MS 96 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment -Explain “P-D-C-A cycle”. Discuss how it is helpful in problem solving.

Explain “P-D-C-A cycle”. Discuss how it is helpful in problem solving.

Ans The PDCA cycle is commonly used to improve the quality of projects undertaken. It is a structured approach to any and all change efforts, whether personal or business in nature. Credited to Walter Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming, the PDCA cycle is also referred to as the Deming Cycle.

What PDCA Stands For

P - Plan The first thing you want to do when approaching anything-a new project at work, a change of habit-is to make a plan using all reasonable resources and available knowledge. Make sure you clearly define your goal, your expectations and your commitment level. Run the plan by others; compare the plan to the efforts of others who have gone before you. Decide upon an actual plan.
Put your plan into action. Keep track of your efforts and the results. Document the experience.
Compare results to expectations. Look for differences between expectation in resource use, effort required and success achieved or failure.
If you reached your goals in a satisfactory manner, consider yourself done. If you did not reach your goals, repeat the cycle starting with P-making a plan.
Let's say you want to lose weight. You can use the PDCA cycle to help you reach your goal.
Decide upon a goal weight. If this will include measurements of body fat or circumferences, take measurements and establish goals for these factors also. Decide how you will tackle this issue. Will you diet? Exercise? Combine both? What diet will you follow? Low carb? Low fat? Whole grain? Vegan? What kind of exercise will you pursue? Aerobic? Weight lifting?
Follow your plan for a pre-established amount of time. Follow your plan as closely as possible.
At the end of the pre-determined time, check your results. How close are you to your goal weight? How close are you to your goal measurements? What parts of your plan worked? Which parts were the hardest or least pleasant?
If you've met your goal, celebrate! If you haven't, revise the plan, improving upon it as you embark on attempt number two. Repeat the cycle until you reach your goal.
Drill Down, Cause and Effect Diagrams, and the 5 Whys to help you really get to the root of it. Once you've done this, it may be appropriate for you to
map the process that is at the root of the problem

D - Do

C - Check

A - Act

An Example Of PDCA In Action

P

D

C

A

How to Use the Tool

The PDCA Cycle encourages you to be methodical in your approach to problem solving and implementing solutions. Follow the steps below every time to ensure you get the highest quality solution possible.

Step 1: Plan

First, identify exactly what your problem is. You may find it useful to use tools like 

Next, draw together any other information you need that will help you start sketching out solutions.

Step 2: Do

This phase involves several activities:

·         Generate possible solutions.

·         Select the best of these solutions, perhaps using techniques like Impact Analysis to scrutinize them.

·         Implement a pilot project on a small scale basis, with a small group, or in a limited geographical area, or using some other trial design appropriate to the nature of your problem, product or initiative.

Our section on Practical Creativity includes several tools that can help you generate ideas and solutions. Our section on Decision Making includes a number of tools that will help you to choose in a scientific and dispassionate way between the various potential solutions you generate.

Step 3: Check

In this phase, you measure how effective the pilot solution has been, and gather together any learnings from it that could make it even better.

Depending on the success of the pilot, the number of areas for improvement you have identified, and the scope of the whole initiative, you may decide to repeat the "Do" and "Check" phases, incorporating your additional improvements.

Once you are finally satisfied that the costs would outweigh the benefits of repeating the Do-Check sub-cycle any more, you can move on to the final phase.

Step 4: Act

Now you implement your solution fully. However, your use of the PDCA Cycle doesn't necessarily stop there. If you are using the PDCA or Deming Wheel as part of a continuous improvement initiative, you need to loop back to the Plan Phase (Step 1), and seek out further areas for improvement.

The Deming Cycle provides a useful, controlled problem solving process. It is particularly effective for:

·         Helping implement Kaizen or Continuous Improvement approaches, when the cycle is repeated again and again as new areas for improvement are sought and solved.

·         Identifying new solutions and improvement to processes that are repeated frequently. In this situation, you will benefit from extra improvements built in to the process many times over once it is implemented.

·         Exploring a range of possible new solutions to problems, and trying them out and improving them in a controlled way before selecting one for full implementation.

·         Avoiding the large scale wastage of resources that comes with full scale implementation of a mediocre or poor solution.

- The Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle provides a simple but effective approach for problem solving and managing change, ensuring that ideas are appropriately tested before committing to full implementation. It can be used in all sorts of environments from new product development through to marketing, or even politics.

It begins with a Planning phase in which the problem is clearly identified and understood. Potential solutions are then generated and tested on a small scale in the "Do" phase, and the outcome of this testing is evaluated during the Check phase. "Do" and "Check" phases can be iterated as many times as is necessary before the full, polished solution is implemented in the "Act" phase.