Evaluating solutions for enhancing quality of employees participation by ahp approach a case at suggestion scheme programme of bosch vietnam CO,LTD

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION FACULTY FOR HIGH QUALITY TRAINING THESIS INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT EVALUATING SOLUTIONS FOR ENHANCING QUALITY OF EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPAT

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

FACULTY FOR HIGH QUALITY TRAINING

THESIS INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT

EVALUATING SOLUTIONS FOR ENHANCING QUALITY OF EMPLOYEES’ PARTICIPATION

BY AHP APPROACH: A CASE AT SUGGESTION SCHEME PROGRAMME OF

BOSCH VIETNAM CO,.LTD

S K L 0 0 5 5 3 7

INSTRUCTOR: NGUYEN PHAN ANH HUY STUDENT: PHAN THI HONG NGOC

STUDENT ID: 15124035

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

FACULTY FOR HIGH QUALITY TRAINING

BOSCH VIETNAM CO,.LTD

Student: PHAN THI HONG NGOC

Student ID: 15124035

Class of 2015

Major: INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT

Instructor: Dr NGUYEN PHAN ANH HUY

Ho Chi Minh City, July 2019

HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND EDUCATION

FACULTY FOR HIGH QUALITY TRAINING

BOSCH VIETNAM CO,.LTD

Student: PHAN THI HONG NGOC

Student ID: 15124035

Class of 2015

Major: INDUSTRIAL MANAGEMENT

Instructor: Dr NGUYEN PHAN ANH HUY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First of all, I thank Bosch Vietnam - the push belt Bosch manufacturing plant in

Vietnam Especially, Thank Ms Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet (my direct instructor), all of the

QMM6's members and colleagues in Bosch Vietnam factory They helped me a lot when I

began working at the company Besides, she devoted a lot of time to providing and

explaining in detail to me like the knowledge, skills, and experience working here,

motivating me to apply what learned and practiced in practice Thank you for taking the

trouble to help me I really appreciate it

Moreover, I thank Mr Nguyen Trong Tai who created an opportunity for me to

work in the professional environment of Bosch As well as giving me the opportunity to

collide with many jobs His dedication is what I appreciate Each task besides instruction,

he always let me take the initiative in my work Since then, I understand the standards,

processes, and contacts of business partners in Bosch

Next one, I would like to express my deep gratitude to Nguyen Phan Anh Huy

(instructor for thesis) for taking the time and devotedly guiding me to formulate this

graduation thesis

During the implementation of this thesis, I have been able to avoid errors and wish

the teachers and all of colleagues Bosch Vietnam to ignore them In addition, my

theoretical and practical experience is still limited, so this report has many shortcomings

I look forward to receiving valuable comments from Mr Nguyen Phan Anh Huy

and other teachers to gain more experience and to successfully complete the upcoming

thesis

I would like to wish all teachers a great deal of health and success in teaching I also

wish my colleagues at Bosch Vietnam to achieve much success in work and life

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Suggestion Scheme categories

HSE Safety, health, environment improvement

PJM Project Management

PRS Protection & Security

HSE Health, Safety & Environment

LIST OF TABLE

Table 1.1: Overviews of Bosch activities in Vietnam (Bosch Introduction) 9

Table 2.2: Saaty’s pairwise comparison scale (Saaty, 1980) 26

Table 2.3: As an illustrative example consider the following situation (author) 28

Table 2.4: Consistency indices for a randomly generated matrix (Saaty, 1980) 29

Table 3.1: Suggestion categories (Bosch Vietnam, 2015) 32

Table 3.2: People supporting the process (Bosch Vietnam, 2015) 34

Table 3.3: Overview SS 2016 (Bosch Vietnam, 2016): p.2 38

Table 3.4: Overview of SS – Manufacturing (Bosch Vietnam, 2017): p.2 39

Table 3.5: Overview SS – Office (Bosch Vietnam, 2017): p.2 40

Table 3.6: Overview of SS (Bosch Vietnam, 2018): p.2 40

Table 3.7: Overview of SS – Office (Bosch Vietnam, 2018): p.2 41

Table 3.8: First interview series: Information of interviewees (author) 41

Table 3.9: Pending suggestion of 2017 (Bosch Vietnam, 2017): p.3 43

Table 3.10: Second interview series: Information of interviewees (author) 45

Table 3.11 : SS categories based on employees' perception (author’s result from interview) 46

Table.4.1: Bosch Connect: SS introduction (author’s suggestion) 51

Table 4.2: The layout of topics and suggestions in sharing section (author’s suggestion)57 Table 4.3: Information of Suggestion Scheme software (author) 59

Table 4.4: Information of interviewees (author) 67

Table 4.5: Scale of criteria & solution (Saaty, 1980) 68

Table 4.7: Column addition (author) 69

Table 4.8: Normalized matrix (author) 69

Table 4.9: Calculation of priorities: row average (author) 69

Table 4.10: Presentation of results: original judgments and priorities (author) 70

Table 4.11: Consistency indices for a randomly generated matrix (Saaty, 1980) 71

Table 4.12: Prioritization results (author) 71

Table 4.13: Priorities as factors (author) 71

Table 4.14: Calculation of weighted columns (author) 72

Table 4.15: Calculation of weighted sum (author) 72

Table 4.16: Calculation of λMax (author) 72

Table 4.17: Pairwise comparison matrix with intensity judgment (author) 73

Table 4.18: Comparison with respect to cost (author) 74

Table 4.19: Preference with respect to cost (author) 74

Table 4.20: Results with respect to cost (author) 74

Table 4.21: Pairwise comparison matrix with intensity judgment (author) 75

Table 4.22: Comparison with respect to cost (author) 75

Table 4.23: Preference with respect to cost (author) 76

Table 4.24: Results with respect to cost (author) 76

Table 4.25: Pairwise comparison matrix with intensity judgment (author) 76

Table 4.26: Comparison with respect to cost (author) 77

Table 4.27: Preference with respect to cost (author) 77

Table 4.28: Results with respect to cost (author) 77

Table 4.29: Priorities table as a base (author) 78

Table 4.30: Preparation for weighing of priorities (author) 78

Table 4.31: Calculation of overall priorities (author) 79

Table 4.32: Synthesis of the model (author) 79

Table 4.33: The alternatives ordered by the overall priority or preference (author) 80

Table 4.34: The summary of benefits’ technology solution (author’s appreciation) 81

Table 4.35: Overall timeline (author’s suggestion) 82

Table 4.36: Timeline of SS page on Bosch Connect (author’s suggestion) 82

Table 4.37 : Timeline of SS Workshop (author’s suggestion) 83

Table 4.38 : Timeline of SS award (author’s suggestion) 84

Table 4.39: Timeline of SS software (author’s suggestion) 86

LIST OF FIGURE

Figure 1.1: Information and data of Bosch Group 2018 (Bosch Introduction) 9

Figure 1.2: HcP organization chart (HcP Introduction) 14

Figure 2.2: Factors that affect knowledge sharing among employees in companies (Lyu J, Runyan RC, 2010): p.1 20

Figure 2.3: A model of knowledge sharing among employees in companies (Lyu J, Runyan RC, 2010): p.2 20

Figure 2.4: The iceberg model (Wheeler B, 2005 May 1) 22

Figure 2.5: An ice-berg motivation of Bosch Vietnam’s employees (author) 24

Figure 2.6: Developing a model (author) 26

Figure 3.1: SS BOM structure (Bosch Vietnam, 2015) 31

Figure 3.2: The suggestion procedure (Bosch Vietnam, 2015) 33

Figure 4.1: The software toolbar for submitting proposal (author) 62

Figure 4.2: Template for Suggestion form (author) 63

Figure 4.3: The software toolbar for Email reminder to Expert/ Process owner (author) 64 Figure 4.4: Example of the gently reminder email notification of system sent to Expert/Process owner (author) 65

Figure 4.5: Decision hierarchy for choosing a suitable solution (author) 66

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF TABLE vi

LIST OF FIGURE ix

CONTENTS x

INTRODUCTION 1

1.Thesis overview 1

2.Thesis objectives 2

3.Methodology 2

3.1.Secondary research 2

3.2.Primary research: The interview with SS managers 3

3.3.Primary research: The interview with Bosch Vietnam employees 4

3.4.Estimated contributions 5

3.5.The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method 6

4.Structure of the final thesis 6

CHAPTER 1: COMPANY OVERVIEW 8

1.1.Bosch’s introduction 8

1.1.1.Established history of Bosch 8

1.1.2.Our business sectors 10

1.1.3 Company’s responsibility 13

1.2 HcP’s introduction 13

1.2.1 HcP overview 13

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 17

2.1 Theories 17

2.1.1 Definition of used terms 17

2.1.2 Importance of knowledge sharing 17

2.1.3 The roles of knowledge sharing 18

2.1.4 Factors that influence knowledge sharing 18

2.1.5 Different categories of motivators 21

2.1.6 Iceberg motivation 22

2.2 Bosch Vietnam employees motivation analysis 22

2.2.1 Motivation for joining SS 22

2.2.2 Motivation for knowing other suggestions 24

2.3 The Analytic Hierarchy Process 25

2.4 Summary of the chapter 29

CHAPTER 3: PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION 30

3.1 Suggestion Scheme overview 30

3.1.1 Suggestion Scheme board of management (BOM) 30

3.1.2 Suggestion categories 31

3.1.3 Suggestion Scheme procedure 32

3.1.4 Suggestion award 35

3.1.5 No-go suggestions 36

3.2 Problem overview 36

3.2.1 Problem statement 36

3.2.2 Consequences 37

3.3 Problem validation 37

3.3.1 Secondary data – results 37

3.3.2 Primary data – results: Interview with SS managers 41

3.3.3 Primary data – results: Interview with Bosch Vietnam’s employees 44

3.4 Summary of the chapter 48

CHAPTER 4: SOLUTIONS AND PROPOSED APPROACH 49

4.1 Solution overview 49

4.2 Detail of solutions 49

4.2.1 Bosch Connect webpage 49

4.2.2 Efficiency workshops 52

4.2.3 Informal award days 54

4.2.4 Suggestion Scheme software 58

4.3 Selecting an optimal solution 66

4.3.1 Overall 66

4.3.2 Action plan 66

4.3.3 Conclusion 80

4.4.Action plan for ideal case 81

4.4.1.Overall 81

4.5 Summary of the chapter 86

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS 88

5.1 Conclusion 88

5.2 Limitation 88

REFERENCES 90

APPENDIX 93

2.Appendix 2 95

3.Appendix 3 105

4.Appendix 4 121

5.Appendix 5 128

INTRODUCTION

1 Thesis overview

At Bosch plant, every employee is obliged to know and apply five the Bosch Quality principles That is: customer delight, cooperation, consistency, responsibility, innovation The principle which the author mentions: It’s Innovation It is not only the direction of changing technology abstraction, but also the improvement of individuals in the collective

As a consequence, Suggestion Scheme was launched on all plants of the Bosch Group That meant creating a space for employees’ idea after the evaluation of experts, it is applied

to the factory Hence, it will bring one or more benefits for the company such as: saving time, streamlining processes to reduce redundant operations

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 The highlight of this thesis is to use the AHP method to select the optimal solution for SS This is a common method applied in large and small topics Indeed, proving the credibility of this method by

a powerful evidence “Evaluation of factors influencing knowledge sharing based on a fuzzy AHP approach” by Hsiu_Fen Lin & partners Maher H Al-Rafati have a thesis with topic: “The use of Analytic Hierarchy Process in Supplier Selection: Vendors of Photocopying Machines to Palestinian Ministry of Finance as a Case Study” And “The

there is no research about the choice for the Quality object by applying AHP 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

2 Thesis objectives

This thesis aims 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 are 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 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 up-to-date as they record

data in the 3 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

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 3 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)

3.2.2 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

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

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 2 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 behavior and attitudes for setting plans of justification, modification and improvement of the SS, making it more end-user-oriented

Last but not least, the guideline is also asking for their suggestions to improve the system and their willingness to engage themselves in SS future step As drafting for solution needs signal of potential success and expected engagement, a number of questions will be asked to gain a hint of whether it is applicable or not

3.4 Estimated contributions

Since this project is done in the hope that it can provide better understanding of motivation and attitude of Bosch Vietnam’s associates towards participating in SS, the benefits are as follow:

- As managers pay attention to their employees’ motivational aspects and strive to ameliorate the system, the end-users – associates probably have a higher satisfaction about their job in general

- The proposed solution can be customized and able to motivate them to contribute more valuable and higher quality suggestions

The contributions of this project are abstract and implausible to count directly Admittedly, a valuable suggestion related to cost saving feasibly results in an enormous of expense cutting valued more than billions VND Or the replacement of one brand of machines to another may both reduce the cost and increase the productivity However, the saving on work efficiency and effect on environment is hard to measure

The four proposed solutions take advantage of internal resources such as meeting rooms and spaces inside the company as locations, webpage’s community platform, financial fund for entertaining activities and employees’ capacity In other words, these will not generate much cost to establish, run, maintain and hence, reduce a financial barrier

to implement the new approach for SS They focus on raising awareness of associates about SS’ basis information (Bosch connect), promote the sense of belonging through teamwork activities (Efficiency workshop), as well as self-esteem (Informal award days) and the technology tool (Software) Therefore, employees will have more positive motivation to contribute their ideas to the company

3.5 The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method

The AHP has attracted the interest of many researchers mainly due to the nice mathematical properties of the method and the fact that the required input data are rather easy to obtain The AHP is a decision support tool which can be used to solve complex decision problems It uses a multi-level hierarchical structure of objectives, criteria, sub- criteria, and alternatives If the comparisons are not perfectly consistent, then it provides a mechanism for improving consistency

4 Structure of the final thesis

The remainder of this paper is as following:

Chapter 1: Company overview This section is presented to provide readers with

basic knowledge about company overviews regarding to its culture and business section

Chapter 2: Literature review Definitions of concepts such as knowledge sharing

and motivation are provided because these are the topic and main focus of the project Likewise, to emphasize the signification and necessary of SS, an importance of knowledge sharing its role is also mentioned in this chapter Additionally, factors which affect to knowledge sharing are also analyzed In order to process further analysis, the two theories named different categories of motivators and iceberg motivation model are put into consideration

Chapter 3: Problem identification As a main concentration of this research, SS

and its information (system structure, suggestion categories, procedure, award structure and why suggestions are rejected) are virtually manifest in chapter 3 The primary focus of this section lies in the two parts: problem overview and its validation where readers are given a brief description about the facing obstacle and provided with trustworthy and up-to-date evidences to prove for its manifestation and impact by a secondary research and a

series of in-depth interviews

Chapter 4: Solutions and proposed approach Based on the interviews’ results

and findings from these responses, solutions are proposed to resolve the tremendous challenges which they are facing Together with detail plan of solutions, an action plan of

these and timeline to implement also provided In this chapter, the mention is the

implementation of solutions for the plant In the ideal case, the planning arrangement for the purpose of implementing reasonable solutions Another case, applying the AHP method

to select the most optimal solution to implement

Chapter 5: Conclusion and limitation This section provides a brief conclusion

for what have been done, analyzed and proposed Furthermore, limitation of this research

is also mentioned

CHAPTER 1: COMPANY OVERVIEW

1.1.1 Established history of Bosch

In 1886, Robert Bosch founded the “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering” in Stuttgart This was the birth of today’s globally operating company Right from the start, it was characterized by innovative strength and social commitment

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services It employs roughly 410,000 associates worldwide (as of December 31, 2018) The company generated sales of 77.9 billion euros in 2018 Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology As a leading IoT company, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connected mobility, and connected manufacturing It uses its expertise

in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross domain solutions from a single source The Bosch Group’s strategic objective is to deliver innovations for a connected life Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm In short, Bosch creates technology that is “Invented for life.”

Figure 1.1: Information and data of Bosch Group 2018 (Bosch Introduction)

Bosch has been in Vietnam in operation since 1994 Bosch is one of only few global companies in Vietnam substantially increasing activities in all of the four fields, namely sales, productions, and R&D and services centers The company in Vietnam has its main office located in Ho Chi Minh City, two branch ones in two other big cities named Hanoi and Da Nang city, and a Gasoline Systems plant in the Dong Nai province to manufacture push belts for continuously variable transmissions (CVT) in automobiles In this project, its scope is applied to the Gasoline systems plant (Bosch Introduction)

Below are details of four fields of Bosch’s activities in Vietnam:

Table 1.1: Overviews of Bosch activities in Vietnam (Bosch Introduction)

SALES

Automotive Aftermarket; Automotive electronics;

Drive and Control technology; Security systems;

PRODUCTION Production of CVT – push belts in Long Thanh, Dong Nai

Foreign trade master data (FTAP) in HCMC

1.1.2 Our business sectors

1.1.2.1 Mobility

*Mobility solutions web portal

The Bosch mobility solutions web portal presents highlights from the areas of connected mobility, automated mobility, and powertrain and electrified mobility Find out more about our products and services, not only for passenger cars, but also for off-highway applications, two-wheelers, and ship and rail transport

*Auto parts and accessories

Bosch spare parts feature impressive quality and reliability, as well as innovative technology State-of-the-art lights and brake systems, batteries with extremely long lives, wiper blades, starters and air filters — Bosch provides high-quality spare parts that make driving safer, more relaxed, and more eco-friendly

1.1.2.2 Bosch Car Service

*Bosch service for all makes - worldwide

At more than 17,000 Bosch certified car service garages, drivers benefit from class service, expert know-how, and ex-works quality automotive spare parts From

first-mechanics to electrics and diesel technology — our expert professionals work with of-the-art testing technology

state-*E-Scooter Solution

Within the Bosch Group, the Automotive Electronics Division with its headquarters located in Reutlingen near Stuttgart develops, produces and sells microelectronic products for automotive and non-automotive applications In Vietnam, our Automotive Electronics division focusses on escooter business Bosch escooter solutions stand for high quality, reliability, and robustness; giving users unique riding experiences

1.1.2.3 Consumer Goods

*Garden tools

Are you looking for something to clean your vehicle or pool with? Do you want to quickly clean the garden path or remove the muddy traces of your last holiday from your caravan? Whichever it is, Bosch offers you different performance categories of high-pressure washers - for small to large cleaning tasks

*Power tools for DIY enthusiasts

With the right power tools, DIY is twice as enjoyable With Bosch, you not only have more options, you also work much more precisely, flexibly, safely, and productively Our tools feature impressive quality, first-class handling, and state-of-the-art technology Whatever you want to make, you can do it with Bosch

1.1.2.4 Industry and trades

*Drive and control technology

Bosch is a globally active partner, with a one-of-a-kind portfolio for mobile applications, factory automation, and process plant engineering that features cutting-edge technology and matchless industry expertise Our experienced associates work continuously to develop safe, versatile, and resource-conserving solutions worldwide Both

machinery manufacturers and end users benefit from our multifunctional innovations, which are also designed for use in connected manufacturing environments

*Packaging technology

Bosch Packaging Technology is one of the leading suppliers of process and packaging technology At over 30 locations in more than 15 countries worldwide, a highly-qualified workforce develops and produces complete solutions for the pharmaceuticals, food, and confectionery industries From standard solutions to complete lines and integrated systems, we develop equipment in accordance with our “Invented for life” philosophy

*Power tools for professionals

Bosch develops innovative, high quality power tools that are guaranteed to produce professional results in all fields of craftsmanship Our tools are reliable, powerful and robust, fulfill the highest demands, and make your work easier Our Bosch cordless tools excel especially due to their long lifetime, high performance capability, and very long runtime

*Safety and security solutions

Protecting lives, buildings, and assets is our aim Our product portfolio includes video surveillance, intrusion detection, fire detection, and voice evacuation systems as well

as access control and management systems Professional audio and conference systems for communication of voice, sound, and music complete the range

*Software solutions

The way the internet of things is transforming the world offers great opportunities for many sectors such as manufacturing, mobility, energy management, and more Software and service platforms from Bosch provide a solid foundation for installing and operating tailor-made solutions Discover how Bosch software solutions help companies improve the way they run their businesses and bring new revenue channels and products

to life (Bosch Introduction)

1.2 HcP’s introduction

1.2.1 HcP overview

HcP has started its belt assembly in a rented building on 1st August 2008 as the assembly plant of Tilburg Plant (TbP) On 14th April 2011, HcP celebrated the inauguration of the new plant (Lth101 with 17,000 sqm), which did not only allow to increase the production depth, but also to facilitate the push belt assembly of this high-tech product On 3rd July 2012 HcP marked a big milestone by starting to produce the second component (loop-set) for its push belt Since November 2012, HcP doubled the production floor space and increase the net total floor space up to 56.000 m², and have successfully increased its production capacity and realized a lot of new line SOP’s (HcP Introduction)

Figure 1.2: HcP organization chart (HcP Introduction)

Plant manager HcP/PM

Ho Chi Minh Plant HcP

Vice President, commercial Plant,

Manager HcP/PC

Facility

Management

HcP/FCM

Environment Health Safety HcP/HSE

Manufacturing HcP/MFG

Office of the Executive Management HcP/OFE-PM

Technical Functions HcP/TEF

Quality Management &

Method PS/QMM- HcP

Engineering Technology Center Vietnam PS-CT/ETC-VN

Controlling HcP/CTG

Human Resources HcP/HRL

Information Coordination &

Organization Vietnam HcP/ICO

Logistics HcP/LOG

TGA HcP/TGA

1.2.2 Bosch Vietnam’s culture

The company culture is learning and encouraging continuous improvement, as a part of a distinctive global corporate one It promotes the attitude of striving for improving the best to make it more innovative and competitive Innovation is highly focused as it means that Bosch’s creativity and eagerness to learn enables hi-tech manufacturing in Vietnam that translates into high quality products and more satisfied associates Additionally, Bosch Vietnam assists and provides a number of meeting rooms and spaces (around 25 rooms) for its employees to work together, to inform new technologies, meeting and discuss the new ideas of employees (HcP Introduction) In addition, its vision is to continuous improving and developing the whole company, starting from its human resource and its humane talents to operate state-of-the-art innovations and processes

At the same time, Bosch Vietnam’s seven core values that they build on are obvious and livable among associates, as following (Bosch Introduction):

“Initiative and determination.” As in the introduction, they act on their initiative

and in the spirit that they are a pioneer and competitive competitor in the industries In addition, Bosch Vietnam takes entrepreneurial responsibility and pursues the goals with determination

“Future and result focus.” Their actions and orientation for actions are

result-oriented These allow them to maintain the future of continuous improvement and development It also creates a sound base and foundation for the social initiatives of Bosch Vietnam

“Responsibility and sustainability.” They obligatorily act in the interest of the

company for a vision of sustainable growth They also take the social and ecological impact

of their actions into consideration as caring for the community and society where their business is located

“Openness and trust.” They communicate significant problems in a timely and

open fashion without any hesitation and in contributing spirit This provides the optimum foundation for a relationship which is built on trust

“Fairness.” They treat their colleagues and business partners fairly and view this

fairness as a cornerstone of their success They believe that when every associate is given equal opportunities to grow and benefits as compensation for employees’ contribution, this will promote job satisfaction and sustain humane capacity of Bosch

“Reliability, credibility, legality.” They promise only what they can deliver,

accept agreements as binding, and respect and observe the law in all our business transactions Working in a different country rather than home one, it is mandatory to obey

to the local rules and regulations

“Diversity.” They appreciate and encourage diversity for the enrichment it brings,

and see it as essential for our success In fact, cross-cultural and multi-cultural working place are promoted so that associates can learn from each other’s and take advantage of what is good for the company

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Theories

2.1.1 Definition of used terms

The term “knowledge sharing” was clarified as a social interaction culture which involves “the exchange of employee knowledge, experiences, and skills through the whole department or organization.” (Lin HF, 2007 Apr)

Meanwhile, Knowledge sharing could be seen as series of actions and activities which assist the teamwork spirit and facilitate the knowledge exchange, promote learning capacity of the organizations, and enhance their ability to attain both individual and organizational objectives (Dyer JH, Nobeoka K, 2000 Mar)

Motivation is provoked by both inner and outer sources which stimulate “desire and energy” within every individual, make them intrigued in and committed to their company, job and duties in order to achieve a specific goal In other words, motivation is one of the most reliable indicators for people’s behavior and there is at least one reason of why people behave in this way rather than others Also mentioned in this dictionary, the sources of motivation can be conscious, unconscious factors or a combination of the two For instant, they are “intensity of desire or need, incentive or reward value of the goal, and expectations

of the individual and of his or her peers.” (Business dictionary)

2.1.2 Importance of knowledge sharing

Knowledge sharing contributes to disseminate innovative ideas and there is a critical link between one’s creativities and innovative orientation in the company (Armbrecht, F

M R., Jr., Chapas, R B., Chappelow, C C., & Farris, G F, 2001)

In terms of the organizational level, it is converted into economic and competitive advantage for the organization Meanwhile, the shortage of knowledge sharing has proved

to be an enormous and high-weighted obstacle to the effective management of knowledge

2.1.3 The roles of knowledge sharing

The motivation’s facet related to quality is critically significant for working based

on knowledge, especially for areas where productivity reflex via quality rather than quantity In the study of Bartol, it is demonstrated that there is a positive link between knowledge sharing and “human factors” (such as “commitment and trust”) and a negative relation between the first and “structural factors” (for example “officialism, centralization and complexity”) Additionally, there is also positive correlation among “knowledge sharing, creative and supportive culture” Also in the document, the existing relationship between trust with knowledge sharing revels that “it is possible to increase the commitment

of employees and managers through equity and fairness; recognizing capabilities; delegating authority; participative management and creation of job security.” (Stenius M, Hankonen N, Ravaja N, Haukkala A, 2016)

Noted in Hsu’s work “expected reciprocal benefits, reputation, expected relationships, trust and altruism” can exert impact on authors These components have a positive influence on people’s tendency to share and their attitudes (Hsu CL, Lin JC, 2008 Jan 31)

2.1.4 Factors that influence knowledge sharing

There are five main facets which exert a significant influence on this process:

Nature of knowledge This considerably affects the process of knowledge sharing

and solution contributing according to the variables and potential to obtain a deep understanding to come up with an innovative decision of change For example, the manufacturer will have more ideas about products and tools to make these products, have higher opportunity seeing the problem and have enough expertise and ability to recognize, evaluate and tackle the problems Whereas, the officers whose workplace is in the office and have less chance to come to production area, they probably have less ideas and

contributions about improving products and its tools (Lyu J, Runyan RC, 2010)

Motivation to share Employees are not willing to share their knowledge without

sufficiently strong personal motivation, which can be divided into facets: internal and external factors The internal factors consist of “the perceived power attached to the knowledge and the reciprocity that result from sharing”, whilst, external factors include

“relationship with the recipient and rewards for sharing” (Stenmark D, 2000 Dec 1)

Opportunities to share Formal chances for sharing consist of “training programs,

structured work teams, and technology-based systems that facilitate the sharing of knowledge’ (Lyu J, Runyan RC, 2010) And informal ones cover “personal relationships and social networks that facilitate learning and the sharing of knowledge” Linking these

informal opportunities to “relational learning channels.” (Rulke DL, Zaheer S, 2000 Jul 1)

Culture of the work environment An organizational-level vision conveys the

message “sense of purpose” to the organization and contributes to engender “a system of organizational values” These values which affect this knowledge sharing process consist

of making people aware of their sense of involvement and contribution that are “valued, and knowledge-related values such as trust and openness.” (Gold AH, Arvind Malhotra

AH, 2001 May 31) (p.14)

Relationship between the factors that influence knowledge sharing Among the

three factors mentioned, the organizational culture exerts a wide extent of which knowledge is appreciated, the way that is valued, “what kinds of relationships and rewards

it encourages in relation to knowledge sharing”, and occasions which people can share their knowledge both formally and informally (Lyu J, Runyan RC, 2010)

Figure 2.1: Factors that affect knowledge sharing among employees in companies (Lyu J,

Runyan RC, 2010): p.1

Figure 2.2: A model of knowledge sharing among employees in companies (Lyu J,

Runyan RC, 2010): p.2

The relative signification of each of the mentioned facets is interfered by “the business objectives of the organization, its structure, business practices and policies, reward systems, and culture.” The lack of any of these factors in a company does not prevent this process of sharing knowledge (Lyu J, Runyan RC, 2010)

2.1.5 Different categories of motivators

There are two kind of motivators which come from distinguishing source namely inside and outside of individuals (Freedman J, 2009):

Extrinsic motivators (or identified motivators) They are outside factors which

exerts influence on employees, such as financial incentives (bonuses, benefits, fines, and award) and visible to count and compare Since they base on monetary incentives, it requires ongoing expense such as fund and cost for labor The motivator also can be people;

in this case, they are managers, supervisors, colleagues, which strengthen power structure

of the top managers

Intrinsic motivators In contrast with the first type, this second comes from inside

of the employees, affected by their beliefs and values and driven by relationship and organization culture Therefore, the motivators are intangible and self-remaining and can

be transfer from one person to another This category reinforces the independence and shared responsibility In addition, this category of motivators into 2 sub-types, they are:

- Enjoyment-based intrinsic motivation People who experience this type of intrinsic motivation tend to do their work enthusiastically, enjoyably and passionately

- Obligation or challenge-based intrinsic motivation People in this kind are oriented and willing to satisfy their self-interest to comply with the work norms (Lindenberg S, 2001 May 1)

task-“Different kinds of motivators drive different kinds of performance.” Therefore, it

is critical to match employees’ desires with two kinds of motivators Moreover, which

belongs to intrinsic motivator, has the strongest effect on actual behavior (Koestner R, Losier GF)

2.1.6 Iceberg motivation

An iceberg is described to have minority of its capacity above the water line whereas majority of it is under that line A tip of iceberg above the water level is visible, which indicates the observable events, problems and situations Below the line, there are patterns – recurrence of the visible parts, which are crucial to identify since these are not “an isolated incident.” Similar to a number of levels of an iceberg “deep beneath the patterns are the underlying structures or root causes that create or drive those patterns.” These invisible parts are important because they are root causes of the above And if people can understand them, they feasibly propose more “long-term and sustainable solutions.” (Wheeler B, 2005 May 1)

Figure 2.3: The iceberg model (Wheeler B, 2005 May 1)

2.2 Bosch Vietnam employees motivation analysis

2.2.1 Motivation for joining SS

*Extrinsic motivation

Regarding to extrinsic motivation, it is obvious that financial incentive is one of critical factors which exert understandable influence on employees’ motivation to

participating in this system, mentioned by five out of six interviewees In addition, they are encouraged by supervisors, managers (in form of consulting specialist knowledge) and colleagues (willing to support and answer questions) to submit their ideas and contribution

to the working process and make it operate better Receiving detail respond with clear elaboration from Dept.’s REP also a determining element which moderately impacts on people’s determination to continue contributing actively Simultaneously, another thing which is worth taking into account is a need of quick responses that there will be not too much waiting time for receiving results

Obligation-based intrinsic motivation is obvious that they just wanted to meet individual KPI in the hope that it will not negative effect on the working performance evaluation People tends to be more task-oriented (quickly completing the suggestions) rather than voluntary and enjoyable contribution, because they are in time pressure and rush to find topic and solutions

*Ice-berg motivation

Above the line, it is financial incentive which is mentioned Another visible part is that their suggestions are implemented so that their work is easier thanks to the change Their contributions can make the working place better and more satisfying to work And having two accepted suggestions assures that they will not lose points in his annually working performance evaluation On the other hand, below the line, they have a high concern for knowing their suggestions are read and their ideas are heard Moreover, the

desire for proving oneself’ capacity to contribute to the company development is invisible part In the deepest level, they express their long for being recognized for their contribution

Figure 2.4: An ice-berg motivation of Bosch Vietnam’s employees (author)

2.2.2 Motivation for knowing other suggestions

It is said that reading other ideas and solutions offer a golden change for employees

to learn from others’ perceptions and views This is also a good way to develop critical thinking and observation skills for things occurring around personal working place as four out of six interviewees directly stated that and the two remaining indirectly referred Furthermore, as two mentioned, knowing others’ suggestions probably assists to eliminate the worry of having the same suggestions like others’, which makes their contributions receive nothing rather than wasting time on writing, submitting and waiting for the result which is surely rejected More noticeably, person B1 claimed that the repeating of suggestions made him worry that the judges may think he mimicked others’ idea to receive money reward

Financial incentives Work efficiency Not lose points

Apart from that, they can discuss with their colleagues about brilliant things they discover from other suggestions and apply to their departments This not only promotes communication among them (as mentioned in interview, lack of topics to discuss about SS interferes them to converse), but also shortens time for knowledge transfer between departments Moreover, when they see that there are always new suggestions submitted and waited for evaluation, they can feel that the SS is living, to be inspired to live in continuous-improvement community Admittedly, understanding about one solution, they can find out any limitation if any and propose more optimal methods to tackle these boundaries

2.3 The Analytic Hierarchy Process

The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a multi-criteria decision-making approach and was introduced by Saaty (1977 and 1994) The AHP has attracted the interest of many researchers mainly due to the nice mathematical properties of the method and the fact that the required input data are rather easy to obtain The pertinent data are derived by using a set of pairwise comparisons These comparisons are used to obtain the weights of importance of the decision criteria, and the relative performance measures of the alternatives in terms of each individual decision criterion (Brunelli & Matteo, 2015)

 Fundamentals

Formally, in this setting, in a decision process there is one goal and a finite set of alternatives, A = {𝑎1 .𝑎𝑛}, from which the decision maker, is usually asked to select the best choice

The first step in an AHP analysis is to build a hierarchy for the decision This is also called decision modeling and it simply consists of building a hierarchy to analyze the decision The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) structures the problem as a hierarchy Note that the first level of the hierarchy is the goal

Figure 2.5: Developing a model (author)

The next level in the hierarchy is constituted by the criteria Author will use to decide The second level consists of the available alternatives The advantages of this hierarchical decomposition are clear By structuring the problem in this way it is possible

to better understand the decision to be achieved, the criteria to be used and the alternatives

to be evaluated (Charlotte Lanrén & Henril Pior, 2018)

 Pair-wise Comparison

Table 2.1: Saaty’s pairwise comparison scale (Saaty, 1980) Intensity of

equally to the objective

3 Weak importance of one over another

Experience and judgment slightly favor one activity over another

5 Essential or strong importance

Experience and judgment strongly favor one activity over another

L3: Alternatives L2: Criteria L1: Goal