1. The Corning Journey to Performance Excellence: Innovation Spanning Three Centuries A discussion of new content in the ASQ Knowledge Center asq.org/knowledge-center
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Thank you for delivering the key messages in this case study to your members!

2. Agenda Summary of key concepts from Corning case study
Video clip: Corning performance excellence model
Discussion
Open networking
The agenda is designed based on a 1- to 2-hour meeting, ending in discussion which should ideally lead to open networking.
If you expect members to read the case study and view the entire video before attending your meeting, you may wish to eliminate some of the slides summarizing the case study.
If you expect most members to be unfamiliar with the case study materials, you may wish to eliminate one or two of the conversation starter slides for discussion.
The recommended video clip is 14 minutes long.

3. Access case study components
knowledge-center/
case-studies-corning.html
Here is a screenshot of the Corning case study homepage:
Case study includes PDF article download, video, webcast, and more.
All files either are open access or require free registration, so others in your organization will be able to read and view them.
The case study is part of the Next Generation Quality Leadership series. More case studies like this are in planning and development, with Purina scheduled for publication in late 2013.
Within the written case study, you will find information on:
- History of Corning quality journey
- How Corning redefined and transformed itself for competitive advantage
- Corning’s culture of quality and homegrown scalable approach
- Corning’s performance excellence model

4. Summary of Corning’s journey
History of Corning’s journey
- Leading company engaged in total quality in the 1980s. Joined Motorola, Ford, Xerox, Milliken, AT&T, Cargill, and other pioneering businesses in the pursuit of quality methodology to increase value. Key concepts included: attack on all fronts (everyone needs to be engaged - quality has to be a total effort), develop small teams that attack projects by fixing processes across company operations, tools of quality are taught to and used by many teams, complete support of the CEO. 
begins a boom period of world-class quality
- Quality integration and Baldrige journey, received Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1995.
- However, decline of market dominance due to market saturation for key products. Corning quality advantage becomes outdated, no innovation hits on the horizon.
- Quality renewal begins. Re-assessment of values, strategy, culture, and leadership leads to reaffirmation of primary strategy of invention and innovation and renewal of commitment to being a top manufacturer as well as innovator.
Corning redefined and transformed itself for competitive advantage
Performance excellence initiative would:
- Concentrate on cost advantage.
- Preserve and enhance the culture of innovation.
- Ensure that the continuous improvement system itself was the best in its class. Corning would use common quality tools such as Six Sigma, lean, and kaizen, and customize them for a unique approach to quality improvement. This approach would have to be imbedded in Corning’s global operations. 

5. The Corning Performance Excellence Model
Corning has achieved its results through its performance excellence model that focuses on values, collaboration, execution, and improvement 
The model supported the customization of quality tools and employee training within the new strategy.
Corning's culture of quality and homegrown scalable approach enables employees in all functions to participate in improvement activities
- Customization and expansion of Six Sigma define-measure-analyze-improve-control (DMAIC) training - eventually, materials were uploaded to the company Intranet website and translated into eight languages for use across the globe.
Creation of individual DMAIC, an online offering allowing one person to learn and apply Six Sigma methods to a personal project
DESGN, an advanced Design for Six Sigma tool to create new and innovative business processes
Lean, a process of eliminating waste without affecting customer value. Corning used lean to reduce waste and improve business process flow.
Innovation, a process to support new product and technology development. Corning’s innovation process included five stages, from building initial knowledge to life cycle management.
Commercialization applications, the implementation of Six Sigma and other continuous improvement tools to the skills of sales and marketing.

6. The Corning Performance Excellence Model
Don McCabe,
former senior VP,
manufacturing &
performance excellence,
Corning
For a closer look at the performance excellence system at Corning, show a video clip of Don McCabe, former senior vice president, manufacturing and performance excellence, Corning. McCabe speaks to students in the Master of Engineering Management program at Northwestern University.
Full video is available at
And on YouTube at:
McCabe’s complete address runs from 16:17 to 30:20.

7. Corning’s results
Longevity: 160 years of leadership in innovation and manufacturing
Savings:
$1.5 billion in savings over eight years
$300 million in savings in one year using four improvement methodologies  
Participation and engagement:
3,000 Green Belts & Black Belts
4 individual improvements per year, per employee
Following McCabe’s address, Kristine Dale, director, performance excellence, offers more details on deployment of the model and on the results Corning has achieved, which include:
Longevity:
160 years of leadership in innovation and manufacturing  
Savings:
$1.5 billion in savings over eight years
$300 million in savings in one year using four improvement methodologies  
Participation and engagement:
3,000 trained Green Belts and Black Belts
Nearly 1,000 formal improvement projects completed in one year (2011)
100,000 individual improvements across the company every year (average of four per employee)     
Dale’s presentation begins at 30:20 and is about 20 minutes long

8. Conversation starter—business context
What are the primary business challenges addressed by Corning’s performance excellence system?
What are Corning’s approaches to these three imperatives for meeting today’s challenges …
Strategy for growth?
Execution?
Sustainability?
This conversation starter addresses the context for Corning’s performance excellence system and depends heavily on viewing the video of Don McCabe.
Some possible business challenges/dynamics to discuss:
Need to be the lowest-cost producer of its products
Need to leverage total organization – globally diverse talent pool
Become more customer and market focused
Need for a rallying theme, fundamental strategy
Focus on the long term – goal of lasting hundreds of years as “moral compass” rather than short-term stock prices
Use of real-time information
Collaboration
Compressed time cycles
Operate on global basis
McCabe outlines these three imperatives:
- Need to have a growth strategy: Corning grows through innovation
- Need to execute: for Corning, this means executing globally, being the best at manufacturing what it invents, being the lowest-cost producer of its products
- Need for sustainability: instill and support a culture for longevity, Corning’s seven core values provide a “moral compass” for performance excellence

9. Conversation starter—evolution of quality
How did Corning’s definition of quality change over the years?
Why did Corning’s initial approach, which had led to receiving the Baldrige Award, need to evolve?  
Encourage discussion of total quality efforts in the US in the 1980s.
Also ask what had to be different for Corning’s new approach to succeed. Given the strategic challenges Corning faced in 2002, what key factors needed to be considered in formulating a turnaround strategy?
It may help to return to slide 4 to review details of the history of Corning’s journey toward performance excellence.
McCabe also discusses the changing global landscape and the need for organizations to evolve, emphasizing quality as the “collaborative competitive advantage.”

10. Conversation starter—quality and collaboration
McCabe calls quality the “collaborative competitive advantage.”
Discuss the connection between quality and collaboration
How can leaders motivate employees to work collaboratively to create competitive advantage?
What are key motivators for employees to engage in collaboration?
Can some quality initiatives actually be demotivating?  What role does leadership play in engaging employees?
Also note that McCabe predicts “the Individual will be your competitive advantage” in the next ten years.

11. Conversation starter—leading transformation
How can corporate leaders …
Disseminate learning on common quality tools and embed quality principles in everyday operations?
Assure that quality projects are designed to further strategic initiatives of the organization?
This conversation starter depends less heavily on specific material in the case study. Encourage participants to broaden the discussion to their own organizations and circumstances.
How is it possible to design initiatives that don’t require employees to do peripheral non-productive activity, but focus on only the key strategies?
You may also want to mention McCabe’s statement that leaders have to have the courage to ask for and expect breakthrough results. People will deliver.

12. Continue the discussion
Complete post-meeting survey or contact to:
Offer feedback
Recommend organizations for case studies
Recommend topics for your Section meetings
Get help finding more content that meets your needs
Distribute your own survey, or you use the survey available on the member meeting kit page at

13. Keep talking about quality content!
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