CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations 53

CASE 3-3 A CLASSIC: MOTOROLA’S QUESTFOR QUALITY*

Whether it is called total quality management(TQM), continuous quality improvement,customer satisfaction, employee involve-ment/empowerment/engagement, or someother moniker, efforts to improve productiv-ity and customer satisfaction are here tostay—key factors in global competitiveness.

! The basic premise is that whenmanagement pushes key decisionmaking down to frontline work-ers, creates work teams, andtracks quality, employees gainpride in their work and customersget better products and services.

TQM and its spin-offs are based largelyon basic public relations fundamentals suchas customer satisfaction, employee partici-pation, and maximum communication. It iscritical that public relations practitionersunderstand the implications of the qualityissue—and be able to speak the language ofquality in order to serve their companiesand clients more effectively.

This classic case discusses the efforts ofMotorola’s corporate public relations staff tosupport the company’s introduction of a qual-ity program, as well as its own internal depart-ment efforts to measure and enhance quality.

TQM’S BEGINNINGS AT MOTOROLARESPOND TO COMPETITIONMotorola, a multinational manufacturer ofeverything from cellular telephones to semi-

conductors for missile-guidance systems,had enjoyed robust sales, riding the explo-sive growth in high-tech electronics. But,like many other U.S. companies, Motorolawoke up in the late 1970s to the inroadsJapanese competition was making intoworld markets. Though Japanese brandswere attracting increasing numbers of cus-tomers, Motorola didn’t get serious about a response until the manager of the best-performing division in the companyannounced at an officers meeting, “Ourquality levels really stink.”

In looking for a solution, managementtoured factories of other companies aroundthe world. They found Japanese plantswhere quality performance was a thousandtimes better than Motorola’s. The Japanese,who had embraced the concept of totalquality management (see Primer of TQMTerms, page 61), had structured their operations to achieve zero defects, on thebasis of a do-it-right-the-first-time ethic.Motorola’s chairman observed that “quality[is] like a religion over there . . . It’s a wholedifferent sense of urgency.” It became clearthat Motorola would have to make a quan-tum leap in quality if it was to compete suc-cessfully with Japan and other Pacific Rimcountries.

At the same time, Motorola also saw thateventually Japan would have to open up itsdomestic market, previously closed to mostU.S. goods, or suffer serious trade conse-quences. Identifying Japan’s competitiveness

*We thank Chuck Sengstock, Fellow PRSA, former Director of Corporate Public Relations at MotorolaInc., for the wealth of information he provided for this case.

54 CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations

as an issue and showing that Motorola prod-ucts could hold up to Japanese scrutinybecame an aspect of the company’s efforts toimprove quality. By focusing on selling onespecific product (pagers) to one company(Nippon Telephone & Telegraph), Motorolawas able within a few years to open Japan’strade doors to become that company’s onlynon-Japanese supplier. In fact, at one pointMotorola was the leading supplier of pagersfor Nippon Telephone & Telegraph amongthree competitors, all Japanese.

This success spawned additional suc-cesses. For example, the Japanese SpaceAgency was so impressed with the reliabilityof Motorola equipment used in NASAspace shots that it specified Motorola equip-ment for use on many of its own space mis-sions.Then, a Japanese national who was thefirst woman ever to climb Mt. Everest useda Motorola FM portable two-way radio tohelp guide her to the top—despite havingplenty of Japanese radios to choose from.Markets in semiconductors and cellulartelephones have also been opened throughMotorola’s efforts.

“MEETING JAPAN’S CHALLENGE”Motorola believed that telling this story wasimportant, not only to enhance its own reputation for quality, but also to sound anote of encouragement to other Americancompanies whose self-confidence had beenundermined by Japanese successes in con-sumer electronics, automobiles, steel, and a growing number of other industries.Further, by identifying the issue of openingup Japan to American manufacturers as anemerging issue, Motorola saw an opportu-nity to distinguish itself and ride an issue toits crest. (See Chapter 8 for a discussion ofdealing with emerging issues.)

To explain its successful efforts to com-pete with Japan, Motorola invested in a

major campaign called “Meeting Japan’sChallenge.” The campaign, which ran overfour years, was designed to reach opinionleaders in business and government, par-ticularly key executives in customer andprospect firms who might be actual pur-chasers or influence the purchase ofMotorola products. As a collateral objectiveit also was designed to reach investors.

But first, employees had to be per-suaded they could and should push them-selves to deliver total quality.

The external strategy focused on dis-pelling the then-common American businessnotion of the Japanese as supermen—andshowing how companies like Motorola werenot only holding their own, but innovatingand leading.The message was:America neednot become a permanent weakling in foreigntrade. It could compete effectively withJapan, if the rules were fair and U.S. compa-nies had access to Japanese markets. Publicopinion to the contrary, it could be a “win-win” situation. Instead of being trade ene-mies, Japan and the United States couldbecome each other’s customers, suppliers,and constructive competitors.

The campaign included efforts on fivefronts: internal communications, advertis-ing, media relations, government relations,and Japanese business development.

! A series of 22 advertisements ranin leading U.S. business magazinesand newspapers (See Figure 3-1)with the key theme “Quality andproductivity through employeeparticipation in management.”

! Editorial briefings and interviewswere held with major media.

! Background papers called“Viewpoints” were developed onproductivity, quality, and othertopics.

! Talks given by Motorola execu-tives at scores of forums with key

CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations 55

FIGURE 3-1 Sample advertisements from the “Meeting Japan’s Challenge” series,which Motorola produced to reach opinion leaders in business and government.

(Courtesy of Motorola Inc.)

audiences were followed by mer-chandising of vest-pocket speechreprints.

! Weekly newspapers throughoutthe country received preprintednews fillers on relevant topics.

! Simultaneously, the programsought to place U.S.-Japan tradeissues high on the agenda of pol-icy makers through lobbying, testi-mony in Congress, personal visits

to executives of other corpora-tions, and direct lobbying in Japan.

! Internally, a film on “MeetingJapan’s Challenge” was shown atall plants in the United States. Abooklet with reprints of the adseries was distributed. Featurestories appeared in factory publi-cations. Banners, buttons, T-shirts,and hats reading “Meet theChallenge” were distributed.

56 CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations

What were the results? Motorola movedfrom a major but self-effacing Midwesternmanufacturer of technical products to ahigher profile company identified as a majorvoice on the trade issue. Audience researchshowed that the campaign had been instru-mental in triggering changes in the Americanpublic’s attitude toward the Japanese indus-trial complex. Ninety-one percent of journal-ists queried felt that Motorola was associ-ated with quality more than any otherattribute. In 1994, Motorola was named thesixth most admired company in the UnitedStates according to a Fortune 500 report.

A more important result was thatemployees responded positively, developingpride and confidence in their employer aswell as an understanding about what it takesto win in a tough marketplace.

WINNING THE MALCOLM BALDRIGENATIONAL QUALITY AWARDMotorola then decided to up the ante bygoing for zero defects. The company esti-mated that the cost of not having zerodefects was at least $800 million a year. Forthe next several years, Motorola engaged ina campaign to achieve “Six Sigma,” a total-quality term meaning achieving quality99.9997 percent of the time—equivalent tojust 3.4 defects per million opportunities!The goal was not to simply manufactureflawless products but to measure and elimi-nate defects throughout the organization, ineverything from clerical output and deliveryschedules to managerial decisions and pro-duction of the annual report.

To get employees excited about the con-cept, the company introduced another com-pany-wide education campaign that includedvideotapes, Six Sigma posters in every office,and a course on “Understanding Six Sigma”that was required for every employee andtailored for each division. Executive perfor-

mance reviews and bonus incentives weretied to Six Sigma requirements. The resultwas that Motorola in 1988 won one of thefirst U.S. Commerce Department’s MalcolmBaldrige National Quality Awards, namedafter the former Secretary of Commerce(See Figure 3-2).

The Corporate Public Relations staffplayed an important role in preparing theBaldrige Award application. They collectedall the information, which was essentially intechnical language or quality program jar-gon. They rewrote the entire application togive it continuity and punch. To prepare forthe possibility of winning, they developed acontingency plan that included using an out-side public relations firm to help implementinternal and external communications.

QUALITY AS A CULTURE MEASURESoon after Motorola won, thousands of theirsuppliers were asked to pledge that they, too,would apply for the award within five years.Those refusing to sign the pledge weredropped from the rolls of qualified suppliersunless they did not qualify as an applicantbecause of size or other exclusions. Motor-ola’s real intent was to make the BaldrigeAward less a prize to be won than a processfor inculcating excellence in a corporate cul-ture. To help suppliers get started with qual-ity, Motorola offers training at nominal feesin both basic and advanced quality tech-niques at Motorola University, the com-pany’s internal education and training cen-ter. Motorola also has a supplier certificationprogram that ranks the supplier on the basisof total quality delivery.

“QUALITY DAY”Though the Baldrige Award has become thecountry’s most coveted and competitiveprize, few knew about it when Motorola

CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations 57

FIGURE 3-2 Thought by many to be the Super Bowl trophy of American business,awards in three categories of industry (manufacturing, service, and smallbusiness) are made annually out of a pool of thousands of applicants.Many companies spend vast amounts of time and money completingthe complicated application and preparing for a grueling site visit.Pictured here is Motorola’s award.

(Courtesy of Motorola, Inc.)

MALCOLM BALDRIGE AWARD CRITERIA

Applicants are judged on seven criteria:

1. Leadership

2. Information and analysis

3. Strategic quality planning

4. Human resources utilization

5. Quality assurance of products and services

6. Quality results

7. Customer satisfaction

This constitutes a systems approachto managing for quality—an attempt toidentify and work on all elements thatimpact it.

58 CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations

won. To publicize the achievement, Motor-ola held a “Quality Day” in 89 locationsaround the world, involving more than100,000 employees. At each Quality Dayevent, a congressperson, senator, or gover-nor attended, or an ambassador or foreignconsul in overseas locations. BaldrigeAward flags were distributed at every plant,along with brochures, videos, speeches forplant managers, pennants, and mugs (SeeFigure 3-3).

APPLYING TQM TO THE PRACTICEOF PREvery department at Motorola was given thechallenge of establishing some quantitativemeasures to demonstrate its achievements.Total quality methodologies work for many

units but are not easily assimilated into theeveryday tasks of creative, often reactive,departments such as public relations andcommunications. They tend to work bestwith more production-oriented tasks such asmarketing communications or product pub-licity (data or catalog sheets, newsletters, andproduct news releases). For example, thezero defects method was used by the market-ing department to measure just about any-thing that could be quantified—errors inphotography or pricing, and grammar inbrochures and press releases.

CYCLE TIME REDUCTION (CTR)In cases where statistical techniques weretoo clumsy or required too much time andeffort, or where the products or services

FIGURE 3-3 Motorola’s “Quality Day” held at 89 locations around the globe helpedto publicize the importance of winning one of the first Malcolm BaldrigeAwards. Under the terms of the program, companies that win the awardare required to promote it.

CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations 59

were nonstandard and nonrepetitive, cycletime reduction was used as a measure. Thisconcept essentially means that the less timeit takes to perform tasks, the more produc-tivity is achieved. Although it is primarily amanufacturing term, cycle time can beapplied to many tasks.

Motorola’s Patent, Copyright, andTrademark Department, for example, hasused the cycle time reduction process toanalyze the patent applications function atMotorola and to identify ways it could beshortened. The result has been the elimi-nation of bottlenecks and redundantapprovals. Using CTR, the Law Departmentimplemented a program for alternative dispute resolution as an option to costly litigation.

Cycle time reduction can also work inother administrative areas. For example, in1989 it took Motorola six business days toclose the books at the end of the year. Ateam of accountants from CorporateFinance began mapping the consolidationfunction and determining how to speed upthe process. At the end of 1992, Motorolaclosed the books in four days, with less over-time than previously was used to close themin six days. The Finance Department hasimproved quality in its area—and reducedcost by $233,000 a year.This process has hadan impact on accounting operations world-wide. By the end of 1992, Motorola esti-mated that throughout the entire company,it had saved up to $20 million a year bygoing from a six-day to a four-day close. Thenext goal was to achieve a three-day close.

THE “VALUE-ADDED YARDSTICK”Another part of cycle time reduction is theelimination of activities that are redundant,nonessential, or do not add value. As anexample, transmitting copy for a publicationdirectly to a typesetter from a computer ter-

minal saves at least one whole keystrokingoperation, thereby saving time and moneyas well as eliminating potential errors. In1993, Motorola reduced quarterly reportproduction time from 10 days to 3 days byusing the same copy for the printed reportas was used in the news release. Thoughusing the same copy for these two vehiclesmay seem inappropriate, this practice hasbeen successful in addressing the two differ-ent audiences. Additionally, it saves onewhole approval cycle.

Complex projects or processes such asproduct introductions, special events, andmajor publications may have to be mappedor diagrammed for analysis (See Figure 3-4).This process reveals that there are manysmaller tasks within the larger task, many ofwhich are unessential or do not add value(e.g. non-essential approvals and reviews,multiple proofreadings, waiting for phonecalls to be returned, waiting for meetings,waiting for a document that’s stuck in some-one’s in-basket).

MOTOROLA AND QUALITY TODAYThough quality has become institutionalizedat Motorola, one way it keeps enthusiasmand visibility high is through an annual com-petition among Total Customer Satis-faction teams. In 1990, the first year of thechampionships, nearly 2,000 teams fromMotorola sites throughout the world com-peted.The challenge is to take a problem theteam has been dealing with and try to solveit with the target of improving satisfactionfor either internal or external customers.The final competition is judged by the com-pany’s most senior managers (CEO, presi-dent, and so on), who use specific criteria.The top 20–24 teams in the champion-ship make presentations and compete forgold and silver medals.

60

Pres

s Re

spon

se P

roce

dure

New

sM

edia

Publ

icRe

latio

ns

Expe

rtCo

mpa

nySo

urce

Initi

ate

Inqu

iry

Rece

ive

Med

iaIn

quiri

es

Rece

ive

Call

and

Expl

anat

ion

Call,

Exp

lain

Why

; Sug

gest

Oth

er S

ourc

e

?

Parti

cipa

te

?

Eval

uate

,D

eter

min

eBe

stSo

urce

No

?

Sour

ce

?

Cond

uct

Inte

rvie

w

Cond

uct

Inte

rvie

w

Follo

w u

pw

/Rep

orte

ras

Nec

essa

ryA

dditi

onal

Info

rmat

ion

Arti

clePr

inte

dSt

ory

Aire

don

Rad

io/T

V

Ass

essm

ent

of a

nyCo

rrec

tive

Mea

sure

s

Follo

w u

pA

dvise

Cor

pFo

llow

up

w/R

esou

rce

Clip

s

Revi

ewPr

epar

atio

nsG

roun

d Ru

les

PR S

uper

vise

sCo

nduc

t I/V

Feed

back

to S

ourc

e

PR

Expe

rtYe

s

FIG

URE

3-4

Sam

ple

map

ping

dia

gram

s sh

ow h

ow a

pro

cess

can

be

anal

yzed

to m

odify

or e

limin

ate

unne

cess

ary

step

s. T

he p

roce

-du

re fo

r pro

duci

ng a

nd is

suin

g a

pres

s re

leas

e, fo

r exa

mpl

e, s

how

s th

e pr

dire

ctor

revi

ewin

g th

e re

leas

e tw

ice.

If o

nere

view

is e

limin

ated

, the

pro

cess

can

be

spee

ded

up. A

sec

ond

area

that

can

be

acce

lera

ted

is pr

epar

ing

the

phot

oca

ptio

n. W

ithou

t any

cha

nge,

the

phot

o ca

ptio

n w

ritin

g an

d ap

prov

al p

roce

ss c

an b

e ru

n pa

ralle

l to

the

new

s re

leas

epr

oces

s, u

ltim

atel

y sa

ving

tim

e.

CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations 61

WHAT TQM HAS BORROWED FROM PRAs pointed out in the introduction to thiscase, many of TQM’s premises are based onthe same principles as public relations: cus-tomer satisfaction, participation, and com-munication. In fact, as many organizationsbegan in the 1990s to question the value ofTQM as an overly process-oriented manage-ment tool, public relations helped salvagethe core values of TQM. Public relations stillhas a role in promoting the essential ele-ments of TQM, such as facilitating continu-ous communication while leading employeesthrough the typical four stages of qualityprograms: (1) enthusiasm, (2) frustrationand discouragement, (3) exhilaration, and(4) satisfaction.

An Emst & Young report on BestPractices that affect performance regardlessof the management program identifiedthree factors that have a universally sig-nificant impact on worker performance:(1) process improvement methods, (2) sup-plier certification programs, and (3) deploy-ing the strategic plan. Clearly, public rela-tions has a role in building widespreadunderstanding of and support for all three,both inside and outside the organization.

PRIMER OF TQM TERMSThis list should suggest why internal com-munications are vital. In our rapidly chang-ing world, employees and managers are con-tinually bombarded with new approachesand new language that they must understandto be effective in their jobs.

W. Edwards Deming. American man-agement consultant who in the 1950sworked in Japan; his fourteen pointsof management are considered largelyresponsible for Japanese industry’s

post-World War II recovery and riseto dominance in world markets.Statistical process control (SPC). Avariety of techniques used to identifyquality problems and root causes forthem, such as pareto charts, his-tograms, and the like.Cycle time reduction (CTR). Effortsto reduce time spent on tasks so thatthe process is completed in less time.Benchmarking. Comparing one’s own efforts against those of the best;usually done to identify best-in-classperformance for a process (e.g.,invoice processing, on-time delivery,manufacturing processes, supervisorycommunication, community relationsactivities).Zero defects. Eliminating errors, agoal of many quality programs.Customer delight. It is no longerenough to satisfy customers—theymust be delighted.

WHY QUALITY AND OTHERIMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS FAILSince World War II, U.S. managers havelatched onto over 50 programs like TQM,making them into fads that blossom andfade. PR departments are usually expectedto get workers involved and excited.

Though some organizations continueon the quality bandwagon, growing doubtand uncertainty became apparent in the1990s. Florida Power & Light, the first non-Japanese company to win the presti-gious Deming Prize, dismantled its qualityprogram, claiming the bureaucracy andpaperwork were detracting attention fromcustomer service. McKinsey & Co., a man-agement consulting firm, conducted a studyof quality programs in the United States andEurope that showed as many as two-thirdswere stalling, failing, or being dropped.

62 CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations

Numerous other studies showed that qualityprograms failed to have a significant impacton either reducing defects or improvingcompetitiveness.

Though the basic principles of improve-ment programs are usually sound, imple-mentation is often flawed. This list of prob-lems demonstrates how difficult—and yethow vital—sophisticated employee rela-tions programs are today in engaging work-ers to meet the challenges of global compet-itiveness.

1. American executives have short atten-tion spans, and as Newsweek maga-zine reported, management plansoften have the “shelf life of cottagecheese.” Like many other manage-ment trends (management-by-objectives, zero-based budgeting,excellence, one-minute managing),TQM was often treated as justanother managerial fad without thecommitment to follow through.

2. Many improvement programs aregeneric, canned, or inappropriate forAmerican organizations. One sizedoes not fit all.

3. The emphasis on process (statisticalmeasurement, meeting quotas, chart-ing, graphing, indicator reviewing) canbecome a “whipping boy” and divertattention from the primary focus ofall these efforts—which is customerservice.

4. Oftentimes top management gives lipservice but fails to act as role models.Or, after their enthusiasm wanes, theydelegate responsibility and soon abureaucracy develops—TQM hadquality directors, quality councils,quality departments, quality commit-tees, and so on.

5. Middle managers can feel disenfran-chised or fearful of losing their role,which can derail efforts to enhance

greater employee participation. Thetransformation from autocrats to“coaches” is not easy, yet almost everyimprovement program demands it.

6. Sometimes work teams aren’t con-nected by any coordinating strategyor mechanism, creating islands ofimprovement without bridges.

7. In many companies, rewards are stilltied to the bottom line, not to qualitywork—or individuals are rewarded,rather than the teams on which theimprovement process is usually based.

8. Some organizations treat improve-ment efforts as just a program, doingit for marketing purposes rather thanbecause a focus on quality is the rightthing to do for customers. Quality andcustomer satisfaction have to be thegoals, not just slogans.

ONE SIDE-EFFECT OF RECENTIMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS:DOWNSIZINGAs the economy fluctuates and organiza-tions speed up their quest to stay competi-tive, so too changes the face of business.Therein lie the opportunities for public relations practitioners. The days of thecolossal company are disappearing, andmany organizations must pare down theirworkforce to produce quality work elimi-nating unneeded tasks. This new trendcomes under many names—downsizing,reengineering, or right-sizing.

Reengineering (another short-livedmanagerial fad) attempted to combinethese basic virtues:

! Zero-based restructuring: Howwould we do things if we werestarting this organization fromscratch?

! Among employees, it encouragescooperation instead of turfing,

CHAPTER 3 Employee Relations 63

individual decision-makingresponsibility, and self-managingwork teams.

! Its stimulus is the renewed driveto increase productivity. Peopleneed to work smarter not harder.

! Emphasizes keeping peoplebroadly trained instead of narrowspecialists, to greater facilitateproductivity.

! Takes most of the good ideas ofpreceding fads and gives themunified application.

! It attempts to achieve the originalgoal of organizational redesign,QWL (quality of work life).

Downsizing—laying off workers to cutcosts or because they’re no longer needed—is a major employee relations challenge. "

1. Note how much farther a program liketotal quality management goes thanmere employee newsletters. Does thissuggest that the need for such standardcommunication vehicles will diminish,or maybe even die out?

2. In a zero-defects culture such as aTQM program, how do you create anatmosphere in which people feel it’s okto take risks (i.e., make mistakes) andat the same time feel the pressure todeliver perfection? What is the publicrelations role in resolving this conflict?

3. List all the instances in this case wherepublic relations could have played arole, whether or not it actually did.

4. Bridging between principles and appli-cations, which of the seven commondenominators, or characteristics, to befound in almost all public relations pro-grams (listed in Chapter 1) are clearlyevident in this case? Are not evident?

5. Outline the interplay between externalcommunication efforts and internalcommunications in this case. Did theyaffect each other? How?

QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION