Management methodologies are always welcome for organizing, standardizing and improving processes, as well as for maximizing results. But when it comes to choosing which one to apply in your company, there is a big question: PDCA, DMAIC, MASP or BSC? Which one is best?

We can say that there is no methodology that is better than the other or more complete, only that each one has its pros and cons. It's up to you and your team to determine which one - or ones - has the most to do with your company and its objectives.

To make your job easier, we've listed four of the most widely used management methodologies on the market, as well as their differences and similarities. We hope that by the end of this post you'll be able to make your selection!

PDCA

PDCA is a problem-solving method widely used in quality management. It can be applied to any problem faced by a company and can be very useful in improving processes.

The PDCA cycle is made up of four stages: plan, do, check, act. In other words, plan, do, check and act. When faced with a problem, you plan what needs to be done; then execute the plan; then check the results; then adjust anything that needs to be corrected and restart the cycle.

PDCA can be used to develop new products, improve processes, optimize strategies, solve problems, among other situations that require evaluation and continuous improvement.

DMAIC

The DMAIC method (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control) is also focused on continuous improvement, but it is based on performance indicators.

The aim is to define your performance indicators, measure them, analyze them, increase the strategy and control the results.

Excellent for monitoring progress towards the organization's strategic objectives and the performance of marketing and sales strategies, as it provides in-depth knowledge of what affects the organization's performance.

This method makes it easier to improve customer satisfaction, increase company productivity, optimize resources and reduce costs.
MASP

The Methodology for Analyzing and Solving Problems (MASP) was also born in quality management, with the aim of detecting and correcting non-conformities in processes, whether in industry, retail or service.
MASP has 8 stages to consider:

1. identifying the problem - in addition to identifying the problem, it is necessary to isolate it from other variables in order to be able to analyze the root cause with criteria;
2. information gathering - consists of observing the problem in order to gather information that can help with the solution;
3. analysis - the data collected is analyzed from various perspectives;
4. action plan - based on the analysis, the action plan is created, i.e. the strategies, tactics and actions to be developed to solve the problem;
5. execution - your action plan is put into practice;
6. analysis of results - the results are analyzed to see if they have had the desired effect;
7. standardization - if the problem has been solved, the new practices are implemented and standardized;
8. conclusion - the team responsible meets to evaluate the whole process.

With MASP, it is possible to reduce procedural and production failures, achieving greater efficiency and effectiveness in the company.

BSC

Finally, we have the Balance Scorecard, a management methodology focused on the strategic level of the organization. The BSC evaluates business performance from four different perspectives:

1. financial - satisfaction of partners and shareholders;
2. market - customer satisfaction;
3. internal processes - process performance;
4. organizational learning and growth - capacity to learn and innovate.

For the BSC to be applied, you must have the organization's strategic objectives very clear, segmenting them into goals and assigning indicators that allow you to measure results.

It is also essential that these objectives are broken down into tactical and operational objectives in order to involve the whole company in achieving them.

After all, which management methodology should you use?

As you may have noticed, one does not exclude the other. On the contrary, they can be combined and applied in different scenarios, bringing better results. To make it easier to maintain these methodologies, you should ideally have a strategic management software that include more than one of them, as is the case with Stratec's software, which enables the use of PDCA, DMAIC, MASP and BSC.