Organizational Alignment : Perceptions, Processes and Strategy

Sammanfattning: The purpose of the study and following thesis is to investigate how employees in a R&D department perceive the product development process. Review of present process documentation aims at identifying potential discrepancies between the process as it is designed and the way it´s used. The company is operating in a regulatory environment and have recently merged with another company. The company is aligning different processes and work teams. The result indicates that the organization will benefit from working with processes with an inclusive approach, i.e. involve employees working in the process. The process studied is a global process i.e. the process is used at multiple sites. This presents challenges for local adaptations. By actively involving employees a common understanding of the challenges can be achieved which will increase engagement and commitment. The organization will also benefit by looking at the organization from a process perspective. Aligning process goals with departmental goals can be achieved by developing processand department strategies based on overall organizational objectives and the organizational context. The underlying principles for the study are the foundations of TQM. Relevant tools, such as the improvement wheel (PDCA) and GAP-analysis, that can be used for business improvements are presented.