Publications
Publications
- June 2004
- HBS Case Collection
AT&T's Transmission Systems Business Unit (A)
By: Rogelio Oliva, Elizabeth Keating and James Quinn
Abstract
The newly appointed director of the project dedicated to reducing product development time for AT&T's Transmission Systems Business Unit (TSBU) is trying to decide how best to sustain the momentum of its Achieving Process Excellence (APEX) teams. During the past three years, APEX teams helped reduce TSBU's product interval 50%—an accomplishment that contributed to TSBU's receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Now motivation and expectations for continued improvement are high. The case describes the launching of APEX, its evolution, and the current challenges facing the product development organization. Details support a discussion of the elements required to launch and sustain an improvement program, including metrics, goal setting, management's role, and methodological approaches for problem solving.
Keywords
Quality; Groups and Teams; Performance Improvement; Business Processes; Product Development; Telecommunications Industry
Citation
Oliva, Rogelio, Elizabeth Keating, and James Quinn. "AT&T's Transmission Systems Business Unit (A)." Harvard Business School Case 604-098, June 2004.