"Answering the Call"

Marcela Dunphy and Roderick Lewis

Industrial Engineer

August 2006, pp. 24-29

While other telecom companies have adopted Lean or Six Sigma "off the shelf", BellSouth decided to devise its own program. This program is called Management System and Operating Control (MSOC), and it "combines process management, work measurement, management controls, and people development."

The MSOC method includes elements from Lean and Six Sigma, and adds performance management at the individual level to address the behavioral aspect of the employee. Key measurement indicators such as performance, quality, service, and effectiveness are combined into a balanced scorecard. To ensure that continuous improvement occurs, MSOC has a "sustainability" element composed of change control and certification.

Since its inception in 2004, MSOC has reduced costs by 20 percent while improving service and quality levels.

The next step for Bellsouth is a system called MORE, which is the knowledge worker model for improved performance and addresses all non-supervisory individual contributors.

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