Philips

Being BEST

Business Excellence through Speed and Teamwork is the Philips approach to Total Quality Management. The Lighting Division developed a pioneering approach which proved successful and was adopted by many other parts of the Philips organisation.

At the outset, internal communication and employee engagement were considered key to the success of the approach. It would involve engaging functional managers and gaining the understanding of employees worldwide.

The Challenge

BEST had been a collection of aspirations. How could it be turned into a living approach that would successfully permeate all business activity?

The Vice President for Business Excellence & Customer Satisfaction for Lighting recognised the need for a compelling campaign to explain the principles and how they could become part of everyday business activity.

 

Any campaign would have to reach a workforce around the world from South America to rural India as well as employees in the US and EMEA.

Explaining BEST and gaining buy-in would be the resposnibility of quality managers for whom communication may not be their strongest skill. They would need to be comfortable with the approach and have effective tools to engage employees.

The Result

The campaign was piloted in those regions that would be enthusiastic early adopters. The momentum gathered as other quality managers realised the opportunity provided by the new campaign.

The Lighting approach to BEST including the definitive management guide was adopted by other Philips divisions who were keen to adapt it to their own areas.

The How

 

Solutions

Not what you'd expect

A consultancy approach which starts with what you're good at in order to fix what you aren't. It starts working immediately. Engaging, surprising and effective.

Not what you'd expect

“The highly professional work done by you and your creative team was a major contributor to our success. The creative realisation was excellent. An outstanding performance especially given the short notice and limited briefing you received.'”

Brendan Rogers - Philips Lighting

“Overall, the aspect of working with Saffron House that I value the most is that they challenge my thinking, and then deliver pragmatic solutions.”

Paul Rutherford - Clearswift Corporation