Evaluation of Organizational Self-assessment Tools and Methodologies to Measure Continuous Process Improvement for the Naval Aviation Enterprise

Evaluation of Organizational Self-assessment Tools and Methodologies to Measure Continuous Process Improvement for the Naval Aviation Enterprise Review

The Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) has created a program called AIRSpeed to deliver the efficiency gains of continuous process improvement (CPI). NAE leadership seeks a self-assessment tool to measure how well AIRSpeed has been implemented, including possible areas for improvement. This thesis studies the origins of continuous process improvement, the value of assessment, and current assessment methodologies. Key concepts are cited for the use of organizational assessment tools. The objectives are an enhanced body of knowledge for enterprise assessment, to provide a comparison of several approaches, and to recommend a tool for NAE AIRSpeed. The tools to be considered are the Department of Defense CPI Transformation Guidebook (DoD CPITG), the Navy’s Performance Excellence Guidebook (NPEG), the Lean Aerospace Initiative (LAI) Government Lean Enterprise Self-Assessment Tool (GLESAT), and the NAVAIR Alignment Assessment Tool (NAAT). Research revealed that three of the four tools (DoD CPITG, NPEG, and GLESAT) could efficiently measure AIRSpeed maturity, and recommendations were made that a performance management framework be established by the NAE prior to implementation of any formal assessment process. The maturity level of NAE AIRSpeed could be baselined using the LAI tool in those areas where lean principles have been implemented over a period of years.