Use of Strategic Management to Improve Process of SPD

1OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
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Question 1. Use of strategic management to improve process of SPD
After receiving numerous complaints from the surgeons of Surgical Processing
Department or SPD of Cleveland Clinic, Jim Stanicki the manager of the SPD, decided to
investigate the issue properly and resolved the obstacles through using 4 major strategies of
process improvement namely Six sigma, Lean management, PDCA and FMEA. In the
following section the strategic utilisation of these techniques are discussed.
Use of Six-Sigma strategy
For six-sigma, the Surgical Processing Department uses the DMAIC framework
involving the Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control. In accordance with this
framework Jim Stanicki the manager of the SPD of Cleveland Clinic defines the situation
properly in accordance with the concerns of surgeons. Through this process he defined the
urgency of the situation in order to mitigate any potential risk. To measure the severity of the
different involved variables of the main reported issue, he developed a team to inspect the
situation and measure the effectiveness of the various operations as per the standardisation
system of Cleveland Clinic. To analyse the major outcomes and identify the underlying
disputes, Jim Stanicki segmented the equipments into two types, disputable and non-
disputable equipments, which helped him to identify the specific reason behind the
operational delays in SPD section. For improving the situation the decontamination,
sterilization and other procedures were initiated. At the same time, for controlling regular
monitoring and benchmarking used to be done by the management team.
Use of Lean strategy
Theoretically lean strategy mainly includes three major frameworks namely 5S,
Visual Controls and Visual Stream Mapping (Kim et al. 2006). As per the operational

3OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
management structure of Cleveland Clinic follows exactly the same three principles for their
problem solving and improving efficiency of operations. According to 5S framework Jim
Stanicki sorted out the identified problems in the operation of SPD department followed by
set the appropriate prioritisation for setting them in order. The management also standardised
the identified problems of the SPD with the other associated performance issues. For
sustaining Jim Stanicki incorporate a waste reduction system with the help of supply
reduction and waste management technologies. Segregation of disposable and non-disposable
equipments and changing the cycle time are some of the major examples of improving the
sustainability of the SPD departmental operations (Buell 2010). Jim Stanicki also develops a
team and a structured Visual Stream Mapping for the improvement of SPD department.
Use of PDCA strategy
The PDCA strategy emphasise a framework of Plan, Do, Check and Adjust strategy to
business for the control and continuous improvement of process and product (Womack
2005). As a operational manager of SPD department, Jim Stanicki planned the effective
actions required to reduce the operational delay and environmental disputes in surgical
department, Even after implementation, the monitoring process was used as checking
followed by the adjust or controlling strategy. The Kaizen event for the decontamination
process lasted one full week. The team described the current state as “erratic and inefficient”
and sought to “create standardized process flows” and “develop standard work practices for
the decontamination jobs.” Hence all phases of PDCA operational management strategy have
been used to resolve the problematic situation.
Use of FMEA
Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, or FMEA, is a methodology that us utilised to
anticipate failure during the design stage by identifying all of the possible failures in a design