Hoshin Kanri in Higher Education: A Guide to Strategy Development and Deployment

Strategy, the link between mission and operational plans to improve an institution’s performance, is a critical element to the future success of higher education (HE). Hoshin Kanri (HK), the application of Lean principles and practices to strategy development, deployment, and management, is a systematic and effective approach to support institutional success, particularly when competition is high. Surprisingly, despite its known effectiveness and advantages over other approaches to strategy development, deployment, and management, the application of HK in HE is limited.

This book promotes greater awareness, appreciation, and application of HK at HE institutions.

The book is divided into four sections:

• The first section (Introduction to Hoshin Kanri) provides a general overview of HK and its potential contributions when used in HE settings
• The second section (Case Studies) provides several examples where aspects of HK were introduced at HE institutions. These case studies, which vary in scope, use of HK practices and tools, and identified benefits, offer insights both for helping senior leaders recognize the value of HK (and adopt the HK process) and for on-the-ground experiences using HK tools and techniques – including barriers and challenges – during implementation
• The third section (Expanding the Application of Hoshin Kanri in Higher Education) includes several chapters on how to begin an HE institution’s HK journey. The chapters include practical steps for gaining support for and implementing HK strategy development, deployment, and management tailored for HE institutions across both typical and novel applications of HK
• The fourth and final section (Implications for Practice and Research) presents a high-level summary of the "current state" of HK in HE and offers thoughts and recommendations on the "future state" directions for practice, research opportunities, and challenges for HK in HE

The book underscores the key benefits HK can offer HE institutions. With its Lean roots of continuous improvement and respect for people, HK offers HE institutions an effective and sustainable approach to strategy development, deployment, and management. HK can be used institution-wide or at any level or area within an institution. While the local application of HK won’t achieve the full benefits possible through institution-wide adoption, it offers a marked improvement over other strategy approaches that fail to respect people and leverage their knowledge, expertise, and insights to apply continuous improvement to move their office, department, or function forward.

Bill Balzer is author of Lean Higher Education: Increasing the Value and Performance of University Processes 2nd Edition (2020, Routledge), an update to his 2010 book and acknowledged to be the definitive book on Lean Higher Education (LHE). Balzer’s research interests include understanding and improving the application of Lean principles and practices in higher education and expanding the contributions of Industrial-Organizational psychology to the understanding, application, and evaluation of Lean and higher education. Balzer continues to publish and present work on LHE and has been an invited keynote speaker on the topic of LHE. He has participated in numerous university initiatives to improve university processes and effectiveness, and advises colleges and universities contemplating the adoption and implementation of Lean. He is a certified black belt in Lean Six Sigma. He is a member of the Global Lean HE – Americas steering committee.

Balzer has over 35 years of experience in higher education. He is emeritus professor of IO psychology at Bowling Green State University. He most recently served as Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Strategic Initiatives and helped integrate the application of Hoshin Kanri in university-wide strategic planning. Balzer has served in several leadership roles at the university including program director of the nationally ranked doctoral program in IO psychology, chair of the department of psychology, dean of BGSU’s regional Firelands College, AVP and dean of continuing and extended education, and interim VP for university advancement. He also served as interim President of Owens Community College for the 2020-2021 academic year.

For more information, visit http://leanhighereducation.com or contact Bill at wbalzer@bgsu.edu.

Tammi Sinha is a lean and sustainability practitioner, prac-academic and change agent to build institutional capability in change, innovation, sustainability, and improvement in higher education and more widely across commercial and public sectors. Her work is guided by a "communities of inquiry, practice, and place" approach to institutional effectiveness. Sinha joined the University of Southampton as an iSolutions Continuous Improvement Lead in 2022, leading a program to weave continuous improvement and regenerative leadership principles into the fabric of higher education. She previously held appointments as Senior Lecturer and Sustainability Champion, Faculty of Business, Law and Digital Technologies at Solent University, Director for Climate Action at University of Winchester, and Principal Lecturer in operations strategy, lean operations, and creativity and business improvement at the University of Portsmouth. Her professional role and research Interests include climate action through systems thinking, circular design, operations, and supply chains.

Tammi earned her PhD in operations strategy while working as an engineer at British Aerospace. Her professional specialization includes improvement and transformation in aerospace, manufacturing, and the public sector. Her most recent work includes developing approaches to sustainable business eco systems and circular/regenerative approaches to operations in higher education and business. Dr Sinha has been involved in the UK Government’s enterprise productivity and sustainability drive via the "Help to Grow" initiative, and previously worked with the small business leadership program to help small- and mid-sized enterprises enhance their resilience, productivity, and sustainability.