SC QUALITY GUILDHoshin X-matrix
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Link breakthrough objectives, annual objectives, improvement priorities, targets and owners, and see the plan drawn as an X-matrix with its gaps flagged.
ON THE EXAM · CMQ/OE II.C.2, II.C.4 · FREE · NOTHING YOU TYPE LEAVES YOUR BROWSER
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What hoshin planning is
Hoshin kanri (often translated as policy deployment or strategy deployment) is a planning and execution method developed in Japan from the 1960s, building on management by objectives and Deming's Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. Its aim is alignment: a small number of breakthrough objectives set by senior leadership are translated, level by level, into the annual objectives, projects and measures that each part of the organization works on. It separates two kinds of work: the few breakthrough changes managed through the hoshin plan, and the day-to-day business managed through daily management with its own routine measures.
Catchball
Hoshin is not a one-way cascade. In catchball, a proposed objective is passed to the next level down, which considers what it would take to achieve, proposes the means and targets, and passes it back. The exchange repeats until both levels agree the plan is achievable with the resources available. An exam answer that has leadership "assigning" targets without discussion is describing a top-down cascade, not hoshin.
Reading the X-matrix
The X-matrix puts the whole plan on one page. Read it in this order:
- South: breakthrough objectives, three to five years out.
- West: annual objectives, this year's step toward them.
- North: top-level improvement priorities, the projects that deliver the annual objectives.
- East: targets to improve, the metrics that show whether the priorities are working.
- Right: the people or teams who lead or support each priority.
The corner grids record the correlations between neighbors, usually as strong or weak. A row or column with no marks is the finding: an annual objective that serves no breakthrough objective, a priority with no metric, or an owner leading more than anyone could.
PDCA on the plan itself
The hoshin plan is run as a PDCA cycle. Plan is the X-matrix and catchball. Do is the work of the priorities. Check is a regular review, typically monthly, of each metric against target, often on a bowling chart (one row per metric, one column per month, green or red). Act is the countermeasure when a metric is off: adjust the priority or its resources. A year-end reflection (hansei) starts the next cycle.
On the CMQ/OE exam
Expect questions on the purpose of catchball, the difference between hoshin and daily management, and which part of the X-matrix holds a given item.