This is a brief summary of the original article:
This article interviews both the President of Daimler Chrysler in The Netherlands, Huub van de Coolwijk, and the Head of PA in the Netherlands, Pieter Kuipers, on the work PA did for Daimler Chrysler. Daimler Chrysler in The Netherlands is a very succesful organisation. Year after year it has outperformed the requirements set by both its shareholders and the local market.
However, Mr van de Coolwijk was not satisfied and approached PA Consulting Group for their help in transforming Daimler Chrysler into a an even better organisation. Mr van de Coolwijk is quoted as saying: "An eight out of ten is not good enough. Why are we not getting ten out of ten?"
The article goes on to outline how PA and Daimler Chrysler achieved this goal. The challenge was to agree an objective, while at the same time involving all employees and ensuring all activity was focused on this objective.
They started by agreeing a mission for the organisation: "We, Mercedes Benz Nederland want to be number one."
This mission was then communicated and rolled out to the entire organisation: it was translated into goals and priorities for each division and department, which were then reflected in individual objectives and projects (which were all related to the employees’ personal objectives).
PA used the OPS (One Page Strategy Process) methodology in implementing the plan, which resulted in the creation of the ‘Masterplan’ for the organisation. The PA Team was involved in the overall process, the training of all employees and the facilitation of several projects.
The article also discusses the feelings and experiences of Mr van de Coolwijk himself and the succesful role PA played in implementing this ‘Masterplan’.
Mr Huub van de Coolwijk was extremely satisfied with the work the PA consultants (Pieter Kuipers, Jan Nico Blauw and Wim van Hennekeler) did, which was instrumental to Mercedes Benz being awarded the Dutch Quality Award in October 1999.
