SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING QUALITY OF EMPLOYEES’ EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPATION PARTICIPATION IN SUGGESTION SCHEME AT BOSCH VIETNAM

    UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business - Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING QUALITY OF EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPATION IN SUGGESTION SCHEME AT BOSCH VIETNAM BACHELOR OF BUSINESS Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2017   II  UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business - Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING QUALITY OF EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPATION IN SUGGESTION SCHEME AT BOSCH VIETNAM BACHELOR OF BUSINESS SUPERVISOR: Ho Trong Nghia Ho Chi Minh City – Year 2017   III  Table of Contents  INTRODUCTION   1.  Project overview  2.  Project objectives 3.  Methodology  3.1.  Secondary research  3.2.  Primary research: The interview with SS managers  3.3.  Primary research: The interview with Bosch Vietnam employees  4.  Estimated contributions  5.  Structure of the final report  CHAPTER – PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION  1.1.  Company overview  1.1.1.  Bosch Vietnam’s introduction  1.1.2.  Bosch Vietnam’s culture  1.2.  Suggestion Scheme overview  1.2.1.  Suggestion Scheme board of management (BOM)  .9 1.2.2.  Suggestion categories  1.2.3.  Suggestion Scheme procedure  11 1.2.4.  Suggestion award  13 1.2.5.   No-go suggestions suggestions  1.3.  10 14 Problem overview  14 1.3.1.  Problem statement  15 1.3.2.  Consequences  15 1.4.  Problem validation 16 1.4.1.  Secondary data – results  16 1.4.2.  Primary data – results: Interview with SS managers  19 1.4.3.  Primary data – results: Interview with Bosch Vietnam’s employees  22 1.5.  Summary of the chapter   25 25   CHAPTER – LITERATURE REVIEW   26 2.1 Theories  26 2.1.1.  26 Definition of used terms    IV  2.1.2.  Importance of knowledge sharing  26 2.1.3.  The roles of knowledge sharing  27 2.1.4.  Factors that influence knowledge sharing  27 2.1.5.  Different categories of motivators  30 2.1.6.  Iceberg motivation  31 2.2 Bosch Vietnam employees motivation analysis  31 2.2.1 Motivation for joining SS  31 2.2.2 Motivation for knowing other suggestion suggestionss  33 2.3 Summary of the chapter  34 CHAPTER – SOLUTIONS AND ACTION PLAN  35 3.1.  Solution overview  35 3.2.  Detail of solutions 35 3.2.1  Bosch Connect webpage  3.2.2  38 Efficiency workshop  3.2.3  Formal award days  3.3 Action plan  35 40 44 3.4 Summary of the chapter  47 LIMITATION AND CONCLUSION  48 REFERENCES   49 APPENDIX   1.  51 Appendix 1  51 1.1.  SS tracking file  51 1.2.  Suggestion Scheme’s card  51 1.3.  52 SS’s evaluation criteria  2.  Appendix 2  53 2.1.  Guidelines for in-depth interview in manager level  53 2.2.  Responses of the interviews with managers  54 3.  Appendix 3  60 3.1.  Guidelines for in-depth interviews with employees  60 3.2.  Responses of the interviews employees  62   V  LIST OF TABLES  Table 1: Overviews of Bosch activities in Vietnam  Table 2: Suggestion categories Table 3: People supporting the process Table 4: First interview series: Information of interviewees  11 12 19   21 Table 5: Pending suggestion of 2015 Table 6: Second interview series: Information of interviewees 22 Table 7: Bosch Connect: SS introduction  37 Table 8: The layout of topics and suggestions in sharing section   43 Table 9: Overall timeline 44 Table 10: Timeline of SS page on Bosch Connect 45 Table 11: Timeline of SS Workshop  45 Table 12: Timeline of SS award   46 LIST OF FIGURES  Figure 1: SS SS BOM structure structure  Figure 2: The The suggestion suggestion procedure procedure 10 12  Figure 3: Overview Overview SS 2014 16  Figure 4: Overview Overview of SS – Manufacturing  Manufacturing  17  Figure 5: Overview Overview SS – Office  18  Figure 6: Overview Overview of of SS   18  Figure 7: Overview Overview of of SS – Office Office  19  Figure 8: SS categories categories based on employees' employees' perception perception  23  Figure 9: Factors Factors that affect affect knowledge knowledge sharing among employees in companie companiess 29 29  Figure 10: A model of knowledge sharing among employees employees in companies companies   Figure 11: The The iceberg iceberg model   31  Figure 12: An An ice-berg motivation of Bosch V Vietnam’s ietnam’s employees employees  33   VI  LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation SS Dept REP HoD BOM Stands for Suggestion Scheme Department representative Head of department Board of management HcP Ho Chi Minh Plant CSR   Corporate Social Responsibility Suggestion Scheme categories CS Cost Saving PI Productivity improvement HSE Safety, health, environment improvement WI Work efficiency improvement No  Number of suggestions Name of department TEF Technical function MFG Manufacturing LOG Logistics FCM Facilities Management QMM Quality Management & Method HRL Human Resources PJM Project Management PRS Protection & Security HSE Health, Safety & Environment CI Corporate Information PM Plant management     INTRODUCTION 1.  Project overview This material offers a brief introduction of the Bosch Vietnam in terms of company overview, its culture and core values; and introduction of its tool used to manage knowledge and solution sharing It aims to identify challenging problems by analyzing secondary data from annual reports and exploring the core team and department representatives’ view and perception about their employees in contributing their ideas In the meantime, interviews with employees, who are the end-user of this idea sharing system – Suggestion Scheme (SS) are also conducted to strengthen the importance of current problems, figure out the motivation and attitude of employees towards this system In other words, two methodologies (secondary source, qualitative researches as in-depth interviews with system’s managers and employees) are utilized in this project After reviewing literature, theories and defining problems, a set of solutions are proposed in the hope that they can address current concerns and boundaries, together with  promoting high-quality contribution of ideas and solutions from Bosch Vietnam’s associates The limitation and conclusion of this project will be presented Reference and Appendix are also included.  2.  Project objectives This project is to strengthen the fact that knowledge sharing and innovative suggestion play a crucial role in the development of a company In other words, this  process determines the competitive advantage over its competitors and is valuable capital source of the firm Its concentration is to discover the challenges grappled by the company’s management in terms of effectively utilizing SS and calling their employees to participate and contribute to its next innovative step Root causes will be searched and revealed by conducting qualitative researches and collecting secondary data provided by company in order to figure out the ongoing situations and challenges Afterwards, plans as solutions will be presented and analyzed   2  in an effort of utilizing and triggering the SS effectively and efficiently to meet board of management (BOM)’s requirements.  3.  Methodology   3.1 Secondary research To make the project more precise, secondary data as monthly and annual report on  performance of all departments in Bosch Vietnam is took into consideration By reviewing the report on Overview of SS in 2014, 2015 and 2016, this project processes in the hope of finding problem via past data and speculate current difficulties which the company are grappling with In addition to that, secondary source is approachable, convenient and easy to collect because these reports were stored in the Bosch document systems and always ready to review The rich information from these is valuable and upto-date as they record data in the latest years from 2014 to 2016, which assist to reflect the current situation of the implementation of SS.  3.2.  Primary research: The interview with SS managers m anagers 3.2.1.  Purposes and motivation Besides secondary source, primary research is put into account to figure out the ongoing situations of SS systems in the view of those who manage this system in order to compare with those from employees who will be interviewed in the second interview series These managers’ perspectives are important because they are not only the ones who control and have a right to access the most confidential information (data of suggestion, annual reports) which ordinary employees will not know but also have an overall view about the system’s operation and its limitations over the period of years The guideline consists of four main areas with twelve questions In each interview, an expected duration is approximately 30 minutes with a variation of ten minutes according to the length of answers and the level of openness for sharing The sample size of this series is five people who were randomly chosen from 15 members of SS managers (core teams and dept REPs).    3  3.2.2.  Areas to interview The first interviews with managers include questions to discover the current situation of SS regarding to quality and quantity of submitted suggestions, encouraging  programs and events and information flow That information is asked because they are indicators of whether the system works effectively and efficiently and if it has any  promoting events to communicate with employees And based on annual reports and what they witness in reality, their perceived comments and evaluations towards SS operation are also recorded and analyzed with primary data In the next area, the ways which manager perceived that their employees think about the system’s purpose is also asked during this first series so that the differences  between two different levels’ views become manifest and obvious to compare for analyzing purposes The perception of SS’s influence on them as individual worker and their company is another point to be considered from manager’s mindset in order to understand how they – as in the role of SS managers, see the level of this system ‘s signification in company vision and culture Furthermore, there are questions which are targeted to reveal managers’ comment and knowledge about up-to-date status of implementation 3.3.  Primary research: The interview with Bosch Vietnam employees 3.3.1.  Purposes and motivation After considering all components which exert considerable influence on the  process of contributing and sharing knowledge, ideas and solutions, the underlying element is motivation and attitude of employees since the opportunity to share is manifest and nature of knowledge in this field does not exert significantly negative impact on the SS Therefore, this research now focuses on discovering Employees' motivation and attitude towards participating in contributing ideas as a form of the SS by in depth interviews Afterwards, by figuring the root causes of the problems, an elaborate plan for solving problems and improving the situation will be presented, discussed and analyzed   4  If the first series of interviews concentrate on discovering the SS from the managers’ perspective, the second series take advantage of the first and continue to find out the root cause from employees’ side Six areas will be interviewed with roundly 20 questions and some other additional questions to fully understand about employees’ motivation and perception about SS Each interview will last from 30 minutes to 40 minutes and occur in formal context – meeting rooms The chosen target interviewees are employees working in office areas and technical-office areas because according to secondary source, people in these areas have the lowest and average number of submitted suggestions They are newcomers and those who have been in this company for more than years Based on current situation and possibility of the interviews, the sample size is six persons.  3.3.2.  Areas to interview The second series focuses on evaluating employees’ general understanding about SS in terms of SS fields which currently highlighted by Bosch Vietnam, how to submit a suggestion and a SS evaluation process In this section, it aims to obtain information of what is in employees’ top of mind when mentioning about SS, which will be utilized to compare with current expectation and understanding of SS managers on their employees The size of this gap will be used to form solutions if it is significant enough to be a tremendous concern Other information worth taking into account such as personal participation and KPIs in this system and general comments about SS is simultaneously asked Knowing what is expected from them and their contribution makes it easier to further develop guideline to uncover the reasons of their performance in joining in this SS In addition, this second series’ guideline digs into root causes relating to their motivation and obstacles when participating in the SS from the first step to getting approved This is the main part of this series and a base for plan next steps for SS’s improvement In other words, this second series of interviews is a foundation regarding to   56  A5 The purpose is unchanged that the implementation is still not focused sufficiently The program is the mandatory task which is asked by the mother corporation And it concentrates mostly on cost saving Through this program, employees help company to save cost, then have more competitive advantage over competitors The implementation Q5: Comments about SS situation Q8: Level of being informed Q6: Encouraging program Q9: Public event to encourage contribution Q7: Obstacles when joining in SS Person A1 A2 Answers Actually each employee has to submit at least suggestions every year If they not complete this requirement, they will be under-evaluated in their performance at work, which will affect their opportunity for salary rising Most of suggestions are low quality In fact, there are many similar ideas to be submitted and they are mostly simple and have low benefit The ratio of approved suggestions over the submitted ones is just average And frankly, it did not meet my and other managers’ expectation 6.  They are awarded with financial incentive – money, and sometimes, will not lose  point for their annual performance evaluation 7.  Since employees have to focus only quality of their main duties, they ignore and underestimate other things as SS In addition, HoDs have not paid necessary attention to evaluate the submitted suggestion to decide whether these ideas and solutions should accepted 8. I am not sure because be cause as I said before, be fore, that information is transmitted by supervisors’ of employees 9. There are Focus week where topics as 5S, BPS, HSE occur, the SS also plays a small  part: the accepted suggestions during this focus week will be reward both financial incentive and a special gift This is how we raise awareness about SS among employees 5. As I read the reports, I see that there was a large amount of suggestions submitted in manufacturing areas, so I think their willingness is high On contrary, in office areas, the number is modest and needless to say, I think that they were not active at all I am not sure about the suggestions’ quality, but since there are lots of no-go suggestions and as being heard from my colleagues, I think the quality is still average The figures were not satisfying though, and the ratio is still below 60% of meeting targets 6. I think small financial incentives work well in encouraging them to join the SS To me, 100,000VND is not a small amount of money And when they go into Council, the authors willwhen be rewarded   I think they higher know prizes clearly know and understand the SS information and   57  importance, they tend not to put effort into this programs, also causing inconvenience of not knowing a thing I am not sure Frankly speaking, before taking the role of SS leader, I not know much and have not been informed frequently So I think other maybe the same as me, too There are BPS week which every suggestion submitted and accepted will receive a A3 A4 special prize.10. I not in charge of collecting suggestions, but based on the report and my understanding, there are large amount of backlog which are in process of recoding into the tracking files, waiting for evaluation’s results and have not implemented 5. I have to say that the departments which I am in charge had quite low performance on SS People have low incentive to participate in this program compared to other departments Most of the ideas and solutions are simple and basic, sometimes reflex the low effort  put into this The ratio was also disappointing 6.  Accepted suggestions are rewarded with 100,000VND or more if they go into Council In addition, I as a Dept.’s REP support sending suggestions to specialist and tracking the suggestion’s status 7.  Well, I think because Bosch is already developed, there are not many topics and  problems to find and propose solutions Moreover, they seem to be busy even with their own tasks, so they not have spare time to think about SS 8.  Well, I not send much email to update SS’s current situation to employees  because I not have much information to notify them But after every half year, a report will be send to everyone in departments 9. Apart from BPS week, I not know any other events which also encourage SS’s contribution 5. They seem to submit a lot of suggestions, quite active but the number of accepted suggestions is quite low I see that they can recognize problem but cannot provide clear, optimal solutions This makes it difficult for the evaluators to judge the suggestions The ratio of accepted suggestion over the submitted ones is fairly average with ranges from 50 to 60 percent Overall, I am not satisfied with this performance 6.  Since REP is the one who scan the suggestion before sending to evaluators, I can read and provide feedback of clarification and comments so that they can modify and have higher change to be approved Internal supervisors also help consulting ideas, specialized knowledge, and possibility of the solutions sometimes 7. In fact, employees in my department sometimes share that they are afraid of being rejected by close-mined evaluators Since most of suggestions related to process and method, the process owners are also the specialists who evaluate the suggestions They  probably are not ready and willing enough to consider effectiveness of the ideas and easily reject these Or the evaluators have not realized the problem; therefore, they not see the urgency or importance of the problems and solutions Moreover, in office area like us, we not have much problems like in the manufacturing area 8. As REP, we inform update about SS when there is a significant change in applying new tools,However, award list of not members prizeaskeach month, quarterly annually I am the one who who receive newcomers for information about and SS,   58  they tend to ask surrounding colleagues And I am not sure they are trained or informed in the beginning sections before actually coming to work 9. There are prizes for those who contribute valuable ideas monthly, quarterly and halfyearly A5 5.  They are rewarded 100,000VND for each accepted suggestion But number of suggestion diminishes I think its reason is there is not much topic and accepted suggestions have not implemented 6.  Recently, I was given a task to push suggestion submission to meet the target of 100% And as I was given more time capacity to concentrate on doing SS work, the quality of suggestion is improving 7.  The newcomers are trained about SS by me The current employees are updated about information about SS every month (percentage of target completion, individual  performance) 8. Over 2years, I am satisfied But last year I and my manager were not satisfied 9. Their work is enormous and makes them forget about SS and writing suggestions The second reason probably is their mindset of seeing it is not meaningful to put their heart in writing suggestions The current situation Q10: Difficulty in collecting suggestions Q11: Comment on SS procedure Q12: Difficulty faced by newcomer Person Answers A1 10. Actually I see that the admin task of Dept REP (including typing and scanning the written suggestions into the excel file and Suggestion folder to store for tracking and evidence purpose) is enormous And a large amount of these files accumulate a huge amount of storage on computer and a change of losing suggestion cards and information is manifest 11.  In the procedure, the suggestions need approving by HoDs, but HoDs are not always can find spare time to evaluate every suggestions And a thing that both simple and complex suggestions go into the same procedure, so however simple the suggestion is, the author needs to wait for long time before receive the feedbacks 12. I not think they encounter any problems, since employees can bring suggestion card home to complete if they don’t have time to complete at work   59  A2 10 I not have experienced in collecting suggestions since I am a leader, but I think the workload differs from department to department 11.  At first, I don’t think it is important and easy to understand the procedure However, when taking this role, I have a closer and clearer view about SS and know that there are limitations of this system which is hard to solve: lots of steps of evaluation for such a simple suggestion, REP’s motivation to take SS – related duties seriously 12 I have not communicated with them, so I not know A3 10.  I not have much workload on collecting suggestions since there is not much suggestions submitted to me 11. I think the current process is reasonable, although it takes time I reckon that it is normal to wait for suggestions because evaluators have a lot of things and other suggestions to judge 12. Well I don’t think so because newcomers are trained briefly about SS on first days at Bosch Vietnam A4 10. There is no problem because everyone has computer account to send suggestions 11. I think the evaluation process has too much steps For the simple ideas, they should go into simpler process to evaluate to save time and energy for all stakeholders 12. I don’t think they have problems at all, since they can ask other people around A5 10. Prizes (100,000VND + council prize) 11.  When sending to process owners, it takes time to receive feedback As they are already busy and set the task of evaluating suggestions as low priority and not willing to I feel very angry when keep pushing them giving feedback, but it is my main responsibility so that I have to 12. Not much because I train them for all information about SS   60  3.  Appendix 3.1.  Guidelines for in-depth interviews with employees I Ice-breaking questions (flexible ask about working day, holiday, weekend’s plan) II Main questions:  2.a) Evaluate Employees’ understanding about SS:  Can you share your knowledge/ understanding about SS areas which currently focused  by the company, how to submit a suggestion and a SS evaluation process? Through whom or what programs/ events did you know about the above information (about SS areas, how to submit a suggestion and evaluation process)? (direct supervisor, indirect supervisor, dept.’s REP, coworkers, trainers, so on)  on)   Are you well-informed about changes of SS (vision, submission process, online tool)? Are you frequently informed about future steps of SS like online tool will be implemented this year, the replacement of Dept.’ REP? From your perspectives, how you see the meaning of SS towards: -Yourself (meaningful, practical, effective) - The company? 2.b) Personal participation: Have you ever joined in contributing ideas to SS? If yes, how frequent? What are your KPIs for number of submitted and approved suggestions annually? What is your level of completion to the given KPIs? 2.c) General comment about SS:  What is your comment about SS system? (basic and understandable, complicated, have not known how it operates) How satisfied or dissatisfied were you when receiving Council’s feedbacks of your ideas and solutions? (explain) In your opinion, what characteristic does a high / good quality suggestion have? 2.d) Motivation:  10 What motivate you to contribute your ideas and solutions to the company via SS?   61  (to earn financial incentives; to be highly appreciated by supervisors; to see these as contributions to make workplace more convenient, productive and innovative; not to be underestimated work performance since it is mandatory to join SS)  SS)  11 Have your supervisors (direct, indirect, dept.’s REP) supported and provided opportunities for you to contribute your ideas and suggestions? (please name if yes) 12 Do you feel comfortable when sending your suggestions to the council? Why? 13 Once these suggestions were submitted, what is your expectation? (your ideas are listened, are awarded or received quick response from the council, others) 2.e) Obstacles:  14 Are there any difficulties which interfere you from participating in suggesting ideas and solutions? (if yes, please name and explain) How complex are they? And how influenced are they on your motivation to contribute suggestions? 15 Are those obstacles the same with ones of other coworkers? Are there any different difficulties? And how influenced are they on their motivation to contribute suggestions? 16 Are these difficulties mentioned known by your supervisors? If yes, did they take any steps to tackle these barriers? (if yes, please name) 17 Some people said that: “It takes too much time waiting for a final result This diminishes their motivation to contribute ideas and solutions to SS.” How you think about this statement? 2.f) Others:  18 Would you like you give some ideas or hints which assist the SS operation and meet your expectation? (please name and explain) 19 What should the SS be changed to motivate your contribution and participation? 20 If it has a webpage where you can obtain understanding about new ideas and solutions of other coworkers, are you willing to visit and read?   62  3.2.  Responses of the interviews employees Evaluate Employees’ understanding about SS Q1: Knowledge about SS (categories, SS submission, evaluation process Q2: Source of above information Q3: Level of being informed Q4: SS’s meaning to yourself and company Person Answers I think SS aims toward the areas of safety, standardization, hygiene (HSE) and  procedure to complete manual steps The process of suggestion is to fill in a paper-formed or electric-formed suggestion card, the send to a department which the suggestion belongs to My suggestion will be evaluated by leader of project and HoD, after that, gone to B1 B2 implementation I obtained that information through “CTG training” at beginning of the time I was at Bosch with very basic sharing about Suggestion award and its existence Then, most of other information was gained via asking coworker because my supervisors were not there to support me Actually I am not usually informed about any changes SS had witnessed or going to  be I think it helps eliminate and diminish the problems which may be found when doing my work, makes me and other people feel more convenient Since we probably deal with the same problems, one who submits suggestions feasibly help others to their work SS includes Safety, Work efficiency, Environment and Standard for manufacturing In the office are, the suggestion sending to Reps via email and via a SS box in factory area where the REPs will collect and continue sending to specialists and finally to the HoDs for approval Although I have worked at Bosch for years, I have not had a change go to any informative section of SS because they don’t have one The channel which I gains understanding is via colleagues and by marking others’ suggestion (as an expert) Actually I have not informed much about the changes of SS, even the beginning of the period when this system going into implementation And other information about other’s ideas, reports are not presented I think the SS is good, it provides a change to contribute ideas to improve quality of work and satisfaction   63  The topic includes Quality, productivity, HSE and safety When I have ideas which I think it is useful, I come to discuss with my supervisors and consult their comments Then I fill in the form and send email or put into the SS box to admin of this system These REPs also translate language for evaluation if necessary They will hide my name and pass to evaluators to judge The REP will keep track of the suggestion’s B3 status and after weeks, they will send me the result Thanks to coordinators, I can learn information as list of ward And I also read about SS on Bosch portfolio And the information as hiding author name is according to my logic referral Each month I receive feedback of my suggestions both not the overall information about my dept participating in SS Small changes affect the whole company This is an exchange and opportunity to learn doing more effective work B4 Areas are Quality improvement, Cost saving, Safety and Productivity improvement Regarding to process, there is a SS form card to fill in In terms of valuation process, the suggestion will be submitted to REP so that he can send to process owners to evaluate Afterwards, one person on the manager level will review and determine final decision I see them on the document, namely SS Work Instruction when there is an update on the document’s version This was sent to everyone, but it is a very long and formal document, so I think other coworkers may ignore or pay low attention to it I also think that newcomers may or may not be trained or informed about SS If there is new update on documents version, I will be informed as I work in document function In general, I am not usually received the updates of SS, their new events and so on SS is meaningful because it helps we work more efficiently, and saving cost Company will produce more high-quality products B5 Actually, my main focus for suggestions is for improving measurement tools of the  plant There are areas, including cost saving, work efficiency, HSE, quality improvement and productivity improvement Regarding to submission process, after filling into the form, we should send to dept REP and she/ he will send it to the specialist and manager or HoD I get that knowledge mostly by myself At first, I saw SS poster with image of active SS authors at working area, canteen and path way, which motivate me to ask other workers to get their sharing No, I have not frequently received the mail updating about SS from REP In the meantime, I often access to the report link where I can read about other suggestions and learn a lot from that   64  B6 I am not sure But I think we can contribute suggestions in any topics But we support other to implement suggestions scheme I am not sure about the evaluation  process but I think OFE team is responsible for this evaluation On the first days at Bosch, SS is notified via training in “Bosch overview” and “We are Bosch” topic I reckon that I have not received any notification and update about SS, or maybe  because of o f having my tasks to and deadlines to meet, I tend to not pay attention to SS However, in ending months of the year, we are reminded to submit suggestion so that we can meet minimum requirement of annual an nual contribution It is very good and it encourages innovation from small thing to big one It helps reduce unnecessary steps in procedure Personal participation Q5: Participation and frequency Q6: KPI and level of completion Person B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 Answers 5.  Yes, of course I already submitted suggestions recently But it is not frequent  because only there comes a problem and I can think of a solution, I submit my suggestions 6. The KPI for the whole plant is each individual has to have accepted suggestions I am trying to achieve this goal Yes, of course But not frequently and I tend to send suggestions in the ending months because months  because those time comes nearly to deadline of self-evaluation and evaluation of supervisors Although my set KPI for accepted suggestions is per year, but my department set higher target with approved suggestions per year to push everyone contribute beyond the limit I always commit and successfully meet that target Where there is a problem, I tend to submit suggestion to propose solutions and ideas to address it Out KPI is accepted suggestions per year In fact, I submitted and my number of accepted suggestions met the KPI On average, I submit suggestion each month Yes, of course Because submitting and having approved suggestions are required by the company I did not recognize how frequently I submit suggestions since whenever there is problem, I raise my suggestions My KPI is approved suggestions per year And I meet that target for the period of more than years working at Bosch I usually submit my suggestion whenever there is a problem and I think of any solution, from to suggestions per month During my first year at Bosch, I submitted about 14 suggestions Until now, it is about abo ut 40 suggestions It is required for each employee to have at least suggestions per year I go beyond that KPI   65  B6 Yes, because it is requirement for us to participate in SS I tend to send suggestions in ending months of the year when there is a reminder for me to complete this target to meet supervisor’s requirement The company has a requirement that we have to have at least suggestions per year,  but I am not sure it is the number of approved or submitted suggestion I have not met the target General comment about SS Q7: Comments about SS Q8: Level of satisfaction when receiving feedbacks feedback s Q9: What are characters of high quality qu ality suggestion? Person Answers I reckon that the SS in general is doing its acceptable job which encourages B1 B2 employees to contribute their ideas and solutions I am satisfied with the feedbacks Safety is the most important factor I think 7. I think SS is good in nature, but it operates so quietly and lack of system to tracking implementation status 8. I am dissatisfied about the feedback Actually, I sometimes received an unclear reply saying that my suggestions were the same with another suggestion, but did not name what suggestions and author of this Sometimes, it was just an email saying that my suggestion was rejected, but not included the reasons I had to come to Dept.’ REP to ask in person, but their explanations were not clear and elaborate, as well as they did not meet my expectations at all I think a good suggestion is the one which have full and detail information about  problems, root causes, solutions and benefits of these B3 It is like an entertainment activity rather than its effectiveness And its prize quite not match the value saved, sometimes, the values which the suggestions bring extremely exceeds the prize by thousand times I am sometimes not satisfied because their explanation is not clear and lack of core information But other time is satisfied It should provide clear ideas and prove to have high benefits for the company   66  B4 The time waiting for evaluation’s results is so long I not push them to get feedbacks since we both busy and I am not sure they have read my suggestions or not Yes, as long as there is feedback, I am happy regardless it is accepted or not If there is no go suggestion, I can learn from the feedback They should prove that there is significant benefit for the change, clearly define  before and after apply the suggestions B5 B6 It is more effective in a manufacturing area I really satisfy with the feedback In addition, there is also tracking file from which can read and see status of my suggestions It should be cost-efficient, high quality and safe We are excited because when suggestion is accepted, we have 100,000VND And It has council round where we can achieve more money But the time from beginning to ending of the year waiting for suggestion to be approved in council round, there is nothing done to remind or motivate us My suggestions’ quality was not high at all as I did it to complete requirement I have nothingclearly much define to say timeline about and more detail, method according to time bound It should Motivation Q10: Motivation Q11: Support from managers Q12: How comfortable sending suggestions to council? Q13: Expectations after submitting suggestions Person Answers B1 10 Financial incentive, definitely In addition, it provides me chance to help other  people to well complete the jobs’ duties 11 No, since I think it is not the main tasks of theirs to support me in this section (joining in SS) 12 Yes, I feel quite comfortable, not thing to worry 13 I want my idea to be accepted in quick time B2 10.To help people, to make the work more effective 11 I have not asked both my supervisors and other supervisors for help I think that if the suggestion is rejected, which means it does not meet some requirements or my understanding of things is not right 12 Yes 13 It is heard and implemented   67  B3 10 It makes my work better If I share my ideas, they are spread through other to help them complete their duties 11 I received support from supervisors in terms of specific, some other hints and comments on needed improvements I almost ask for their comments because they work closely with them and they have specialized knowledge 12 I feel comfortable Since they not know who submit the suggestion, their evaluation will be objective and fair 13. I want to receive the rewards from my accepted suggestions And I wish it can go into council to receive higher prizes B4 10. Because problems usually problems, it is about submitting the solutions to improve work process and work productivity 11. He plays a role of consultant in terms of topics, possibility of the suggestions and validity of solutions He also knows how the problems affect to others If he is busy, he can help me on the next day 12. Yes, of course 13. My suggestion is heard and can help others B5 10. It is the way I can contribute to the company with benefits And it is my cognitive which push me to submit suggestions to improve the working 11. Yes, I usually have my supervisors consult me about specialist knowledge, validity and level of necessity of the matters Apart from that, Dept REP also helps me to find supplier who provide suitable services and products which is listed in my suggestions 12. Yes but because I did not know the evaluation process of other departments, I feel a  bit nervous and unsure about suggestion’s possibility to be accepted 13.  I really love the moment when receiving the Suggestion Card with approved signature of HoD, indicating that I am working on a valuable suggestion In addition, financial incentive is also a thing I expect for B6 10.  Within the year, I almost forgot to submit suggestion Until the end of the year when I were reminded to so, I just submit the suggestions to meet company’s requirement 11.  Oh no, wewrite as employees card together Sometimes I come asking other colleagues what I should in suggestion 12. I will feel comfortable if I am not under un der time pressure 13.  I expected my suggestion to be implemented But I think it hard because the company has a lot of employees Obstacles Q14: Your difficulties – how complex and influenced Q15: Your colleagues’ difficulties – how complex and influenced Q16: Supervisors’ knowledge about above difficulties Q17: Perception about waiting time   68  Person Answers B1 14. Because our suggestions have to be written in English so that mangers and HoDs, who are foreigners, to understand and evaluate our suggestions There are some specialist words which I did not know so it really took time to translate my ideas from my mother tongue into English I also concern for a duplication of ideas which may makes my idea rejected Because I not know other’s ideas, existing ideas or implemented ideas, I am honestly also afraid of being seen as mimicking other ideas 15. Honestly, I have not had any conversation with colleagues about SS in general and their problems related to this topic for the specific 16. Now, they not know I not share them with my supervisors because I think it is not their task to consult me about SS and out of their required duties, I think 17.Sure Because there are a lot of suggestions per day, they cannot check all That is why it takes time But it is very long time to get a result Surely it makes people feel  boring about suggesting In contrast, I think I can sympathy for them and wait because they have to check and figure out if it will be suitable and then their boss needs to review again Maybe people lost their motivation because they have to wait for a long time to get results and money B2 14. I have some suggestions which are accepted but still not implemented, which really reduces my enthusiastic Admittedly, when someone proposes ideas, they expect for implementation so that we can take advantage of that 15 I am not sure whether that experience the same problems and other concerns  because SS is not our topic to discuss and we don’t talk about SS 16. They don’t know 17.  I think that is really a significant factor As normal, I receive feedback after month to months, but also have suggestions which have not received any response for a year B3 14. No 15. There is very fell problems and they are really not significant enough to be seen as something to discuss 16.  They know and help us a lot As I said, they assist giving advices and sharing knowledge for us to make a good suggestion and have higher opportunity to be accepted 17. I think we should be more proactive to ask Rep for the suggestion’s status after week submitted, I will receive feedbacks   69  B4 14. There is no problem with me when joining in SS If there is the same suggestion, I not have any hard feeling though 15. Sometimes, my colleagues come to me to ask for the SS card form 16 No, they not know because we seem to communicate among colleagues within our levels 17. Yes, I also witness this situation My suggestion which was submitted last year in  November has not received any response yet I and the REP were so busy that we cannot push evaluators to send feedbacks It really and partially de-motivates me in continuously sending another suggestion B5 14 There is not much problem As I said, I did not know how evaluation process goes in different departments, and the suggestion tended to take longer to receive response 15 Frankly, I don’t know much about other problems since if they are small, they tend to ignore it If the problem is big, they would bring to the department meeting to discuss 16 Yes of course, but mainly in terms of psychology 17 This statement is widely known by many people But I think each suggestion needs time to review and each department has their own process, so we should wait until we receive the response B6 14 Because Bosch has established for a long time so everything seems to be standardized and modern Therefore, we not have many fields to contribute the ideas And I partly affect my motivation because everything seems to be complete, which makes suggestion is like trying to find mistakes and correct them 15 They also suffer from time pressure as deadline is coming 16 I hardly communicate other about suggestions scheme 17 Half a month Others Q18: Ideas and hints to make SS meet your expectation Q19: What should SS be changed? Q20:A webpage’s willingness to read Person B1 Answers 18 Bigger reward If the reward is bigger, they will be worthy for the waiting of  people 19 Don’t have to change The standard is now suitable If it needs change, it should be faster in checking 20. Yes, I love to solutions and reply the results for the initiator in the shorter time   70  B2 18 A system for tracking implementation status, sections to inform associates about SS I see that in factory are, there is a SS box where people can put their suggestions into, I think we should have ones in office area, which will make the system more visual Thus, we can perceive SS live lively with us 19.Implementation 20.Yes, of course B3 18 The process should be clearer 19 The prize should be more valuable and match with the values it brings for the company 20 Yes of course B4 18 I think suggestion on my work should be appreciated rather than just suggestions for outside my department, which can more motivates me 19 We should have any kinds of SS advertisement sharing tips and contact persons so that newcomers can get understanding by themselves 20 Yes, of course, I always want to have a website where I can access to in order to get information proactively 18, 19. Since on-site workers focus on doing a good job rather than looking on the new B5 B6 angle to make the process should themother to submit suggestions 20 Yes, of course since Iworker, want towe learn andencourage love to know suggestions of other colleagues 18 It should be based on voluntary contribution because there is not much to change 19 The prize should have value equivalent with the value that suggestion brings to us 20 Yes ... UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY International School of Business - Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet SOLUTIONS FOR IMPROVING QUALITY OF EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPATION IN SUGGESTION SCHEME AT BOSCH. .. results: Interview with Bosch Vietnam? ??s employees 1.4.3.1.   Information of interviewees: Table 6: Second interview series: Information of interviewees (author) PERSON DEPT WORKING AT BOSCH VN FOR. .. information and data necessary for given suggestion evaluation and implementation   REP Initiatively evaluate internal suggestions, consult HoD, Process Owner/Business Owner for complicated suggestions