Hoshin is a Japanese term of
Chinese origin meaning compass needle (composed of the word ?ho? =
direction and ?shin? = needle). In Japanese industry, the term
"Hoshin Kanri" is often
used. Kanri" means "management", "planning", and is therefore also
synonymous with Hoshin planning.
Hoshin Kanri
(Management by Policy, Policy Deployment) is
a company-wide planning
and control system that involves all managers and employees in
a systematic and
stringent cascading (derivation and coordination) process, within the
framework of a simultaneous vertical
and lateral (horizontal) coordination and agreement, in which the
overriding breakthrough goals of the company are developed and
defined from the vision, in order to
derive the most important strategies and goals for all employees
(incl. managers), so that the company can achieve its goals. In
Germany, this control system is still very little known, even by
name. In terms of content, only a few companies are
familiar with it, and usually only those that are primarily
associated with HP or with (former) managers of this company in
business relationships or as executives. (Source:
http://www.frankfurt-school.de/dms/Arbeitsberichte/Arbeits14.pdf)
Hoshin-Kanri contains
ahierarchy of goals.
The multi-year goal (ideal or vision) is the
North Star (True North), which is
used to guide annual goals, as well as specific improvement
activities. Because the North Star is aligned
with customer needs, the previously different and sometimes
contradictory management goals can be redefined, synchronized and
aligned. This resolves some of the previous conflicting goals.
(Source: http://www.wandelweb.de/wiki/index.php5?title=Hoshin_Kanri)