in terms of effectiveness, it is not very ideal. The reasons for this are: firstly, the lack of emphasis on standardization by the management of the enterprise, which naturally leads to insufficient efforts; Secondly, part-time departments or personnel are mostly busy with their own work and do not have enough time and energy to think about enterprise standardization. Some work is not done meticulously, rigorously, or even superficially, which can have a negative impact; Thirdly, the management and standardization functional departments of the enterprise themselves lack learning about standardization, cannot set an example, cannot use standardized thinking to improve and enhance management performance, lack the power of role models, and cannot drive the overall level of standardization in the enterprise.
If a company wants to truly implement standardization and benefit from this process, it must increase its emphasis on standardization. It is necessary to establish specialized functional institutions and clarify responsibilities and authorizations. In addition, strict control must be exercised in the selection of standardization practitioners. The most basic conditions are a rigorous and responsible work attitude, strong principles, strong organizational and coordination skills, learning ability, and perseverance, as well as a solid technical foundation, because the core of enterprise standardization is technical standardization.
Misconception 7: Lack of a rigorous and complete standardized management mechanism for planning, implementation, supervision, evaluation, rectification, and assessment, and the standardization management work itself is not standardized
Sharp tools make good work. To carry out standardization work well, its working methods must be appropriate, and the mechanism of standardization management must be improved and constrained. In many enterprises, there are many systems that cover various processes of production, operation, and service, but the operational effectiveness is not satisfactory. The main reason is the lack of a long-term supervision mechanism within the enterprise, which does not have strict requirements for standardized management processes and does not regulate them from a mechanism perspective, resulting in many things being abandoned halfway and left unresolved for a long time, disrupting the pace of management and appearing disorganized. Enterprise standardization management itself cannot do without supervision and constraints, otherwise it will lead to the entire management behavior being neglected and deviated due to lack of constraints. Who will supervise it? In fact, supervision should be carried out in accordance with the principles of openness, impartiality, equality, and openness. For example, an enterprise standardization management committee can be established, whose members are selected from various departments of the enterprise to regularly evaluate and provide suggestions on the standardization management activities of the enterprise.
Misconception 8: Blindly pursuing the big and comprehensive, ignoring the actual needs of the enterprise
Enterprises are organizations that profit from products or services, and standardization should be carried out around this fundamental point. Therefore, "pragmatism" and "efficiency" should be the main themes of standardization activities. This is also why the core of enterprise standardization is technical standardization led by product standards. Management standardization and work standardization both serve technical standardization, and together they serve the sustainable and stable development of enterprises. Enterprise standardization cannot be done in isolation. It is necessary to closely monitor the market and customers, flexibly adjust to meet their needs, and achieve its ultimate goal - sustainable development of the enterprise. Be careful not to standardize for the sake of standardization, blindly pursue big things and waste enterprise resources without achieving practical results.
Misconception 9: Without a standardized talent selection and appointment mechanism, it is impossible to build a strong talent team, lack internal publicity, and have a weak mass base
Like all jobs, enterprise standardization requires talent support. To carry out standardization work well, enterprises should pay attention to the training, selection, and appointment mechanisms of talents, and the basic principles of employment should be clear. In addition, it is necessary to do a good job of internal publicity, provide standardized awareness education to all employees, and create a good cultural atmosphere. In the process of standardization implementation, constantly discover and cultivate potential talents, and do a good job in team management.
3、 In terms of evaluation
Misconception 10: Without a reasonable evaluation method, the benefits brought by enterprise standardization cannot be intuitively displayed
The main purpose of promoting enterprise standardization is to improve quality, reduce costs, and avoid risks. However, the current financial accounting standards are designed for external use, such as tax inspections, rather than for internal management of the enterprise. It is not easy for enterprise managers to see the relationship between changes before and after standardization in financial statements. For example, as an important component of the standardization system, enterprise cost management is influenced by financial accounting standards. In traditional cost accounting, product costs are accounted for as the only tangible cost object, and there is no accurate and comprehensive statistics and accounting of the four quality costs (quality prevention cost, quality appraisal cost, internal loss cost, external loss cost). Many people only see the immediate investment without realizing the significant increase in benefits, so the implementation efforts gradually weaken.
Source: Learning Standardization/Huazhiyan Standard Information Technology
