CHAPTER-1

Total Quality Management

Everyone has had experiences of poor quality when dealing with business organizations.

These experiences might involve an airline that has lost a passenger’s luggage, a dry

cleaner that has left clothes wrinkled or stained, poor course offerings and scheduling at

your college, a purchased product that is damaged or broken, or a pizza delivery service

that is often late or delivers the wrong order. The experience of poor quality is

exacerbated when employees of the company either are not empowered to correct quality

inadequacies or do not seem willing to do so. We have all encountered service employees

who do not seem to care. The consequences of such an attitude are lost customers and

opportunities for competitors to take advantage of the market need. Successful companies

understand the powerful impact customer-defined quality can have on business. For this

reason many competitive firms continually increase their quality standards. For example,

both the Ford Motor Company and the Honda Motor Company have recently announced

that they are making customer satisfaction their number one priority. The slow economy

of 2003 impacted sales in the auto industry. Both firms believe that the way to rebound is

through improvements in quality, and each has outlined specific changes to their

operations. Ford is focusing on tightening already strict standards in their production

process and implementing a quality program called Six-Sigma. Honda, on the other hand,

is focused on improving customer-driven product design. Although both firms have been

leaders in implementing high quality standards, they believe that customer satisfaction is

still what matters most. Total quality management, now a well known idea, is a

philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of products and

processes. The idea is that the quality of products and processes is the responsibility of

everyone who is involved with the development and/or use of the products or services.

TQM involves management, workforce, suppliers, and even customers, in order to meet

or exceed customer expectations. The common TQM practices are cross-functional

product design, process management, supplier quality management, customer

involvement, information and feedback, committed leadership, strategic planning, cross-

functional training, and employee involvement. Six Sigma is a business management

strategy which seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and

removing the causes of defects and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business

processes. A six sigma process is one in which 99.99966% of the products manufactured

are statistically expected to be free of defects. TQM’s focus is general improvement by

approaching the problem collaboratively and culturally whereas Six Sigma utilizes the

efforts of many departments, generally with a statistical approach. It makes use of

measuring and analyzing data to determine how defects and differences could be

minimized to the level where there are 3.4 defects per million cycles/products. Six Sigma

can easily be integrated into quality management efforts. Integrating Six Sigma into the

TQM program facilitates process improvement through detailed data analysis. Using the

Six Sigma metrics, internal project comparisons facilitate resource allocation while

external project comparisons allow for benchmarking. Thus, the application of Six Sigma

makes TQM efforts more successful. In today’s highly competitive environment,

organizations tend to integrate TQM and six sigma to gain maximum benefits. This

volume is an effort to gain insights into new developments in the fields of quality

management and six sigma and comprises of articles authored by renowned professionals

and academics working in the field. Both beginners’ and veterans in the field can learn

useful techniques and ideas from this volume.

Total quality management (TQM) refers to management methods used to enhance quality

and productivity in organizations, particularly businesses. TQM is a comprehensive

system approach that works horizontally across an organization, involving all departments

and employees and extending backward and forward to include both suppliers and

clients/customers.

TQM is only one of many acronyms used to label management systems that focus on

quality. Other acronyms that have been used to describe similar quality management

philosophies and programs include CQI (continuous quality improvement), SQC

(statistical quality control), QFD (quality function deployment), QIDW (quality in daily

work), and TQC (total quality control). Despite the ambiguity of the popularized term

"TQM," that acronym is less important than the substance of the management ideology

that underlies it. TQM provides a framework for implementing effective quality and

productivity initiatives that can increase the profitability and competitiveness of

organizations.

The way of managing organization to achieve excellence.

• Total – everything

• Quality – degree of excellence

• Management – art, act or way of organizing, controlling,

planning, directing to achieve certain goals.

TQM may be defined as a continuous quest for excellence by creating the right skills

and attitudes in people to make prevention of defects possible and satisfy customers/users totally at all times.Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach

to improving the effectiveness and flexibility of business as a whole. It is essentially a

way of organizing and involving the whole organization; every department, every

activity, every single person at every level.

1.1 Basic Concepts of TQM?

A committed and involved management to provide long-term top-to bottom organizational support.

An unwavering focuses on the customer, both internally and externally.

Effective involvement and utilization of the entire work force.

Continuous improvement of the business and production process.

Treating suppliers as partners.

Establish performance measures for the processes.

1.2 Objectives of TQM

To develop a conceptual understanding of the basic principles and

methodsassociatedwith TQM;

To develop an understanding of how these principles and methods have been putintoeffect in a variety of organizations;

To develop an understanding of the relationship between TQM principles

and thetheories and models studied in traditional management;

To do the right things, right the first time, every time.

TQM is an enhancement to the traditional way of doing business. It is the art of

managing the whole to achieve excellence. It is defined both a philosophy and a set of guiding principles that represent the foundation of a continuously improving organization. It is the application of quantitative methods and human resources to

improve all the processes within an organization and exceed customer needs now and in the future. It integrates fundamental management techniques, existing

improvement efforts, and technical tools under a disciplined approach. Total quality management is management philosophy embracing all activities through

which the needs and expectations of the CUSTOMER and COMMUNITY, and the

objectives of the organization are satisfied in the most efficient and cost effective manner

by maximizing the potential of ALL employees in a continuing drive for improvement.” It

is the optimization and integration of all the functions and processes of a business in order

to provide for excited customers through a process of continuous improvement. The

1990's is the decade of Globalization. In order for companies to be competitive in this

environment they have seen the imperative need for Quality. However through the

decades leading to the 90's there have been many "gurus" who have explicitly underlined

the need for Total Quality Management Systems in companies, but due to many factors

these ideas have either gone unheeded, or been buzz word for a short time. It is possible

that Total Quality Management (TQM), is once again a buzz word and a marketing tool,

but nevertheless it is a tool that is being extensively used in the 90's to help companies

gain and maintain a competitive edge over their rivals. A Disciplined Approach for

Management and Employees to Manage Quality A Methodology for Problem Solving and

Continuous Process Improvement Apply to All Employees in Everything is done

Everyone has a Customer - Both Internal and External Quality Defined is Conformance to

Customer Requirements Objectives of TQM: Process improvement Defect prevention

Priority of effort Developing cause-effect relationships Measuring system capacity

Developing improvement checklist and check forms Helping teams make better decisions

Developing operational definitions Separating trivial from significant needs Observing

behavior changes over a period of time TQM revolves around: Commitment by Senior

Management and all employees Effective strategy, vision, mission and goals Customer/

Supplier relationships Communication Tools and techniques for improvement Team work

Systems to facilitate improvement and most of all TRUST 5 The quality system should

apply to and interact with all activities of the organization. It begins with the identification

of requirements and ends with their satisfaction, at every transaction interface. The quality

system must be a practical working document. Look for a document that is well fingered

in use. A useful guide in the operation of any process is: 1. No process without data

collection 2. No data collection without analysis 3. No analysis without decisions 4. No

decisions without actions (which can include doing nothing) This discipline is built into

any good quality system primarily through the audit and review systems. The overriding

requirement is that the systems must reflect the established practices of the organisation,

improved where necessary to bring them into line with current and future requirements. In

implementing a quality system the established national standards such as the BS7850

series can serve as a useful guide and framework. A systematic, functional, quality model

like TQM should be genuinely explored and exploited. Continuous improvements are

probably the most powerful concept to guide management through the achievements of

TQM Continuous improvements are based on systematic, incremental and habitual

improvements of processes rather than on breakthroughs and innovative advances. The

process concentrates on elimination of waste and non-value-added activities through

collective and continuous involvement of all employees. This systematic approach to

quality management requires the following components: Planning the processes and

inputs Providing inputs Operating the processes Evaluating the outputs Examining the

performances of the processes Modifying the processes and their inputs. TQM Tools

Quality Improvement Teams These are small groups of employees who work on solving

specific problems related to quality and productivity, often with stated targets for

improvement. Quality improvement teams are proving to be highly successful at tracking

down the causes of poor quality as well as taking remedial action. Benchmarking This is

the process of identifying the best practices and approaches by comparing productivity in

specific areas within ones' own company to other organisations both within and outside

the industry. 6 Statistical process control This is a statistical technique that uses periodic

random samples taken during actual production to determine whether acceptable quality

levels are being met or whether production should be stopped in order to take remedial

action. Because most processes produce some variation, statistical process control uses

statistical tests to determine when variations fall outside a narrow range around the

acceptable quality level. The emphasis when using SPC is on defect prevention rather

than trying to inspect the quality into the product. COMMITMENT In order for the Eye

on the Future Model to be a success, each member in an organisation must be committed

to the change process. It cannot be viewed as the new flavour of the month, but should

rather be regarded as an exciting life changing process. Too often peoples' enthusiasm

wanes when they realise that the change process in an organisation is not likely to occur

overnight People need to pledge their support to objectively analysing their job functions

and procedures, and seeking new innovative ways to improve them. If necessary

inspirational speakers should be employed to enthuse staff to a new attitude of

commitment. Once again, people are led by example. If it appears that management is not

committed to the change process, this is the attitude the people will develop. However, if

commitment is perceived to be the attitude of management, then the people are most

likely to follow. TRAINING Training must be a part of the organisations succession

planning. In today's business environment any training which is less than visionary will

not help the organisation meet its' future goals and objectives. Training objectives must be

supportive of the company's vision and mission. In order to identify training, the

employees must be involved. System deficiencies including non-conformance reports,

customer complaints and job performance appraisals will highlight the most urgent areas

for development. Training programmes must be devised and implemented to help bridge

the gap identified previously. The results of the training must be evaluated to ensure that

effective improvement has been achieved and that employees are competent to use the

skills acquired. Management must promote the need for continuous training, as it will

facilitate the following: 1. Employees will be more confident and motivated in their work

2. Reduce staff turnover 3. Reduce errors 4. Improve productivity 5. Improve the

organisation competitiveness. Training must help each individual in the organisation to

maintain a growing knowledge of their business environment. It must be implemented to

each individual, from the directors to the cleaners.

A well developed and implemented QA system should:

(i) Improve your product and service quality

(ii) Give your customers confidence that their needs will be met.

(iii) Standardise your business by giving it a consistent approach to its operations

(iv) Improve work processes, efficiencies, morale and reduce waste 1.3 TQM Seven Basic Concepts

1.Leadership

2. Customer Satisfaction 3. Employee Involvement

4. Continuous Process Improvement 5. Supplier Partnership

6. Performance Measures

7.Top management commitment

1.4 .Total Quality Management Characteristics of Successful Leader must possesses :

Top management must realize importance of quality

Quality is responsibility of everybody, but ultimate responsibility is CEO Involvement and commitment to CQI

Quality excellence becomes part of business strategy Lead in the implementation process

Give attention to external and internal customers

Empower, not control subordinates. Provide resources, training, and work environment to help them do their jobs

Emphasize improvement rather than maintenance

Emphasize prevention Encourage collaboration rather than competition

Train and coach, not direct and supervise Learn from problems – opportunity for improvement

Continually try to improve communications

Continually demonstrate commitment to quality Choose suppliers on the basis of quality, not price

Establish organisational systems that supports quality efforts 1.5.how to bring Customer Satisfaction

Customer is always right – in Japan customer is “King”

• Customer expectations constantly changing – 10 years ago acceptable, now not any more!

• Delighting customers (Kano Model)

• Satisfaction is a function of total experience with organization • Need to continually examine the quality systems and practices to be responsive to ever – changing needs, requirements and expectations – Retain and Win new customers

1.6.Employee Involvement

• People – most important resource/asset

• Quality comes from people • Deming – 15% operator errors, 85% management system

• Project teams – Quality Control Circles (QCC), QIT • Education and training – life long, continuous both knowledge and skills

• Suggestion schemes; Kaizen, 5S teams

• Motivational programmes, incentive schemes • Conducive work culture, right attitude, commitment

1.7. Continuous Process Improvement

• View all work as process – production and business

• Process – purchasing, design, invoicing, etc.

• Inputs – PROCESS – outputs • Process improvement – increased customer satisfaction

• Improvement – 5 ways; Reduce resources, Reduce errors, Meet expectations of downstream customers, Make process safer, make process more satisfying to the person doing

1.8 Supplier Partnership

• 40% prod. Cost comes from purchased materials, therefore supplier Quality Management important • Substantial portion quality problems from suppliers

• Need partnership to achieve quality improvement – long-term purchase contract • Supplier Management activities • Define product/program requirements; 1. Evaluate potential and select the best suppliers 2. Conduct joint quality planning and execution 3. Require statistical evidence of quality 4. Certify suppliers, e.g. ISO 900, Ford Q1 5. Develop and apply Supplier Quality Ratings ƒ Defects/Percent non-conforming ƒ Price and Quality costs ƒ Delivery and Service 1.9. Performance Measures

• Managing by fact rather than gut feelings

• Effective management requires measuring • Use a baseline, to identify potential projects, to asses results from improvement

• E.g. Production measures – defects per million, inventory turns, on-time delivery • Service – billing errors, sales, activity times

• Customer Satisfaction • Methods for measuring

• Cost of poor quality ƒ Internal failure ƒ External failure ƒ Prevention costs ƒ Appraisal costs 1.10 Pillars of TQM?

1. Problem solving discipline

2. Interpersonal skills

3. Teamwork and

4. Quality improvement process

1.11 Tangible and intangible benefits of TQM.

_ Improved product quality

_ Improved productivity

_ Reduced quality costs

_ Increased market and customers

_ Increased profitability

_ Reduced employee grie vances Intangible Benefits Improved employee

participation

_ Improved teamwork

_ Improved working relationships

_ Improved customer satisfaction

_ Improved communication

_ Enhancement of job interest

_ Enhanced problem-solving capacity

_ Better company image

1.12 Quality

Quality = Performance x Expectations

Quality is defined as being 'the degree of excellence, relative nature or kind or

character; class or grade of thing determined by this; general excellence'. Quality is

the ability of your product to be able to satisfy your users. Quality is a concept that should be applied to an organisation as a whole. Quality should be applied to every process, which the organisation carries out, from getting the raw materials from suppliers, through every stage of the production cycle or service provisionOver the years a large amount of organisations have tried surviving in the market place merely on price, but they have found that this was not enough. Take the example of the UK in the 1970's , the UK once had a thriving manufacturing industry, in which the products may have been reasonably priced but the quality was found to be somewhat lacking. During the late 1970's came the far eastern imports such as cars, televisions, radios, videos, etc. These products were not only comparatively cheaper but they also had a much higher quality

standard, the result was a shift away from home grown products to foreign imports. The economic effects can be seen in the ever increasing UK trade deficit with the rest of the world, and it's declining manufacturing base.TQM is the integration of all functions

and processes within an organization in order to achieve continuous improvement of the quality of goods and services. The goal is customer satisfaction. Total Quality Management is a system of management based on the principle that every member of staff must be committed to maintaining high standards of work in every aspect of a company's operations.

There are so many definitions for Quality.

Based on judgments by an individual or organization

Fitness for purpose.

Corresponds to a rating

Based on acceptable performance.

Meeting goals.

Meeting requirements .

The standard of something as measured against other things of a similar kind; the degree of excellence of something.

A distinctive attribute or characteristic possessed by someone or something.

Quality is defined as the predictable degree of uniformity and dependability, atlow cost suited to the market.(Deming).

Quality is defined as fitness for use (Juran). Quality is defined as conformance to requirements (Crosby).

Quality is totality of the characteristics of entity that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs(ISO).

1.13 Five Approaches of Defining Quality

Harvard professor David Garvin, in his book Managing Quality summarized five

principal approaches to define quality.

Transcendent

Product based

User based

Manufacturing based

Value based TQM may be defined as a continuous quest for excellence by creating the right skills

and attitudes in people to make prevention of defects possible and satisfy customers/users totally at all times.Total Quality Management (TQM) is an approach

to improving the effectiveness and flexibility of business as a whole. It is essentially a

way of organizing and involving the whole organization; every department, every

activity, every single person at every level.

Quality assurance (QA) is a broad concept that focuses on the entire quality system

including suppliers and ultimate consumers of the product or service. It includes all

activities designed to produce products and services of appropriate quality.According to

ASQ, QA includes all those planned or systematic actions necessary to provide adequate

confidence that a product or service will satisfy given needs. Quality Assurance is the

process that demonstrates your product is able to satisfy your users. When good

Quality Assurance is implemented there should be improvement in usability and

performance and lessening rates of defects . When good Quality Assurance is

implemented there should be improvement in usability and performance and

lessening rates of defects

Quality control (QC) has a narrower focus than quality assurance. Quality control

focuses on the process of producing the product or service with the intent of eliminating

problems that might result in defects.QC includes the operational techniques and the

activities which sustain a quality of product or service that will satisfy given needs; also

the use of such techniques and activities. Quality management is the totality of

functions involved in the determination and achievement of quality (includes quality

assurance and quality control). When good Quality Assurance is implemented there

should be improvement in usability and performance and lessening rates of defects

.

1.14 What is Quality Control?

Quality Control (QC) is the implementation of regular testing procedures against

your definitions of quality and more specifically the refinement of these

procedures

• Formal use of testing

• Acting on the results of your tests

• Requires planning, structured tests, good documentation

• Relates to output - Quality Circle

• Standards - ISO 9000 & BS5750 however there is currently no such standard for Web sites

1.15 quality system can help in:

identify problem areas and rectify them quickly

track customer feedback

improve performance of staff

with continual improvement

develop or provide better quality products and services

force you to communicate more with your staff and customers

increase sales and profits

grow your business

define an appropriate supplier

protect your business

standardize processes and procedures

gain recognition from external bodies

with obtaining government projects (usually certification is needed here though, but not always)

define roles and responsibilities of management and employees- reduce overhead costs

and heaps more benefits

1.16 How to bring quality in a organization :

There is no single path to achieving total quality within an organization. There are no hard and fast rules to follow to become a world class company. Leadership Commitment

Training

Empowerment and Involvement

Measurement

Recognition and Awards

Communication

Employee Survey

To bring the quality to follow A four-level Model.

Level 1. Inspection

Level 2. Quality Control

Level 3. Quality Assurance

Level 4. Total Quality Management

Inspection measure the characteristics of a product and compare them with its specifications. Quality Control inspection performed by the workers themselves with a feedback loop to the production line. Quality Assurance set of (implemented) predefined and systematic activities necessary to give confidence in theprocess quality. Total Quality Management management centered on quality and based on the participation of everybody which aims at thecustomer satisfaction and at the improvement of the company's personnel, of the company and of the society.

To bring the quality first of all any organization should focus on the customer and their

need. organization should understand

1. Who are my customers ? 2. What are their needs ? 3. What is my product or service ? 4. What are my customers' measures or expectations? 5. What is my process for meeting their needs ? 6. Does my product or service meet these needs ? 7. What actions are needed to improve my process ?

1.17 THE EVOLUTION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

The historical evolution of Total Quality Management has taken place in four stages. The

can be categorized as follows:

1 Quality inspection 2 Quality control

3 Quality assurance 4

Total Quality Management

The concept of quality has existed for many years, though its meaning has changed and

evolved over time. In the early twentieth century, quality management meant inspecting

products to ensure that they met specifications. In the 1940s, during World War II, quality

became more statistical in nature. Statistical sampling techniques were used to evaluate

quality, and quality control charts were used to monitor the production process. In the

1960s, with the help of so-called “quality gurus,” the concept took on a broader meaning.

Quality began to be viewed as something that encompassed the entire organization, not

only the production process. Since all functions were responsible for product quality and

all shared the costs of poor quality, quality was seen as a concept that affected the entire

organization. The meaning of quality for businesses changed dramatically in the late

1970s. Before then quality was still viewed as something that needed to be inspected and

corrected. However, in the 1970s and 1980s many U.S. industries lost market share to

foreign competition. In the auto industry, manufacturers such as Toyota and Honda

became major players. In the consumer goods market, companies such as Toshiba and

Sony led the way. These foreign competitors were producing lower-priced products with

considerably higher quality. To survive, companies had to make major changes in their

quality programs.Many hired consultants and instituted quality training programs for their

employees. A new concept of quality was emerging. One result is that quality began to

have a strategic meaning. Today, successful companies understand that quality provides a

competitive advantage. They put the customer first and define quality as meeting or

exceeding customer expectations. Since the 1970s, competition based on quality has

grown in importance and has generated tremendous interest, concern, and enthusiasm.

Companies in every line of business are focusing on improving quality in order to be

more competitive. In many industries quality excellence has become a standard for doing

business. Companies that do not meet this standard simply will not survive. As you will

see later in the chapter, the importance of quality is demonstrated by national quality

awards and quality certifications that are coveted by businesses. The term used for today’s

new concept of quality is total quality management or TQM. Figure 5-3 presents a

timeline of the old and new concepts of quality. You can see that the old concept is

reactive, designed to correct quality problems after they occur. The new concept is

proactive, designed to build quality into the product and process de- sign. Next, we look

at the individuals who have shaped our understanding of quality. Quality has been

evident in human activities for as long as we can remember. However the first stage on

this development can be seen in the 1910s when the Ford Motor Company’s ‘T’ Model

car rolled off the production line. The company started to employ teams of inspectors to

compare or test the product with the project standard. This was applied at all stages

covering the production process and delivery, etc. The purpose of the inspection was

that the poor quality product found by the inspectors would be separated from the

acceptable quality product and then would be scrapped, reworked or sold as lower

quality. With further industrial advancement came the second stage of TQM

development and quality was controlled through supervised skills, written specification,

measurement and standardization. During the Second World War, manufacturing

systems became complex and the quality began to be verified by inspections rather than

the workers themselves. Statistical quality control by inspection –the post production

effort to separate the good product from the bad product- was then developed. The

development of control charts and accepting sampling methods by Shewhart and Dodge-

Roming during the period 1924-1931 helped this era to prosper further from the

previous inspection era. At this stage Shewhart introduced the idea that quality control

can help to distinguish and separate two types of process variation; firstly the variation

resulting from random causes and secondly the variation resulting from assignable or

special causes. He also suggested that a process can be made to function predictably by

separating the variation due to special causes. Further, he designed a control chart for

monitoring such process control and lower evidence of non-conformance. The third

stage of this development, i.e. quality assurance contains all the previous stages in order

to provide sufficient confidence that a product or service will satisfy customers’ needs.

Other activities such as comprehensive quality manuals, use of cost of quality,

development of process control and auditing of quality systems are also developed in

order to progress from quality control to the quality assurance era of Total Quality

Management. At this stage there was also an emphasis of change from detection

activities towards prevention of bad quality. The fourth level, i.e. Total Quality

Management involves the understanding and implementation of quality management

principles and concepts in every aspect of business activities. Total Quality Management

demands that the principles of quality management must be applied at every level, every

stage and in every department of the organization. The idea of Total Quality

Management philosophy must also be enriched by the application of sophisticated

quality management techniques. The process of quality management would also be

beyong the inner organization in order to develop close collaboration with suppliers.

Various characteristics of the different stages in the development of Total Quality

Management can be seen in Table 3.1. Here QI, QC, QA and TQM are abbreviations of

Quality Inspection, Quality Control, Quality Assurance and Total Quality Management.

The development of total quality management from 1950 onwards can be credited to

the works of various American experts. Among them, Dr Edward Deming, Dr Joseph

Juran and Philip Crosby have contributed significantly towards the continuous

development of the subject.

Stage Characteristics QI (1910) Salvage Sorting Corrective Action Identify sources of non-

conformance QC (1924) Quality manual Performance data Self-inspection Product

testing Quality planning Use of statistics Paperwork control QA (1950) Third-party

approvals Systems audits Quality planning Quality manuals Quality costs Process control

Failure mode and effect analysis Non-production operation TQM (1980) Focused vision

Continuous improvements Internal customer Performance measure Prevention

Company-wide application Interdepartmental barriers.

1- Constancy of purpose; create constancy of purpose for continual improvement of

product and service. 2- The new philosophy: adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new

economic age, created in Japan.

3- Cease dependence on inspection: eliminate the need for mass inspection as a way to

achieve quality. 4- End ‘lowest tender’ contracts end the practice of awarding business

solely on the basis of price tag.

5- Improve every process: improve constantly and forever every process for planning,

production and service.

6- Institute training on the job: institute modern methods of training on the job. 7-

Institute leadership: adopt and institute leadership aimed at helping people and

machines to do a better job. 8- Drive out fear: encourage effective two-way

communication and other means to drive out fear throughout the organization. 9- Break

down barriers: break down barriers between department and staff areas. 10- Eliminate

exhortations: eliminate the use of slogans, posters and exhortations. 11- Eliminate

targets: eliminate work standards that prescribe numerical quotas for the workforce and

numerical goals for people in management. 12- Permit pride of workmanship: remove

the barriers that rob hourly workers, and people in management, of the right to pride of

workmanship. 13- Encourage education: institute a vigorous program of education and

encourage selimprovement for everyone. 14- Top management commitment: clearly

define top management’s permanent commitment to ever-improving quality and

productivity.

At the same time Dr. Joseph Juran (1980) through his teaching was stressing the

customer’s point of view of products’ fitness for use or purpose. According to him a

product could easily meet all the specifications and still may not be fit for use or

purpose. Juran advocated 1’ steps for quality improvements as follows: 1- Build

awareness of the need and opportunity for improvement. 2- Set goals for improvement.

3- Organize to reach the goals (establish a quality council, identify problems, select

projects, appoint teams, designate facilitators). 4- Provide training. 5- Carry out projects

to solve problems 6- Report progress. 7- Gaive recognition 8- Communicate results. 9-

Keep score. 10- Maintain momentum by making annual improvement part of the regular

systems and processes of the company

1.18 Quality Gurus

Walter A. Shewhart –Contributed to understanding of process variability.–

Developed concept of statistical control charts.

W. Edwards Deming –Stressed management’s responsibility for quality.–

Developed “14 Points” to guide companies in quality improvement.

Joseph M. Juran –Defined quality as “fitness for use.”–Developed concept of

cost of quality.

Armand V. Feigenbaum –Introduced concept of total quality control.

Philip B. Crosby –Coined phrase “quality is free.”–Introduced concept of zero

defects.

Kaoru Ishikawa –Developed cause-and-effect diagrams.–Identified concept of

“internal customer.”

Genichi Taguchi –Focused on product design quality.–Developed Taguchi loss

function.

To fully understand the TQM movement, we need to look at the philosophies of notable

individuals who have shaped the evolution of TQM. Their philosophies and teachings

have contributed to our knowledge and understanding of quality today. Their individual

contributions are summarized in Table 5-2.

TIME: 1900s 1940s

1960s

1980s and Beyond

FOCUS: Inspection Statistical sampling

Organizationalquality focus

Customer driven quality

Old Concept of Quality: Inspect for quality after production. New Concept of

Quality:

Build quality into the

process.

Identify and correct

causes of

quality problems

Walter A. Shewhart Walter A. Shewhart was a statistician at Bell Labs during the

1920s and 1930s. Shewhart studied randomness and recognized that variability existed in

all manufacturing processes. He developed quality control charts that are used to identify

whether the variability in the process is random or due to an assignable cause, such as

poor workers or miscalibrated machinery. He stressed that eliminating variability

improves quality. His work created the foundation for today’s statistical process control,

and he is often referred to as the “grandfather of quality control.”

W. Edwards Deming W. Edwards Deming is often referred to as the “father of quality

control.” He was a statistics professor at New York University in the 1940s. After World

War II he assisted many Japanese companies in improving quality. The Japanese regarded

him so highly that in 1951 they established the Deming Prize, an annual award given to

firms that demonstrate outstanding quality. It was almost 30 years later that American

businesses began adopting Deming’s philosophy. A number of elements of Deming’s

philosophy depart from traditional notions of quality. The first is the role management

should play in a company’s quality. According to Deming (1982), organization problems

lie within the management process and statistical methods can be used to trace the

source of the problem. In order to help the managers to improve the quality of their

organizations he has offered the following 14 management points.

1. Create constancy of purpose towards improvement of product and service with aim to be competitive, stay in business and provide jobs. 2. Adopt a new philosophy – new economic age, learn responsibilities and take on leadership for future change.

3. Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality. Eliminate the need for inspection on a mass basis by building quality into product in the first palace. 4. End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price, instead, minimize total costs.

5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to improve quality and productivity, thus decreasing costs. 6. Institute training on the job

7. Institute leadership, supervision to help do a better job. 8. Drive out fear, everyone can work effectively for company.

9. Breakdown barriers between departments. Work as teams to foresee production problems. 10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for workforce.

11. Eliminate numerical quotas on the workforce. 12. Remove barriers that rob people pride of workmanship.

13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement.

14. Put everybody to work to accomplish the transformation.

improvement effort. Historically, poor quality was blamed on workers—on their lack of

productivity, laziness, or carelessness. However, Deming pointed out that only 15 percent

of quality problems are actually due to worker error. The remaining 85 percent are caused

by processes and systems, including poor management. Deming said that it is up to

management to correct system problems and create an environment that promotes quality

and enables workers to achieve their full potential. He believed that managers should

drive out any fear employees have of identifying quality problems, and that numerical

quotas should be eliminated. Proper methods should be taught, and detecting and

eliminating poor quality should be everyone’s responsibility. Deming outlined his

philosophy on quality in his famous “14 Points.” These points are principles that help

guide companies in achieving quality improvement. The principles are founded on the

idea that upper management must develop a commitment to quality and provide a system

to support this commitment that involves all employees and suppliers. Deming stressed

that quality improvements cannot happen without organizational change that comes from

upper management.

Joseph M. Juran After W. Edwards Deming, Dr. Joseph Juran is considered tohave had the greatest impact on quality management. Juran originally worked inthe quality program at Western Electric. He became better known in 1951, after thepublication of his book Quality Control Handbook. In 1954 he went to Japan towork with manufacturers and teach classes on quality. Though his philosophy issimilar toDeming’s, there are some differences. Whereas Deming stressed the need for an organizational “transformation,” Juran believes that implementing quality initiatives should not require such a dramatic change and that quality management should be embedded in the organization. One of Juran’s significant contributions is his focus on the definition of quality and the cost of quality. Juran is credited with defining quality as fitness for use rather than simply conformance to specifications. As we have learned in this chapter, defining quality as fitness for use takes into account customer intentions for use of the product, instead of only focusing on technical specifications. Juran is also credited with developing the concept of cost of quality, which allows us to measure quality in dollar terms rather than on the basis of subjective evaluations. Juran is well known for originating the idea of the quality trilogy: quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. The first part of the trilogy, quality planning, is necessary so that companies identify their customers,

product requirements, and overriding business goals. Processes should be set up to ensure that the quality standards can be met. The second part of the trilogy, quality control, stresses the regular use of statistical control methods to ensure that quality standards are met and to identify variations from the standards. The third part of the quality trilogy is quality improvement. According to Juran, quality improvements should be continuous as well as breakthrough. Together with Deming, Juran stressed that to implement continuous improvement workers need to have training in proper methods on a regular basis. The three components of the Juran Trilogy are i. Planning ii. Control iii. Improvement

According to him a product could easily meet all the specifications and still may not be fit

for use or purpose. Juran advocated 1’ steps for quality improvements as follows:

1 Build awareness of the need and opportunity for improvement. 2 Set goals for improvement.

3 Organize to reach the goals (establish a quality council, identify problems, select projects, appoint teams, designate facilitators).

4 Provide training.

5 Carry out projects to solve problems

6 Report progress. 7 Gaive recognition

8 Communicate results. 9 Keep score.

10 Maintain

Armand V. Feigenbaum Another quality leader is Armand V. Feigenbaum, who

introduced the concept of total quality control. In his 1961 book Total Quality Control, he

outlined his quality principles in 40 steps. Feigenbaum took a total system approach to

quality. He promoted the idea of a work environment where quality devel opments are

integrated throughout the entire organization, where management and employees have a

total commitment to improve quality, and people learn from each other’s successes. This

philosophy was adapted by the Japanese and termed “company-wide quality control.”

Phillip B. Crosby Philip B. Crosby is another recognized guru in the area of TQM. He

worked in the area of quality for many years, first at Martin Marietta and then, inthe

1970s, as the vice president for quality at ITT. He developed the phrase “Do it right the

first time” and the notion of zero defects, arguing that no amount of defects should be

considered acceptable. He scorned the idea that a small number of defects is a normal part

of the operating process because systems and workers are imperfect. Instead, he stressed

the idea of prevention. To promote his concepts, Crosby wrote a book titled Quality Is

Free, which was published in 1979. He became famous for coining the phrase “quality is

free” and for pointing out the many costs of quality, which include not only the costs of

wasted labor, equipment time, scrap, rework, and lost sales, but also organizational costs

that are hard to quantify. Crosby stressed that efforts to improve quality more than pay for

themselves because these costs are prevented. Therefore, quality is free. Like Deming and

Juran, Crosby stressed the role of management in the quality improvement effort and the

use of statistical control tools in measuring and monitoring quality.

Kaoru Ishikawa Kaoru Ishikawa is best known for the development of quality tools

called cause-and-effect diagrams, also called fishbone or Ishikawa diagrams. These

diagrams are used for quality problem solving, and we will look at them in detail later in

the chapter. He was the first quality guru to emphasize the importance of the “internal

customer,” the next person in the production process. He was also one of the first to stress

the importance of total company quality control, rather than just focusing on products and

services. Dr. Ishikawa believed that everyone in the company needed to be united with a

shared vision and a common goal. He stressed that quality initiatives should be pursued at

every level of the organization and that all employees should be involved. Dr. Ishikawa

was a proponent of implementation of quality circles, which are small teams of employees

that volunteer to solve quality problems. Genichi

Taguchi Dr. Genichi Taguchi is a Japanese quality expert known for his work in the area

of product design. He estimates that as much as 80 percent of all defective items are

caused by poor product design. Taguchi stresses that companies should focus their quality

efforts on the design stage, as it is much cheaper and easierto make changes during the

product design stage than later during the production process. Taguchi is known for

applying a concept called design of experiment to product design. This method is an

engineering approach that is based on developing robust design, a design that results in

products that can perform over a wide range of conditions. Taguchi’s philosophy is based

on the idea that it is easier to design a product that can perform over a wide range of

environmental conditions than it is to control the environmental conditions. Taguchi has

also had a large impact on today’s view of the costs of quality. He pointed out that the

traditional view of costs of conformance to specifications is incorrect, and proposed a

different way to look at these costs. Let’s briefly look at Dr. Taguchi’s view of quality

costs. Recall that conformance to specification specifies a target value for the product

with specified tolerances, say 5.00 _ 0.20. According to the traditional view of

conformance to specifications, losses in terms of cost occur if the product dimensions fall

outside of the specified limits. This is shown in Figure 5-4. However, Dr. Taguchi noted

that from the customer’s view there is little difference whether a product falls just outside

or just inside the control limits. He pointed out that there is a much greater difference in

the quality of the product between making the target and being near the control limit. He

also stated that the smaller the variation around the target, the better the quality. Based on

this he proposed the following: as conformance values move away from the target, loss

increases as a quadratic function. This is called the

Taguchi loss function and is shown in Figure 5-5. According to the function, smaller

differences from the target result in smaller costs: the larger the differences, the larger the

cost. The Taguchi loss function has had a significant impact in changing the view of

quality cost. What characterizes TQM is the focus on identifying root causes of quality

problems and correcting them at the source, as opposed to inspecting the product after it

has been made. Not only does TQM encompass the entire organization, but it stresses that

quality is customer driven. TQM attempts to embed quality in every aspect of the

organization. It is concerned with technical aspects of quality as well as the involvement

of people in quality, such as customers, company employees, and suppliers.

1.19 TQM AWARDS

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA)

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established in 1987, when Congress

passed the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act. The award is named after

the former Secretary of Commerce,Malcolm Baldrige, and is intended to reward and stimulate

quality initiatives. It is designed to recognize companies that establish and demonstrate high

quality standards. The award is given to no more than two companies in each of three

categories: manufacturing, service, and small business. Past winners include Motorola

Corporation, Xerox, FedEx, 3M, IBM, and the Ritz-Carlton. To compete for the Baldrige

Award, companies must submit a lengthy application, which is followed by an initial

screening. Companies that pass this screening move to the next step, in which they undergo a

rigorous evaluation process conducted by certified Baldrige examiners. The examiners

conduct site visits and examine numerous company documents. They base their evaluation on

seven categories, which are shown in Figure 5-11. Let’s look at each category in more detail.

The first category is leadership. Examiners consider commitment by top management, their

effort to create an organizational climate devoted to quality, and their active involvement in

promoting quality. They also consider the firm’s orientation toward meeting customer needs

and desires, as well as those of the community and society as a whole. The second category is

strategic planning. The examiners look for a strategic plan that has high quality goals and

specific methods for implementation. The next category, customer and market focus,

addresses how the company collects market and customer information. Successful companies

should use a variety of tools toward this end, such as market surveys and focus groups. The

company then needs to demonstrate how it acts on this information. The fourth category is

information and analysis. Examiners evaluate how the company obtains data and how it acts

on the information. The company needs to demonstrate how the information is shared within

the company as well as with other parties, such as suppliers and customers. The fifth and sixth

categories deal with management of human resources and management of processes,

respectively. These two categories together address the issues of people and process. Human

resource focus addresses issues of employee involvement. This entails continuous

improvement programs, employee training, and functioning of teams. Employee involvement

is considered a critical element of quality. Similarly, process management involves

documentation of processes, use of tools for quality improvement such as statistical process

control, and the degree of process integration within the organization. The last Baldrige

category receives the highest points and deals with business results. Numerous measures of

performance are considered, from percentage of defective items to financial and marketing

measures. Companies need to demonstrate progressive improvement in these measures over

time, not only a one-time improvement. The Baldrige criteria have evolved from simple award

criteria to a general framework for quality evaluation. Many companies use these criteria to

evaluate their own performance and set quality targets even if they are not planning to

formally compete for the award.

The Deming Prize

The Deming Prize is a Japanese award given to companies to recognize their efforts in quality

improvement. The award is named after W. Edwards Deming, who visited Japan after World

War II upon the request of Japanese industrial leaders and engineers. While there, he gave a

series of lectures on quality. The Japanese considered him such an important quality guru that

they named the quality award after him. The award has been given by the Union of Japanese

Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) since 1951. Competition for the Deming Prize was opened to

foreign companies in 1984. In 1989 Florida Power & Light was the first U.S. company to

receive the award.

ISO 9000 Standards

Increases in international trade during the 1980s created a need for the development of

universal standards of quality. Universal standards were seen as necessary in order for

companies to be able to objectively document their quality practices around the world. Then in

1987 the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published its first set of

standards for quality management called ISO 9000. The International Organization for

Standardization (ISO) is an international organization whose purpose is to establish agreement

on international quality standards. It currently has members from 91 countries, including the

United States. To develop and promote international quality standards, ISO 9000 has been

created. ISO 9000 consists of a set of standards and a certification process for companies. By

receiving ISO 9000 certification, companies demonstrate that they have met the standards

specified by the ISO. The standards are applicable to all types of companies and have gained

global acceptance. In many industries ISO certification has become a requirement for doing

business. Also, ISO 9000 standards have been adopted by the European Community as a

standard for companies doing business in Europe. In December 2000 the first major changes

to ISO 9000 were made, introducing the following three new standards:

• ISO 9000:2000–Quality Management Systems–Fundamentals and Standards: Provides the

terminology and definitions used in the standards. It is the starting point for understanding the

system of standards.

• ISO 9001:2000–Quality Management Systems–Requirements: This is the standard used for

the certification of a firm’s quality management system. It is used to demonstrate the

conformity of quality management systems to meet customer requirements.

• ISO 9004:2000–Quality Management Systems–Guidelines for Performance: Provides

guidelines for establishing a quality management system. It focuses not only on meeting

customer requirements but also on improving performance. These three standards are the most

widely used and apply to the majority of companies. However, ten more published standards

and guidelines exist as part of the ISO 9000 family of standards. To receive ISO certification,

a company must provide extensive documentation of its quality processes. This includes

methods used to monitor quality, methods and frequency of worker training, job descriptions,

inspection programs, and statistical process-control tools used. High-quality documentation of

all processes is critical. The company is then audited by an ISO 9000 registrar who visits the

facility to make sure the company has a well-documented quality management system and that

the process meets the standards. If the registrar finds that all is in order, certification is

received. Once a company is certified, it is registered in an ISO directory that lists certified

companies. The entire process can take 18 to 24 months and can cost anywhere from $10,000

to $30,000. Companies have to be recertified by ISO every three years. One of the short

comings of ISO certification is that it focuses only on the process used and conformance to

specifications. In contrast to the Baldrige criteria, ISO certification does not address questions

about the product itself and whether it meets customer and market requirements. Today there

are over 40,000 companies that are ISO certified. In fact, certification has become a

requirement for conducting business in many industries.

ISO 14000 Standards

The need for standardization of quality created an impetus for the development of other

standards. In 1996 the International Standards Organization introduced standards for

evaluating a company’s environmental responsibility. These standards, termed ISO 14000,

focus on three major areas:

• Management systems standards measure systems development and integration of

environmental responsibility into the overall business.

• Operations standards include the measurement of consumption of natural resources and

energy.

• Environmental systems standards measure emissions, effluents, and other waste systems.

With greater interest in green manufacturing and more awareness of environmental concerns,

ISO 14000 may become an important set of standards for promoting environmental

responsibility.

1.20 WHY TQM EFFORTS FAIL

In this chapter we have discussed the meaning of TQM and the great benefits that can be

attained through its implementation. Yet there are still many companies that attempt a variety

of quality improvement efforts and find that they have not achieved any or most of the

expected outcomes. The most important factor in the success or failure of TQM efforts is the

genuineness of the organization’s commitment. Often companies look at TQM as another

business change that must be implemented due to market pressure without really changing the

values of their organization. Recall that TQM is a complete philosophy that has to be

embraced with true belief, not mere lip service. Looking at TQM as a short-term financial

investment is a sure recipe for failure. Another mistake is the view that the responsibility for

quality and elimination ofwaste lies with employees other than top management. It is a “let the

workers do it” mentality. A third common mistake is over- or under- reliance on statistical

processcontrol (SPC) methods. SPC is not a substitute for continuous improvement,

teamwork, and a change in the organization’s belief system. However, SPC is a necessary tool

for identifying quality problems. Some common causes for TQM failure are

• Lack of a genuine quality culture

• Lack of top management support and commitment

Over- and under-reliance on statistical process control (SPC) methods Companies that have

attained the benefits of TQM have created a quality culture. These companies have developed

processes for identifying customer-defined quality. In addition, they have a systematic method

for listening to their customers, collecting and analyzing data pertaining to customer problems,

and making changes based on customer feedback. You can see that in these companies there is

a systematic process for prioritizing the customer needs that encompass the entire

organization.

As we have seen, total quality management has impacts on every aspect of the organization.

Every person and

every function is responsible for quality and is affected by poor quality. For example, recall

that Motorola

implemented its six-sigma concept not only in the production process but also in the

accounting, finance,and administrative areas. Similarly, ISO 9000 standards do not apply only

to the production process; they apply equally to all departments of the company. A company

cannot achieve high quality if its accounting is inaccurate or the marketing department is not

working closely with customers. TQM requires the close cooperation of different functions in

order to be successful. In this section we look at the involvement of these other functions in

TQM.

1.21 TQM in industrial use

Marketing plays a critical role in the TQM process by providing key inputs that make TQM

a success. Recall that the goal of TQM is to satisfy customer needs by producing the exact

product that customers want. Marketing’s role is to understand the changing needs and wants

of customers by working closely with them. This requires a solid identification of target

markets and an understanding of whom the product is intended for. Sometimes apparently

small differences in product features can result in large differences in customer appeal.

Marketing needs to accurately pass customer information along to operations, and operations

needs to include marketing in any planned product changes.

Finance is another major participant in the TQM process because of the great cost

consequences of poor

quality. General definitions of quality need to be translated into specific dollar terms. This

serves as a baseline for monitoring the financial impact of quality efforts and can be a great

motivator. Recall the four costs of

quality discussed earlier. The first two costs, prevention and appraisal, are preventive costs;

they are intended to prevent internal and external failure costs. Not investing enough in

preventive costs can result in failure

costs, which can hurt the company. On the other hand, investing too much in preventive costs

may not yield added benefits. Financial analysis of these costs is critical. You can see that

finance plays a large role in evaluating and monitoring the financial impact of managing the

quality process. This includes costs related to preventingand eliminating defects, training

employees, reviewing new products, and all other quality efforts.

Accounting is important in the TQM process becauseof the need for exact costing. TQM

efforts cannotbe accurately monitored and their financial contribution assessed if the company

does not have accurate costing methods.

Engineering efforts are critical in TQM because of the need to properly translate customer

requirements

into specific engineering terms. Recall the process we followed in developing quality function

deployment (QFD). It was not easy to translate a customer requirement such as “a good

looking backpack” into specific terms such as materials, weight, color grade, size, and number

of zippers. We depend on engineering to use general customer requirements in developing

technical specifications, identifying specific parts and materials needed, and identifying

equipment that should be used.

Purchasing is another important part of the TQM process. Whereas marketing is busy

identifying what the customers want and engineering is busy translating that information into

technical specifications, purchasing is responsible for acquiring the materials needed to make

the product. Purchasing must locate sources of supply, ensure that the parts and materials

needed are of sufficiently high quality, and negotiate a purchase price that meets the

company’s budget as identified by finance.

Human resources is critical to the effort to hire employees with the skills necessary to work

in a TQM environment. That environment includes a high degree of teamwork, cooperation,

dedication, and customer commitment. Human resources is also faced with challenges relating

to reward and incentive systems. Rewards and incentives are different in TQM from those

found in traditional environments that focus on rewarding individuals rather than teams.

Information systems (IS) is highly important in TQM because of the increased need for

information

accessible to teams throughout the organization. IS should work closely with a company’s

TQM development program in order to understand exactly the type of information system best

suited for the firm, including the form of the data, the summary statistics available, and the

frequency of updating. Implementing total quality management requires broad and sweeping

changes throughout a company. It also affects all other decisions within operations

management. The decision to implement total quality management concepts throughout the

company is strategic in nature. It sets the direction for the firm and the level of commitment.

For example, some companies may choose to directly compete on quality, whereas others may

just want to be as good as the competition. It is operations strategy that then dictates how all

other areas of operations management will support this commitment. The decision to

implement TQM affects areas such as product design, which needs to incorporate customer-

defined quality. Processes are then redesigned in order to produce products with higher quality

standards. Job design is affected, as workers need to be trained in quality tools and become

responsible for rooting out quality problems. Also, supply chain management is affected as

our commitment to quality translates into partnering with suppliers. As you can see, virtually

every aspect of the operations function must change to support the commitment toward total

quality management.

Quality Function Deployment

‘Quality Function Deployment’ meaning within the context of QFD.

• Quality - Meeting Customer Requirements

• Function - What Must Be Done - Focusing the

attention

• Deployment - Who Will Do It.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured approach to defining

customer needs or requirements and translating them into specific plans to

produce products to meet those needs

"Time was when a man could order a pair of shoes directly from the cobbler. By

measuring the foot himself and personally handling all aspects of manufacturing,

the cobbler could assure the customer would be satisfied," .QFD was developed in

Japan in the late 1960s by Professors Shigeru Mizuno and Yoji Akao. At the

time, statistical quality control, which was introduced after World War II, had

taken roots in the Japanese manufacturing industry. QFD is an approach to

continual improvement that brings customers into the design of processes. It

translates what the customer wants into what the organization produces.

Developed in Japan in the mid 1960s

Introduced in USA in the late 1980s

Toyota was able to reduce 60% of cost to bring a new car model to market

Toyota decreased 1/3 of its development time

Used in cross functional teams

Companies feel it increased customer satisfaction

Should be employed at the beginning of every project (original or redesign)

Customer requirements should be translated into measurable design targets

It can be applied to the entire problem or any subproblem

First worry about what needs to be designed then how

It takes time to complete

Quality function deployment (QFD) is a management tool that provides a visual

connective process to help teams focus on the needs of the customers throughout

the total development cycle of a product or process. It provides the means for

translating customer needs into appropriate technical requirements for each stage

of a product/process-development life-cycle. It helps to develop more customer-

oriented, higher-quality products. While the structure provided by QFD can be

significantly beneficial, it is not a simple tool to use. This article outlines how

techniques such as fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, and the Taguchi method

can be combined with QFD to resolve some of its drawbacks, and proposes a

synergy between QFD and the three methods and techniques reviewed.

Why use QFD?

Once a team has identified the customers' wants, QFD is used for two fundamental

reasons:

To improve the communication of customer wants throughout the organization.

To improve the completeness of specifications and to make them traceable

directly to customer wants and needs.

QFD means

QFD links the needs of the customer (end user) with design, development,

engineering, manufacturing, and service functions.

QFD empowers organizations to exceed normal expectations and provide a level

of unanticipated excitement that generates value.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a systematic process for motivating a

business to focus on its customers.

It is used by cross-functional teams

to identify and resolve issues involve in providing products, processes, services

and strategies which will more than satisfy their customers.

What is QFD?

Understanding Customer Requirements

Quality Systems Thinking + Psychology + Knowledge

Maximizing Positive Quality That Adds Value

Comprehensive Quality System for Customer Satisfaction

Strategy to Stay Ahead of The Game

A QFD team identified the following customer groups

Users who are mainly concerned with functionality.

Management who is mainly concerned with financial and strategic

issues.

Distribution and Purchasing Agents who are concerned with purchase

transaction and availability issues.

Internal workers who are concerned with how the product will affect

the quality of their work life.

What should we use to prioritize Requirements?

Importance to the Customer

Our Current Product

Competitor One

Competitor Two

Our Future Product

Improvement Factor

Overall Importance

Percent Importance

How does QFD differ from other quality initiatives?

QFD is quite different in that it seeks out both "spoken" and "unspoken" customer

requirements and maximizes "positive" quality (such as ease of use, fun, luxury)

that creates value.

What are the characteristics of QFD as a quality system?

QFD is a quality system that implements elements of Systems Thinking and

Psychology of customer needs, what, and how end users become interested.

QFD is a quality method of good Knowledge.

QFD is a quality system for strategic competitiveness.

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is the only comprehensive quality

system that satisfy the customer throughout the development and business

process -- end to end.

What are the tools of QFD?

7 Management and Planning Tools

Which industry and business are using QFD?

QFD has been applied in virtually every industry and business, from aerospace,

manufacturing, software, communication, IT, chemical and pharmaceutical,

transportation, defense, government, R&D, food to service industry

What are "expected quality" and "exciting quality?"

"Expected" quality or requirements are essentially basic functions or features

that customers normally expect of a product or service.

"Exciting" quality or requirements are sort of "out of ordinary" functions or

features of a product or service that cause "wow" reactions in customers.

What is the House of Quality? Why it isn't a QFD?

The House of Quality is an assembly of several deployment hierarchies and tables,

including the Demanded Quality Hierarchy, Quality Characteristics Hierarchy, the

relationships matrix, the Quality Planning Table, and Design Planning Table. It is

a table that connects dots between the Voice of the Customer and the Voice of the

Engine

BENEFITS OF QFD

Improves Customer Satisfaction

Reduces Development Time

Improves Team Work

Reduces Cost

Quick New Product Release

Documentation

Critical Quality Features

Right Technology

Customer Driven

Reduces Implementation Time

Promotes Teamwork

Provides Documentation

Creates Focus On Customer Requirements

Uses Competitive Information Effectively

Prioritizes Resources

Identifies Items That Can Be Acted On

Structures Resident Experience/Information

Decreases Midstream Design Change

Limits Post Introduction Problems

Avoids Future Development Redundancies

Identifies Future Application Opportunities

Surfaces Missing Assumptions

Based On Consensus

Creates Communication At Interfaces

Identifies Actions At Interfaces

Creates Global View-Out Of Details

Documents Rationale For Design

Is Easy To Assimilate

Adds Structure To The Information

Adapts To Changes (Living Document)

Provides Framework For Sensitivity Analysis

QFD: An 8-step Process

1 Product planning - voice of the custome

2 Prioritise and weight the voices of the customer

3 Competitive evaluation (Benchmarking)

4 Design process - what capabilities do we have?

5 Design - how do our capabilities match the customers’ needs?

6 Design - what trade-offs do we make in design?

7 Process planning - key processes identified from the planning matrix

8 Process control - output from step

QFD yields the following benefits to organizations that are interested in continual

improvement:

Customer focus

Time efficiency

Teamwork orientation

Documentation orientation

Customer information falls into two broad categories: input and feedback.

Feedback is given after the fact; input is given before the fact (early in the product

development cycle). Both types of information can be further classified according

to the following categories:

Solicited

Unsolicited

Quantitative

Qualitative

Structured

Random.

The "voice of the customer" is the term to describe these stated and

unstated customer needs or requirements. The voice of the customer is

captured in a variety of ways: direct discussion or interviews, surveys,

focus groups, customer specifications, observation, warranty data, field

reports, etc. This understanding of the customer needs is then summarized

in a product planning matrix or "house of quality". These matrices are used

to translate higher level "what's" or needs into lower level "how's" -

product requirements or technical characteristics to satisfy these needs.

While the Quality Function Deployment matrices are a good

communication tool at each step in the process, the matrices are the means

and not the end. The real value is in the process of communicating and

decision-making with QFD. QFD is oriented toward involving a team of

people representing the various functional departments that have

involvement in product development: Marketing, Design Engineering,

Quality Assurance, Manufacturing/ Manufacturing Engineering, Test

Engineering, Finance, Product Support, etc.

QFD is Customer Driven

Creates Focus On Customer Requirements

Uses Competitive Information Effectively

Prioritizes Resources

Identifies Items That Can Be Acted On

Structures Resident Experience/Information

Why….?

Product should be designed to reflect customers’ desires and tastes.

House of Quality is a kind of a conceptual map that provides the means

for interfunctional planning and communications

To understand what customers mean by quality and how to achieve it

from an engineering perspective.

HQ is a tool to focus the product development process

Customer Focused Development with QFD

Quality must be designed into the product, not inspected into it.

Quality can be defined as meeting customer needs and providing superior

value.

This focus on satisfying the customer's needs places an emphasis on

techniques such as Quality Function Deployment to help understand those

needs and plan a product to provide superior value

Capturing the “Voice of the Customer” with QFD

Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a structured approach to defining

customer needs or requirements and translating them into specific plans to

produce products to meet those needs.

The "voice of the customer" is the term to describe these stated and

unstated customer needs or requirements.

The voice of the customer is captured in a variety of ways: direct

discussion or interviews, surveys, focus groups, customer specifications,

observation, warranty data, field reports, etc.

This understanding of the customer needs is then summarized in a product

planning matrix or "house of quality".

These matrices are used to translate higher level "what's" or needs into

lower level "how's" - product requirements or technical characteristics to

satisfy these needs.

While the Quality Function Deployment matrices are a good

communication tool at each step in the process, the matrices are the means

and not the end. The real value is in the process of communicating and

decision-making with QFD.

QFD is oriented toward involving a team of people representing the

various functional departments that have involvement in product

development: Marketing, Design Engineering, Quality Assurance,

Manufacturing/ Manufacturing Engineering, Test Engineering, Finance,

Product Support, etc.

It is important to remember that there is no one monolithic voice of the

customer.

Customer voices are diverse. In consumer markets, there are a variety of

different needs.

Even within one buying unit, there are multiple customer voices (e.g.,

children versus parents).

There are even multiple customer voices within a single organization: the

voice of the procuring organization, the voice of the user, and the voice of

the supporting or maintenance organization.

Quality Function Deployment requires that the basic customer needs are

identified.

Frequently, customers will try to express their needs in terms of "how" the

need can be satisfied and not in terms of "what" the need is.

This limits consideration of development alternatives. Development and

marketing personnel should ask "why" until they truly understand what the

root need is.

Breakdown general requirements into more specific requirements by

probing what is needed

Once customer needs are identified, preparation of the product planning

matrix or "house of quality" can begin.

Customer needs or requirements are stated on the left side of the matrix

These are organized by category based on the affinity diagrams

Step 1 - Address Unspoken Needs

Address the unspoken needs (assumed and excitement capabilities).

If the number of needs or requirements exceeds twenty to thirty items,

decompose the matrix into smaller modules or subsystems to reduce

the number of requirements in a matrix.

For each need or requirement, state the customer priorities using a 1 to

5 rating. Use ranking techniques and paired comparisons to develop

priorities

Step 2a - Assess Prior Generation Products

Evaluate prior generation products against competitive products. Use

surveys, customer meetings or focus groups/clinics to obtain feedback.

Include competitor's customers to get a balanced perspective. Identify price

points and market segments for products under evaluation. Identify

warranty, service, reliability, and customer complaint problems to identify

areas of improvement.

Based on this, develop a product strategy.

Step 2b - Develop Product Strategy

Consider the current strengths and weaknesses relative to the competition?

How do these strengths and weaknesses compare to the customer

priorities?

Where does the gap need to be closed and how can this be done - copying

the competition or using a new approach or technology?

Identify opportunities for breakthrough's to exceed competitor's

capabilities, areas for improvement to equal competitors capabilities, and

areas where no improvement will be made.

This strategy is important to focus development efforts where they will

have the greatest payoff.

Step 3 - Establish Requirements

Establish product requirements or technical characteristics to respond to

customer requirements and organize into related categories.

Characteristics should be meaningful, measurable, and global.

Characteristics should be stated in a way to avoid implying a particular

technical solution so as not to constrain designers

Step 4 - Assess Requirements

Develop relationships between customer requirements and product

requirements or technical characteristics.

Use symbols for strong, medium and weak relationships.

Be sparing with the strong relationship symbol.

Have all customer needs or requirement been addressed?

Are there product requirements or technical characteristics stated that don't

relate to customer needs?

Step 5 - Look at what’s been done before.

Develop a technical evaluation of prior generation products and

competitive products.

Get access to competitive products to perform product or technical

benchmarking.

Perform this evaluation based on the defined product requirements or

technical characteristics.

Obtain other relevant data such as warranty or service repair occurrences

and costs and consider this data in the technical evaluation.

Step 6 - Preliminary Target Values

Develop preliminary target values for product requirements or technical

characteristics.

Step 7 – Interactions

Determine potential positive and negative interactions between product requirements or technical characteristics using symbols for strong or medium, positive or negative relationships. Too many positive interactions suggest potential redundancy in "the critical few" product requirements or technical characteristics.

Focus on negative interactions - consider product concepts or technology to overcome these potential tradeoff's or consider the tradeoff's in establishing target values.

Step 8 - Importance Ratings

Calculate importance ratings. Assign a weighting factor to relationship symbols (9-3-1, 4-2-1, or 5-3-1).

Multiply the customer importance rating by the weighting factor in each box of

the matrix and add the resulting products in each column.

Develop a difficulty rating (1 to 5 point scale, five being very difficult and risky) for each

Step 9 - Difficulty Ratings

Develop a difficulty rating (1 to 5 point scale, five being very difficult and risky) for each product requirement or technical characteristic. Consider technology maturity, personnel technical qualifications, business risk, manufacturing capability, supplier/subcontractor capability, cost, and schedule. Avoid too many difficult/high risk items as this will likely delay development and exceed budgets.

Assess whether the difficult items can be accomplished within the project budget and schedule.

Step 10 - Analyze the Matrix

Analyze the matrix and finalize the product development strategy and product plans. Determine required actions and areas of focus.

Finalize target values. Are target values properly set to reflect appropriate tradeoff's? Do target values need to be adjusted considering the difficulty rating?

Are they realistic with respect to the price points, available technology, and the difficulty rating? Are they reasonable with respect to the importance ratings?

Determine items for further QFD deployment. To maintain focus on "the critical few", less significant items may be ignored with the

subsequent QFD matrices. Maintain the product planning matrix as customer requirements or conditions change.

Features of QFD

The basis of QFD is customer requirements. The customer's requirements dictate

various business functions like production, manufacturing marketing and sales.

The essence of QFD is first to break down the product into parameters that will be

viewed by potential customers as most beneficial, influencing them to purchase.

Attention is paid to the quality cues, that is, those features of the product that

communicate its overall level of quality. These quality cues are incorporated as

very precise engineering standards that provide measurements for implementing

and monitoring the manufacturing process

Benefits of QFD

The major advantage of the QFD process is that it encourages proactive product

development instead of reactive product development (Figure 1). Proactive

product development results in fewer and earlier design changes, decreased

development time, fewer start-up problems, lower start-up costs, fewer field

problems, and a more satisfied customer. A less obvious, though equally

important, benefit of QFD is that it facilitates organizational knowledge transfer

and establishes a proprietary knowledge base. The matrices that are generated

during a QFD project make the logic flow obvious and act to preserve technical

and customer knowledge. This affords others in the organization the opportunity

to easily access and use the accumulated knowledge.

The Purpose of QFD The purpose of QFD is three fold. Firstly, it allows us to get

higher quality products to market faster and at a lower cost. Secondly, we will

achieve customer driven product design and, finally, it will provide a tracking

system for future design or process improvements. The results we can expect by

carrying out the QFD studies are many:

Better understanding of customer needs

Improved organisation on development projects

Improved introduction to production

Fewer design changes late in development

Fewer manufacturing start-up problems

Reputation for being serious about quality

Increased business

Documented product definition based on customer requirements

Competitive analysis: Other products in the marketplace are examined, and the

company product is rated against the competition.

Reduced development time: The likelihood of design changes is reduced as the QFD

process focusses on improvements to be made to satisfy key customer

requirements. Careful attention to customer requirements reduces the risk that

changes will be required late in the project life cycle. Time is not spent

developing insignificant functions and features.

Reduced development costs: The identification of required changes occurs early in

the project life cycle. Minimizing changes following production reduces warranty

costs and product support costs.

Documentation: A knowledge base is built as the QFD process is implemented. A

historical record of the decision-making process is developed.

Disadvantages of Quality Function Deployment

Quality Function Deployment is a tool that ensures that the customer’s needs or

requirements are incorporated in the process of producing products that meet those

needs. QFD further ensures that quality is a core focus in the production and

distribution of a product. Although the QFD management tool minimizes costs of

manufacturing and is good at improving design, it has several disadvantages.

Limitations in Global Implementation:

QFD is a management tool developed by two Japanese professors, Yoji Akao and

Shigeru Mizuno in 1965. It sought to improve the quality of the products before

the process of manufacturing begun, aiding in fast decision-making with regard to

the final product. This method became popular in the West in the 1980s. As with

other Japanese management techniques, there are bound to be some problems

when QFD is applied elsewhere.

Emphasis on Quality at Expense of Optimal Design:

QFD can be your tool of choice if you are working to determine what you need to

accomplish to satisfy and delight your clients. A major disadvantage is that it

solely focuses on quality and related engineering metrics while ignoring other vital

factors such as cost, product life cycle, strategy and the company's strength in

technology. Failure to address these other factors can potentially lead to trade-offs,

yielding a product that is not optimally designed.

Overreliance on Market Surveys:

Against the backdrop of a successful QFD, market surveys are crucial in garnering

the perceptions of customers about services or goods. A lot rides on the

effectiveness of the survey process. If the questions do not gather the right

information, the wants, needs and wow factors that lead to customer satisfaction

will be missed. Varied or intangible statistical results can be detrimental in the

eventual product design, since they are not representative. You have to prepare for

the eventuality of inaccurate survey results if your company practices QFD.

Dynamic Customer Needs:

Another disadvantage with QFD is the assumption that customer needs can be

captured, documented and remain stable over the duration of the whole process.

Customer needs change quickly and unexpectedly. The QFD tool, therefore, can

complicate matters further for your firm, since adapting to dynamic market needs

can be complex, confusing and costly.

Areas of application

QFD is applied in a wide variety of services, consumer products, military

needs,[2] and emerging technology products. The technique is also included in the

new ISO 9000:2000 standard which focuses on customer satisfaction.

While many books and articles on "how to do QFD are available, there is a

relative paucity of example matrices available. QFD matrices become highly

proprietary due to the high density of product or service information found therein.

QFD Summary

Product plan is developed based on initial market research or requirements

definition.

If necessary, feasibility studies or research and development are undertaken to

determine the feasibility of the product concept.

Product requirements or technical characteristics are defined through the

matrix.

A business justification is prepared and approved, and product design then

commences.

Guidelines for Successful QFD

Keep the amount of information in each matrix at a manageable level.

An individual matrix should not address more than twenty or thirty items on

each dimension of the matrix.

If doing QFD on a larger, more complex product decompose its customers

needs into hierarchical levels.

Quality circle

Perhaps the most widely discussed and undertaken intervention of employee

involvement is the quality circle (QC). Quality Circles were started in Japan in

1962 ( Kaoru Ishikawa has been credited for creating Quality Circles) as another

method of improving quality. Prof. Ishikawa, who believed in tapping the creative

potential of workers, innovated the Quality Circle movement to give Japanese

industry that extra edge in creativity and enabled firms to make high quality

products at low costs.

A QC is a voluntary group of employees who perform similar duties and meet at

periodic intervals, often with management, to discuss work-related issues and to

offer suggestions and ideas for improvements, as in production methods or

quality control.

Ross define a quality circle as

"a small group of employees doing similar or related work who meet regularly

to identify, analyze, and solve product-quality and production problems and to

improve general operations.

Concept

A quality circle is a group composed of regular employees who meet together to

discuss workplace improvement, and make presentations to management with

their ideas. Quality Circle is a small group of 6 to 12 employees doing similar

work who voluntarily meet together on a regular basis to identify improvements in

their respective work areas using proven techniques for analyzing and solving

work related problems coming in the way of achieving and sustaining excellence

leading to mutual upliftment of employees as well as the organization.

It is "a way of capturing the creative and innovative power that lies within the

work force".

Quality Circles is a people – building philosophy, providing self-motivation and

happiness in improving environment without any compulsion or monetary

benefits. It represents a philosophy of managing people specially those at the grass

root level as well as a clearly defined mechanism and methodology for translating

this philosophy into practice and a required structure to make it a way of life.It is

bound to succeed where people are respected and are involved in decisions,

concerning their work life, and in environments where peoples’ capabilities are

looked upon as assets to solve work-area problems. Quality Circle is a problem

solving technique. A quality circle is a participatory management technique that

enlists the help of employees in solving problems related to their own

jobs.Circles are formed of employees working together in an operation who meet

at intervals to discuss problems of quality and to devise solutions for

improvements.

The main features of QC can be listed as follows:

1. Voluntary Groups:

QC is a voluntary group of employees generally coming from the same work area. There is no pressure from anywhere on employees to join QC.

2. Small Size:

The size of the QC is generally small consisting of six to eight members.

3. Regular Meeting:

QC meetings are held once a week for about an hour on regular basis. The

members meet during working hours usually at the end of the working day in

consultation with the manager. The time of the meetings is usually fixed in

advance in consultation with the manager and members.

4. Independent Agenda:

Each QC has its own agenda with its own terms of reference. Accordingly, each

QC discusses its own problems and takes corrective actions.

5. Quality Focused:

As per the very nature and intent of QC, it focuses exclusively on quality issues.

This is because the ultimate purpose of QC is improvement in quality of product

and working life.

The concept of QC is primarily based upon recognition of the value of the worker

as a human being, as someone who willingly activises on his job, his wisdom,

intelligence, experience, attitude & feelings. It is based upon the HRM considered

as one of the key factors in the improvement of product quality & productivity.

QC concept has 3 major attributes:

a. Quality Circle is a form of participation management.

b. Quality Circle is a human resource development technique.

c. Quality Circle is a problem solving technique

Objectives

The objectives of Quality Circles are multi-faced:

To improve quality, productivity & profitability

To secure employee involvement, motivation & development

To improve management-employee relations

To improve communications at all levels

To develop team spirit among the employees

To provide better working environment of employees.

Change in Attitude From "I don’t care" to "I do care" Continuous improvement in quality of work life through humanisation of work.

Self Development Bring out ‘Hidden Potential’ of people People get to learn additional skills.

Development of Team Spirit Individual Vs Team – "I could not do but we did it" Eliminate inter departmental conflicts.

Improved Organizational Culture Positive working environment. Total involvement of people at all levels.Higher motivational level.Participate Management process.

Promote job involvement

Create problem solving capability

Improve communication

Promote leadership qualities

Promote personal development

Develop a greater awareness for cleanliness

Develop greater awareness for safety

Improve morale through closer identity of employee objectives

Reduce errors.

Enhance quality

Inspire more effective team work

Build an attitude of problem prevention

Promote cost reduction

Develop harmonious manager, supervisor and worker relationship

Improve productivity

Reduce downtime of machines and equipment

Increase employee motivation

The benefits are that QCs:

Promote individual self-development

Promote teamwork and fellowship

Improve overall company performance and corporate image

Increase Productivity, Improve Quality, Boost Employee Morale.

Disadvantages/problems with QC

Inadequate Training

Unsure of Purpose Not truly Voluntary Lack of Management Interest

Quality Circles are not really empowered to make decisions. Quality Circles are not limited to manufacturing firms only.

They are applicable for variety of organisations where there is scope for

group based solution of work related problems.

The structure of a Quality Circle consists of the following elements

i. A steering committee: This is at the top of the structure. It is headed by a senior

executive and includes representatives from the top management personnel and

human resources development people. It establishes policy, plans and directs the

program and meets usually once in a month.

ii. Co-coordinator: He may be a Personnel or Administrative officer who co-

ordinates and supervises the work of the facilitators and administers the

programme.

iii. Facilitator: He may be a senior supervisory officer. He coordinates the works

of several quality circles through the Circle leaders.

iv. Circle leader: Leaders may be from lowest level workers or Supervisors. A

Circle leader organizes and conducts Circle activities.

v. Circle members : They may be staff workers. Without circle members the

programme cannot exist. They are the lifeblood of quality circles. They should

attend all meetings as far as possible, offer suggestions and ideas, participate

actively in group process, take training seriously with a receptive attitude. The

roles of Steering Committee, Co-0rdinator, Facilitator, Circle leader and Circle

members are well defined.

Launching Quality Circles

The launching of Quality Circles involves the following steps:

Expose middle level executives to the concept.

Explain the concept to the employees and invite them to volunteer

as members of Quality Circles.

Nominate senior officers as facilitators.

Form a steering committee.

Arrange training of co-coordinators, facilitators in basics of Quality Circle approach, implementation, techniques and operation. Later

facilitator may provide training to Circle leaders and Circle members.

A meeting should be fixed preferably one hour a week for the

Quality Circle to meet.

Formally inaugurate the Quality Circle.

Arrange the necessary facilities for the Quality Circle meeting and its operation

Quality Circle Process

List out problems

Discussion over the list of problems

Selected problem will be analyzed

Arrive at solution

Present it to management for action

Management studies the recommendations

Implementation

QC members are recognised & rewarded.

The following are suggested steps in forming a Quality Circle:

inform staff of the Kaizen activities

explain the concept and the advantages of Kaizen activities

divide the staff into small groups - Quality Circles

discuss & analyse problems identified in each area by QCs

recommend possible solutions by QCs

prepare implementation plans

write a proposal in implementing plans

all QCs to meet twice a year to present progress of Kaizen activities

reward QC with the best effort in achieving their objectives

The Quality Circle philosophy calls for a progressive attitude on the part of the

management and their willingness to make adjustments, if necessary, in their style

and culture

The operation of Quality Circle involves the following sequential steps:

1. Identification of a problem: The members of the Circle are supposed to identify the problems that are to be solved.

2. Selection of the problem: The members then decide the preferences and select

the problem of apex priority.

3. Analysis of the problem: The selected problem is then classified and analyzed by basic problem solving techniques like brain storming and Pareto analysis etc.

4. Generating alternative solutions: Identifying various causes helps to generate various alternative solutions.

5. Select the most appropriate solution: The most appropriate and suitable solution

is selected after considering various solutions related to cost, possibility of implementation etc.

6. Preparation of action plan: The members prepare plan of action to the

implemented solution like area of implementation, date and time etc.

7. Approval of the Management: The chosen solution and the plan of action must be put forward before the management for their approval.

8. Implementation:

9.Rise organization morale

10.Inspire more effective team work

11.Promote job involvement

12. Create problem solving capability by members of QCs themselves

13.Promote personal and leadership

14.development Improve communication within the organization

15.Promote cost reduction Increase employees motivation

Appropriate training for different sections of employees needs to be imparted.

Without a proper understanding of the real concept of Quality Circles, both the

workers and management might look at this philosophy with suspicion. Each

group should know beforehand the commitments and implications involved as

well as the benefit that can be obtained from Quality Circles. Such training

comprises of :

Process of operations

The operation of quality circles involves a set of sequential steps as under:

Problem identification: Identify a number of problems.

Problem selection : Decide the priority and select the problem to be taken up first.

Problem Analysis : Problem is clarified and analysed by basic problem solving

methods.

Generate alternative solutions : Identify and evaluate causes and generate number

of possible alternative solutions.

Select the most appropriate solution : Discuss and evaluate the alternative

solutions by comparison in terms of investment and return from the investment.

This enables to select the most appropriate solution.

Prepare plan of action : Prepare plan of action for converting the solution into

reality which includes the considerations "who, what, when, where, why and how"

of solving problems.

Present solution to management circle members present solution to management

fore approval.

Implementation of solution : The management evaluates the recommended

solution. Then it is tested and if successful, implemented on a full scale.

Developing Quality Circles in Organisations:

Like any other organizational change, QC being a new concept may be opposed

by the employees.Therefore, QC should be developed and introduced with great

concern and precaution as discussed below:

1. Publicising the Idea:

Introduction of QC is just like an organisational change programme Hence, like an

organisational change programme, the workers need to be convinced about the

need for and significance of QC from the points of view of the workers and the

organisation. Moreover, participation in QC being voluntary, its publicity among

the workers is necessary. To begin with, management can also arrange for initial

training to those workers who want to form a quality circle.

2. Constitution of QC:

Workers doing the same or similar type of work are drawn voluntarily to form

quality circle. The membership of a QC is generally restricted to eight to ten. Once

a QC is formed, they remain as permanent members of the circle unless they leave

that work area.

3. Initial Problem Solving:

The members of QC should discuss the problem at threadbare and, then, prepare a

list of alternative solutions. Thereafter, each alternative solution should be

evaluated and the final solution should be arrived at on the basis of consensus.

4. Presentation and Approval of Suggestions:

The final solution arrived at should be presented to the management either in oral

or in written form. The management may evaluate the solution by constituting a

committee for this purpose. The committee may also meet the members of the

quality circle for clarifications, if required. Presentation of solutions to the

management helps improve the communication between management and workers

and reflects management’s interest to the members of QC.

5. Implementation:

Once the suggestion or solution is approved by the management, the same is being

put into practice in a particular workplace. Quality circles may be organized

gradually for other workplaces or departments also. In this way, following above

outlined process, the entire organisation can have quality circles.

“A Quality Circle is volunteer group composed of members who meet to talk

about workplace and service improvements and make presentations to their

management with their ideas.”

Quality Circles are not only limited to manufacturing firms but for variety of

organizations where there is a scope for group based solution of work related

problems. If lucratively implemented in the field of Library and Information

Science the results and conclusions will not only be amazing but it will also help

us to stumble on out our own lacunae and design a better system.

three major attributes of Quality Circle concept

Quality Circle is a form of participation management.

Quality Circle is a human resource development technique.

Quality Circle is a problem solving technique.

Structure of Quality Circles Program

The success of the quality circles depends solely on the attitude of the Top management

and plays an important role to ensure the success of implementation of quality circles in

the organization.

Roles of Steering Committee (Management) involves Formally announce the launching of

quality circle initiative in the organization and Provide full support and encouragement to

quality circle movement in the organization.it Provide leadership and guidance to develop

the quality circle models, structure and policies.the Design the opportunities for

presentations by the quality circles and Facilitate the approval and implementation of the

solutions presented by quality circles.it Develop guidelines for measuring the

effectiveness of quality circles and also the quality circle initiative as a whole and review

thperformance and progress of quality circles periodically.Roles of Facilitators includes

Act as an effective link between the quality circles and the management,Coordinate the

work of several quality circles through their respective leaders,Act as a resource person

for the quality circles being facilitated.,Arrange for obtaining necessary expertise from

other agencies and quality circles,Keep the motivation and morale level of all the leaders

and members at the highest level,Facilitate and guide the quality circle leaders and

members to make the management presentations.Roles of Leaders Includes Decide date

and time of each quality circle meeting and inform to all the members,Ensure maximum

attendance of all the members in the meetings,Conduct the meetings effectively,Motivate

the members for their full participation in the proceedings of quality circle meetings and

related activities,Facilitate the members in data collection,Maintain the records of quality

circles meetings and other related activities.,Interact with other quality circle

leaders,Interact with the quality circle facilitator frequently,Make presentations of

solutions to the management. Involve the members in making the presentations,Seek

management approvals of the solutions,Ensure implementation of the approved solutions

with the active involvement of the members,Arrange first time training and later on, the

refresher training of the members and self in the quality circles group process, tools and

techniques.

Essential requirements for the success of circle

Support from the top management and cooperation from the middle

management is an essential request for the success of circle. Half

hearted support is not adequate.

Management should be not expect immediate results and short term

benefit from the circle. It should also be made clear that quality circle do

not dilute the responsibilities or authority of different function. They may

only reduce their burden and make things easier.

Circle should not be taken as forums for grievances or personal problems.

Such problems should always be discouraged by the leaders. For this

purpose , the agenda of meeting must be decided earlier. The members

should accept the role of the leaders and appreciate the basic purpose of the

basic purpose of these circles.

A reasonably good climate spirit of cooperation and feeling of confidence

between the workers and the management must exist. Workers should feel

that improvement of the company‘s. Performance is not the responsibilities

of the manager only but of workers also and they can play a vital role in this

direction.

Persons participating in the circle should be encouraged at appropriate

times by the management

Training of leaders and circle members as of utmost important and this

should be arranged by the management in best possible way.

Benefits of QC

Self development.

Promotes leadership qualities among participants.

Recognition.

Achievement satisfaction.

Promotes group/team working.

Serves as cementing force between management/non-management

groups.

Promotes continuous improvement in products and services.

Brings about a change in environment of more productivity, better

quality, reduced costs, safety and corresponding rewards.

code of conduct of quality circle

Attend all meetings and be on time.

Listen to and show respect for the views of other members.

Make others feel a part of the group.

Criticize ideas, not persons.

Help other members to participate more fully.

Be open to and encourage the ideas of others.

Every member is responsible for the team’s progress.

Maintain a friendly attitude.

Strive for enthusiasm.

The only stupid question is the one that is not asked.

Look for merit in the ideas of others.

Pay attention- avoid disruptive behavior.

Avoid actions that delay progress.

Carry out assignments on schedule.

Give credit to those whom it is due.

Thank those who give assistance.

Do not suppress ideas- do express.

Objectives and causes first, solutions next.

Give praise and honest appreciation when due.

Ideas generated by the group should not be used as individual suggestions

to suggestion

Impact Of Quality Circle

1. Improvement of human relations and workplace morale

2. Promotion of work culture

3. Enhancement of job interest

4. Effective team work

5. Reducing defects and improving quality

6. Improvement of productivity

7. Enhancing problem solving capacity

8. Improving communication & interaction

9. Catalyzing attitude change

10. Promotion of personal & leadership development EXAMPLES OF QUALITY CIRCLE MOVEMENT IN INDIA

1. BHEL -1980 –Mr.S.R.Udapa (GM Operations) 1st Indian to start quality circle

2. Hero Honda motors “Sunrise Quality circle”

3. Lucas TVS, Chennai “honey bee quality circle”

4. Tata Refectories (located in orissa) “Niharika quality circle” (saved Rs.4000 p.a)

5. Kudhremukh –Iron Ore Plant (located in Karnataka) “Soorthy Quality Circl

Some successful example of Quality Circle in Indian Industries:has promoted the

‘Sunrise Quality Circle’and solve the problem of unsuccessful indicators supplied

by a localmanufacturer. The indicators would always fail in the field ofoperation

endangering the riders of Honda bikes and bringing downthe company’s

reputation. The Sunrise QC tackled the problem afteran investigation wherein the

members found that the indicatorsfailed due to a gap in the contact points. A few

changes in the angleof the piece concerned and use of foolproof tools led to saving

Rs. 80,000 per year. It also helped in increasing customer satisfactionand

improving the reputation of the company. The TATA Refractories Limited

Belpahar, Orissa, has promotedthe ‘ Niharika QC’. The sweepers found that using

brush fibrebristle was more effective in cleaning of oil spills in the maintenance

department where they worked Re- using of plastic brush fibresfrom Toyota

Vacuum cleaner of the department enabled them tosave Rs. 4000 per annum

besides leading to better housekeeping and safe working conditions.

Basic Principles of Total Quality Management (TQM)

The basic principles for the Total Quality Management (TQM) philosophy of doing

business are to satisfy the customer, satisfy the supplier, and continuously improve the

business processes.

Questions you may have include:

How do you satisfy the customer? Why should you satisfy the supplier? What is continuous improvement?

Satisfy the customer

The first and major TQM principle is to satisfy the customer--the person who pays for the product or service. Customers want to get their money's worth from a product or service they purchase.

Users

If the user of the product is different than the purchaser, then both the user and customer must be satisfied, although the person who pays gets priority.

Company philosophy

A company that seeks to satisfy the customer by providing them value for what they buy and the quality they expect will get more repeat business, referral business, and reduced complaints and service expenses.

Some top companies not only provide quality products, but they also give extra service to make their customers feel important and valued.

Internal customers

Within a company, a worker provides a product or service to his or her supervisors. If the person has any influence on the wages the worker receives, that person can be thought of as an internal customer. A worker should have the mind-set of satisfying internal customers in order to keep his or her job and to get a raise or promotion.

Chain of customers

Often in a company, there is a chain of customers, -each improving a product and passing it along until it is finally sold to the external customer. Each worker must not only seek to satisfy the immediate internal customer, but he or she must look up the chain to try to satisfy the ultimate customer.

Satisfy the supplier

A second TQM principle is to satisfy the supplier, which is the person or organization from whom you are purchasing goods or services.

External suppliers

A company must look to satisfy their external suppliers by providing them with clear instructions and requirements and then paying them fairly and on time.It is only in the company's best interest that its suppliers provide it with quality goods or services, if the company hopes to provide quality goods or services to its external customers.

Internal suppliers

A supervisor must try to keep his or her workers happy and productive by providing good task instructions, the tools they need to do their job and good working conditions. The supervisor must also reward the workers with praise and good pay.

Get better work

The reason to do this is to get more productivity out of the workers, as well as to keep the good workers. An effective supervisor with a good team of workers will certainly satisfy his or her internal customers.

Empower workers

One area of satisfying the internal suppler is by empowering the workers. This means to allow them to make decisions on things that they can control. This not only takes the burden off the supervisor, but it also motivates these internal suppliers to do better work.

Continuous improvement

The third principle of TQM is continuous improvement. You can never be satisfied with the method used, because there always can be improvements. Certainly, the competition is improving, so it is very necessary to strive to keep ahead of the game.

Working smarter, not harder

Some companies have tried to improve by making employees work harder. This may be counter-productive, especially if the process itself is flawed. For example, trying to increase worker output on a defective machine may result in more defective parts.

Examining the source of problems and delays and then improving them is what is needed. Often the process has bottlenecks that are the real cause of the problem. These must be removed.

Worker suggestions

Workers are often a source of continuous improvements. They can provide suggestions on how to improve a process and eliminate waste or unnecessary work.

Quality methods

There are also many quality methods, such as just-in-time production, variability reduction, and poka-yoke that can improve processes and reduce waste.The principles of Total Quality Management are to seek to satisfy the external customer with quality goods and services, as well as your company internal customers; to satisfy your external and internal suppliers; and to continuously improve processes by working smarter and using special quality methods.

Customer Focus In a TQM approach, small businesses must understand who their current customers are (and are not), noting their key needs and requirements and keep these expectations at the forefront of their strategy and processes. This principle should extend to internal clients, as well, treating coworkers as customers and satisfying their demands.

Leadership Leaders create the environment in which their business operates. They set policy, plan strategy and launch tactics for staff to execute. Small businesses can take advantage of the necessity for participative management, as they are more likely to be intimately aware of all facets of their business and how they interconnect. Managers and owners can educate staff on business operations, industry developments and market trends, giving them a broader perspective on what it takes to make the company successful.As leaders set and communicate customer-focused strategy, they become smarter in acquiring and keeping quality staff. Selecting, training and motivating staff to work together, particularly in cross-functional teams, enables faster problem identification and resolution, process execution and overall productivity. In applying TQM, well-trained and motivated employees also have more control over their work and a greater sense of ownership in the company.

Process Approach In TQM, a well-informed staff, with a keener sense of what the customer expects, can help develop a proactive process that builds quality into each stage as they design and deliver products, rather than trying to catch flaws during post-production inspection, which wastes resources on potentially defective products.

Statistical Quality Control (SQC)

Small business owners can employ Statistical Process Control (SQC) to help make decisions. As the organization better understands customer demands, these requirements set features for the product line. Staff and management refine measurements for these features, even developing an ‘ideal’ product. The team can then continually monitor quality by assessing output against the parameters, halting fabrication in order to fix the problem when the goods being produced fall outside the acceptable limits.

Supplier Relationships Businesses can apply these TQM philosophies to suppliers. This will help them understand their attitudes, values and capabilities, as well as the minimum and maximum variations in the goods they deliver to the company, to monitor quality and create value across the supply chain.

Continuous Improvement Continuous improvement is fundamental in TQM. Essentially, in this practice, the business executes the first six principles continuously. The whole organization, from top leadership to front-line employee, must commit to the time and effort necessary in making modest gains in the operations. Rather than launching a revolution in how a company runs, step-by-step changes initiated by everyone in the organization ultimately convert the business and ingrain the TQM philosophy into the corporate culture.

TQM Implementation Approaches You can't implement just one effective solution for planning and implementing TQM concepts in all situations. Below we list generic models for implementing total quality management theory:

1- Train top management on TQM principles.

2- Assess the current: Culture, customer satisfaction, and quality management system.

3- Top management determines the core values and principles and communicates them.

4- Develop a TQM master plan based on steps 1,2,3.

5- Identify and prioritize customer needs and determine products or service to meet those needs.

6- Determine the critical processes that produces those products or services.

7- Create process improvement teams.

8- Managers supports the efforts by planning, training, and providing resources to the team.

9- Management integrates changes for improvement in daily process management. After

improvements standardization takes place.

10- Evaluate progress against plan and adjust as needed.

11- Provide constant employee awareness and feedback. Establish an employee reward/ recognition process. Basic Approach: The six basic concepts of TQM:

Total Quality Management is a management approach that originated in the 1950's and has steadily become more popular since the early 1980's. Total Quality Management is a description of the culture, attitude and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The culture requires quality in all aspects of the company's operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations.TQM mainly based on following six concepts.

In order to achieve excellence, six basic concepts of TQM are as follows:

1. A committed & involved management to provide long-term top-to-bottom organizational support.

2. Focus customer requirements and product/service expectations, both internally & externally.

3. Effective involvement & utilization of the entire work force.

4. Continuous improvement of the business & production process.

5. Treat suppliers as our partners

6. Establish performance measures for the process.

Now these six basic concepts are describe in detail to understand properly about TQM:

1. Management leadership & commitment:

TQMPerformance measure

Leadership & Commitment

Customer focus

Employee involvement

Continuous improvement

Supplier partnership

Management must participate in the quality program. A quality council must be

established to develop a clear vision, set long term goal & direct the program. This

requires management to actively participate in quality transformation. They have

to outline the quality goals, quality policies and quality plans so that employees

are constantly reminded that the customer, not the product, is the top priority

(Besterfield, 1995).

Quality goals give all employees clear indication of what is going to be achieved

concerning quality. Quality policies when described in detail will provide

guideline on how employees are to achieve that goal. Management commitment;

requires developing management systems that assure and ensure that quality is

built into each and every process in organization. Thus, meaningful plans, such as

performing an annual quality audit help top management acquire the necessary

insight into problems the company faces in realizing the quality plan.

In short, management commitment and leadership represent a paradigm shift from

the traditional management role and responsibilities towards a new role,

supporting and enhancing the total quality culture and environment.

Characteristics of Successful Leaders

1. Give attention to external and internal customers.

2. Empower, not control subordinates. Provide resources, training, and work

environment to help them do their jobs.

3. Emphasize improvement rather than maintenance.

4. Emphasize prevention.

5. Encourage collaboration rather than competition.

6. Train and coach, not direct and supervise.

7. Learn from problems – opportunity for improvement.

8. Continually try to improve communications.

9. Continually demonstrate commitment to quality.

10. Choose suppliers on the basis of quality, not price.

11. Establish organisational systems that support quality efforts.

12. Encourage & recognize team effort.

These characteristics demonstrate successful quality leaders.

2. Customer satisfaction:

The key to an effective TQM program is its focus on the customer. An excellent

place to start is by satisfying internal customer. We must listen to the” voice of the

customers” & emphasize design quality & defect prevention. Do it right the first

time & every time, for customer satisfaction is the most important consideration.

An organization must give its customers a quality product or service that meets

their needs, at reasonable price, on-time delivery, and outstanding service.

Listening to the ‘customers’ and responding quickly to their changing needs,

expectations and perceptions is one of the TQM basic approaches. By keeping

close to their customer, companies can establish customer needs; gather

information on customer trend and benchmarking them with their competitors.

This can be a winning strategy towards winning new customers and retaining

customer loyalty.

Increasingly, manufacturing and service organizations are using customer

satisfaction as the measure of quality. This fact is reflected in the Malcolm

Baldridge National Quality Award, wherein customer satisfaction accounts for

30% of the total points. Total Quality Management (TQM) implies an

organizational obsession with meeting or exceeding customer expectations, so that

customers are delighted.

Customer

Front-line representative

Functional operational areas

Senior manager

CEO

Fig: Customer satisfaction organizational diagram.

3. Employee Involvement:

TQM is an organization wide challenge that is everyone’s responsibility. All

personnel must be trained in TQM, statistical process control (SPC) & other

appropriate quality improvement skills so they can effectively participate on

project teams.

Employee involvement is a process for empowering members of an organization

to make decisions and to solve problems appropriate to their levels in the

organization (Richardson, 1997). Empowerment is equally effective in service

industries, where most frequently customer perception of quality stands or falls

based on the action of the employee in a – one-on one relationship with the

customer. This can be achieved by making the employee part of the organization,

which is essential to the success of the organization. Employees who believe they

are important will be motivated to ensure that their efforts are consistent and

dependable upon the contributions made.

Deming’s fourteen points for management are worth remembering. The basis of

his philosophy is contained in the following principle:

1. Institute training on the job.

2. Break down barriers between departments to build teamwork.

3. Drive out fear in the workplace.

4. Eliminate quotas on the shop floor.

5. Create conditions that allow employees to have pride in their workmanship

and abolish annual reviews and merit ratings and

6. Institute a program of education and self-improvement.

7. Benefits of Employee Involvement:

Involving employees, empowering them, & bringing them into the decision-

making process provide the opportunity for continuous process improvement.

Employee involvement improves quality & increases productivity because,

1. Employees make better decisions using their expert knowledge of the

process.

2. Employees are more likely to implement & support decisions they had a

part in making.

3. Employees are better able to spot & pinpoint areas for improvement.

4. Employees are better able to take immediate corrective action.

5. Employee involvement reduces labor or management friction by

encouraging more effective communication & cooperation.

6. Employees are better able to accept change because they control the work

environment.

All above these benefits of employee involvement make ensure in an organization

by the Total Quality Management (TQM).

4. Continuous process Improvement:

There must be a continual striving to improve all business & production process.

Process refers to business & production activities of an organization. Business

process such as purchasing, engineering, accounting, & marketing are areas where

nonconformance can represent an opportunity for substantial improvement.

Following figure shows a process model,

PROCESS

People

Equipment

Method

FEEDBACK

Fig: Input & output process Model.

Quality improvement projects such as on-time delivery, order entry efficiency,

billing error rate, customer satisfaction, cycle time, scrap reduction & supplier management are good places to begin. Technical techniques such as, statistical process control (SPC), benchmarking, quality function deployment, ISO 9000 &

designed experiments are excellent for problem solving.

The most frequently used guidelines for quality management systems are the ISO 9000 international standards, which emphasize the establishment of a well-

documented, standardized quality system. The role of the ISO 9000 standards within the TQM circle of continuous improvement is presented in the following figure.

INPUT

Material

Money

Information

Data etc.

OUTPUT

Information

Data

Product

Service, etc.

OUT

COMES

CONDITIONS

Continuous improvement is a circular process that links the diagnostic, planning,

implementation and evaluation phases. Within this circular process, the ISO 9000

standards are commonly applied in the implementation phase.

Continuous improvement of all systems and processes in an organization is

essential for TQM success. A continuous improvement system gears the

organization toward attainment of the vision (Richardson, 1997). The

improvement system must not only be continuously applied, but also consistently,

throughout the organization. This requires a disciplined continuous improvement

system based on trust, with everyone in the organization striving to improve the

system (Crosby, 1979).

5. Supplier partnership:

Customers & suppliers have the same goal to satisfy the end user. On the average

40% of the sales dollar is purchased product or service, therefore the supplier

quality must be outstanding. The better the supplier’s quality, the better the

supplier’s long-term position because the customer will have better quality.

Because both the customer & supplier have limited resources, they must work

together as partners to maximize their return on investment. Suppliers focus

should be on quality & life-cycle costs rather than price.

Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa has suggested ten principles to ensure quality products &

services & eliminate unsatisfactory conditions between the customer & the

supplier:

1. Customer and supplier are fully responsible for Quality control.

2. Customer and supplier should respect each other’s independence.

3. Supplier is entitled to complete information from the customer.

4. Non-adversarial contract between customer and supplier is needed for

quality, quantity, price, delivery method & payments.

5. Supplier should provide quality to meet customer’s satisfaction.

6. Product quality evaluation methods should be decided by the mutual

consent of both the parties.

7. Amicable settlement of disputes between customer and supplier should be

established in the contract.

8. Continuous information exchange will improve the product or service

quality.

9. To maintain an amicable relationship, both the parties should do

procurement, production, and inventory planning.

10. Best interest of the end user should be considered while doing business

transactions. There are some conditions for the selection and evaluation of

suppliers:

1. Supplier knows management policy of the organization.

2. Stable management system of supplier, respected by others.

3. Supplier has the capability of dealing with technological

innovations.

4. Supplier can supply material meeting quality specifications.

5. Supplier has capability to meet the amount of production.

6. Supplier can breach corporate secrets.

The core concept of TQM consisted of supplier & customer relationship. Now

show this relationship by diagrammatically:

The core of TQM is the customer-supplier interfaces, both externally and

internally, and at each interface lay a number of processes. This core must be

surrounded by commitment to quality, communication of the quality message, and

recognition of the need to change the culture of the organization to create total

quality.

6. Performance Measures:

The sixth & final concept of Total Quality Management (TQM) is performance

measures. Managing an organization without performance measures is like a

captain of a ship navigating without instrument. The ship would most likely end

up traveling in circles, as would an organization.

Performance measures such as uptime, percent nonconforming, absenteeism &

customer satisfaction should be determined for each functional area. These

measures should be posted for everyone to see. Quantitative data are necessary to

measure the continuous quality improvement activity.

Performance measurement is primarily managing outcome, and one of its main

purposes is to reduce or eliminate overall variation in the work product or process.

The goal is to arrive at sound decisions about actions affecting the product or

process and its output.

Performance measures are used to achieve one or more of the following seven

objectives:

1. Establish baseline measures & reveal trends.

2. Determine which process needs to be improved.

3. Indicate process gains & losses.

4. Compare goals with actual performance.

5. Provide information for individual & team evaluation.

6. Provide information to make informed decisions.

7. Determine the overall performance of the organization.

There are many tools to determine or measure the performance of employees an

organization or industry. Now briefly describe the two major tools of performance

measures:

Balanced Scorecard:

The balanced scorecard is a popular tool for performance measurement. It uses four perspectives from which to manage organizational performance including

customers, finances, internal processes, and innovation and learning.

The scorecard is built on the premise that using only financial measures is not sufficient to achieve an organization's strategic objectives. The scorecard measures

how an organization reaches its financial goals. Simply stated, what gets measured gets done.

Benchmarking:The term benchmarking was originally used by early land surveyors, who used the term to identify a fixed point from which all other measurements are made.

In the late 1970's however, it took a broader meaning. Applied to an

organization, benchmarking is a process to determine who else does a particular activity the best and emulating what they do to improve performance. A more formal definition is "simply the systematic process of searching for best practices,

innovative ideas and highly effective operating procedures that lead to superior performance."

Performance measurement touches all aspects of the organization, including programs, products and services for internal and external customers, teams, departments and cross-functional project teams. It focuses all activities on overall

business results, constantly measuring and giving feedback about results in relation to strategic goals.

All above these descriptions we have to understand that, these six basic concepts is the baselinefor Total Quality Management (TQM) to implement successfully in

every sector.

TQM views an organization as a collection of processes. It maintains that organizations must strive to continuously improve these processes by

incorporating the knowledge and experiences of workers. TQM is now becoming recognized as a generic management tool, just as applicable in service and public sector organizations. The purpose of TQM is to provide a quality product or

service to customers, which will in turn increase productivity & lower cost. All these activities of TQM are done by the help of these six basic concepts.

BARRIERS TO TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION

TQM is management philosophy that seeks to integrate all organizational functions (marketing,

finance, design, engineering, production, customer etc) to focus on meeting customer needs and

organizational objectives.TQM views an organization as a collection of processes. It maintains that

organizations must always strive to continuously improve these processes by in corporating the

knowledge and experiences of workers.

Implementation of Quality

The implementation of total quality is similar to that of other decentralized control

methods. In developing TQM, companies need to understand how consumers define

quality in both goods and services offered. If a company pays more attention to quality in

its production processes, fewer problems are bound to occur when the product is in the

customers’ hands. Management should make a commitment to measure the performance

of a product relative to its quality through customer surveys, which can help managers to

identify design, manufacturing or any other process that has a bearing on the quality of a

product or service, and therefore provide an opportunity for continuous improvement.

An obstacle is an object, a thing, an action or a situation that causes an obstruction.

Obstacles can be physical, social, economic, technological or political. There are a

number of barriers that face the process of TQM implementation.

Discussed below are some of the barriers or obstacles that total quality management face

during implementation. Most scholars who have researched on the subject choice to focus

on the specific industries like the construction, Agriculture e.t.c and specific economies.

What we came up with are general barriers that are likely to cut across the economic

board.

1. Competitive markets

A competitive market is a driving force behind many of the other obstacles to quality.

One of the effects of a competitive market is to lower quality standards to a minimally

acceptable level. This barrier to quality is mainly a mental barrier caused by a

misunderstanding of the definition of quality. Unfortunately, too many companies equate

quality with high cost. Their definition leads to the assumption that a company can’t

afford quality. A broader definition needs to be used to look at quality, not only in the

company’s product, but in every function of the company. All company functions have an

element of quality. If the quality of tasks performed is poor, unnecessary cost is incurred

by the company and, ultimately, passed to the customer. TQM should work by inspiring

employees at every level to continuously improve what they do, thus rooting out

unnecessary costs. Done correctly, a company involved with TQM can dramatically

reduce operating costs. The competitive advantage results from concentrating resources

(the employees’ brainpower) on controlling costs and improving customer service.

2. Bad attitudes/abdication of responsibility/management infallibility

The competitive environment, poor management practice, and a general lack of higher

expectations have contributed to unproductive and unhealthy attitudes. These attitudes

often are expressed in popular sayings, such as “It’s not my job” and “If I am not broke,

don’t fix it. Such attitude sayings stem from the popular notion that management is

always right and therefore employees are” only supposed to implement management

decisions without questioning. Lethargy is further propagated through management’s

failure to train employees on TQM fundamentals that build better attitudes by involving

them in teams that identify and solve problems. Such training can transform employees

from being part of the problem to part of the solution. This will foster motivation and

creativity and build productive and healthy attitudes that focus employees on basic

fundamentals, such as: keep customer needs in mind, constantly look for improvements,

and accept personal responsibility for your work.

3. Lack of leadership for quality

Excess layers of management quite often lead to duplication of duty and responsibility.

This has made the lower employees of an organization to leave the quality

implementation to be a management’s job. In addition, quality has not been taken as a

joint responsibility by the management and the employees. Coupled with the notion that

management is infallible and therefore it is always right in its decisions, employees have

been forced to take up peripheral role in quality improvement. As a result employees who

are directly involved in the production of goods or delivery of services are not motivated

enough to incorporate quality issues that have been raised by the customers they serve

since they do not feel as part of the continuous process of quality improvement.

Moreover, top management is not visibly and explicitly committed to quality in many

organizations.

4. Deficiency of cultural dynamism

Every organization has its own unique way of doing things. This is defined in terms of

culture of the organization. The processes, the philosophy, the procedures and the

traditions define how the employees and management contribute to the achievement of

goals and meeting of organizational objectives. Indeed, sticking to organizational culture

is integral in delivery of the mission of the organization. However, culture has to be

reviewed and for that matter re-adjustments have to be done in tune with the prevailing

economic, political, social and technological realities so as to improve on efficiency. In

adequate cultural dynamism has made total quality implementation difficult because most

of the top level management of many organizations are rigid in their ways of doing things.

5. Inadequate resources for total quality management

Since most companies do not involve quality in their strategic plan, little attention is paid

to TQM in terms of human and financial resources. Much of the attention is drawn to

increasing profit margins of the organization with little regard as to whether their offers/

supply to customers is of expected quality. There is paltry budgetary allocation made

towards employee training and development which is critical for total quality

management implementation. Employee training is often viewed as unnecessary cost

which belittles the profits margins which is the primary objective for the existence of

businesses and as a result TQM has been neglected as its implementation “may not

necessarily bring gains to the organization in the short term”.

6. Lack of customer focus.

Most strategic plans of organizations are not customer driven. They tend to concentrate

much on profit-oriented objectives within a given time frame. Little (if any) market

research is done to ascertain the product or service performance in the market relative to

its quality. Such surveys are regarded by most organizations as costly and thus little

concern is shown to quality improvement for consumer satisfaction.

7. Lack of effective measurement of quality improvement

TQM is centered on monitoring employees and processes, and establishing objectives that

anticipate the customer's needs so that he is surprised and delighted. This has posed a

considerable challenge to many companies. Measurement problems are caused by goals

based on past substandard performance, poor planning, and lack of resources and

competitor-based standard. Worse still, the statistical measurement procedures applied to

production are not applicable to human system processes.

8. Poor Planning

The absence of a sound strategy has often contributed to ineffective quality improvement.

Duran noted that deficiencies in the original planning cause a process to run at a high

level of chronic waste. Using data collected at then recent seminars, Duran (1987)

reported that although some managers were not pleased with their progress on their

quality implementation agenda, they gave quality planning low priority. As Oakland

(1989) said, the pre-planning stage of developing the right attitude and level of awareness

is crucial to achieving success in a quality improvement program.

Newell and Dale (1990) in their study observed that a large number of companies are

either unable or unwilling to plan effectively for quality improvement. Although many

performed careful and detailed planning prior to implementation, not one of the firms

studied or identified beforehand the stages that their process must endure.Perhaps the root

cause of poor plans and specifications is that many owners do not understand the impact

that poor drawings have on a project’s quality, cost, and time. Regardless of the cause,

poor plans and specifications lead to a project that costs more, takes longer to complete,

and causes more frustration than it should. Companies using TQM should always strive

towards impressing upon owners the need to spend money and time on planning. If

management took reasonable time to plan projects thoroughly and invest in partnering to

develop an effective project team, a lot could be achieved in terms of product

performance as these investments in prevention- oriented management can significantly

improve the quality of the goods or services offered by an organization

9. Lack of management commitment

A quality implementation program will succeed only if top management is fully

committed beyond public announcements. Success requires devotion and highly visible

and articulate champions. Newell and Dale (1990) found that even marginal wavering by

corporate managers was sufficient to divert attention from continuous improvement.

Additionally, Schein (1991) reported that the U.S. Quality Council is most troubled by the

lack of top management commitment in many companies.

Lack of commitment in quality management may stem from various reasons. Major

obstacles include the preoccupation with short-term profits and the limited experience and

training of many executives. Duran, for example, observed that many managers have

extensive experience in business and finance but not in quality improvement. Similarly,

Bothe (1988) pointed out that although the CEO does not have to be a quality expert,

programs fail when the CEO does not recognize the contribution these techniques make

toward profitability and customer satisfaction.

Top management should, therefore, embrace quality improvement programs no matter

how far reaching the programs may appear the monetary implications therein.

Competition alone should not be considered as the single factor that drives managers

into implementing quality initiatives.

10. Resistance of the workforce

A workforce is often unwilling to embrace TQM for a variety of reasons. Oakland (1989)

explained that a lack of long-term objectives and targets will cause a quality

implementation program to lose credibility.

Keys (1991) warned that an adversarial relationship between management and non-

management should not exist, and he emphasized that a cooperative relationship is

necessary for success. A TQM project must be supported by employee trust, acceptance

and understanding of management's objectives .Employees ,therefore, should be

recognized by the management as vital players in the decision making processes

regarding to quality improvement as involving them would have motivating effect on

implementation of quality programs.

11. Lack of proper training/Inadequate Human Resource Development

There is evidence that lack of understanding and proper training exists at all levels of any

organization, and that it is a large contributor to worker resistance. Schein (1990), for

example, mentioned that business school failure to teach relevant process skills

contributed to manager ineffectiveness.TQM requires a well-educated workforce with a

solid understanding of basic math, reading, writing and communication. Although

companies invest heavily in quality awareness, statistical process control, and quality

circles, often the training is too narrowly focused. Frequently, Duran’s warning against

training for specific organizational levels or product lines is unheeded. This has also been

underscored by Newell and Dale who argue that poor education and training present a

major obstacle in the development and implementation of a quality program. . For a

company to produce a quality product, employees need to know how to do their jobs. For

TQM to be successful, organizations must commit to training employees at all levels.

TQM should provide comprehensive training, including technical expertise,

communication skills, small-team management, problem-solving tools, and customer

relations.

Teamwork is the key to involvement and participation. Groups should be encouraged to

work closely and effectively, and should focus on quality improvement and customer

satisfaction.

All organizations should focus on the following for successful TQM implementation:

i) Create consistency of purpose toward improvement of the product and service so as to

become competitive, stay in business and provide jobs.

ii) Cease dependence on mass inspection; require, instead, statistical evidence that quality

is built on.

iii) Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. We no longer need live

with commonly accepted levels of delay, mistake, defective material and defective

workmanship.

iv) Improve the quality of incoming materials. End the practice awarding business on the

basis of price alone. Instead, depend on meaningful measures of quality, along with price.

v) Find the problems; constantly improve the system of production and service. There

should be continual rise in productivity and a decrease in costs.

Eight dimensions of quality

Eight dimensions of product quality management can be used at a strategic level to

analyze quality characteristics. The concept was defined by David Garvin. Some of the

dimensions are mutually reinforcing, whereas others are not—improvement in one may be

at the expense of others. Understanding the trade-offs desired by customers among these

dimensions can help build a competitive advantage. Garvin's eight dimensions can be

summarized as follows:[1]

1. Performance: Performance refers to a product's primary operating

characteristics. This dimension of quality involves measurable attributes; brands

can usually be ranked objectively on individual aspects of performance.

2. Features: Features are additional characteristics that enhance the appeal of the

product or service to the user.

3. Reliability: Reliability is the likelihood that a product will not fail within a

specific time period. This is a key element for users who need the product to

work without fail.

4. Conformance: Conformance is the precision with which the product or service

meets the specified standards.

5. Durability: Durability measures the length of a product’s life. When the product

can be repaired, estimating durability is more complicated. The item will be

used until it is no longer economical to operate it. This happens when the repair

rate and the associated costs increase significantly.

6. Serviceability: Serviceability is the speed with which the product can be put into

service when it breaks down, as well as the competence and the behavior of the

serviceperson.

7. Aesthetics: Aesthetics is the subjective dimension indicating the kind of

response a user has to a product. It represents the individual’s personal

preference.

8. Perceived Quality: Perceived Quality is the quality attributed to a good or

service based on indirect measures.

Performance :Performance refers to a product's primary operating characteristics. This

dimension of quality involves measurable attributes, so brands can usually be ranked

objectively on individual aspects of performance. Overall performance rankings,however,

are more difficult to develop, especially when they involve benefits that not every

consumer needs. Performance is often a source of contention between customers and

suppliers, particularly when deliverables are not adequately defined within specifications.

The performance of a product often influences the profitability or reputation of the end-

user. As such, many contracts or specifications include damages related to inadequate

performance. The question of whether performance differences are quality differences

may depend on circumstantial preferences-but preferences based on functional

requirements, not taste. Some performance standards are based on subjective preferences,

but the preferences are so universal that they have the force of an objective standard.

Features :Features are additional characteristics that enhance the appeal of the product or

service to the user.Similar thinking can be applied to features, a second dimensions of

quality that is often a secondary aspects of performance. Features are the "bells and

whistles" of products and services, those characteristics that supplement their basic

functioning. Examples include free drinks on a plane, permanent-press cycles on a

washing machine, and automatic tuners on a color television set. The line separating

primary performance characteristics from secondary features is often difficult to draw

Reliability :Reliability is the likelihood that a product will not fail within a specific time

period. This is a key element for users who need the product to work without fail.This

dimension reflects the probability of a product malfunctioning or failing within a specified

time period. Among the most common measures of reliability are the mean time to first

failure, the mean time between failures, and the failure rate per unit time. Because these

measures require a product to be in use for a specified period, they are more relevant to

durable goods than to products and services that are consumed instantly.Reliability

normally becomes more important to consumers as downtime and maintenance become

more expensive. Farmers, for example, are especially sensitive to downtime during the

short harvest season. Reliable equipment can mean the difference between a good year

and spoiled crops. But consumers on other markets are more attuned than ever to product

reliability too. Computers and copying machines certainly compare on this

basis.Reliability may be closely related to performance. For instance, a product

specification may define parameters for up-time, or acceptable failure rates. Reliability is

a major contributor to brand or company image, and is considered a fundamental

dimension of quality by most end-users. I.E., recent market research shows that,

especially for women, reliability has become an automobile's most desired attribute.

Conformance :The dimension of conformance depicts to what extent a product’s design

and operating characteristics meet established standards. This dimension owes the most to

the traditional approaches to quality pioneered by experts like Juran.All products and

services involve specifications of some sort. When products are developed, these

specifications are set and a target is set, for instance the materials used or the dimension

of the product. Not only the target but also the tolerance (the range of permitted deviation

from the target) is defined. One problem with this approach is that there is little interest in

whether the specifications have been met exactly as long as the tolerance limits are

met.On the one hand, this can lead to the so-called “tolerance stack-up”. When two or

more parts are to be fit together, the size of their tolerances often determine how well they

will match. Should one part fall at a lower limit of its specification and a matching part at

its upper limit, a tight fit is unlikely. The link is likely to wear more quickly than one

made from parts whose dimensions have been centered more exactly.This problem can be

addressed by taking a different approach to measuring quality. Instead of measuring a

simple conformance to specifications, the degree to which parts or products diverge from

the ideal target is measured. Using this approach, process 1 (see picture) is better even

though some items fall beyond specification limits. The traditional approach would have

favoured process 2 because it produces more items within the specification limit. It was

demonstrated that the problem of “tolerance stack-up” is worse when the dimensions of

parts are more distant from the target than when they cluster around it, even if some parts

fall outside the tolerance. This approach requires a fresh look at the common process

quality factor of 'defect rate', to take into account the fact that two parts may each pass the

'tolerance test' separately but be unusable when the attempt is made to join them

together.In service businesses, measures of conformance normally focus on accuracy and

timeliness and include counts of processing errors, unanticipated delays and other

frequent mistake

Durability:Durability measures the length of a product’s life. When the product can be

repaired, estimating durability is more complicated. The item will be used until it is no

longer economical to operate it. This happens when the repair rate and the associated

costs increase significantly. Technically, durability can be defined as the amount of use

one gets from a product before it deteriorates. After so many hours of use, the filament of

a light bulb burns up and the bulb must be replaced. Repair is impossible. Economists call

such products "one-hoss shays.In other cases, consumers must weigh the expected cost, in

both dollars and personal inconvenience, of future repairs against the investment and

operating expenses of a newer, more reliable model. Durability, then, may be defined as

the amount of use one gets from a product before it breaks down and replacement is

preferable to continued repair.This approach to durability has two important implications.

First, it suggests that durability and reliability are closely linked. A product that often fails

is likely to be scrapped earlier than one that is more reliable; repair costs will be

correspondingly higher and the purchase of a competitive brand will look that much more

desirable. Second, this approach implies that durability figures should be interpreted with

care. An increase in product life may not be the result of technical improvements or the

use of longer-lived materials. Rather, the underlying economic environment simply may

have changed

Serviceability :Serviceability involves the consumer's ease of obtaining repair service

(example: access to service centers and/or ease of self-service), the responsiveness of

service personnel(example: ease of getting an appointment, willingness of repair

personnel to listen to the customer), and the reliability of service (example: whether the

service is performed right the first time). Competence and ease of repair is the speed with

which the product can be put into service when it breaks down, as well as the competence

and the behavior of the service personnel.Consumers are concerned not only about a

product breaking down but also about the time before service is restored, the timeliness

with which service appointment are kept, the nature of dealings with service personnel,

and the frequency with which service calls or repairs fail to correct outstanding problems.

In those cases where problems are not immediately resolved and complaints are filed, a

company's complaint handling procedures are also likely to affect customer's ultimate

evaluation of product and service quality.Some of these variables reflect differing

personal standards of acceptable service. others can be measured quite objectively.

Customers may remain dissatisfied even after completion of repairs. How these

complaints are handled is important to a company's reputation for quality and service.

Eventually, profitability is likely to be affected as well. Companies differ widely in their

approaches to complaint handling and in the importance they attach to this element of

serviceability. Some do their best to resolve complaints; others use legal gimmicks,

the silent treatment and similar ploys to rebuff dissatisfied customers.For example

recently,[5] General Electric, Procter & Gamble and other companies have sought to

preempt consumer dissatisfaction by installing toll-free telephone hot lines to their

customer relations departments.Important attributes for serviceability dimension are:

service warranty, parts warranty, parts availability, number of reasonable distance to

dealer service centers, distance to service parts center-dealer, distance to service parts

center individual, length of wait for service appointment, schedule of preventive

maintenance, employees listen to customers, information regarding repairs, courteous

service centers, repaired correctly first time, service time relative to other dealers,

warranty claims handled without argument, average repair cost/year, extended warranty,

underestimation of service cost and provision of loan car

Aesthetics :The aesthetic properties of a product contribute to a company's or brand's

identity. Faults or defects in a product that diminish its aesthetic properties, even those

that do not reduce or alter other dimensions of quality, are often cause for rejection.

Aeshetics refers to how the product looks,feels,sounds,tastes or smells.It is clearly a

matter of personal judgement and a reflection of individual preference.Nevertheless,there

appear to be some patterns in consumers' rankings of products on the basis of taste. A

recent study of quality in 33 food categories,for example,found that high quality was most

often associated with "rich and full flavour,tastes natural,tastes fresh,good aroma, and

looks appetizing". Aesthetics also refers to the "outside" feel of the product. The

aesthetics dimension differs from subjective criteria pertaining to "performance" in that

aeshetic choices are not nearly universal. Not all people prefer "rich and full" flavor or

even agree on what that means. Companies therefore have to search for a niche.On this

dimension of quality, it is impossible to please everyone.

Perception :Perception is not always reality. Consumers do not always have complete

information about a product's or service's attributes; indirect measures may be their only

basis for comparing brands. A product's durability for example, can seldom be observed

directly; it usually must be inferred from various tangible and intangible aspects of the

product. In such circumstances, images, advertising and brand names-inferences about

quality rather than the reality itself-can be critical. For this reason, both Honda-which

makes cars in Marysville, Ohio-and Sony-which builds color televisions in San Diego-

have been reluctant to publicize that their products are "made in America". Reputation is

the primary stuff of perceived quality. Its power comes from an unstated analogy: that the

quality of products today is similar to the quality of products of yesterday,or the quality of

goods in a new product line is similar to the quality of a company's established products

SUPPLIER SELECTION

SUPPLIER SELECTION

The suppliers should be selected with the following ten conditions

1. The supplier should understand clearly the management philosophy of the organization.

2. The supplier should have stable management system.

3. The supplier should maintain high technical standards.

4. The supplier should provide the raw materials and parts which meet quality

specifications required by the purchaser.

5. The supplier should have the required capability in terms of production.

6. The supplier should not leak out the corporate secrets.

7. The supplier should quote right price and should meet the delivery schedule. The

supplier should be accessible with respect to transportation and communication.

8. The supplier should be sincere in implementing the contract provisions.

9. The supplier should have an effective quality system such as ISO / QS 9000.

10. The supplier should be renowned for customer satisfaction.

SUPPLIER CERTIFICATION :

A certified supplier is one which, after extensive investigation, is found to supply material of such

quality that is not necessary to perform routine testing.The Eight criteria for supplier certification

are

1. No product related lot rejections for atleast 1 year.

2. No non-product related rejections for atleast 6 months.

3. No production related negative incidents for atleast 6 months.

4. Should have passed a recent on-site quality system evaluation.

5. Having a fully agreed specifications.

6. Fully documented process and quality system.

7. Timely copies of inspection and test data.

8. Process that is stable and in control.

SUPPLIER RATING :

Supplier Rating is done

corrective action.

It makes no difference what business you are in, suppliers and vendors play a key role in your

company's success. Having a formalized system in place to track and evaluate supplier and vendor

performance is essential to the smooth operation and profitability of your company.

Successful companies embrace their suppliers and vendors, viewing them as partners in helping to

grow the business. Making sure that this is a mutually beneficial partnership will impact the price

you are negotiating today and the quality of service you get in future, says Dennis Wright, a

management consultant from the SCORE Orange County office. If a supplier/vendor is a key part

or service to your operation invite that supplier or vendor to strategic meetings that involve the

product they work with. A common mistake companies make is to have a combative relationship

with their suppliers and vendors. 'That is the opposite of what you want to do,' says Drew

Greenblatt, president of Baltimore-based Marlin Steel Wire Products, which makes custom

stainless steel metal baskets, brackets and other parts. 'A lot of companies will actually have an

adversarial relationship where they hire purchasing people who have on brass knuckles and try to

beat up on vendors to get better prices or better terms.' That is a very shortsighted way to do

business, according to Wright and Greenblatt.

Instead of getting stuck on price, focus on quality of service. A vendor can have the lowest price

and the lowest quality of work, too. Your goal is understand what value-add is a given vendor

bringing to your company. Your business should have a system in place for evaluating, selecting

and then reevaluating the suppliers and vendors it works with.

Here are seven tips and tools you'll need to effectively rate your suppliers and vendors , track their

performance, and ultimately increase your company's overall productivity.

1. Establish Performance Indicators

At the onset of the vendor relationship you have to determine what characteristics a vendor needs

to have, demonstrate, or maintain to continue doing business with your company. Create specific

performance criteria for tracking and evaluating your suppliers and vendors on a regular basis —

monthly, quarterly, and/or annually.

Considerations include size of the company, number of cert ifications, quality management

systems, complaint history, and financial stability. For instance, you might consider if they have a

documented procedure for the product or service they provide? 'We look at a couple of driving

metrics to evaluate how good our vendors are,' says Greenblatt, 'including percentages of on-time

performance, number of times we received a quality part or product, and how quickly the vendor

responded to requests for quotes.'

Your own processes and needs will dictate what criteria you apply. For a business owner who is

looking for a shipping company, the biggest concerns might revolve around what is that supplier's

on time delivery track record, how many trucks they own, how many accidents have their drivers

reported, and what certifications do they hold.

A basic consideration for every business owner should be whether the supplier has a quality

management system in place. 'This doesn't just apply to manufacturing but any business including

service providers,' explains Miriam Boudreaux, president of Mireaux Management Solutions, a

Houston-based consulting that specializes in the implementation of quality management systems.

'It's really about if the supplier has a certain set of procedures in place that its people are expected

to follow. Is there a system for handling complaints or problems? Are there corrective or

preventive actions?' Such standards will be addressed if the vendor is ISO certified.

2. Classify Multiple Suppliers and Vendors

If you have a huge number of suppliers and vendors and you intend to craft a survey to evaluate

them, it will be cumbersome to apply the same survey to each and every one, says Boudreaux. It is

better to separate suppliers into levels (1, 2, and 3) based on how critical they are, she advises.

Decide the classification that is best for you and evaluate suppliers according to the effect they

have on your product or service in order of importance, Boudreaux adds.

Marlin Steel exports wire baskets and forms all around the world including Japan, Columbia and

China. Greenblatt points to the fact that 'about 80 percent of my vendors do 20 percent of my dollar

amount of work and about 20 percent of my vendors do 80 percent of my activity.'

By divvying up suppliers into two categories such as critical and non-critical or primary and

secondary, you can devote more time to measuring the performance of your critical suppliers.

3. Devise an Evaluation Method

There are common techniques for rating a supplier's performance including evaluation forms,

surveys, system metrics, and software applications. Marlin Steel tracks vendor performance using a

customized program he created in QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions accounting software, the

Manufacturing & Wholesale edition.

You can craft a survey where you ask your own employees to answer questions and to rate

suppliers and vendors. You can review how many corrective actions you had to issue a supplier or

vendor, how many products you had to scrap or return because the supplier or vendor failed to

meet specifications, or how many customer complaints you received due to a bad part or service

from a vendor. You also can monitor suppliers and vendors by doing an audit periodically. The

bottom line is that you need to generate measurements or reports at the onset of the purchase and

throughout the course of the supplier and vendor relationship.

'We did vendor reviews where we would bring them together offsite at a hotel with our IT and

procurement people,' says Wright, who in his last business life for eight years was vice president

and director of procurement for a large global engineering company. At the point he retired, the

company had 100 plus suppliers and vendors ranging from Microsoft to United Airlines to a small

staffing agency. 'We would line them up. So, at 9 in the morning AT&T would be making a

presentation to our group. When AT&T finished and left the room they would find the Verizon

salespeople standing in the lobby waiting for their turn,' Wright explains. 'We created a little

competition amongst vendors.'

Wright says periodic vendor reviews would also entail a discussion about what the company had

been buying, how much it had been buying, what did that vendor have on the shelf or working on

for push out six months or a year down the road and did it represent a significant improvement

over what had been previously purchased, and what were competitors buying from a particular

vendor.

4. Determine Who's Calling the Shots

Once you establish the criteria for evaluating suppliers and vendors, who in your company will be

responsible for reviewing the data. It depends on how much resources you have to dedicate to

evaluating your suppliers, says Boudreaux. 'You may want to assign one person or a team with this

task.' For instance, selecting and evaluating level 1 suppliers and vendors, might require the chief

financial officer or someone from the finance department along with the president and

representatives from purchasing, operations, and engineering or IT. With level 2 and 3 suppliers

and vendors, it may be the purchasing or procurement officer who approves the supplier or vendor

list and monitors performance.

'I always made sure that the user group was involved in the process. The individuals who were

using the product or service were very active in the process from the very beginning—at the point

of selection,' Wright says.

5. Maintain Good Relationships

Consider your suppliers and vendors as part of the team and treat them as such. Communicate

often and openly. Technology is great but don't overlook the personal touch of a phone

conversation or face to face meetings, says Greenblatt. Also, avoid supplier and vendor conflicts by

paying on time or at least honestly addressing late payment issues and talking with your supplier or

vendor about it. Be upfront and transparent with suppliers and vendors. Make sure they understand

your needs and expectations.

'To improve our relationship and communication with our vendors, we added a page to all of our

print materials (drawings) calling out exactly how we are going to package things,' adds

Greenblatt. 'So, if it is going to be two layers of bubble wrap or an extra layer of padding between

each part so that there is no scratching. We go through that level of detail so that we are not

disappointed when parts come in.'

6. Decide When to Issue a Red Flag

As you monitor a supplier's performance, you have to decide when to praise them and when to

issue a read flag, says Boudreaux. Show appreciation for a job well done; give a supplier additional

business because of excellent performance. 'A bad supplier will provide you with mediocre or poor

products and services and cause a problem with your customers,' adds Boudreaux.

You can drop a supplier for poor performance but strategically it is better to reta in your vendors

and not to flip around all of the time to replace them. By giving a warning, you give the supplier or

vendor an opportunity to correct the problem. Use data that you have collected like on -time

delivery rate, return rate, and number of supplier corrective actions to work with your suppliers,

says Boudreaux. 'This process is not just about reviewing your suppliers but helping them to

improve their performance.'

7. Cut Loose Weak Links

No one of course should tolerate ongoing bad service. There may come a time when you have to let

go of an underperforming supplier or vendor. 'We fired a vendor that was really cheap but was not

meeting the ship dates. They were also non-responsive to complaints. They cut corners and handed

in shoddy paperwork,' Greenblatt cites an example.

'We give a warning and then put them on notice or a short leash before we cut ties completely,' he

explains. 'We will call the vendor and give them an opportunity to correct the situation. We will

send them digital pictures, e-mails, and quality reports. So, there is no mystery when there is a

challenge or an issue.'

The relationship with your supplier is a business partnership, says Wright, and if both parties are

working to make sure that the partnership is a success it will be a success. In the long run, having a

win-win supplier and vendor relationship will be a competitive advantage.

Vendor rating is the result of a formal vendor evaluation system. Vendors or suppliers are given

standing, status, or title according to their attainment of some level of performance, such as

delivery, lead time, quality, price, or some combination of variables. The motivation for the

establishment of such a rating system is part of the effort of manufacturers and service firms to

ensure that the desired characteristics of a purchased product or service is built in and not

determined later by some after-the-fact indicator. The vendor rating may take the form of a

hierarchical ranking from poor to excellent and whatever rankings the firm chooses to insert in

between the two. For some firms, the vendor rating may come in the form of some sort of award

system or as some variation of certification. Much of this attention to vender rating is a direct result

of the widespread implementation of the just-in-time concept in the United States and its focus on

the critical role of the buyer-supplier relationship.

Most firms want vendors that will produce all of the products and services defect -free and deliver

them just in time (or as close to this ideal as reasonably possible). Some type of vehicle is needed

to determine which supplying firms are capable of coming satisfactorily close to this and thus to be

retained as current suppliers. One such vehicle is the vendor rating.

In order to accomplish the rating of vendors, some sort of review process must take place. The

process begins with the identification of vendors who not only can supply the needed product or

service but is a strategic match for the buying firm. Then important factors to be used as criteria for

vendor evaluation are determined. These are usually variables that add value to the process through

increased service or decreased cost. After determining which factors are critical, a method is

devised that allows the vendor to be judged or rated on each individual factor.

It could be numeric rating or a Likert-scale ranking. The individual ratings can then be weighted

according to importance, and pooled to arrive at an overall vendor rating. The process can be

somewhat complex in that many factors can be complementary or conflicting. The process is

further complicated by fact that some factors are quantitatively measured and others subjectively.

Once established, the rating system must be introduced to the supplying firm through some sort of

formal education process. Once the buying firm is assured that the vendor understands what is

expected and is able and willing to participate, the evaluation process can begin. The evaluation

could be an ongoing process or it could occur within a predetermined time frame, such as

quarterly. Of course the rating must be conveyed to the participating vendor with some firms

actually publishing overall vendor standings. If problems are exposed, the vendor should formally

present an action plan designed to overcome any problems that may have surfaced. Many buying

firms require the vendor to show continuing improvement in predetermined critical areas.

CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION

Vendor performance is usually evaluated in the areas of pricing, quality, delivery, and service.

Each area has a number of factors that some firms deem critical to successful vendor performance.

Pricing factors include the following:

Competitive pricing. The prices paid should be comparable to those of vendors providing

similar product and services. Quote requests should compare favorably to other vendors.

Price stability. Prices should be reasonably stable over time.

Price accuracy. There should be a low number of variances from purchase-order prices on

invoiced received.

Advance notice of price changes. The vendor should provide adequate advance notice of

price changes.

Sensitive to costs. The vendor should demonstrate respect for the customer firm's bottom

line and show an understanding of its needs. Possible cost savings could be suggested.

The vendor should also exhibit knowledge of the market and share this insight with the

buying firm.

Billing. Are vendor invoices are accurate? The average length of time to receive credit

memos should be reasonable. Estimates should not vary significantly from the final

invoice. Effective vendor bills are timely and easy to read and understand.

Quality factors include:

Compliance with purchase order. The vendor should comply with terms and conditions as

stated in the purchase order. Does the vendor show an understanding of the customer

firm's expectations?

Conformity to specifications. The product or service must conform to the specifications

identified in the request for proposal and purchase order. Does the product perform as

expected?

Reliability. Is the rate of product failure within reasonable limits?

Reliability of repairs. Is all repair and rework acceptable?

Durability. Is the time until replacement is necessary reasonable?

Support. Is quality support available from the vendor? Immediate response to and

resolution of the problem is desirable.

Warranty. The length and provisions of warranty protection offered should be reasonable.

Are warranty problems resolved in a timely manner?

State-of-the-art product/service. Does the vendor offer products and services that are

consistent with the industry state-of-the-art? The vendor should consistently refresh

product life by adding enhancements. It should also work with the buying firm in new

product development.

Delivery factors include the following:

Time. Does the vendor deliver products and services on time; is the actual receipt date on

or close to the promised date? Does the promised date correspond to the vendor's

published lead times? Also, are requests for information, proposals, and quotes swiftly

answered?

Quantity. Does the vendor deliver the correct items or services in the contracted quantity?

Lead time. Is the average time for delivery comparable to that of other vendors for similar

products and services?

Packaging. Packaging should be sturdy, suitable, properly marked, and undamaged.

Pallets should be the proper size with no overhang.

Documentation. Does the vendor furnish proper documents (packing slips, invoices,

technical manual, etc.) with correct material codes and proper purchase order numbers?

Emergency delivery. Does the vendor demonstrate extra effort to meet requirements when

an emergency delivery is requested?

Finally, these are service factors to consider:

Good vendor representatives have sincere desire to serve. Vendor reps display courteous

and professional approach, and handle complaints effectively. The vendor should also

provide up-to-date catalogs, price information, and technical information. Does the vendor

act as the buying firm's advocate within the supplying firm?

Inside sales. Inside sales should display knowledge of buying firms needs. It should also

be helpful with customer inquiries involving order confirmation, shipping schedules,

shipping discrepancies, and invoice errors.

Technical support. Does the vendor provide technical support for maintenance, repair, and

installation situations? Does it provide technical instructions, documentation, general

information? Are support personnel courteous, professional, and knowledgeable? The

vendor should provide training on the effective use of its products or services.

Emergency support. Does the vendor provide emergency support for repair or

replacement of a failed product.

Problem resolution. The vendor should respond in a timely manner to resolve problems.

An excellent vendor provides follow-up on status of problem correction.

A 2001 article in Supply Management notes that while pricing, quality, delivery, and service are

suitable for supplies that are not essential to the continued success of the buying firm, a more

comprehensive approach is needed for suppliers that are critical to the success of the firm's strategy

or competitive advantage. For firms that fall into the latter category performance may need to be

measured by the following 7 C's.

1. Competency—managerial, technical, administrative, and professional competence of the

supplying firm.

2. Capacity—supplier's ability to meet physical, intellectual and financial requirements.

3. Commitment—supplier's willingness to commit physical, intellectual and financial

resources.

4. Control—effective management control and information systems.

5. Cash resources—financial resources and stability of the supplier. Profit, ROI, ROE, asset-

turnover ratio.

6. Cost—total acquisition cost, not just price.

7. Consistency—supplier's ability to exhibit quality and reliability over time.

If two or more firms supply the same or similar products or services, a standard set of criteria can

apply to the vendor's performance evaluation. However, for different types of firms or firms

supplying different products or services, standardized evaluation criteria may not be valid. In this

case, the buying firm will have to adjust its criteria for the individual vendor. For example, Honda

of America adjusts its performance criteria to account for the impact of supplier problems on

consumer satisfaction or safety. A supplier of brakes would be held to a stricter standard than a

supplier of radio knobs.

AWARDS AND CERTIFICATION

Many buying firms utilize awards and certification programs to rate vendors. Attainment of

certification status or an award serves as an indicator of supplier excellence. Certification and

awards-program recognition represents a final step in an intense journey that involves rigorous data

collection under the total-quality-management-rubric as well as multitudes of meetings with

suppliers and purchasing internal customers. Serious buying firms view these programs as

an integral part of their overall efforts to improve the total value of the company.

The attainment of a supplier award usually serves as an indication that the vendor has been rated as

excellent. Intel awards their best suppliers the Supplier Continuous Quality Improvement Award

(SCQI). Other firms may utilize a hierarchy of awards to indicate varying degrees of performance

from satisfactory to excellent. DaimlerChrysler awards its best suppliers the Gold Pentastar Award.

Several hundred vending firms receive this award per year. However, only a handful (less than a

dozen) of DaimlerChrysler's vendors are good enough to garner the Platinum Pentastar Award.

For other firms, supplier certification is desirable. Supplier certification can be defined as a process

for ensuring that suppliers maintain specific levels of performance in the areas of price, quality,

delivery, and service. Certification implies that participating firms have reached a level of

excellence that other firms were unable or unwilling to achieve. For example a quality certified

firm maintains a level of quality such that customer-receiving inspection may be utilized with

decreasing frequency up to the point where it is eliminated altogether. Theoretically, this will

ensure that all of the supplier's products meet the customer's product specifications. In this case, the

goal of supplier certification is quality at the source.

While it is uncertain whether individual firms are consistent in the manner in which

they certify vendors, a quality certification would likely require that the vending firm be part of a

formal education program, utilize statistical process control (SPC), and have a quality assurance

plan (set written procedures).

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BENEFITS

Benefits of vendor rating systems include:

Helping minimize subjectivity in judgment and make it possible to consider all relevant

criteria in assessing suppliers.

Providing feedback from all areas in one package.

Facilitating better communication with vendors.

Providing overall control of the vendor base.

Requiring specific action to correct identified performance weaknesses.

Establishing continuous review standards for vendors, thus ensuring continuous

improvement of vendor performance.

Building vendor partnerships, especially with suppliers having strategic links.

Developing a performance-based culture.

Vendor ratings systems provide a process for measuring those factors that add value to the buying

firm through value addition or decreased cost. The process will continually evolve and the criteria

will change to meet current issues and concerns.

For example, some feel that supplier evaluation must now reflect the strategic direction of the

buying company's environmental initiatives. As a result, some firms have recently developed

supplier evaluation systems that place significant weight on environmental criteria. It would seem

that the concept will remain valid for some time.

PDSA Cycles

Making improvements in services requires changing things. Change can seem threatening

or overwhelming for busy people doing demanding work. The PDSA method is a way to

break down change into manageable chunks, and test each small part to make sure that

things are improving and no effort is wasted.

What is it?

PDSA stands for Plan, Do, Study, Act. It's a model for testing ideas that you think may

create an improvement. It can be used to test ideas for improvement quickly and easily

based on existing ideas, research, feedback, theory, review, audit, etc or practical ideas

that have been proven to work elsewhere. It uses simple measurements to monitor the

effect of changes over time. It encourages starting with small changes, which can build

into larger improvements in the service through successive quick cycles of change. The

PDSA Cycle

It is:

A common sense of approach to change and improvement Quick and simple Do' able It is

not: Complicated Difficult Gimmicky Why is it useful? It works! The PDSA cycle has

been used for decades as an effective tool for improvement and it's still going strong! The

method is well established and validated and is particularly suited to small, dynamic

organisations like general practice. It's an extremely practical, common sense based

approach that is easy to understand. How do I do it? - The step-by-step guide to the PDSA

cycle:

Step 1 PLAN

Identify what change you think will create improvement and then plan the test of the

change. What is your objective in introducing the change? It is important to establish the

scope of the change to be introduced, and how you are going to collect information about

the differences that occur, how will you know whether the change made has 'worked' or

not?The change should bring about differences which are measurable in isolation. A

major change could be broken down into smaller more manageable 'chunks'. Once the

actual change to be introduced has been agreed, the following questions should be asked:

What are we trying to do during this cycle? What exactly will you do? Who will be

involved? Where will it take place? When will it take place? What do you predict will

happen? What data/information will you need to collect?

Step 2 DO

Put the plan into practice - test change by collecting the data. This stage involves carrying

out the plans agreed in step 1. It is important that the Do stage is kept short as possible.

There may be changes that should only be measured over long periods. Record any

unexpected events, problems and other observations. Start analysing the data.

Step 3 STUDY Review and reflect. Complete the analysis of the data. Has there been an

improvement? Did your expectations match the reality of what happened? What could

have been done differently?

Step 4 ACT

Make further changes or amendments after you have decided what worked and what

didn't and collect data again. Carry out an 'amended' version of what happened during the

Do stage and measure any differences. Handy Hints Keep it simple Keep it small and

manageable to start - massive projects can be broken down into a number of small, quick

PDSA cycles. Cycles should happen quickly - think in terms of a day or two not a month!

There is no wrong answer, if you find something that works - use it!

Literature Review

A systematic literature search was performed independently by both presenters. The first

presenter’s literature search was completed using Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied

Health Literature (CINAHL) Plus EBSCOhost, Medline via OVID, Proquest Nursing and

Allied Health, and Google Scholar electronic databases. The search was limited to 1998

– 2012 scholarly peer reviewed English articles, using the key word PDSA which resulted

in 399 articles. A Boolean search using PDSA in combination with staff development,

organizational change, advantages and disadvantages narrowed the results to 24 articles.

These articles were hand reviewed for presentation relevancy and article content

saturation yielding a total of six articles. A primary search by the second presenter using

CINAHL Plus EBSCOhost, Medline via OVID, and Google Scholar was limited to 2002-

2012, and used the key word PDSA which produced 2,530 articles. A Boolean search

usingPDSA in multiple combinations with healthcare change, team functioning, change

leadership, organizational context resulted in 955 articles of which abstracts from the first

75 articles in Google Scholar and first 20 articles from each CINAHL and Medline via

OVID were scanned for presentation relevancy. Content saturation produced 11 peer

reviewed English articles. Three duplicates from the presenters’ results were eliminated

yielding a collective result of 14 articles, composed of research (n=2), case study (n=5),

literature synthesis (n=4) and clinical practice (n=3).

PDSA Literature Review

What does the literature say about PDSA and Healthcare Organizational Change?

The PDSA model is composed of four phases (Baxley et al., 2011; Duffy & Morgan,

2011; Johnson & Raterink, 2009; Powell, et al., 2009; Spence & Cappleman, 2011; Taylor

& Hamilton Crowe, 2011; Walley & Gowland, 2004):

Plan

Do

Study

Act

Case Study reports demonstrate PDSA’s positive contribution to team collaboration

(O’Toole, Cabral, Blumen & Blake, 2011; Spence & Cappleman, 2011) as well as

improvements to health care service models through process improvements that better

meet the needs of the patient and the staff (Hoffman, Green, Ford, Wisdom, Gustafson &

McCarty, 2012; Johnson & Raterink, 2008; Varkey, Sathananthan, Scheifer, Bhagra,

Fujiyoshi, Tom & Murad, 2009).

However, PDSA is not shown successful in every change situation. The literature

suggests poor outcomes are most prevalent in situations where the cycle was not fully

completed (Baxley, et al., 2011; Spence & Cappleman, 2011), or the PDSA cycle as a

small step change model was inappropriately selected for the organizational context and

culture (Curnock, et al., n.d.; Kaplan, et al., 2010; Powell, et al., 2008).

Successful change using the PDSA model relies on a bottom up approach with strong

frontline engagement and leadership support, along with dedicated time and resources

(Curnock, et al., n.d.; Hoffman, et al., 2012; Johnson & Raterink, 2009; Powell, et al.,

2008; Spence & Cappleman, 2011).

PDSA is consistently referred to as a renown Quality Improvement tool that supports

successful change using small incremental steps (Baxley, Bennett, Pumkam, Crutcher, &

Helms, 2011; Berwick, 1998; Curnock, Ferguson, McKay & Bowie, n.d.; Duffy &

Morgan, 2011; Hoffman, Green, Ford, Wisdom, Gustafson, McCarty, 2012; Johnson &

Raterink, 2009; Kaplan, Brady, Dritz, Hooper, Linam, Froehle, Margolis, 2010; O’Toole,

Cabral, Blumen & Blake, 2011; Powell, Rushmer, & Davies, 2008; Powell, Rushmer &

Davies, 2009; Spence & Cappleman, 2011;Taylor & Hamilton Crowe, 2011; Varkey,

Sathananthan, Scheifer, Bhagra, Fujiyoshi, Tom & Murad, 2009; Walley & Gowland,

2004).

Performance Appraisal

The process by which a manager or consultant (1) examines and evaluates

an employee's work behavior by comparing it with preset standards,

(2) documents the results of the comparison, and (3) uses the results

to provide feedback to the employee to show where improvements are needed and

why.Performance appraisals are employed to determine who needs what training, and

who will be promoted, demoted, retained, or fired.

“It is a systematic evaluation of an individual with respect to performance on the job and

individual’s potential for development.” “It is formal, structured system of measuring,

evaluating job related behaviors and outcomes to discover reasons of performance and

how to perform effectively in future so that employee, organization and society all

benefits.”

A performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual

employee’s job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria

and organizational objectives.Other aspects of individual employees are considered as

well, such as organizational citizenship behavior, accomplishments, potential for future

improvement, strengths and weaknesses, etc.

To collect PA data, there are three main methods: objective production, personnel, and

judgmental evaluation. Judgmental evaluations are the most commonly used with a large

variety of evaluation methods.[1] Historically, PA has been conducted annually (long-

A performance appraisal is a systematic and periodic process that assesses an individual employee's job performance and productivity in relation to certain pre-established criteria and organizational objectives.

cycle appraisals); however, many companies are moving towards shorter cycles (every six

months, every quarter), and some have been moving into short-cycle (weekly, bi-weekly)

PA .The interview could function as "providing feedback to employees, counseling and

developing employees, and conveying and discussing compensation, job status, or

disciplinary decisions".PA is often included in performance management systems. PA

helps the subordinate answer two key questions: first, "What are your expectations of

me?" second, "How am I doing to meet your expectations?"

Performance management systems are employed “to manage and align" all of an

organization's resources in order to achieve highest possible performance“How

performance is managed in an organization determines to a large extent the success or

failure of the organization. Therefore, improving PA for everyone should be among the

highest priorities of contemporary organizations".

Some applications of PA are compensation, performance improvement, promotions,

termination, test validation, and more. While there are many potential benefits of PA,

there are also some potential drawbacks. For example, PA can help facilitate

management-employee communication; however, PA may result in legal issues if not

executed appropriately, as many employees tend to be unsatisfied with the PA

process. PAs created in and determined as useful in the United States are not necessarily

able to be

transferable cross-culturally.

Meaning of Performance Appraisals

Performance Appraisals is the assessment of individual’s performance in a systematic

way. It is a developmental tool used for all round development of the employee and the

organization. The performance is measured against such factors as job knowledge, quality

and quantity of output, initiative, leadership abilities, supervision, dependability, co-

operation, judgment, versatility and health. Assessment should be confined to past as well

as potential performance also. The second definition is more focused on behaviors as a

part of assessment because behaviors do affect job results.

Performance Appraisals and Job Analysis Relationship

Job Analysis à Performance Standards à Performance Appraisals

Describe the work and

personnel requirement of a

particular job.

Translate job requirements

into levels of acceptable or

unacceptable performance

Describe the job relevant

strengths and weaknesses

of each individual.

Objectives of Performance Appraisals

Use of Performance Appraisals

1. Promotions

2. Confirmations

3. Training and Development

4. Compensation reviews

5. Competency building

6. Improve communication

7. Evaluation of HR Programs

8. Feedback & Grievances

Goals of Performance Appraisals

General Goals Specific Goals

Developmental Use Individual needs

Performance feedback

Transfers and Placements

Strengths and Development needs

Administrative Decisions / Uses Salary

Promotion

Retention / Termination

Recognition

Lay offs

Poor Performers identification

Organizational Maintenance HR Planning

Training Needs

Organizational Goal achievements

Goal Identification

HR Systems Evaluation

Reinforcement of organizational needs

Documentation Validation Research

For HR Decisions

Legal Requirements

Performance Appraisal Process

1. Objectives definition of appraisal

2. Job expectations establishment

3. Design an appraisal program

4. Appraise the performance

5. Performance Interviews

6. Use data for appropriate purposes

7. Identify opportunities variables

8. Using social processes, physical processes, human and computer assistance

Difference between Traditional and Modern (Systems) approach to Appraisals

Categories Traditional Appraisals Modern, Systems

Appraisals

Guiding Values Individualistic, Control

oriented, Documentary

Systematic,

Developmental, Problem

solving

Leadership Styles Directional, Evaluative Facilitative, Coaching

Frequency Occasional Frequent

Formalities High Low

Rewards Individualistic Grouped, Organizational

TECHNIQUES / METHODS OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

A performance appraisal (PA), also referred to as a performance review, performance

evaluation,(career) development discussion,or employee appraisal is a method by

which the job performance of an employee is documented and evaluated. Performance

appraisals are a part of career development and consist of regular reviews of employee

performance withinorganizations.Numerous methods have been devised to measure the

quantity and quality of performance appraisals. Each of the methods is effective for some

purposes for some organizations only. None should be dismissed or accepted as

appropriate except as they relate to the particular needs of the organization or an

employee.

Broadly all methods of appraisals can be divided into two different categories.

Past Oriented Methods

Future Oriented Methods

Past Oriented Methods

1. Rating Scales: Rating scales consists of several numerical scales representing job

related performance criterions such as dependability, initiative, output, attendance,

attitude etc. Each scales ranges from excellent to poor. The total numerical scores are

computed and final conclusions are derived. Advantages – Adaptability, easy to use, low

cost, every type of job can be evaluated, large number of employees covered, no formal

training required. Disadvantages – Rater’s biases

2. Checklist: Under this method, checklist of statements of traits of employee in the

form of Yes or No based questions is prepared. Here the rater only does the reporting or

checking and HR department does the actual evaluation. Advantages – economy, ease of

administration, limited training required, standardization. Disadvantages – Raters biases,

use of improper weighs by HR, does not allow rater to give relative ratings

3. Forced Choice Method: The series of statements arranged in the blocks of two or

more are given and the rater indicates which statement is true or false. The rater is forced

to make a choice. HR department does actual assessment. Advantages – Absence of

personal biases because of forced choice. Disadvantages – Statements may be wrongly

framed.

4. Forced Distribution Method: here employees are clustered around a high point on a

rating scale. Rater is compelled to distribute the employees on all points on the scale. It is

assumed that the performance is conformed to normal distribution. Advantages –

Eliminates Disadvantages – Assumption of normal distribution, unrealistic, errors of

central tendency.

5. Critical Incidents Method: The approach is focused on certain critical behaviors of

employee that makes all the difference in the performance. Supervisors as and when they

occur record such incidents. Advantages – Evaluations are based on actual job behaviors,

ratings are supported by descriptions, feedback is easy, reduces recency biases, chances of

subordinate improvement are high. Disadvantages – Negative incidents can be prioritized,

forgetting incidents, overly close supervision; feedback may be too much and may appear

to be punishment.

6. Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales: statements of effective and ineffective

behaviors determine the points. They are said to be behaviorally anchored. The rater is

supposed to say, which behavior describes the employee performance. Advantages –

helps overcome rating errors. Disadvantages – Suffers from distortions inherent in most

rating techniques.

7. Field Review Method: This is an appraisal done by someone outside employees’

own department usually from corporate or HR department. Advantages – Useful for

managerial level promotions, when comparable information is needed, Disadvantages –

Outsider is generally not familiar with employees work environment, Observation of

actual behaviors not possible.

8. Performance Tests & Observations: This is based on the test of knowledge or

skills. The tests may be written or an actual presentation of skills. Tests must be reliable

and validated to be useful. Advantage – Tests may be apt to measure potential more than

actual performance. Disadvantages – Tests may suffer if costs of test development or

administration are high.

9. Confidential Records: Mostly used by government departments, however its

application in industry is not ruled out. Here the report is given in the form of Annual

Confidentiality Report (ACR) and may record ratings with respect to following items;

attendance, self expression, team work, leadership, initiative, technical ability, reasoning

ability, originality and resourcefulness etc. The system is highly secretive and

confidential. Feedback to the assessee is given only in case of an adverse entry.

Disadvantage is that it is highly subjective and ratings can be manipulated because the

evaluations are linked to HR actions like promotions etc.

10. Essay Method: In this method the rater writes down the employee description in

detail within a number of broad categories like, overall impression of performance,

promoteability of employee, existing capabilities and qualifications of performing jobs,

strengths and weaknesses and training needs of the employee. Advantage – It is extremely

useful in filing information gaps about the employees that often occur in a better-

structured checklist. Disadvantages – It its highly dependent upon the writing skills of

rater and most of them are not good writers. They may get confused success depends on

the memory power of raters.

11. Cost Accounting Method: Here performance is evaluated from the monetary returns

yields to his or her organization. Cost to keep employee, and benefit the organization

derives is ascertained. Hence it is more dependent upon cost and benefit analysis.

12. Comparative Evaluation Method (Ranking & Paired Comparisons): These are

collection of different methods that compare performance with that of other co-workers.

The usual techniques used may be ranking methods and paired comparison method.

Ranking Methods: Superior ranks his worker based on merit, from best to worst.

However how best and why best are not elaborated in this method. It is easy to administer

and explanation.

Paired Comparison Methods: In this method each employee is rated with another

employee in the form of pairs. The number of comparisons may be calculated with the

help of a formula as under.

N x (N-1) / 2

Future Oriented Methods

1. Management By Objectives: It means management by objectives and the

performance is rated against the achievement of objectives stated by the management.

MBO process goes as under.

Establish goals and desired outcomes for each subordinate

Setting performance standards

Comparison of actual goals with goals attained by the employee

Establish new goals and new strategies for goals not achieved in previous year.

Advantage – It is more useful for managerial positions.

Disadvantages – Not applicable to all jobs, allocation of merit pay may result in setting

short-term goals rather than important and long-term goals etc.

2. Psychological Appraisals: These appraisals are more directed to assess employees

potential for future performance rather than the past one. It is done in the form of in-depth

interviews, psychological tests, and discussion with supervisors and review of other

evaluations. It is more focused on employees emotional, intellectual, and motivational and

other personal characteristics affecting his performance. This approach is slow and costly

and may be useful for bright young members who may have considerable potential.

However quality of these appraisals largely depend upon the skills of psychologists who

perform the evaluation.

3. Assessment Centers: This technique was first developed in USA and UK in 1943.

An assessment center is a central location where managers may come together to have

their participation in job related exercises evaluated by trained observers. It is more

focused on observation of behaviors across a series of select exercises or work samples.

Assessees are requested to participate in in-basket exercises, work groups, computer

simulations, role playing and other similar activities which require same attributes for

successful performance in actual job. The characteristics assessed in assessment center

can be assertiveness, persuasive ability, communicating ability, planning and

organizational ability, self confidence, resistance to stress, energy level, decision making,

sensitivity to feelings, administrative ability, creativity and mental alertness etc.

Disadvantages – Costs of employees traveling and lodging, psychologists, ratings strongly

influenced by assessee’s inter-personal skills. Solid performers may feel suffocated in

simulated situations. Those who are not selected for this also may get affected.

Advantages – well-conducted assessment center can achieve better forecasts of future

performance and progress than other methods of appraisals. Also reliability, content

validity and predictive ability are said to be high in assessment centers. The tests also

make sure that the wrong people are not hired or promoted. Finally it clearly defines the

criteria for selection and promotion.

4. 360-Degree Feedback: It is a technique which is systematic collection of

performance data on an individual group, derived from a number of stakeholders like

immediate supervisors, team members, customers, peers and self. In fact anyone who has

useful information on how an employee does a job may be one of the appraisers. This

technique is highly useful in terms of broader perspective, greater self-development and

multi-source feedback is useful. 360-degree appraisals are useful to measure inter-

personal skills, customer satisfaction and team building skills. However on the negative

side, receiving feedback from multiple sources can be intimidating, threatening etc.

Multiple raters may be less adept at providing balanced and objective feedback.

Applications of results[edit]

A central reason for the utilization of performance appraisals (PAs) is performance

improvement ("initially at the level of the individual employee, and ultimately at the level

of the organization").Other fundamental reasons include "as a basis for employment

decisions (e.g. promotions, terminations, transfers), as criteria in research (e.g. test

validation), to aid with communication (e.g. allowing employees to know how they are

doing and organizational expectations), to establish personal objectives for training"

programs, for transmission of objective feedback for personal development, "as a means

of documentation to aid in keeping track of decisions and legal requirements and in wage

andsalary administration. Additionally, PAs can aid in the formulation of job criteria and

selection of individuals "who are best suited to perform the required organizational

tasks".A PA can be part of guiding and monitoring employee career development. [16] PAs

can also be used to aid in work motivation through the use of reward systems.

Potential benefits

There are a number of potential benefits of organizational performance management

conducting formal performance appraisals (PAs). There has been a general consensus in

the belief that PAs lead to positive implications of organizations. Furthermore, PAs can

benefit an organization’s effectiveness. One way is PAs can often lead to giving

individual workers feedback about their job performance.From this may spawn several

potential benefits such as the individual workers becoming more productive.

Other potential benefits include:

Facilitation of communication: communication in organizations is considered an

essential function of worker motivation.It has been proposed that feedback from PAs

aid in minimizing employees’ perceptions of uncertainty.Fundamentally, feedback

and management-employee communication can serve as a guide in job performance.

Enhancement of employee focus through promoting trust: behaviors, thoughts, and/or

issues may distract employees from their work, and trust issues may be among these

distracting factors. Such factors that consume psychological energy can lower job

performance and cause workers to lose sight of organizational goals. [13] Properly

constructed and utilized PAs have the ability to lower distracting factors and

encourage trust within the organization.

Goal setting and desired performance reinforcement: organizations find it efficient to

match individual worker’s goals and performance with organizational goals.PAs

provide room for discussion in the collaboration of these individual and

organizational goals. Collaboration can also be advantageous by resulting in

employee acceptance and satisfaction of appraisal results.

Performance improvement: well constructed PAs can be valuable tools for

communication with employees as pertaining to how their job performance stands

with organizational expectations. "At the organizational level, numerous studies have

reported positive relationships between human resource management (HRM)

practices and performance improvement at both the individual and organizational

levels.

Determination of training needs: “Employee training and development are crucial

components in helping an organization achieve strategic initiatives”.It has been

argued that for PAs to truly be effective, post-appraisal opportunities for training and

development in problem areas, as determined by the appraisal, must be offered. PAs

can especially be instrumental for identifying training needs of new

employees.Finally, PAs can help in the establishment and supervision of employees’

career goals.

Potential complications

Despite all the potential advantages of formal performance appraisals (PAs), there are also

potential drawbacks. It has been noted that determining the relationship between

individual job performance and organizational performance can be a difficult

task. Generally, there are two overarching problems from which several complications

spawn. One of the problems with formal PAs is there can be detrimental effects to the

organization(s) involved if the appraisals are not used appropriately. The second problem

with formal PAs is they can be ineffective if the PA system does not correspond with

the organizational culture and system.

Complications stemming from these is

Detrimental to quality improvement: it has been proposed that the use of PA

systems in organizations adversely affect organizations’ pursuits of quality

performance.It is believed by some scholars and practitioners that the use of PAs

is more than unnecessary if there is total quality management.

Subjective evaluations: Traditional performance appraisals are often based upon

a manager's or supervisor's perceptions of an employee's performance and

employees are evaluated subjectively rather than objectively. Therefore the

review may be influenced by many non-performance factors such as employee

'likeability', personal prejudices, ease of management, and/or previous mistakes

or successes. Reviews should instead be based on data-supported, measurable

behaviors and results within the performers control.

Negative perceptions: "Quite often, individuals have negative perceptions of

PAs" Receiving and/or the anticipation of receiving a PA can be uncomfortable

and distressful and potentially cause "tension between supervisors and

subordinates".If the person being appraised does not trust their employer,

appraiser or believe that they will benefit from the process it may become a "tick

box" exercise.

Errors: Performance appraisals should provide accurate and relevant ratings of an

employee’s performance as compared to pre-established criteria/goals (i.e.

organizational expectations).Nevertheless, supervisors will sometimes rate

employees more favorably than that of their true performance in order to please

the employees and avoid conflict"Inflated ratings are a common malady

associated with formal" PA.[29]

Legal issues: when PAs are not carried out appropriately, legal issues could result

that place the organization at risk.PAs are used in organizational disciplinary

programs[16] as well as for promotional decisions within the organization.[13] The

improper application and utilization of PAs can affect employees negatively and

lead to legal action against the organization.

Performance goals: performance goals and PA systems are often used in

association. Negative outcomes concerning the organizations can result when

goals are overly challenging or overemphasized to the extent of affecting ethics,

legal requirements, or quality.Moreover, challenging performance goals can

impede an employees’ abilities to acquire necessary knowledge and

skills.Especially in the early stages of training, it would be more beneficial to

instruct employees on outcome goals than on performance goals.

Derail merit pay or performance-based pay: some researchers contend that the

deficit in merit pay and performance-based pay is linked to the fundamental

issues stemming from PA systems.

Improvements

Although performance appraisals can be so easily biased, there are certain steps that can

be taken to improve the evaluations and reduce the margin of errors through the

following:

Training - Creating an awareness and acceptance in the people conducting

the appraisals that within a group of workers, they will find a wide range in

difference of skills and abilities.

Providing Feedback to Raters - Trained raters provide managers who

evaluated their subordinates with feedback, including information on ratings

from other managers. This reduces leniency errors.

Subordinate Participation - By allowing employee participation in the

evaluation process, there is employee-supervisor reciprocity in the discussion

for any discrepancies between self ratings and supervisor ratings, thus,

increasing job satisfaction and motivation.[31]

Opposition

Not everyone is in favor of formal performance appraisal systems. Many

employees, especially those most affected by such ratings are not very

enthusiastic about them. There are many critics of these appraisals including

labor unions and managers.

Labor Unions

Labor unions represent 11% (7% in the private sector) of the work force in

the United States. In some cases they may require that seniority be taken as

one of the main criteria for promotion. However, length of job experience

may not always be a reliable indication of the ability to perform a higher

level job. That is why some employers give senior people the first

opportunity for promotion, but the employer may seek to further qualify the

employee for that promotion because of their abilities (not solely because of

length of service). Performance appraisals may provide a basis for

assessment of employee merit as a component of these decisions.

Managers

Managers who have had unsatisfactory experiences with inadequate or poorly designed

appraisal programs may be skeptical about their usefulness.

Some managers may not like to play the role of a judge and be

responsible for the future of their subordinates.

They may be uncomfortable about providing negative feedback to the

employees.

This tendency can lead them to inflate their assessments of the workers’

job performance, giving higher ratings than deserved.

Advantages Of Performance Appraisal

It helps the supervisors to chalk out the promotion programs for efficient

employees. In this regards, inefficient workers can be dismissed or

demoted in case.

It helps in chalking out compensation packages for employees. Merit

rating is possible through performance appraisal. PA tries to give worth to

a performance. Compensation packages which include bonus, high salary

rates, extra benefits, allowances and pre-requisites are dependent on

performance appraisal. The criteria should be merit rather than seniority.

The systematic procedure of PA helps the supervisors to frame training

policies and programs. It helps to analyze strengths and weaknesses of

employees so that new jobs can be designed for efficient employees. It

also helps in framing future development programs.

It helps the supervisors to understand the validity and importance of the

selection procedure. The supervisors come to know the validity and

thereby the strengths and weaknesses of selection procedure. Future

changes in selection methods can be made in this regard.

For an organization, effective communication between employees and

employers is very important.

It serves as a motivation tool. Through evaluating performance of

employees, a person's efficiency can be determined if the targets are

achieved. This very well motivates a person for better job and helps him

to improve his performance in the future.

Disadvantages of Performance Appraisal

If not done right, they can create a negative experience.

Performance appraisals are very time consuming and can be

overwhelming to managers with many employees.

They are based on human assessment and are subject to rater errors and

biases.

Can be a waste of time if not done appropriately.

They can create a very stressful environment for everyone involved.

Leadership

How to define leadership

Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do

things right.– Professor Warren G. Bennis

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want

done because he wants to do it.– Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Leadership appears to be, like power, an ‘essentially contested concept’”

(Gallie, 1955 cited in Grint, 2004, p1)

The word "leadership" can bring to mind a variety of images. For example:

A political leader, pursuing a passionate, personal cause.

An explorer, cutting a path through the jungle for the rest of his group to

follow.

An executive, developing her company's strategy to beat the competition.

Leadership can be hard to define and it means different things to different people.

In the transformational leadership model,leaders set direction and help themselves

and others to do the right thing to move forward. To do this they create an inspiring

vision, and then motivate and inspire others to reach that vision.

Leaders help themselves and others to do the right things. They set direction, build

an inspiring vision, and create something new. Leadership is about mapping out

where you need to go to "win" as a team or an organization; and it is dynamic,

exciting, and inspiring. Yet, while leaders set the direction, they must also use

management skills to guide their people to the right destination, in a smooth and

efficient way.

In this article, we'll focus on the process of leadership. In particular, we'll discuss

the "transformational leadership" model, first proposed by James MacGregor

Burns and then developed by Bernard Bass. This model highlights visionary

thinking and bringing about change, instead of management processes that are

designed to maintain and steadily improve current performance.Leadership means

different things to different people around the world, and different things in

different situations. For example, it could relate to community leadership,

religious leadership, political leadership, and leadership of campaigning groups..

According to the idea of transformational leadership , an effective leader is a

person who does the following:

1. Creating an Inspiring Vision of the Future

2. piring vision of the future.

3. Motivates and inspires people to engage with that vision.

4. Manages delivery of the vision.

5. Coaches and builds a team, so that it is more effective at achieving the

vision.

1. Creating an Inspiring Vision of the Future

In business, a vision is a realistic, convincing and attractive depiction of where

you want to be in the future. Vision provides direction, sets priorities, and

provides a marker, so that you can tell that you've achieved what you wanted to

achieve.

2. Motivating and Inspiring People

A compelling vision provides the foundation for leadership. But it's leaders' ability

to motivate and inspire people that helps them deliver that vision.

For example, when you start a new project, you will probably have lots of

enthusiasm for it, so it's often easy to win support for the project at the beginning.

However, it can be difficult to find ways to keep your vision inspiring after the

initial enthusiasm fades, especially if the team or organization needs to make

significant changes in the way that they do things. Leaders recognize this, and they

work hard throughout the project to connect their vision with people's individual

needs, goals, and aspirations.

One of the key ways they do this is through Expectancy Theory means effective

leaders link together two different expectations:

1. The expectation that hard work leads to good results.

2. The expectation that good results lead to attractive rewards or incentives.

This motivates people to work hard to achieve success, because they expect to

enjoy rewards – both intrinsic and extrinsic – as a result.

Other approaches include restating the vision in terms of the benefits it will bring

to the team's customers, and taking frequent opportunities to communicate the

vision in an attractive and engaging way.

What's particularly helpful here is where leaders have expert power . People

admire and believe in these leaders because they are expert in what they do. They

have credibility, and they've earned the right to ask people to listen to them and

follow them. This makes it much easier for these leaders to motivate and inspire

the people they lead.

Leaders can also motivate and influence people through their natural charisma and

appeal, and through other sources of power .

3. Managing Delivery of the Vision

This is the area of leadership that relates to management .Leaders must ensure that

the work needed to deliver the vision is properly managed – either by themselves,

or by a dedicated manager or team of managers to whom the leader delegates this

responsibility – and they need to ensure that their vision is delivered

successfully.To do this, team members need performance goals that are linked to

the team's overall vision. Our article on Performance Management and KPIs

Leaders also need to make sure they manage change effectively. This helps to

ensure that the changes needed to deliver the vision are implemented smoothly

and thoroughly, with the support and backing of the people affected.

4. Coaching and Building a Team to Achieve the Vision

Individual and team development are important activities carried out by

transformational leaders. To develop a team, leaders must first understand team

dynamics. Several well-established and popular models describe this, such

asBelbin's Team Roles approach, and Bruce Tuckman's Forming, Storming,

Norming, and Performing theory . A leader will then ensure that team members

have the necessary skills andabilities to do their job and achieve the vision. They

do this by giving and receiving feedback regularly, and by training and

coaching people to improve individual and team performance. Leadership also

includes looking for leadership potential in others. By developing leadership

skills within your team, you create an environment where you can continue

success in the long term. And that's a true measure of great leadership.

The words "leader" and "leadership" are often used incorrectly to describe people

who are actually managing. These individuals may be highly skilled, good at their

jobs, and valuable to their organizations – but that just makes them excellent

managers, not leaders.So, be careful how you use the terms, and don't assume that

people with "leader" in their job titles, people who describe themselves as

"leaders," or even groups called "leadership teams," are actually creating and

delivering transformational change.A particular danger in these situations is that

people or organizations that are being managed by such an individual or group

think they're being led; but they're not. There may actually be no leadership at all,

with no one setting a vision and no one being inspired. This can cause serious

problems in the long term.

How to develop leadership skill

7 Words Define What Employees Expect From Leadership

During these times of change and uncertainty, employees

need leadership, not followership, from theirleaders. They

have grown tired of the unnecessary workplace politics that

makes them feel as if they don’t have a relationship with

leadership they can count on – one that is reliable, honest

and authentic. The 2008 recession awakened the

workforce to the reality that each employee must fend for

themselves as leaders focused more on their own personal

agendas rather than that of the organization and the people

they serve.

Employees want to confidently go to work feeling that they

are valued and that their leaders have their backs. Instead,

many employees approach their work day with

apprehension for the next round of layoffs, reorganization

strategies, acquisition announcements, or the next set of

crises that often require them to work overtime with no

extra pay. The workplace can be an extremely difficult

place at times, even more so if leadership does not set the

right tone to help their employees overcome the toughest

times.

Leadership is about making employees feel safe, providing

them a workplace environment to thrive, and giving them

access to the right tools and resources to be successful.

The best leaders build trust with employees by never

letting them down when they are needed most. Those who

are humble and vulnerable make effective leaders because

they never forget where their journey started and thus can

appreciate the perspectives of their frontline employees.

Compassionate and empathic, deep-down they know how

unfair the workplace can be, especially without the right

leadership.

To make sure your leadership journey stays on the right

track, here are seven things that employees expect from

their leadership – seven words that define the very nature

of leadership:

1. Specificity

Employees want leaders to provide them with specific

direction and to avoid corporate speak – to get to the point

and be direct in telling them what to do and what is

specifically expected from them. Don’t beat around the

bush. Be specific rather than vague to avoid unexpected

surprises without the proper preparation.

Leaders that are specific have strong attention to detail and

are mindful of assuring their employees are never

blindsided.

2. Empowerment

Employees don’t always want to have to ask for

permission. They want to be empowered to make

decisions and to learn from their failures. Employees want

leaders that will provide them with the mentoring and

wisdom to effectively solve problems and become more

independent and productive.

Empowerment is the ticket to being more self-sufficient,

entrepreneurial and purposeful at work, and employees are

empowered when given the rightmentorship.

3. Vulnerability

Leaders don’t have all of the answers, nor should they act

as if they do. Employees respect leaders who are upfront

about their shortcomings and aware of their areas for

improvement. You can’t build a highly-functioning team

if the people on the team don’t know how to best

compensate and contribute in the areas where they are

needed the most.

Leaders who are vulnerable show understanding,

compassion and empathy. They trust themselves enough to

throw their titles out the door and step into the shoes of

their employees. Vulnerable leaders are well-grounded,

relatable and not afraid to do the right thing for the

betterment of a healthier whole.

4. Honesty

Many leaders tend to tell only half the truth. While it is

understandable that they may want to hold back the whole

truth to avoid the unnecessary chaos and uncertainty that

may come with it – employees expect real leaders to be

transparent, trustworthy, open up their hearts and lead with

kindness.

Leaders that are honest on the frontend avoid creating

unnecessary disruption and division in the workplace on

the backend.

5. Accountability

Employees expect leaders to be accountable to others as

much as themselves. Too many leaders cut corners,

delegate too much and push off problems to others that

they should handle themselves. Leaders that avoid

adversity and the accountability that goes with it are those

who are trying to protect their reputations – when they

should be willing to put their reputations on the line to

protect those they lead.

Accountable leaders are the most respected and admired.

When leaders protect their employees and have their

backs, they will want to do the same for their leaders.

6. Respect

There is a distinct difference between recognition and

respect. Recognition explodes and subsides. Respect

reverberates and multiplies. The recognized leader

appeals to the head where things are easily forgotten, while

the respected leader captivates the heart – and the heart

does not forget.

Employees want leaders who respect and value their

teamwork and individual contributions. They expect

leaders to invest in relationships that are earned over time.

Leaders that stick to their plans, take the appropriate risks

when necessary, and communicate the outcomes – whether

success or failure – are the leaders who earn respect from

those they serve and lead.

7. Authenticity

Authentic leaders are hard to come by these days. Many

leaders still try to play the game by wearing their game

face – rather than being who they really are and

showcasing their authentic selves. Authenticity breeds

productivity and an environment that allows leaders to

demonstrate points 1 – 6 mindfully and consistently –

every day.

Employees expect leaders to be consistent and when they

are not – this is when they begin to pull away and distance

themselves. They find it difficult to deliver everything

they’ve got out of fear that their leaders will take

advantage of them – rather than maximize their full

potential like the better leaders would do.

Leaders expect many things from their employees, but they

should never forget that they are just as accountable, and

that their employees expect specific things from them as

well. The best leaders are able to identify and empathize

with their employees, because they remember their own

journey and know that they still don’t have all the

answers. What they do know is how to connect the dots to

build teams where employees are empowered to reach their

full potential. They know that honesty, respect and

authenticity are words to live by – and for those that do

they are also words that define great leadership.

Who do you consider to be a good leader?

Maybe it's a politician, a famous businessperson, or a religious figure.

Or maybe it's someone you know personally – like your boss, a teacher, or a

friend.

You can find people in leadership roles almost everywhere you look.

However, simply having the responsibilities of a leader doesn't necessarily make a

person an effective leader. This is a shame because, with a little study, humility

and hard work, all of us can learn to lead effectively.

So, how can you do this?

You can start by analyzing your performance in specific areas of leadership.

Complete the quiz below to identify where you already lead effectively, and to

explore where your skills need further development. In the analysis sections

underneath, we'll direct you to the resources you need to be an exceptional leader.

How Good Are Your Leadership Skills?

Instructions

For each statement, click the button in the column that best describes you. Please

answer questions as you actually are (rather than how you think you should be),

and don't worry if some questions seem to score 'in the wrong direction'. When

you are finished, please click the 'Calculate My Total' button at the bottom of the

test.

18 Statements to Answer

Not

at

All

Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often

1When assigning tasks, I

consider people’s skills and

interests.

2I doubt myself and my

ability to succeed.

3I expect nothing less than

top-notch results from

people.

4I expect my people to work

harder than I do.

5When someone is upset, I

try to understand how he or

she is feeling.

6When circumstances

change, I can struggle to

know what to do.

18 Statements to Answer

Not

at

All

Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often

7I think that personal feelings shouldn't

be allowed to get in the way of

performance and productivity .

8 I am highly motivated

because I know I have what it

takes to be successful.

9 Time spent worrying about

team morale is time that’s

wasted.

10I get upset and worried

quite often in the workplace.

11 My actions show people

what I want from them.

12 When working with a

team, I encourage everyone

to work toward the same

overall objectives.

13 I make exceptions to my

rules and expectations – it’s

easier than being the enforcer

all the time!

14 I enjoy planning for the

future.

18 Statements to Answer

Not

at

All

Rarely Sometimes Often Very Often

15 I feel threatened when

someone criticizes me.

16 I make time to learn what

people need from me, so that

they can be successful.

17 I’m optimistic about life,

and I can see beyond

temporary setbacks and

problems.

18 I think that teams perform

best when individuals keep

doing the same tasks and

perfecting them, instead of

learning new skills and

challenging themselves.

Calculate My Total

Total = 0

Score Interpretation

Score Comment

18-34

You need to work hard on your leadership skills. The good news is that

if you use more of these skills at work, at home, and in the community,

you'll be a real asset to the people around you. You can do it – and now

Score Comment

is a great time to start! (Readbelow to start.)

35-52

You're doing OK as a leader, but you have the potential to do much

better. While you've built the foundation of effective leadership, this is

your opportunity to improve your skills, and become the best you can

be. Examine the areas where you lost points, and determine what you

can do to develop skills in these areas. (Read below to start.)

53-90

Excellent! You're well on your way to becoming a good leader.

However, you can never be too good at leadership or too experienced –

so look at the areas where you didn't score maximum points, and figure

out what you can do to improve your performance. (Read below to

start.)

There are many leadership skills and competencies that, when combined and

applied, go toward making you an effective leader. You have the ability to develop

each of these skills within yourself. Read on for specific ideas on how you can

improve your leadership skills!

Personal Characteristics

Successful leaders tend to have certain traits. Two keys areas of personal growth

and development are fundamental to leadership success: self-confidence, and a

positive attitude.

Self-confident people are usually inspiring, and people like to be around

individuals who believe in themselves and in what they're doing. Likewise, if

you're a positive and optimistic person who tries to make the best of any situation,

you'll find it much easier to motivate people to do their best.

Self-Confidence

(Questions 2, 8)

Self-confidence is built by mastering significant skills and situations, and by

knowing that you can add real value by the work you do. One of the best ways to

improve your confidence is to become aware of all of the things you've already

achieved.

Our article on Building Self-Confidence explains what you can do to

understand yourself better and build your self-confidence. From there, you'll begin

to make the most of your strengths and improve your weaknesses. Explore this

further with our Bite-Sized Training session on Personal SWOT Analysis.

Positive Attitude and Outlook

(Questions 10, 17)

A positive mindset is also associated with strong leadership. However, being

positive is much more than presenting a happy face to the world: you need to

develop a strong sense of balance, and recognize that setbacks and problems

happen – it's how you deal with those problems that makes the difference.

Positive people approach situations realistically, prepared to make the changes

necessary to overcome a problem. Negative people, on the other hand, often give

in to the stress and pressure of the situation. This can lead to fear, worry, distress,

anger and failure.

Stress management techniques, including getting enough Rest, Relaxation and

Sleep as well as physical exercise, are great ways of getting rid of negative

thoughts and feelings. Understanding your thinking patterns, and learning to

identify and eliminate negative thinking are key. You can learn how to do this in

our article onThought Awareness, Rational Thinking and Positive Thinking ,

and you can find out how to become more optimistic in our Book Insight

on Learned Optimism.

Emotional Intelligence

(Questions 5, 15)

The concept of emotional intelligence used to be referred to as "soft skills,"

"character", or even "communication skills". The more recent idea of Emotional

Intelligence (EQ) offers a more precise understanding of a specific kind of

human talent. EQ is the ability to recognize feelings – your own and those of

others – and manage those emotions to create strong relationships.

Learning to develop Empathy is essential for emotional intelligence, as is

communicating effectively, and practicing Empathic Listening . These all help

you really understand the other person's perspective.

Our Leadership area has a section on emotional intelligence in leadership.

Transformational Leadership

Transformational leadership is a leadership style where leaders create an inspiring

vision of the future, motivate their followers to achieve it, manage implementation

successfully, and develop the members of their teams to be even more effective in

the future. We explore these dimensions below.

Providing a Compelling Vision of the Future

(Questions 6, 14)

This is your ability to create a robust and compelling vision of the future , and

to present this vision in a way that inspires the people you lead.

The first part of being able to do this is to have a thorough knowledge of the area

you're operating in. See our Bite-Sized Training session on Building Expert

Power to find out how to develop this.

From there, good use of strategic analysis techniques can help you gain the key

insights you need into the environment you're operating in, and into the needs of

your clients. See our Strategy section for more than 50 powerful techniques that

give you these insights.

With these tools, you can explore the challenges you face and identify the options

available to you. You can identify the best of these with good use of prioritization

skills and appropriate decision-making techniques .

Finally, to sell your vision, you need to be able to craft a compelling and

interesting story. Our article, "Powers of Persuasion ," can help you open closed

minds, so that people consider your ideas fairly. Another great way of inspiring

people is to use vivid stories to explain your vision: find out more about this in our

Expert Interview with Annette Simmons, titled Whoever Tells the Best Story

Wins.

Motivating People to Deliver the Vision

(Questions 9, 12)

This is closely related to creating and selling a vision. You must be able to

convince others to accept the objectives you've set. Emphasize teamwork, and

recognize that when people work together, they can achieve great things. To

provide effective leadership by linking performance and team goals,

use Management by Objectives (MBO) and Key Performance Indicators

(KPIs) .

Ultimately, you need to motivate people to deliver your vision. To better

understand your ability to motivate, complete our quiz How Good Are Your

Motivation Skills? , and explore our articles on Herzberg's Motivators and

Hygiene Factors andSirota's Three Factor Theory .

Being a Good Role Model

(Questions 4, 11)

Good leaders lead by example . They do what they say, and say what they do.

These types of leaders are trustworthy, and show integrity. They get involved in

daily work where needed, and they stay in touch with what's happening throughout

the organization. Great leaders don't just sit in their offices and give orders; they

demonstrate the actions and values that they expect from the team.

As with building vision, above, a key part of being a good role model is leading

from the front by developing expert power . A leader can't rely on position

alone: by keeping current, and staying relevant within the organization, you'll

inspire people because you're worthy of your power and authority, not just because

you're the boss.

Managing Performance Effectively

(Questions 3, 13)

Effective leaders manage performance by setting their expectations clearly and

concisely. When everyone knows what's expected, it's much easier to get high

performance. There's little uncertainty, therefore you can deal with performance

issues quickly. And if things have already started to slide, our article on Re-

Engaging Team Members offers some excellent tips for turning a negative

situation back to a positive one.

As you create rules, help the team understand why the rules are there . Involve

them in the rule-making process, and make sure that your expectations align with

the resources and support available. Apply rules fairly and consistently.

Providing Support and Stimulation

(Questions 1, 7, 16, 18)

to be highly motivated at work, people need more than a list of tasks to be

completed each day. They need challenges and interesting work. They need to

develop their skills, and to feel supported in their efforts to do a good job.

Think about your approach to Task Allocation , and look for opportunities to

match people with jobs and responsibilities that will help them grow and develop.

UseHeron's Six Categories of Intervention to decide when and how to help

team members to shine. Perform Training Needs Assessments on a regular

basis to determine what your team needs to be successful.

Remember that emotional support is also important. The Blake-Mouton

Managerial Grid is a great tool for thinking about the right balance between

concern for people, and productivity.

To be successful in your career, regardless of your title or position, focus on

developing your leadership skills. Effective leaders can add value simply by being

present on teams. They are inspirational and motivating. They know the right

things to say to people to help them understand what's needed, and they can

convince people to support a cause. When you have talented and effective leaders

in your organization, you're well on your way to success. Develop these leadership

skills in yourself and in your team members – and you'll see the performance and

productivity of your entire team improve.

Challenges Facing Leaders

Organizations today place multiple demands on leaders, requiring them to impart

vision, initiate change, and make difficult decisions. To handle these demands,

leaders must be flexible and adaptable.

Transformational leadership

Transformational leadership blends the behavioral theories with a little dab of trait

theories. Transactional leaders, such as those identified in contingency theories,

guide followers in the direction of established goals by clarifying role and task

requirements. However, transformational leaders, who are charismatic and

visionary, can inspire followers to transcend their own self‐interest for the good of

their organizations.

Transformational leaders appeal to followers' ideals and moral values and inspire

them to think about problems in new or different ways. These leaders influence

followers through vision, framing, and impression management.

Vision is the ability of the leader to bind people together with an idea. Framing is

the process whereby leaders define the purpose of their movements in highly

meaningful terms. Impression management is an attempt to control the

impressions that others form of a leader by practicing behaviors that make him or

her more attractive and appealing to others.

“leadership is like the Abominable Snowman, whose footprints are

everywhere but who is nowhere to be seen.” (Bennis and Nanus, 1985)

A transformational leader instills feelings of confidence, admiration, and

commitment in his or her followers. This type of leader is charismatic, creating a

special bond with followers and articulating a vision with which his or her

followers identify and for which these followers are willing to work. Each

follower is coached, advised, and delegated some authority. The transformational

leader stimulates followers intellectually, arousing them to develop new ways to

think about problems. This leader uses contingent rewards to positively reinforce

performances that are consistent with his or her wishes. Management is by

exception. Transformational leaders take initiative only when problems occur and

are not actively involved when things are going well. He or she commits people to

actions and converts followers into leaders.

Research indicates that transformational, as compared to transactional, leadership

is more strongly correlated with lower turnover rates, higher productivity, and

higher employee satisfaction.

Transformational leaders are relevant to today's workplace because they are

flexible and innovative. Although it is important to have leaders with the

appropriate orientation defining tasks and managing interrelationships, it is even

more important to have leaders who can bring organizations into futures they have

not yet imagined. Transformational leadership is the essence of creating and

sustaining competitive advantage.

Change leadership

Today's business world is highly competitive. The way for an organization to

survive is by reshaping to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world. Resistance

to change is a dead‐end street for employees and for the organization. Leaders

need to emphasize action to make the change as quickly and smoothly as possible.

Organizations go through a four‐stage life cycle. For some organizations, the four

periods of growth come and go very rapidly; for others, that process may take

decades. Failure to follow through with the needed changes in any of the four

growth periods could mean the end for an organization.

Throughout these periods of change, which is just about all the time for a good

organization, leaders must concentrate on having their people go from change

avoidance to change acceptance. The five steps that accompany change—for

individuals facing life‐altering circumstances and for organizations facing

fundamental shifts—are denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and finally,

acceptance.

Often a worker's first reaction to change is to resist it. An employee becomes

comfortable performing tasks and processes a certain way. These comfort levels

provide employees with the security of knowing that they are the masters of their

work environment. Employees fear that change could disrupt their lives by making

their jobs harder or causing them to lose their sense of control.

Leaders can help the change process by changing their employees' attitudes from

avoidance into acceptance. This change is accomplished by managers as strong

leaders transforming their employees' avoidance questions and statements into

acceptance questions:

From “Why?” to “What new opportunities will this change

provide?”When employees ask “why,” a manager should focus on the

benefits that the change will provide employees and the organization.

From “How will this affect me?” to “What problems will this

solve?”Managers should let employees know what the problem is and how

they will be part of the solution.

From “We do not do it this way” to “What will be the result if we do it

this new way?” One of the first reactions is that a process never has been

done this way. Managers should provide explanations and empathy.

From “When will this be over so that we can get back to work?” to

“What can I do to help?” Managers should get employees involved in

implementing the change.

Managers need to keep in mind that feelings are contagious. By positively

promoting a change, a leader makes others want to be part of it. Managers should

also give employees the necessary authority and control to help bring the change

about. So that employees do not feel powerless, managers should share their

responsibilities. A manager should want his or her team members to feel useful

and enthusiastic. Employees should be made to feel as though the change could

not have happened without them.

Leading in the learning organization

An organization that encourages learning among its people is referred to as

alearning organization. In a learning organization, employees are engaged in

identifying and solving problems, enabling the organization to continuously

experiment, change, and improve. Thus, the organization can increase its capacity

to grow, learn, and achieve its purpose.

In the learning organization, all employees look for problems, such as

understanding special customer needs. Employees also solve problems, which

means putting things together in unique ways to meet customer needs. A learning

organization promotes exchanges of information among employees, which creates

a more knowledgeable workforce. Learning organizations exhibit flexibility

because employees accept and adapt to new ideas and changes through a shared

vision.

Today's increased pace of change is one reason the learning organization is

popular. The corporation that is able to quickly shape and motivate their workers

is better able to transform its work practices to keep pace with the constantly

changing environment.

Leadership in learning organizations requires something more than the traditional

approach of setting goals, making decisions, and directing the troops. In learning

organizations, managers learn to think in terms of “control with” rather than

“control over” employees. They “control with” employees by building

relationships based on shared visions and shaping the cultures of their

organizations so that all can help achieve the same visions. A leader in this

learning environment can help facilitate teamwork, initiate change, and expand the

capacity of employees to shape their organization's future. Leaders who

understand how the learning organization operates can help other leaders adapt to

this organizational style.

Visionary leadership, a team‐based structure, participative strategy, a strong,

adaptive internal culture, empowered employees, and open information

characterize the learning organization. Consultant Peter Senge, author of the

popular book, The Fifth Discipline, identifies the following ingredients of learning

organizations:

Mental models—setting aside of old ways of thinking

Personal mastery—self‐awareness and ability to remain open to others

Systems thinking—understanding of the plan of action

Shared vision—mutual agreement to the plan of action

Team learning—working together to accomplish the plan of action

Senge's concept of the learning organization places high value on developing the

ability to learn and then make that learning continuously available to all

organizational members.

Leadership Defined

Leading is establishing direction and influencing others to follow that direction.

But this definition isn't as simple as it sounds because leadership has many

variations and different areas of emphasis.

Common to all definitions of leadership is the notion that leaders are individuals

who, by their actions, facilitate the movement of a group of people toward a

common or shared goal. This definition implies that leadership is an influence

process.

The distinction between leader and leadership is important, but potentially

confusing. The leader is an individual; leadership is the function or activity this

individual performs. The word leader is often used interchangeably with the word

manager to describe those individuals in an organization who have positions of

formal authority, regardless of how they actually act in those jobs. But just

because a manager is supposed to be a formal leader in an organization doesn't

mean that he or she exercises leadership.

An issue often debated among business professionals is whether leadership is a

different function and activity from management. Harvard's John Kotter says that

management is about coping with complexity, and leadership, in contrast, is about

coping with change. He also states that leadership is an important part of

management, but only a part; management also requires planning, organizing,

staffing, and controlling. Management produces a degree of predictability and

order. Leadership produces change. Kotter believes that most organizations are

underled and overmanaged. He sees both strong leadership and strong

management as necessary for optimal organizational effectiveness.

Leadership traits

Theories abound to explain what makes an effective leader. The oldest theories

attempt to identify the common traits or skills that make an effective leader.

Contemporary theorists and theories concentrate on actions of leaders rather than

characteristics.

A number of traits that appear regularly in leaders include ambition, energy, the

desire to lead, self‐confidence, and intelligence. Although certain traits are helpful,

these attributes provide no guarantees that a person possessing them is an effective

leader. Underlying the trait approach is the assumption that some people are

natural leaders and are endowed with certain traits not possessed by other

individuals. This research compared successful and unsuccessful leaders to see

how they differed in physical characteristics, personality, and ability.

A recent published analysis of leadership traits (S.A. Kirkpatrick and E.A.

Locke,“Leadership: Do Traits Really Matter?” Academy of Management

Executive 5 [1991]) identified six core characteristics that the majority of effective

leaders possess:

Drive. Leaders are ambitious and take initiative.

Motivation. Leaders want to lead and are willing to take charge.

Honesty and integrity. Leaders are truthful and do what they say they will

do.

Self‐confidence. Leaders are assertive and decisive and enjoy taking risks.

They admit mistakes and foster trust and commitment to a vision. Leaders

are emotionally stable rather than recklessly adventurous.

Cognitive ability. Leaders are intelligent, perceptive, and conceptually

skilled, but are not necessarily geniuses. They show analytical ability, good

judgment, and the capacity to think strategically.

Business knowledge. Leaders tend to have technical expertise in their

businesses.

Traits do a better job at predicting that a manger may be an effective leader rather

than actually distinguishing between an effective or ineffective leader. Because

workplace situations vary, leadership requirements vary. As a result, researchers

began to examine what effective leaders do rather than what effective leaders are.

Leadership skills

Whereas traits are the characteristics of leaders, skills are the knowledge and

abilities, or competencies, of leaders. The competencies a leader needs depends

upon the situation.

These competencies depend on a variety of factors:

The number of people following the leader

The extent of the leader's leadership skills

The leader's basic nature and values

The group or organization's background, such as whether it's for profit or

not‐for‐profit, new or long established, large or small

The particular culture (or values and associated behaviors) of whomever is

being led

To help managers refine these skills, leadership‐training programs typically

propose guidelines for making decisions, solving problems, exercising power and

influence, and building trust.

Peter Drucker, one of the best‐known contemporary management theorists, offers

a pragmatic approach to leadership in the workplace. He believes that consistency

is the key to good leadership, and that successful leaders share the following three

abilities which are based on what he refers to as good old‐fashioned hard work:

To define and establish a sense of mission. Good leaders set goals,

priorities, and standards, making sure that these objectives not only are

communicated but maintained.

To accept leadership as a responsibility rather than a rank. Good

leaders aren't afraid to surround themselves with talented, capable people;

they do not blame others when things go wrong.

To earn and keep the trust of others. Good leaders have personal

integrity and inspire trust among their followers; their actions are consistent

with what they say.

In Drucker's words, “Effective leadership is not based on being clever, it is based

primarily on being consistent.”

Very simply put, leading is establishing direction and influencing others to follow

that direction. Keep in mind that no list of leadership traits and skills is definitive

because no two successful leaders are alike. What is important is that leaders

exhibit some positive characteristics that make them effective managers at any

level in an organization.

Leadership styles

No matter what their traits or skills, leaders carry out their roles in a wide variety

of styles. Some leaders are autocratic. Others are democratic. Some are

participatory, and others are hands off. Often, the leadership style depends on the

situation, including where the organization is in its life cycle.

The following are common leadership styles:

Autocratic. The manager makes all the decisions and dominates team

members. This approach generally results in passive resistance from team

members and requires continual pressure and direction from the leader in

order to get things done. Generally, this approach is not a good way to get

the best performance from a team. However, this style may be appropriate

when urgent action is necessary or when subordinates actually prefer this

style.

Participative. The manager involves the subordinates in decision making

by consulting team members (while still maintaining control), which

encourages employee ownership for the decisions.

A good participative leader encourages participation and delegates wisely, but

never loses sight of the fact that he or she bears the crucial responsibility of

leadership. The leader values group discussions and input from team members; he

or she maximizes the members' strong points in order to obtain the best

performance from the entire team. The participative leader motivates team

members by empowering them to direct themselves; he or she guides them with a

loose rein. The downside, however, is that a participative leader may be seen as

unsure, and team members may feel that everything is a matter for group

discussion and decision.

Laissez‐faire (also called free‐rein). In this hands‐off approach, the leader

encourages team members to function independently and work out their

problems by themselves, although he or she is available for advice and

assistance. The leader usually has little control over team members, leaving

them to sort out their roles and tackle their work assignments without

personally participating in these processes. In general, this approach leaves

the team floundering with little direction or motivation. Laissez‐faire is

usually only appropriate when the team is highly motivated and skilled, and

has a history of producing excellent work.

Many experts believe that overall leadership style depends largely on a manager's

beliefs, values, and assumptions. How managers approach the following three

elements—motivation, decision making, and task orientation—affect their

leadership styles:

Motivation. Leaders influence others to reach goals through their

approaches to motivation. They can use either positive or negative

motivation. A positive style uses praise, recognition, and rewards, and

increases employee security and responsibility. A negative style uses

punishment, penalties, potential job loss, suspension, threats, and

reprimands.

Decision making. The second element of a manager's leadership style is

the degree of decision authority the manager grants employees—ranging

from no involvement to group decision making.

Task and employee orientation. The final element of leadership style is

the manager's perspective on the most effective way to get the work done.

Managers who favor task orientation emphasize getting work done by using

better methods or equipment, controlling the work environment, assigning

and organizing work, and monitoring performance. Managers who favor

employee orientation emphasize getting work done through meeting the

human needs of subordinates. Teamwork, positive relationships, trust, and

problem solving are the major focuses of the employee‐oriented manager.

Keep in mind that managers may exhibit both task and employee orientations to

some degree.

The managerial grid model, shown in Figure and developed by Robert Blake and

Jane Mouton, identifies five leadership styles with varying concerns for people

and production:

The impoverished style, located at the lower left‐hand corner of the grid,

point (1, 1), is characterized by low concern for both people and

production; its primary objective is for managers to stay out of trouble.

The country club style, located at the upper left‐hand corner of the grid,

point (1, 9), is distinguished by high concern for people and a low concern

for production; its primary objective is to create a secure and comfortable

atmosphere where managers trust that subordinates will respond positively.

The authoritarian style, located at the lower right‐hand corner of the grid,

point (9,1), is identified by high concern for production and low concern

for people; its primary objective is to achieve the organization's goals, and

employee needs are not relevant in this process.

The middle‐of‐the‐road style, located at the middle of the grid, point (5,

5), maintains a balance between workers' needs and the organization's

productivity goals; its primary objective is to maintain employee morale at

a level sufficient to get the organization's work done.

The team style, located at the upper right‐hand of the grid, point (9, 9), is

characterized by high concern for people and production; its primary

objective is to establish cohesion and foster a feeling of commitment

among workers.

The Managerial Grid model suggests that competent leaders should use a style that

reflects the highest concern for both people and production—point (9, 9),

team‐oriented style.

Power versus authority

Effective leaders develop and use power, or the ability to influence others. The

traditional manager's power comes from his or her position within the

organization. Legitimate, reward, and coercive are all forms of power used by

managers to change employee behavior and are defined as follows:

Legitimate power stems from a formal management position in an

organization and the authority granted to it. Subordinates accept this as a

legitimate source of power and comply with it.

Reward power stems from the authority to reward others. Managers can

give formal rewards, such as pay increases or promotions, and may also use

praise, attention, and recognition to influence behavior.

Coercive power is the opposite of reward power and stems from the

authority to punish or to recommend punishment. Managers have coercive

power when they have the right to fire or demote employees, criticize them,

withhold pay increases, give reprimands, make negative entries in

employee files, and so on.

Keep in mind that different types of position power receive different responses in

followers. Legitimate power and reward power are most likely to generate

compliance, where workers obey orders even though they may personally disagree

with them. Coercive power most often generates resistance, which may lead

workers to deliberately avoid carrying out instructions or to disobey orders.

Unlike external sources of position power, personal power most often comes from

internal sources, such as a person's special knowledge or personality

characteristics. Personal power is the tool of a leader. Subordinates follow a leader

because of respect, admiration, or caring they feel for this individual and his or her

ideas. The following two types of personal power exist:

Expert power results from a leader's special knowledge or skills regarding

the tasks performed by followers. When a leader is a true expert,

subordinates tend to go along quickly with his or her recommendations.

Referent power results from leadership characteristics that command

identification, respect, and admiration from subordinates who then desire to

emulate the leader. When workers admire a supervisor because of the way

he or she deals with them, the influence is based on referent power.

Referent power depends on a leader's personal characteristics rather than on

his or her formal title or position, and is most visible in the area of

charismatic leadership.

The most common follower response to expert power and referent power is

commitment. Commitment means that workers share the leader's point of view

and enthusiastically carry out instructions. Needless to say, commitment is

preferred to compliance or resistance. Commitment helps followers overcome fear

of change, and it is especially important in those instances.

Keep in mind that the different types of power described in this section

are interrelated. Most leaders use a combination of these types of

power, depending on the leadership style used. Authoritarian leaders,

for example, use a mixture of legitimate, coercive, and reward powers to

dictate the policies, plans, and activities of a group. In comparison, a

participative leader uses mainly referent power, involving all members

of the group in the decision‐making process. Situational Approaches to

Leadership

The theme in early approaches to understanding leadership was the desire to

identify traits or behaviors that effective leaders had in common. A common set of

characteristics proved to be elusive, however. Researchers were continually

frustrated by the lack of consistent support for their findings and conclusions. As a

result, research began to focus on what style of leadership was most effective in a

particular situation. Contingency or situational theories examine the fit between

the leader and the situation and provide guidelines for managers to achieve this

effective fit.

The theorists in this section believe that managers choose leadership styles based

on leadership situations. Managers adjust their decision‐making, orientation, and

motivational approaches based upon a unique combination of factors in their

situations: characteristics of employees, types of work, organizational structures,

personal preferences, and upper‐level management's influences.

The following sections describe the three most well‐known situational theories.

Fiedler's contingency theory

Fred E. Fiedler's contingency theory centers on the belief that there is no best way

for managers to lead. Different situations create different leadership style

requirements for managers. The style that works in one environment may not work

in another.

Fiedler looked at three elements that dictate a leader's situational control. These

elements are:

Task structure. Is the job highly structured, fairly unstructured, or

somewhere in between? The spelling out in detail (favorable) of what is

required of subordinates affects task structure.

Leader/member relations. This element applies to the amount of loyalty,

dependability, and support that a leader receives from his or her employees.

In a favorable relationship, a manager has a highly formed task structure

and is able to reward and/or punish employees without any problems. In an

unfavorable relationship, the task structure is usually poorly formed, and

the leader possesses limited authority.

Positioning power. Positioning power measures the amount of power or

authority a manager perceives the organization has given him or her for the

purpose of directing, rewarding, and punishing subordinates. Positioning

powers of managers depends on the taking away (favorable) or increasing

(unfavorable) of the decision‐making power of employees.

Fiedler then rated managers as to whether they were relationship oriented or task

oriented. Task‐oriented managers tended to do better in situations with good

leader/member relationships, structured tasks, and either weak or strong position

power. They also did well when the tasks were unstructured but position power

was strong, as well as when the leader/member relations were moderate to poor

and the tasks were unstructured. Relationship‐oriented managers, on the other

hand, do better in all other situations.

The task‐motivated style leader experiences pride and satisfaction in task

accomplishment for his or her organization, while the relationship‐motivated style

leader seeks to build interpersonal relations and extend extra help for team

development in his or her organization.

Judging whether a leadership style is good or bad can be difficult. Each manager

has his or her own preferences for leadership. Task‐motivated leaders are at their

best when their teams perform successfully—such as achieving new sales records

or outperforming major competitors. Relationship‐oriented leaders are at their best

when greater customer satisfaction is gained and positive company images are

established.

Hersey-Blanchard's situational model

The Hersey‐Blanchard Model of Situational Leadership, shown in Figure , is

based on the amount of direction (task behavior) and amount of socioemotional

support (relationship behavior) a leader must provide given the situation and the

level of maturity of the followers.

Task behavior is the extent to which the leader engages in spelling out the duties

and responsibilities to an individual or group. This behavior includes telling

people what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and where to do it. In task behavior,

the leader engages in one‐way communication. Relationship behavior, on the

other hand, is the extent to which the leader engages in two‐way or multiway

communications. This behavior includes listening to, facilitating, and supporting

employees. And maturity is the willingness and ability of a person to take

responsibility for directing his own behavior. Employees tend to have varying

degrees of maturity, depending on the specific tasks, functions, or objectives that

they attempt to accomplish.

To determine the appropriate leadership style to use in a given situation, a leader

must first determine the maturity levels of his or her followers in relationship to

the specific task. As employee maturity levels increase, a leader should begin to

reduce task behavior and increase relationship behavior until his or her followers

reach moderate maturity levels. As the employees move into above‐average

maturity levels, the leader should decrease not only task behavior but also

relationship behavior.

Once maturity levels are identified, a manager can determine the appropriate

leadership style: telling, selling, participating, or delegating.

Telling. This style reflects high task/low relationship behavior (S1). The

leader provides clear instructions and specific direction. Telling style is best

matched with a low follower readiness level.

Selling. This style reflects high task/high relationship behavior (S2). The

leader encourages two‐way communication and helps build confidence and

motivation on the part of the employee, although the leader still has

responsibility and controls decision making. Selling style is best matched

with a moderate follower readiness level.

Participating. This style reflects high relationship/low task behavior (S3).

With this style, the leader and followers share decision making and no

longer need or expect the relationship to be directive. Participating style is

best matched with a moderate follower readiness level.

Delegating. This style reflects low relationship/low task behavior (S4).

Delegating style is appropriate for leaders whose followers are ready to

accomplish a particular task and are both competent and motivated to take

full responsibility. This style is best matched with a high follower readiness

level.

House's path-goal theory

The path‐goal theory, developed by Robert House, is based on the expectancy

theory of motivation. A manager's job is to coach or guide workers to choose the

best paths for reaching their goals. Based on the goal‐setting theory, leaders

engage in different types of leadership behaviors depending on the nature and

demands of a particular situation.

A leader's behavior is acceptable to subordinates when viewed as a source of

satisfaction. He or she is motivational when need satisfaction is contingent on

performance; this leader facilitates, coaches, and rewards effective performance.

Path‐goal theory identifies several leadership styles:

Achievement‐oriented. The leader sets challenging goals for followers,

expects them to perform at their highest levels, and shows confidence in

their abilities to meet these expectations. This style is appropriate when

followers lack job challenges.

Directive. The leader lets followers know what is expected of them and

tells them how to perform their tasks. This style is appropriate when

followers hold ambiguous jobs.

Participative. The leader consults with followers and asks them for

suggestions before making a decision. This style is appropriate when

followers are using improper procedures or are making poor decisions.

Supportive. The leader is friendly and approachable. He or she shows

concern for the followers' psychological well‐being. This style is

appropriate when followers lack confidence.

Path‐goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their

styles as situations require. This theory proposes two contingency variables that

moderate the leader behavior‐outcome relationship: Enlightened leadership is

spiritual if we understand spirituality not as some kind of religious dogma or

ideology but as the domain of awareness where we experience values like truth,

goodness, beauty, love and compassion, and also intuition, creativity, insight and

focused attention.

Environment characteristics are outside the control of followers, task

structure, authority system, and work group. Environmental factors

determine the type of leader behavior required if follower outcomes are to

be maximized.

Follower characteristics are the focus of control, experience, and perceived

ability. Personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the

environment and leader behavior are interpreted.

Effective leaders clarify the path to help their followers achieve their goals, and

make their journeys easier by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. Research

demonstrates that employee performance and satisfaction are positively influenced

when leaders compensate for shortcomings in either their employees or the work

settings.

KEY THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Motivation is the driving force behind human behaviour. Motivation and human management

Motivated people are those who have made a conscious decision to devote considerable effort to

achieving something that they value. What they value will differ greatly from one individual to another. There are a variety of ways to motivate people, including the fear of losing a job, financial

incentives, self-fulfilment goals and goals for the organisation or groups within the organisation.

The traditional view - finds some of its origins in the work of Taylor and the school of scientific management. At its most extreme, this view postulates the following:

people dislike work people will only work for money people are not capable of controlling their work or directing themselves simple, repetitive tasks will produce the best results workers should be closely supervised and tightly controlled extra effort must lead to greater reward people will meet standards if they are closely controlled firm but fair supervision will be respected

Taylor took the view that there is a right (meaning best) way to perform any task. It is management’s job to determine the right way. Workers gain from this approach because the ‘right way’ is easier and pay is enhanced as a result of increased productivity. The human relation view - originates in the work of Mayo, known as the Hawthorne Studies. The

series of studies essentially concluded that the strongest motivational force behind most employees’ behaviour at work was the preservation and nurturing of social relationships with their colleagues.

The main tenets of this view are as follows:

people want to be made to feel valued and important people want recognition for their work people want to be controlled sensibly managers must discuss the plans they make for staff they must take any objections on board

they must encourage self-regulation on routine tasks Mayo’s work leads to an approach towards people which encourages contribution and self-direction, advocating full participation on matters of significance in order to improve the quality of decisions made and the nature of supervision.

Theory X and Theory Y managers Douglas McGregor proposed a Theory X and Theory Y model to explain basic human traits. Theory X assumptions are:

The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can.

Most people must be coerced, controlled, directed or threatened with punishment to get them to expend adequate effort towards the achievement of organisational objectives.

The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, and wants security above all.

On the other hand, Theory Y makes different assumptions about the nature of people:

Expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest. The average human being does not inherently dislike work, which can be a source of satisfaction.

External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means of bringing about effort. People can exercise self-direction to achieve objectives to which they are committed.

Commitment to objectives is a result of the rewards associated with their achievement. The most significant of those rewards is satisfaction of the self-actualisation needs.

The average human being learns, under proper conditions, not only to accept, but to seek,

responsibility. Avoidance of responsibility, emphasis on security and low ambition are the result of experience and are not inherent in man’s nature. Capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and creativity in the solution of organisational problems is widely, not narrowly, distributed in the population.

Under conditions of modern industrial life, the intellectual potential of the average human being is only partially uti

These various needs can be categorised in a number of ways eg, physiological and social motives or intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Extrinsic motivation is related to tangible rewards such as salary and fringe benefits, security, promotion, contract of service, the work environment and conditions of work.

Intrinsic motivation is related to ‘psychological’ rewards such as the opportunity to use one’s ability,

a sense of challenge and achievement, receiving appreciation, positive recognition and being treated in a caring and considerate manner. Goals also influence motivation. 2 CLASSICAL AND MODERN THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Content theories focus on the question of what arouses, sustains and regulates goal directed behaviour ie, the particular things that motivate people. They offer ways to profile or analyse individuals to identify their needs.

Often criticised as being static and descriptive they appear to be linked more to job satisfaction than to work effort. Maslow, Herzberg and McGregor take a universal approach whereas McClelland and Argyris list forces and drives that will vary in relation to different individuals.

Process theories attempt to explain and describe how people start, sustain and direct behaviour

aimed at the satisfaction of needs or the reduction of inner tension. The major variables in process models are incentive, drive, reinforcement and expectancy. The best-known work in this area has

been concerned with Vroom’s expectancy theory, Handy’s motivation calculus and Adam’s equity

theory

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

Maslow advanced the following propositions about human behaviour:

Man is a wanting being.

A satisfied need is not a motivator of behaviour, only unsatisfied needs motivate.

Man’s needs are arranged in a series of levels - a hierarchy of importance. As soon as needs on a lower

level are met those on the next, higher level will demand satisfaction. Maslow believed the underlying

needs for all human motivation to be on five general levels from lowest to highest, shown below. Within those levels, there could be many specific needs, from lowest to highest.

Physiological - the need for food, drink, shelter and relief from pain. Safety and security – once the physical needs of the moment are satisfied, man

concerns himself with protection from physical dangers with economic security,

preference for the familiar and the desire for an orderly, predictable world.

Social - become important motivators of his behaviour. Esteem or egoistic - a need both for self-esteem and the esteem of others,

which involves self-confidence, achievement, competence, knowledge, autonomy, reputation, status and respect.

Self-fulfilment or self-actualisation – is the highest level in the hierarchy; these

are the individual’s needs for realising his or her own potential, for continued self-development and creativity in its broadest sense.

Remember the assumptions of Maslow’s hierarchy: individuals have multiple needs needs are ordered into levels, creating a ‘hierarchy’ a need, once satisfied, is no longer a need

To be of use, Maslow’s basic theory needs qualification to include the

individual as a determining factor in motivation and behaviour. These include: Levels in the hierarchy are not rigidly fixed; boundaries between them are

indistinct and overlap. There are individual exceptions to the general ranking of the hierarchy. Some

people never progress beyond the first or second level (for example, many inhabitants of the third world), others are so obsessed with the higher needs that lower ones may

go largely unnoticed. Variables apart from individual needs may motivate eg, social standards and a

sense of duty. An act is seldom motivated by a single need; any act is more likely to be

caused by several needs. The same need will not give rise to the same response in all individuals. Substitute goals may take the place of a need that is blocked.

Herzberg’s theory of motivation

The major finding of the study was that the events that led to satisfaction were, not surprisingly, of a quite different kind from those that led to dissatisfaction.

One set of factors are those which, if absent, cause dissatisfaction. These

factors are related to job context. They are concerned with job environment and are extrinsic to the job itself.

They are called ‘hygiene’ factors and include such elements as: company policies and administration supervision working conditions interpersonal relations money, status and security

The other set of factors are those which, if present, serve to motivate the

individual to superior effort and performance. These factors are related to the job content of work. They are ‘motivators’ or growth factors. Motivation factors include:

achievement increased responsibility challenging work recognition for achievements growth and development

David McClelland

David McClelland (Studies in Motivation, 1955) identified three basic types of

motivating needs present in people. He shows that all three needs can be present in a person but the weight attached to each can vary. The three needs are:

(a) Need for achievement - where this is high then people have an intense

desire to succeed and an equally intense fear of failure.

(b) Need for affiliation - where this is high people tend to seek acceptance

by others, need to feel loved and are concerned with maintaining pleasant social relationships.

(c) Need for power - people with a high need for power seek

opportunities to influence and control others, seek leadership positions and are often articulate, outspoken and stubborn.

C Argyris

Even though management based on the assumptions of Theory X is perhaps no longer appropriate in the opinion of McGregor and others, it is still widely practiced. Consequently a large majority of the people in organisations today are treated as

immature human beings in their working environment. In attempting to analyse the situation, Argyris compared

bureaucratic/pyramidal values (the organisation’s counterpart to Theory X

assumptions) that still dominate most organisations with a more humanistic/democratic value system (Theory Y assumptions about people).

Expectancy theory

The common themes in expectancy theories are: conscious decisions by individuals to behave in certain ways individual values with regard to choosing desired outcomes individual expectations concerning the amount of effort required to achieve a

specific outcome individual expectations concerning the probability of being rewarded for

achieving a desired outcome.

Motivation is a function of the relationship between:

effort expended and perceived level of performance the expectation that rewards (desired outcomes) will be related to performance.

There must also be the expectation that rewards are available. These relationships determine the strength of the motivational link.

the strength of the individual’s preference for an outcome

the belief in the likelihood that particular actions will achieve the

required goal

This process may be illustrated in the following way:

E ffo rt R e q u ire d O u t c o m e

p e rfo rm a n c e

e g, p ro m o t io n

Force = Valence × Expectancy Force is strength of motivation. Valence is strength of preference for an outcome.

Expectancy is the level of belief that changes in behaviour will achieve the required outcome.

The recommendations to management that go with this model are outlined as

follows:

Discover what outcome each employee values most.

Define for employees the kinds of performance that are desired or required, ie explain what constitutes a ‘goal’ and ‘adequate performance’. Ensure that the desired levels of performance are achievable.

Link the outcomes desired by employees to the specific performance desired by management.

Ensure that the overall motivation strategy avoids conflict between the positive expectations it seeks to create and other factors in the work situation.

Make sure that outcome or rewards are sufficiently attractive to motivate the desired level of performance.

Porter and Lawler’s model - Vroom’s theory has been extended by the

findings of Porter and Lawler (Managerial Attitudes and Performance, 1968) in devising a more complete model of motivation for management.

Basically, Porter and Lawler’s model (shown below) shows that the amount of effort generated depends upon:

the value of the reward the amount of effort seen to be necessary the probability of receiving the reward

The amount of effort deemed necessary and the probability of receiving the reward are in turn influenced by the individual’s record of performance to date, and range of skills, personality, perception of his role, and any number

of other environment factors.

Skills, abilities, personality

Value of rewards

Effort

Performance

Probability of

achieving reward

Role perception

Remember that rewards may be:

(a) external rewards that are given by others and form part of the job situation

(eg wages, status, security)

(b) intrinsic rewards which the individual manager awards himself. These arise

from the performance of the tasks (eg feelings of self-esteem, accomplishment)

Handy’s motivational calculus

The idea put forward here is that each person has a specific ‘motivation calculus’ in respect of every decision taken – and this can be on a conscious or a subconscious basis. This assesses three factors:

Needs - these may be defined in accordance with the ideas of Maslow or any other researchers, and they are the person’s needs at that time.

Desired results - these are what a person is expected to accomplish in the

work.

Expenditure (E) factors - these relate to the expenditure of effort, energy,

and excitement in attaining the desired results. Handy suggests that

motivational theories have been too preoccupied with ‘effort’. He notes that there seems to be a set of words (coincidentally beginning with ‘e’)

that might be more helpful.

As a result of this assessment we have a ‘motivation decision’. This is the strength of the motivation to achieve the desired results. It will have to be

dependent upon:

the strength of the needs of the individual

the expectancy that the expenditure will achieve the desired results

the expectancy that these desired results will assist in the satisfaction of the needs

Charles Handy therefore suggests that: each individual must know exactly what is expected

he or she should participate in the setting of the targets in accordance with personal objectives

feedback, on a regular basis, is necessary to inform individuals of their performance in relation to the targets

Adams’ equity theory

When people sense inequities in their work they will be aroused to remove the discomfort and restore a state of felt equity to the situation by:

changing work inputs

changing rewards received

leaving the situation

changing the comparison points psychologically distorting the comparisons

People who feel overpaid (feel positive inequity) have been found to increase the quantity or quality of their work, whilst those who are underpaid (feel

negative inequity) do the opposite. Feelings of inequity are determined solely

by the individual’s interpretation of the situation - the fact that a manager feels that the annual pay review is fair is immaterial.

3 CONTENT AND PROCESS THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Content and process theories

Content theories - such as those of Maslow and Herzberg, stress the satisfaction of needs

Process theories - such as those of Vroom, emphasise the importance of rewards.

Content theories attempt to explain those specific things that actually

motivate the individual at work. These theories are concerned with identifying people’s needs and their relative strengths, and the goals they

pursue in order to satisfy these needs. Content theories place emphasis on the

nature of needs and what motivates.

There is the assumption that everyone responds in much the same way to motivating pressures and that there is, therefore, one best way to motivate everybody. These theories provide a prescriptive list which managers can

follow in an attempt to increase productivity.

Process theories (expectancy and goal) change the emphasis from needs to the goals and processes by which workers are motivated. They attempt to

explain and describe how people start, sustain and direct behaviour aimed at

the satisfaction of needs or reduction of inner tension. They place emphasis on the actual process of motivation.

Process theories also attempt to identify major variables that explain

behaviour, but the focus is on the dynamics of how the variables are interrelated in explaining the direction, degree and persistence of effort. The major variables in process models are incentive, drive, reinforcement and

expectancy.

4 WAYS TO MOTIVATE STAFF

Job satisfaction

Drucker suggested that employee satisfaction comes about through encouraging - if need be, by 'pushing' - employees to accept responsibility. There are four ingredients to this:

careful placement of people in jobs

high standards of performance in the job

providing the worker with the information needed to control his/her own performance.

opportunities for participation in decisions that will give the employee managerial vision

Designing rewarding jobs

Herzberg defines three avenues to improve staff satisfaction and motivation:

Job enrichment - is a deliberate, planned process to improve the responsibility and challenge of a job. A job may be enriched by:

giving it greater variety (although this could also be described as job

enlargement)

allowing the employee greater freedom to decide how the job should be done

encouraging employees to participate in the planning decisions of their managers

ensuring that the employee receives regular feedback on his/her

performance

Koontz and Weihrich identify four elements that are necessary to make job enrichment a practical and worthwhile exercise:

There has to be a clear understanding of people’s needs.

If the purpose of enrichment is to increase productivity then it must be shown, at the earliest stage, that workers will share in the benefits.

People need to be treated as individuals and involved in the planning and introduction of the schemes.

Staff like to feel that managers are committed to the success of the

programme. So managers must be seen to be enthusiastic and take part in all stages.

Job enlargement - is an attempt to widen jobs by increasing the number of operations in which a job-holder is involved.

Job enlargement is a ‘horizontal’ extension of an individual’s work, whereas job enrichment is a ‘vertical’ extension. A well-designed job should involve the following:

giving the individual scope for setting his/her own work standards and targets

giving the individual control over the pace and methods of working

varying the work to encourage efficiency

giving the individual a chance to add his/her comments about the design of the product or of the job providing feedback to the individual about his/her performance.

Job rotation - is the planned rotating of staff between jobs to alleviate monotony and provide a fresh job challenge. It can take two forms:

An employee might be transferred to another job after a longish period (2-4 years) in an existing job to give a new interest and challenge.

Job rotation might be regarded as a form of training where employees learned about a number of different jobs by spending six months or one year in each job before being moved on.

Participation

There are certain guidelines that must prevail if participation is to be effective in raising motivation:

The participation must be seen as part of a continuing approach not just a ‘one-off’ exercise.

Staff must be fed the results of their involvement as quickly and fully as possible.

The participation must be genuine. People must have the ability, equipment and will to be involved.

Quality of work life

The intention is to improve all aspects of work life, especially job design, work environment, leadership attitudes, work planning and industrial relations.

It is an all-embracing systems approach, which usually starts with a joint

management and staff group looking at the dignity, interest and productivity of jobs.

5 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE REWARD SYSTEM

Money

Whether in the form of wages, piecework, incentive pay, bonuses, stock options, company paid insurance or any of the other things given to people for performance, money is important.

Economists, accountants and many managers tend to regard money as a prime motivator.

However, behavioural scientists tend to place it low on the scale of motivators. Probably, neither view is correct as an all-embracing approach; it depends on the individual.

Money in the form of pay is a powerful motivator, which can be related to the motivational theories that we have examined.

In discussing money as a motivator it is necessary to recognise its effects at two levels.

Money in absolute terms, as an exact amount, is important because of its purchasing power. It is

what money can buy, not money itself, that gives it value.

Money is also important as an indication of status.

Incentive schemes

There are several features which are unique to money as a motivating force and which can affect workers in different ways:

Money is more important to people who are seeking to establish an initial standard of living rather than those who have arrived.

Schumacher defined his principle of motivation in which he states that if all efforts by the company are devoted to doing away with work by automation and computerisation, then work is

a devalued activity which people put up with because no other way has been found of doing it. People would therefore be working just for money.

Most organisations use money not as a motivator, but simply as a means of ensuring adequate staffing.

The need for apparent fairness encourages the use of salary grades and hence comparability of earnings.

Financial incentives operate with varying strengths for different people in different situations.

Much research has shown that money is not a single motivator or even a prime motivator.

Empowerment

Sociological empowerment often addresses members of groups that social discrimination processes have

excluded from decision-making processes through - for example - discrimination based on disability, race,

ethnicity, religion, or gender. Empowerment as a methodology is often associated with feminism:

see consciousness-raising.

"Marginalized" refers to the overt or covert trends within societies whereby those perceived as lacking

desirable traits or deviating from the group norms tend to be excluded by wider society and ostracized as

undesirables.

Sometimes groups are marginalized by society at large, but governments are often unwitting or enthusiastic

participants. This Act made it illegal to restrict access to schools and public places based on race. Equal

opportunity laws which actively oppose such marginalization, allow increased empowerment to occur.

They are also a symptom of minorities' and women's empowerment through lobbying.

Marginalized people who lack self-sufficiency become, at a minimum, dependent on charity, or welfare.

They lose their self-confidence because they cannot be fully self-supporting. The opportunities denied them

also deprive them of the pride of accomplishment which others, who have those opportunities, can develop

for themselves. This in turn can lead to psychological, social and even mental health problems.

Empowerment is the process of obtaining basic opportunities for marginalized people, either directly by

those people, or through the help of non-marginalized others who share their own access to these

opportunities. It also includes actively thwarting attempts to deny those opportunities. Empowerment also

includes encouraging, and developing the skills for, self-sufficiency, with a focus on eliminating the future

need for charity or welfare in the individuals of the group. This process can be difficult to start and to

implement effectively.

Employees’ empowerment

Innovation can thrive when collaboration takes place and collaboration can occur best when teams are empowered [10].Empowerment is a concept that links individual strengths and competencies, natural helping systems and proactive behaviour to social policy and social change. In the other words, empowerment links individual and his or her well being to wider social and political environment in which he or she functions [11]. Successful implementation of total quality management depends heavily on changes in employee attitude and activities. But what its impact on these changes on the employee, especially on employee turnover intentions? Studies revealed from one company field test using 113 employees before TQM and a subset of 73 employees after TQM implementation. Results indicated significant improvements in a role of: ambiguity, job satisfaction, job involvement, organizational commitment, and employee turnover intentions, but no significant changes in role conflict, task characteristics, and career satisfaction. TQM managers are expected to gain employee’s trust, encourage employees’ problems solving, and promote co-operation among departments. In fact, many of the basic elements of TQM deal with people: team work participate management, creativity, innovation, reward structure, extensive training, high level communications, reduction of fear of losing security, obsession with improvement, management commitment at all levels, customer feedback, employee’s involvement and empowerment, for improved communications through flatter organizations and quicker decision making. Empowerment does not mean that the management has no role to play or no responsibility. In fact, the management has more responsibilities. They have to monitor the skills continuously required for carrying out the ever-changing complexity of jobs of the teams. The management must be willing to help the teams when they are unable to solve issues. The responsibilities of the management are to control the processes and not the individual team members. It was proved that productivity increased by empowerment by 30 percent.

The employees should be encouraged to their own responsibility and top management should help them to achieve it. The top management should take responsibilities on the following: 2 Management should listen to attitude. Good listener makes the difference. 2 Accept the recommendation given by a team and believe that it is good for the organizational growth. 2 Invest time and money as requested by teams. 2 Prepared to wait for the success of the teams and do not pressure them to achieve results immediately. 2 Spend more time at the initial stages and listen to the problems of the team. During execution there may be

some problems and should be heard instead of finding fault. 2 Reward the good teams and this motivate further. 2 Provide information technology based communication

systems. The definition given by Xerox Corporation Management Institute is reproduced below as definition for the

empowerment. Empowerment is, an organizational state, where people are obliged to direct business and understand their performance boundaries, thus it enables them to take responsibility and ownership while seeking improvements, identifying the best course of action and imitative steps to meet customer requirements [12]. The empowered team should conduct themselves in a responsible manner, i.e... They should know their performance boundaries; or in the other words, employees have to conduct themselves within delegated authority and responsibility. They have to align with management philosophy approach to customer satisfaction and organization’s vision and mission. They cannot have their own way of doing things since management has to achieve cohesion in the organization and will have more information about the business than even the smartest employee and hence well equipped to formulate the policies and overall directions. One of the criteria

on European Foundation for Quality management (EFQM) model is people’s development and innovation in maximizing the contribution of employees through their development and involvement [13]. Figure 2 shows EFQM model and its parameters with percentage of points. Empowerment is not without bounds bounds

Empowerment of employees is without bounds or limitations. It should be structured and planned to achieve the goal in the TQM way. The employees should be aligned with business direction as brought out in the vision and mission statements by the CEO. They have to understand their performance boundaries and expected performance / results. An employee owns his processes; it means employees themselves improve the quality of their processes, while the management is watching and is ready to help them when needed. Therefore, empowering means that they should do what they are authorised to do and with management approval before making changes.

People

Satisfaction

People Managemen

t

90 points (9%)

Leadership

90 points (9%)

Business

Processes

Result

s

Customer

Satisfaction

Policy & Strategy

100 points

140 points

200 points (20%)

150 points

80 points

(8%)

(10%)

(14%)

(15%)

Impact on

Society

Resources

90 points

(9%) 60 points (6%)

EFQM model

Empower teams and not individuals

A team of employees should be empowered and not the individuals. Even when an individual is empowered it is done as in his capacity as coordinator of the team. The team has to achieve the objectives set forth by the management. The team has to identify the best course of action in every context. The team has to take decisions on its own within prescribed boundaries. It also has to carry out mid –course corrections wherever required. The team should function in a democratic way to achieve success. The team members should try to solve their problems within the organizational frame work. The management will not take part in day to day activities; it should watch what is happening. The management should have a mechanism for obtaining a feedback of the results. It is not detachment of the teams from the management, but it is the process of equipping the teams and motivating and encouraging them to carry out the assigned tasks, as per the requirements.

One of the fundamental requirements before embarking on forming self managing teams is training of all the

employees in the team so that they are prepared for the empowerment. They should have wiliness to change. They should be able to manage a change. The team members should learn good qualities and they establish sound relationship with the other team members. This is more important for any teams. For the interest of the organization, all teams members should work single minded to discharge their duties. The training of teams should be done in such way that all the members should understand their responsibilities, adjust them with the other members, motivate the others and they should have a motivational attitude.

Empowerment.Empowermentinacrisisina crisis

When a product design is changed for improvement, this may be good for some customers but it may not satisfy all. When there was a complaint and need to be addressed by the service personal immediately in the interest of the organization and for future business. The person deputed to attend the complaint should be given empowerment to take spot decision wisely and rectify the same instead of referring it back to organization. In this case, an employee was given empowerment to make it quickly on the spot and rectify the same instead of referring it back to organization. The decision may take back the product for servicing at service centre or changing the parts for free of charge at the place of functioning or free replacement for the entire products. These types of decision should be at the interest to satisfy a customer or future business. The taken action should be for the interest of the organization, not for the individual. The decision taken by an individual was a decision taken by the organization. This empowerment will bring happiness to the customers.

Considering employee’s point of view

Employee risk, taking an initiative, requires a certain environment and a certain set of conditions. As an employee is willing to learn new thinking and doing skills if the following conditions exist (d) an employee can see that he will be better off by learning, (e) available to him.

Employees’ expectation from top managers: (f) believe in their ability to be successful, (g) be patient and give them time to learn, (h) provide direction and structure, (i) teach them new skills in a way and in incremental steps, (j) share information with them sometimes to build report, (k) give them timely, understandable feedback and encourage them throughout learning process, (l) offer alternative ways to perform tasks, (m) exhibit sense of humour and demonstrate care for them, (n) focus on results and acknowledge personal improvement.

Brain.Brainstormingstorming

Brainstorming with the other employees serves as catalysts in drawing out group members. Participants are

encouraged to share any idea that comes to their mind. All ideas are considered valid. Participants are not

allowed to make judgement or to evaluate suggestions. All ideas and suggestions are recorded, preferably on a

marker board, flip chart, or another medium that allows group members to review them continuously. After

ideas have been recorded, the evaluation process begins. The team members are asked to go through the list one

at a time, weighing the relative merits of each. This process is repeated until the group narrows the choice to a

specified number. Brain storming can be an effective vehicle for collecting employee’s input and feedback,

particularly if managers understand the weakness associated with it and how they try to overcome it. Managers

being interested in soliciting the employee’s input through brainstorming should be familiar with the concepts of

group thinking and group shifting. These two concepts can undermine the effectiveness of brainstorming and the

other group techniques. Group thinking is the phenomenon that exists when people being in a group focus more

on reaching a decision than on making a good decision. A number of factors can be contributed to a group

thinking, including the following:

x overly prescriptive group leadership,

x peer pressure for conformity, group isolation,

x unskilled application of group decision-making techniques. The following recommendations may be

taken into

consideration for overcoming group thinking.

x Encourage criticism,

x Encourage to develop several alternatives. Do not allow the groups to rush through hasty decisions,

x Assign a member or members to play a role of devil’s advocate,

x Include people who are familiar with the issues,

x Hold last chance meeting. When a decision is reached, arrange a follow up meeting a few days later.

After group members have had time to think things over, they may have second thoughts. Last chance meetings

give the employees an opportunity to voice their second thoughts.

Group shifting is a phenomenon that exists when group members exaggerate their initial position hoping that the

eventual decision will be what they really want to. If groups members get together prior to meeting and decide to

take an overly risky or overly conservative view, then it may be difficult to overcome.

.Improving.Improvingsuggestionsuggestionschemesschemes

The suggestion systems are the collection of process used to solicit, collect, evaluate and adopt or turn down

suggestions. Good suggestion systems should have the following:

all suggestions should receive a formal response,

all suggestions are responded immediately, performance of each department in generating and responding to suggestions is monitored by managements,

system costs and savings are reported, recognitions and rewards are handled promptly,

good ideas are implemented, personality conflicts are minimized.

Many companies which like to practice the TQM concepts are

beginning to accept employees’ input as not only desirable but necessary to compete. From the above criteria, it

can be seen that operating a suggestion system involves more than having employee’s tools into a box, accepting

some, throwing the rest away. An approach that is being used increasingly is the computer aided suggestion

system. Once the suggestion is logged into the system, an acknowledgement may be provided on line. Even, the

suggestion may be awarded with small gift items so that each and every employee is proud of his or her

response.

.Improving.Improvingidividualindividualsuggestionssuggestions.

To make good suggestions, employees need to know how to do two things.

x identify problems and formulate ideas for improvement,

x clearly and concisely communicate their ideas in a written form. The following three steps to formulate

ideas for work place

improvements can increase a number of ideas they generate and the quality of those ideas.

x Problem identification involves identifying situations that differ from the desired result. At this point, no

attempt is made to determine the cause of the problem, nor should a cause be too quickly assumed. Employees

should be helped to learn to approach problems systematically and in a step by step manner. The task is to record

problem situations that are candidates for improvement.

x Research into why it is important because, if done properly, it can prevent the expenditure of resources

treating symptom rather than causes.

x Idea development improves the development of ideas for solving the problem identified in the first step

by eliminating the cause identified in the second step. When ideas for improvement have been formulated,

employees should write them down using graphics appropriately to illustrate their ideas.

Top managers and management can help employees to improve their individual suggestions by coaching them to

do the following.

x Clearly explain the current situation that creates the problem.

x Get to the heart of the proposed change with no preliminaries or rationalizations, and be specific.

x prepare illustrations to clarify the proposed change, in every case where this is appropriate.

Evaluations and rating suggestions

Employees are often in the best position to make suggestions for work place improvements, but in the final

analysis it is still the manager who must decide, whether the proposal idea is feasible. It is like a loan officer in a

bank trying to decide which loan applicants will pay off and which will be deadbeats. The following may be

taken into considerations while evaluating suggestions:

x Not all suggestions can be evaluated fairly while sitting at your desk. Questions about a suggestion

should be resolved by going to the source and discussing them with the suggested. Be patient and find out what

the suggester is trying to say. If necessary, help the suggester to improve his or her suggestion,

x A suggestion that looks bad or outdated on the surface may still contain and discount the whole suggestion

if part of it is bad.

x Be generous for the first time with suggesters to build up their confidence. If possible, try to accept the

suggestion, or at least part of it, making revision to the suggestion if necessary,

x Employees who are experienced in making suggestion, evaluate their suggestions carefully and change

them into a set of higher goals,

x Consider the level of the suggester when evaluating a suggestion. If you under estimate a person’s

ability, he or she will not be challenged and grow. If you expect too much, you will discharge the worker’s

creativity and initiative,

x Suggesters will be anxious for feedback. Evaluate suggestions promptly. If a delay is unavoidable,

notify the suggester of the reason of it,

x If possible, notify the suggester evaluation results in person. Make sure to add a few words of

encouragement, especially if the idea is not accepted. When providing a written notice, always add a positive

comment along with the result,

x A suggestion is often a product of the suggester and his or her supervisor. Remember to compliment all

contributors for their efforts.

A formal rating system should be formulated to evaluate a suggestion scheme. The rating system should

provide a means for quantifying the results of evaluations and have at least the following:

x Criteria are the factors considered as the most important in assessing the feasibility of employee

suggestions. The expected benefit out of the suggestion, time that will elapse before benefits will begin to be

realized, and how successful suggestions made be the individual or team submitting this suggestion have been in

the past.

x The actual criteria might differ from company to company. However, within the company they should

be the same for all departments, to ensure consistency and fairness. Each criterion should be assigned to a

numerical score or rating. This is the key to step in the entire process. It requires a judgement, common sense, a

thorough knowledge of the situation in question, and an open mind.

x This is to accommodate the fact that some criteria are more important than others. The individual rating

for each criterion is multiplied it is assigned to a weight factor to determine its weighted score.

x Total points and conversion scale. The weighted scores are added together to determine the total score

for the suggestion. Just as numerical scores are converted to letter grades in a college class, the total score for the

suggestion is converted to a level, category or grade of suggestion.

Theoretical Approaches to Empowerment

Three theoretical approaches have been used to study empowerment: socio-structural

perspective,psychological approach, and the critical perspective. The socio-structural perspective focuses its attention on developing or redesigning organizational polices, practices and structures to give employees power, authority and influence over their work. The psychological approach focuses on enhancing and enabling personal effectiveness by helping employees develop their sense of meaning, competency, self-determination and impact. The critical perspective challenges the notion of employee empowerment and argues that efforts to create empowerment may actually lead to more, albeit less obvious, controls over employees.

Advantages

Employee empowerment provides some distinct advantages. Employee empowerment should lead to increased organizational responsiveness to issues and problems and an increase in productivity. It should also lead to a greater degree of employee commitment to organizational goals, since employees can take some degree of ownership in the decisions made towards goal achievement.

Disadvantages can be:

Not all staff is trained to operate in dynamic environment and hence take decisions you cannot standardise the

processes.conflict can increase - interpersonal relations may suffer coz there can be a clash between employees.

Reasons for quality becoming a cardinal priority for most organizations:

• Competition – Today’s market demand high quality products at low cost. Having `high

quality’ reputation is not enough! Internal cost of maintaining the reputation should be less.

• Changing customer – The new customer is not only commanding priority based on volume

but is more demanding about the “quality system.”

• Changing product mix – The shift from low volume, high price to high volume, low price

have resulted in a need to reduce the internal cost of poor quality.

Why quality

• Product complexity – As systems have become more complex, the reliability requirements

for suppliers of components have become more stringent.

• Higher levels of customer satisfaction – Higher customers expectations are getting

spawned by increasing competition.

Relatively simpler approaches to quality viz. product inspection for quality control and

incorporation of internal cost of poor quality into the selling price, might not work for today’s

complex market environment.

Quality perspectives

Everyone defines Quality based on their own perspective of it. Typical responses about the

definition of quality would include:

1. Perfection

2. Consistency

3. Eliminating waste

4. Speed of delivery

5. Compliance with policies and procedures

6. Doing it right the first time

7. Delighting or pleasing customers

8. Total customer satisfaction and service

Judgmental perspective

• “goodness of a product.”

• Shewhart’s transcendental definition of quality – “absolute and universally recognizable, a

mark of uncompromising standards and high achievement.”

• Examples of products attributing to this image: Rolex watches, Lexus cars.

Product-based perspective

• “function of a specific, measurable variable and that differences in quality reflect

differences in quantity of some product attributes.”

• Example: Quality and price perceived relationship.

User-based perspective

• “fitness for intended use.”

• Individuals have different needs and wants, and hence different quality standards.

• Example – Nissan offering ‘dud’ models in US markets under the brand name Datson

which the US customer didn’t prefer.

Value-based perspective

• “quality product is the one that is as useful as competing products and is sold at a lesser

price.”

• US auto market – Incentives offered by the Big Three are perceived to be compensation

for lower quality.

Manufacturing-based perspective

• “the desirable outcome of a engineering and manufacturing practice, or conformance to

specification.”

• Engineering specifications are the key!

• Example: Coca-cola – “quality is about manufacturing a product that people can depend

on every time they reach for it.”

Quality levels

At organizational level, we need to ask following questions:

• Which products and services meet your expectations?

• Which products and services you need that you are not currently receiving?

At the individual job level, we should ask:

• What is required by the customer?

• How can the requirements be measured?

• What is the specific standard for each measure?

At process level, we need to ask:

• What products and services are most important to the external customer?

• What processes produce those products and services?

• What are the key inputs to those processes?

• Which processes have most significant effects on the organization’s performance

standards?

Everyone defines Quality based on their own perspective of it. Typical responses about the

definition of quality would include:

1. Perfection

2. Consistency

3. Eliminating waste

4. Speed of delivery

5. Compliance with policies and procedures

6. Doing it right the first time

7. Delighting or pleasing customers

8. Total customer satisfaction and service

Strategic Quality Management (SQM)

• Hoshin kanri: Japanese for management cycle build around Plan, Do, Check, Act. Elements of this cycle

include –

Quality policies

Quality goals

Deployment of goals

Plans to meet goals

Organizational structure

Resources

Measurement feedback

Review of progress

Training

SQM: Vision/Mission statement

• Developed by taking everyone in confidence. Guide for the Quality journey. Ties quality to overall

business goals.

• Vision Statement: Collection of quality policies. A vision statement outlines what a company wants to

be. It focuses on tomorrow; it is inspirational; it provides clear decision-making criteria; and it is

timeless. A vision needs to address three areas: people, culture (or values) and product or service.

• Mission statement: A mission statement outlines what the company is now. It focuses on today; it

identifies the customers; it identifies the critical processes; and it states the level of performance.

• It has been said that a vision is something to be pursued, while a mission is something to be

accomplished.

• Mission is what you do best every day, and vision is what the future looks like because you do that

mission so exceedingly well.

• For vision – Think leading with inspiration and courage, obsessed with future possibility.

• For mission – Think managing with greatness and untamed strength, improving everything daily.

• Famous vision statement – “By the end of the decade, we will put a man on the moon.” JFK.

• Famous mission statement – “CRUSH REEBOK.” Nike

• Prepared to provide guidelines for planning the overall quality program; and defining the action to

be taken in situation for which personnel had requested guidelines.

• Policies state: a) a principle to be followed; b) what is to be done.

• Examples of quality policy – For a computer manufacturer: “In selecting suppliers, decision makers

are responsible for choosing the best source even if this means internal sources are not selected.”

• A goal (or objective) is a statement of the desired result to be achieved within a specified period – an

aimed-at target.

• These goals then become basis for detailed planning of activities.

• Tactical goals are short range (up to 1 year), whereas strategic goals are long range (say, 5 years).

• Examples of corporate quality goals – For a health product company, the quality goals over the next

year could be: “The average leakage rate for …. product shall be reduced to …”

• Note that quality goal statements include quantified data.

• Typically Pareto analysis is used to develop the quality goals.

•

SQM: Deploying quality goals

Broad goals don’t lead to results. First they have to be deployed as follows:

• Division and subdivision of the goal until specific deeds to be done are identified.

• Allocation of responsibility of doing these deeds.

• Provision for the needed resource.

Reasons of failure of SQM could be

• Lack of leadership by upper management.

• Lack of infrastructure for quality.

• Failure to understand the skepticism about the “new quality program.”

• Management assumption that the exhortation approach will work.

• Failure to start small and learn from pilot programs.

• Reliance on specific techniques as the primary means.

Underestimating the time and resource required

KAIZEN

DEFINITION & PRINCIPLES

IN BRIEF

Kaizen

1. Definition and principles of Kaizen

In the decade of 1980, management techniques focusing on employee involvement, and

empowerment through teamwork approach and interactive communications and on improving

job design were not new, but Japanese companies seemed to implement such techniques

much more effectively than others .The business lesson of the 1980’s was that Japanese

firms, in their quest for global competitiveness, demonstrated a greater commitment to the

philosophy of continuous improvement than Western companies did (1). For such a philosophy

the Japanese used the term Kaizen.

Kaizen means improvement, continuous improvement involving everyone in the organization

from top management, to managers then to supervisors, and to workers. In Japan, the concept

of Kaizen is so deeply engrained in the minds of both managers and workers that they often do

not even realize they are thinking Kaizen as a customer-driven strategy for improvement (2). This philosophy assumes according Imai that ‘’our way of life – be it our working life, our social

life or our home life – deserves to be constantly improved’’ (3).

There is a lot of controversy in the literature as well as the industry as to what Kaizen signifies. Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy for process improvement that can be traced to the meaning

of the Japanese words ‘Kai’ and ‘Zen’, which translate roughly into ‘to break apart and

investigate’ and ‘to improve upon the existing situation’ (4). The Kaizen Institute

defines Kaizen as the Japanese term for continuous improvement. It is using

common sense and is both a rigorous, scientific method using statistical quality

control and an adaptive framework of organizational values and beliefs that keeps workers and

management focused on zero defects. It is a philosophy of never being satisfied with what was

accomplished last week or last year

Improvement begins with the admission that every organization has problems, which provide

opportunities for change. It evolves around continuous improvement involving everyone in the

organization and largely depends on cross-functional teams that can be empowered to

challenge the status quo.

1. Kaizen is the practice of continuous improvement. Kaizen was originally introduced to the West by Masaaki Imai in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success in 1986. Today Kaizen is recognized worldwide as an important pillar of an organization's long-term

competitive strategy.

The essence of Kaizen is that the people

that perform a certain task are the most

knowledgeable about that task;

Customer orientation Kamban

consequently, by involving them and

Total Quality control showing confidence in their capabilities,

Quality improvement

Robotics

Just in time

QC circles ownership of the process is raised to its

Zero defects

Suggestion System

Small group activities

Automation highest level (7). In addition, the team effort

Productivity improvement

Discipline in the workplace

New product develop ment

TPM encourages innovation and change and,

by involving all layers of employees, the

imaginary organizational walls disappear

Figure 1:Κaizen umbrella-concept to make room for productive

improvements. From such a perspective, Kaizen is not only an approach to manufacturing

competitiveness but also everybody's business, because its premise is based on the concept

that every person has an interest in improvement. The premise of a Kaizen workshop is to

make people's jobs easier by taking them apart, studying them, and making improvements.

The message is extended to everyone in the organization, and thus everyone is a contributor

(8). So, when Kaizen for every individual could be an attitude for continuous improvement, for

the company

also be a

corporate

leadership

attitude for

Improvement

Cross-

fuctional

continuous

teams

improvement .

The Kaizen

Philosophy

As presented

Teams

5S

by Imai ,Kaizen

is an umbrella

Discipline In the

Workplace Productivity

concept that

Improvemetnt

Process Focus embraces

different

continuous

Figure2: The kaizen constituents

improvement

activities on an organization as shown in Figure 1 (9) . Also Kaizen constituents are

presented on Figure 2

According to James Womack in his book ‘’ The Machine That Changed the World ‘’ (1991), (10)

with Kaizen, the job of improvement is never finished and the status quo is always challenged. Kaizen techniques became famous when Toyota used them to rise to world automotive

leadership. Rather than undertake large projects, Toyota's staff was encouraged to identify

problems, no matter how small, trace their root causes, and implement all necessary solutions.

Improvements through Kaizen have a process focus. Kaizen generates process-oriented

thinking, is people-oriented, and is directed at people's efforts. Rather than identifying

employees as the problem, Kaizen emphasizes that the process is the target and employees

can provide improvements by understanding how their jobs fit into the process and changing it.

The companies that undertake a Kaizen philosophy place an emphasis on the processes - on

the 'how' of achieving the required results .A process emphasis goes beyond designing

effective processes; it requires the teams to understand why a process works, whether it can

be modified or replicated somewhere else in the company and how it can be improved. Table

1 ,illustrates some of the major differences between a conventional and a process-emphasis

approach.

Conventional approach Process-emphasis approach

Employees are the problem The process is the problem

Doing my job Helping to get things done

Understanding my job Knowing how my job fits in the process

Measuring individuals Measuring performance

Change the person Change the process

Correct errors Reduce variation

Who made the error? What allowed tile error to occur?

Table 2. 1: improvements through kaizen: a process focus The starting point of a process-emphasis approach is to map the process in order to

understand the flow of the product or service. To give more pictorial the difference between

process and targets concepts lets have a look on two ancient man-activities in real life.

Farming and hunting activities :

On process approach (farming )the characteristics are :

Land preparation including levels

Removal of obstacles, stones and rocks Soil enrichment

Water management Planting

Weed control Pest and disease control

Comparisons and benchmarking with neighboring farms

Monitoring progress relative to each step

Harvesting

Οn a target approach ( hunting ) the characteristics

are: Hear or see possible prey

Isolate a specific target

Prepare personal tools

Approach target with known skills Aim at first realizable opportunity

Make second attempt if first fails

Relax once successful until hungry. The effect on thinking of these two activities then is presented on the following table:

Effects on Thinking

Farming Hunting

-Long term -Short term

-The process is king -The Individual is king

-So enhance participation in the process -So enhance the empowerment of the

-Weather affects output so poor years individual

understood -Weather should not affect output so a

-Market share (amount of land that can bad year not accepted

be developed) is paramount -Hunting skill (return on outings)

-Growth comes from extra market share paramount

(more land) and improving the process -Acquisitions are another form of hunting

-Growth from faster hunting

Table 2 : effects on thinking: target vs process approach

The Japanese have been farmers for 50 years , so easily one can understand their devotion

and discipline on continuous improvement way of thinking and living (11) .The implementation

of Kaizen principles has been viewed as one of the key factors to Japanese competitive

success. Kaizen then has emerged in the U.S. as a methodology leading to dramatic

increases in productivity by manufacturing companies

Process quality improvement needs the use of specific tools and techniques to be introduced and

supervisors and operators to be trained on. Appendix 2.1 contains examples of continuous

improvement tools, the ,so known as ‘9 Tools‘, such as : process flow charts, Pareto analysis , run

charts, data collection, histograms, scatter analysis,checklist ,a cause and effect diagram, control

charts, that used by the teams to detect problems , facilitate processes and implement

proposals

The role of visual management as a concept, practice or tool is promoted in Kaizen through

individuals or teams to help people identify problems or promote empowerment. The practice

of visual management involves the clear display of tangible objects (gembutsu), charts, lists,

records of performance, so that both management and workers are continuously reminded of

all the elements that make the Visual controls make it easy for everyone to identify the state of

a normal or abnormal condition, thus providing operators and management visibility into

performance (see Appendix2.2) Visual controls tracking performance should capture the team

effort rather than the individual. Visual controls usually lead to visual management, which can

be particularly efficient if it is used adequately to replace the bureaucratic monitoring systems

that many companies employ in order to maintain control and attempt to prevent anything from

going wrong. Visual controls must be relevant, easy to understand by the people performing

the task being measured, and must emphasize proactive actions, rather than blaming ,so the

visual workplace will: (13).

improve safety

make critical information available at a glance

gain immediate measurable results including: reduced floor space, decreased process

time and machine down time

keep everyone informed of production schedules, daily attendance, inventory levels,

etc.

reduce search time by as much as 50%

reduce inventory as much as 10% to 30%

raise morale and on-time delivery

(12) .

introduce techniques that will allow significant reductions in lead time (10-25%)

build communication between shifts, work areas, and organization levels improve quality 10-20% .

There are two elements that construct kaizen, improvement / change for the better and

ongoing / continuity. Lacking one of those elements would not be considered as kaizen. For

instance, the expression of “business as usual” contains the element of continuity without

improvement. On the other hand, the expression of “breakthrough” contains the element of

change or improvement without continuity. Kaizen contain both elements.

Another key aspect of kaizen is that it is an on-going, never-ending improvement process. As

the reader may already know, it is not too difficult to introduce something new into an

organization. The difficult part is, how to keep it going and maintain the momentum once it

has been introduced. Many companies have tried to introduce such projects as quality

circles, reengineering, and lean production. While some of them have been successful, most

have failed to make such a project a going concern. For instance, many Western

companies introduced quality circles by involving employees but most companies have

simply given up the idea of quality circle activities by now as a way to improve quality, cut cost

and speed products to market.The message of the Kaizen philosophy is that not one single

day should go by in the firm without some type of improvement being made in some process in

the company. Kaizen is everyone's job; it requires sophisticated problem-solving expertise as

well as professional and engineering knowledge and involves people from different

departments working together in teams to solve problems, as shown in Figure 3

Kaizen deals with the management of change and is a methodology in the right direction to

improve manufacturing operations, on a continual and incremental basis following the right

steps (14):

-Establish a plan to change whatever needs to be improved, -Carry out changes on a small scale,

-Observe the results, and

-Evaluate the results and the process and determine what has been learned .

The starting point for improvement is to recognize the need. So Kaizen principles emphasis

problem-awareness and provide clues to identifying problems. When identified, problems must

be solved, so Kaizen is also a problem-solving process. But, most of all, Kaizen is a

management philosophy that forces higher standards at all levels of the organization by

encouraging continuous improvement in all processes. Professor Hitochi Kume of Tokyo

University compared quality control in the West and Japan:’’ I think that while control in the

West aims at ‘controlling’ the quality and conformance to standards and specifications, the

feature of the Japanese approach centers around improving (Kaizen) quality. In other words,

the Japanese approach is to do such Kaizen systematically and continually ‘‘ (15).. Kaizen

approach is based on the premise that there is no perfection in a process, because no

structure, product, or system ever achieves the ideal stage and where it can be improved by

further reducing waste .

2. Kaizen -The three pillars

2.1The three pillars According to M. Imai, a guru in these management philosophies and practices , the three

pillars of kaizen are summarized as follows:

1. housekeeping 2. waste elimination 3. standardization and as he states , the management and employees must work together to fulfill the

requirements for each category. Tο be ensured success on activities on those three pillars

three factors have also to be taken account .

1.visual management, 2.the

role of the supervisor, 3.the importance of training and creating a learning organization.

More analytically on each one pillar of Kaizen:

2.1.1 Housekeeping

This is a process of managing the work place ,known as ‘’Gemba’’ (workplace ) in Japanese,

for improvement purposes .Imai introduced the word ’’Gemba ‘’, which means ‘’real place’’,

where value is added to the products or services before passing them to next process where

they are formed

For proper housekeeping a valuable tool or methodology is used , the 5S methodology. The

term “Five S” is derived from the first letters of Japanese words referred to five practices

leading to a clean and manageable work area: seiri (organization), seiton (tidiness), seiso

(purity), seiketsu (cleanliness), and shitsuke (discipline). The English words equivalent of the 5S's are sort, straighten, sweep, sanitize, and sustain. 5S evaluations provide measurable

insight into the orderliness of a work area and there are checklists for manufacturing and non-

manufacturing areas that cover an array of criteria as i.e. cleanliness, safety, and ergonomics.

Five S evaluation contributes to how employees feel about product, company, and their selves

and today it has become essential for any company, engaged in manufacturing, to practice the

5S's in order to be recognized as a manufacturer of world-class status.

On the following table the 5S approach is presented briefly for each one from the five activities

(17):

Seiri SORT what is not needed. Use the red tag system of tagging items

considered not needed, then give everyone a chance to indicate if the

items really are needed. Any red tagged item for which no one identifies a

need is eliminated (sell to employee, sell to scrap dealer, give away, put

into trash.

Seiton STRAIGHTEN what must be kept. Make things visible. Put tools on peg

board and outline the tool so its location can be readily identified. Apply the

saying "a place for everything, and everything a place’’.

(16).

Seiso SCRUB everything that remains. Clean and paint to provide a pleasing

appearance.

Seiketsu SPREAD the clean/check routine. When others see the improvements in

the Kaizen area, give them the training and the time to improve their work

area.

Shitsuke STANDARDIZATION and self-discipline. Established a cleaning schedule.

Use downtime to clean and straighten area.

Table 3: 5S Activities As some of the benefits of employees of practicing the five S could be referred to as follows:

Creates cleanliness, sanitary, pleasant, and safe working environments; it revitalizes Gemba

and greatly improves employee morale and motivation; it eliminates various kinds of waste by

minimizing the need to search for tools, making the operators' jobs easier, reducing physically

strenuous work, and freeing up space; it creates a sense of belonging and love for the place of

work for the employees (18) .

2.1.2 Waste (Muda ) elimination.

Muda in Japanese means waste. The resources at each process — people and machines —

either add value or do not add value and therefore ,any non-value adding activity is classified

as muda in Japan. Work is a series of value-adding activities, from raw materials ,ending to a

final product. Muda is any non-value-added task. To give some examples ,there are presented

here Muda in both manufacturing and office settings described below on Table 2.4:

Muda in Manufacturing Muda inOffice

Shipping defective parts Passing on work that contains errors

Waiting for inspection Signature approvals, bureaucracy

Walking and transporting parts Walking or routing documents

Overproduction Copies, files, a lot of papers

Excess inventory which hides Excess documentation

Table 2.4: examples of Muda

In Kaizen philosophy, the aim is to eliminate the seven types of waste (7 deadly wastes ) caused

by overproduction, waiting, transportation, unnecessary stock, over processing ,motion, and a

defective part, and presented on the following table ,in summary (19):

1.Overproduction – Production more than production schedule 2. Inventory – Too much material ahead of process hides problems

3.Defects – Material and labor are wasted; capacity is lost at

bottleneck 4.Motion – Walking to get parts because of space taken by

high WIP 5.Processing – Protecting parts for transport to another

process 6.Waiting – Poor balance of work; operator attention time 7. Transportation – Long moves; re-stacking; pick up/put down

Table 5 : 7 deadly wastes

so muda (waste) elimination will cover the categories described as follows:

Muda of overproduction. Overproduction may arises from fear of a machine's failure, rejects,

and employee absenteeism. Unfortunately, trying to get ahead of production can result in :

tremendous waste, consumption of raw materials before they are needed, wasteful input of

manpower and utilities, additions of machinery, increased burdens in interest, additional space

to store excess inventory, and added transportation and administrative costs.

Muda of inventory. Final products, semi finished products, or part supplies kept in inventory do

not add any value. Rather, they add cost of operations by occupying space, requiring

additional equipment and facilities such as warehouses, forklifts, and computerized conveyer

systems .Also the products deteriorate in quality and may even become obsolete overnight

when market changes or competitors introduce a new product or customers change their taste

and needs. Warehouses further require additional manpower for operation and administration.

Excess items stay in inventory and gather dust (no value added), and their quality deteriorates

over time. They are even at risk of damage through fire or disaster. Just-in-time (JIT)

production system helps to solve this problem .

Muda of defects (repair or rejects). Rejects, interrupt production and require rework and a

great waste of resources and effort .Rejects will increase inspection work, require additional

time to repair, require workers to always stand by to stop the machines, and increase of

course paperwork.

Muda of motion. Any motion of a persons not directly related to adding value is unproductive. Workers should avoid walking, lifting or carrying heavy objects that require great physical

exertion because it is difficult, risky, and represents non-value added activities. Rearranging

the workplace would eliminate unnecessary human movement and eliminate the requirement

of another operator to lift the heavy objects. Analysis of operators' or workers leg and hand

motions in performing their work will help companies to understand what needs to be done.

Muda of processing. There are many ways that muda can happen in processing. For example,

failure to synchronize processes and bottlenecks create muda and can be eliminated by

redesigning the assembly lines so, utilizing less input to produce the same output. Input here

refers to resources, utilities, and materials.

Output means items such as products, services, yield, and added value. Reduce the number

of people on the line; the fewer line employees the better. Fewer employees will reduce

potential mistakes, and thus create fewer quality problems. This does not mean that we need

to dismiss our employees. There are many ways to use former line employees on Kaizen

activities, i.e., on value-adding activities. When productivity goes up, costs will go down. In

manufacturing, a longer production line requires more workers, more work-in-process and a

longer lead-time. More workers also means a higher possibility of making mistakes, which

leads to quality problems. More workers and a longer lead-time will also increase cost of

operations.

Machines that go down interrupts production. Unreliable machinery necessitates batch

production, extra work-in-process, extra inventory, and extra repair efforts. A newly hired

employee without proper training to handle the equipment can consequently delay operation,

which may be just as costly as if the equipment were down. Eventually, quality will suffer and

all these factors can increase operation costs.

Muda of waiting. Muda of waiting occurs when the hands of the operator are idle; when an

operator's work is put on hold because of line imbalances, a lack of parts, or machine

downtime; or when the operator is simply monitoring a machine as the machine performs a

value-adding job. Watching the machine, and waiting for parts to arrive, are both muda and

waste seconds and minutes. Lead time begins when the company pays for its raw materials

and supplies, and ends when the company receives payment from customers for products

sold. Thus, lead time represents the turnover of money. A shorter lead time means better use

of resources, more flexibility in meeting customer needs, and a lower cost of operations. Muda

elimination in this area presents a golden opportunity for Kaizen. There are many ways to cut

lead time. This can be done through improving and speeding up feedback from customer

orders, having closer communications with suppliers, and by streamlining and increasing the

flexibility of Gemba operations .

Another common type of muda in this category is time. Materials, products, information, and

documentation sit in one place without adding value. On the production floor, temporary muda

takes the form of inventory. In office work, it happens when documents or pieces of information

sit on a desk or in trays or inside computer disks waiting to be analysed, or for a decision or a

signature.

Muda of transortation In workplace ,gemba, one notices all sorts of transport by such means as

trucks, forklifts, and conveyors. Transportation is an essential part of operations, but moving

materials or products adds no value. Even worse, damage often occurs during transport. To

avoid muda, any process that is physically distant from the main line should be incorporated

into the line as much as possible,

Because eliminating muda costs nothing, muda elimination is one of the easiest ways for a

company to improve its Gemba's operations (20) .

2.1.3 Standardization

Standards are set by management, but they must be able to

change when the environment changes. Companies can

achieve dramatic improvement as reviewing the standards

periodically, collecting and analysing data on defects, and

encouraging teams to conduct problem-solving activities. Once

the standards are in place and are being followed then if there

are deviations, the workers know that there is a problem. Then

Figure 4: PDCA cycle employees will review the standards and either correct the deviation or

advise management on changing and improving the standard. It is a never-ending process and

is better explained and presented by the PDCA

cycle(plan-do-check-act), known as Demming cycle , shown on figure 4 (21):

The management plans, each employee follow the plan activities , the inspectors check , and

the management correct or secure every step , systematically. It is important to be seen that

each one employee follows his own PDCA cycle.

An example of Kaizen PDCA cycle could be: -PLAN refers to selecting the theme, understanding the current status and setting objectives,

and analysing the data in order to identify root causes;

-DO is the process of establishing countermeasures based on the data analysis; -CHECK is confirming the effects of the countermeasures; and

-ACT is to establish or revise the standards to prevent recurrences, and reviewing the above

processes and working on the next steps (22). Then on each one stage of the cycle the appropriate practices and tools that used for ,are

presented :

P – Plan Pick a project (Pareto Principle)

Gather data (Histogram and Control Charts)

Find cause (Process Flow Diagram and Cause/Effect

Diagram

Pick likely causes (Pareto Principle and Scatter Diagrams)

Try Solution (Cause/Effect , ‘’5W AND 1H ‘’ methodology :

who, what, why, when, where, how)

D – Do

Implement solution

C – Check

Monitor results (Pareto, Histograms, and Control Charts)

A – Act

Standardize on new process (Write standards, Train, Foolproof, Quality-At-The-Source [QUATS])

A successful PDCA cycle then is followed by the SDCA cycle where ‘S’ stands for

standardization and maintenance of the new situation. So, PDCA stands for improvement and

SDCA stands for maintenance .The two cycles are combined and presented on the following

figure 5 (22) : .

Standardization process is a very important one that has few key features, presented below:

Represent the best, easiest, and safest way to do the job,

Offer the best way to preserve know-how and expertise,

Provide a way to measure performance,

Show the relationship between cause and effect,

Provide a basis for both maintenance and improvement,

Provide objectives and indicate training goals,

Provide a basis for training,

Create a basis for auditing or diagnosis, and

Provide a means for preventing recurrence of errors and minimizing variability.

2.2 Kaizen and innovation

Kaizen practices improves the status quo by bringing added value to it. Kaizen does not

replace or preclude innovation. Rather, the two are complementary. After Kaizen has been

exhausted, ideally, innovation should take off, and Kaizen should follow as soon as innovation

is initiated. Kaizen will support the improvement of existing activities, but it wi ll not provide the

giant step forward. It is important for the firm to maintain a balance between innovation and a Kaizen strategy that focuses on improvement (23).It is top management's job to maintain this

balance between Kaizen and innovation, and it should never forget to look for innovative

opportunities

If efforts are continued toward a clearly defined goal , it is bound for Kaizen to yield positive

results. However, Kaizen is limited in that it does not replace or fundamentally change the

status quo. As soon as Kaizen's marginal value starts declining, one should turn to the

challenge of innovation. Kaizen signifies small improvements made in the status quo as a

result of ongoing efforts .Innovation involves a drastic improvement in the status quo as a

result of a large investment in new technology and/or equipment or a totally re-engineered

product/process (25) . On the following table are classified according to some important factors

the differences between kaizen and innovation (26).

FACTOR KAIZEN INNOVATION

Improvement Size Small improvements Major improvements

Improvement Basis Conventional knowledge Technology of equipment

Main resource Personal involvement Money investment

People involved Many people A few champions

Orientation Improve the process Improve results

Economy Even in slow economy Mainly in good economy

Table 6 :Κaizen and innovation.

According Imai are shown on Figure 6 also reflects how conventional western management

perceives job functions (28) :

Top Management Innovation

Middle Management

Supervisors Maintenance

Workers

Figure 6 : Job functions as perceived by western management

From that figure is apparent that there is little room in the Western managers' perception for a

Kaizen approach because they depend largely on maintenance of the standards and operating

procedures at the working level. Also, they depend on upper management to provide

innovation at a very high level, where change is forced on management by market conditions

and competition. As shown in Figure 7, divides improvement into Kaizen and Innovation on

following sectors

Top Management Innovation

Middle Management Kaizen

Supervisors Maintenance

Workers

Figure 7: Kaizen and the role of management

In this model top management introduces Kaizen as a corporate strategy, middle management

uses Kaizen practices in improving functional capabilities and helps employees develop proper

skills for problem solving. Supervisors improve communication with the workers, formulate

plans for Kaizen and provide guidance to workers. Workers engage in Kaizen through small

group and team activities and practice the tools for continuous improvement.

Breakthroughs are essential for improvement, but continuous incremental improvement is the

key to quality leadership. True breakthroughs are hard to predict. The Japanese place a high

priority on continuous incremental improvements (Kaizen) that, over time, leave behind the

(27) .

competitors who are depending on the ‘magic idea’ for success. Workers, supported by

managers, are a major source of these improvements. Taken together, infrequent innovations

and continuous improvement result superior productivity gains .

Applying Kaizen to routine work is the key to success. Working on special projects is

important, but in the long run, it is the day-to-day application of Kaizen practices to routine

work that gets results. Figure 8 , shows the relationship between Kaizen and innovation while

pursuing a continuous improvement philosophy.

New Standard

Kaizen

Innovation

New Standard

Innovation

Kaizen

Figure 8 : The relationship between kaizen and innovation

It is true that Kaizen practices alone cannot "reinvent a better way of doing business." But a

better way of doing business can be improved through Kaizen principles, as shown earlier.

Another benefit of utilizing Kaizen practices to supplement innovation is that the Kaizen

mindset of teamwork and a "can do attitude" will eventually absorb easily a radical change

introduced by innovation.

2.3 Kaizen and ‘’Humanware’’ parameters: Teamwork

approach ,Upper Management Commitment, Rewards.

2.3.1 Teamwork approach

Kaizen concept and strategy and its embraced tools emphasizes and revolves around

teamwork activities. So it is worthwhile to present from bibliography types of teamwork with

their characteristics that used in specific circumstances and can be adjusted or modified to any

company to promote kaizen activities.

Teamworks principles

One of the most compelling reasons for the movement toward implementing empowered work

teams is the fact that teams work . The basic rationale is that the use of teams allows an

organization to take advantage of the diverse, backgrounds, and interests of team members.

The team effort and cooperation often result in a motivated and entrepreneurial workforce .

Motivated employees take their team tasks very seriously, plan how they can complete them in

their jobs, take pride and have satisfaction in their achievements. They put effort to accomplish

objectives and reach company goals. Strong personal commitments to one another’s growth

and success are the key that distinguishes these high-performance work teams. The opposite

holds true for many non-team employees. These tend to be unmotivated employees who try to

do as little as possible (29).

An idea program can work well with teams, since everyone can participate on a team. The

idea program allows those individuals to still have a voice in the organization. Additionally, a

team member may have an idea that doesn't fit the current team's mission. This idea could get

lost without a process to track team ideas. Team efforts normally have management input into

their activities or focus whereas a suggestion system process taps any creative idea.

According to Laureau and Orsburn et al (30), a work team is a group of employees that is

responsible for activities on a "whole" work process that delivers a product or service to

internal or external customers. The product could be a chair or a service, such as a fully

analysis on a company’s health and safety claims. Work team members are people who have

the power to manage the work they do on daily basis . A work team typically consists of two to

ten highly trained workers The philosophy underlying the creation of teams calls for a well-defined, planned process for

giving responsibility to a group of people who know how to do their job well at their level and

when to get other people involved.

Work teams consist of people who perform different and/or specific jobs that relate to the daily

work of the company. Sometimes is confusing to find a specific reason why a team forms and

the task it performs. The most common trouble with teams, in any form, is that many

companies rush out and form the wrong kind of team for the job. For example, in the early

1980s ,Quality Circles were formed. Members of these teams took a few hours each week to

discuss very specific problems. These teams were cross-functional (a representative from of

various departments in a company who had a stake in the outcome) in nature and were

primarily responsible for solving problems. While these teams provided gains in productivity,

as evidenced by many studies, companies were looking for did not happen (31).

Team structures and characteristics

There are many different types of teams that can be found in organizations: however, the most

common that will be presented here are:

1.intact work groups,

2.problem-solving,

3.cross-functional, and 4.proactive or implementation teams.

5 small group as used in Japanese companies.

Any of these five teams types can contribute on continuous improvement (Kaizen) activities

and are presented in Table 7 through Table 11. On small group activities will be mentioned

especially the cross-functional teams and the quality circles as developed with their different

types shapes .Each team type has a definition, a purpose/function, member characteristics,

process/tools used and reward environment .

Intact Work Groups/Teams

Purpose/activities Member Process/Tools Used Reward System

Charac teri sti cs

Completes Day-To- Employees hired to Company Paycheck. Benefits

Day Work fill specific job Procedures Package, Vacation

positions (e.g. fork Policies. Guidelines Sick Time.

lift operator, merge

operator) Tools: Performance

Appraisal System

Consists of any

members; depended

on job requirements

Table 7:: The Purpose,Characteristics,Process, and Reward System Defined for Intact Work Groups/Teams

Problem-Solving Teams Purpos e/acti vi tites Member Characteristics Process/Tools Reward System

Used

Formed To Solve Selected Employees Problem-Solving Company

Specific Problem (S); From Various Intact Step Process Sponsored

Implement Solutions: Work Group; Have Methodology

Measure/Evaluate; Content Knowledge

Redefine Solutions Have Vision and: Tools: Flowcharts,

Disband Temperament To Cause &Effect

Complete Proces s Charts, SPC

Consists Of Six To Eight Charts. Summary

Members Report Forms

Table 8 : The Purpose. Characteristics. Process, and Reward System Defined for Problem -Solving Teams.

Problem-Functional Teams Purpose/Function Member Process Reward System

Characteristics Tools Used

Formed To Evaluate Selected Employees Problem -S olvi ng Step Company Sponsored

Intra-/Inter- and Management From Process Methodology

Department/Compan Department Specific;

y Processes; Have Content Tools: Flowcharts,

Implement Knowledge; Have Cause &Effect Charts,

Solutions; Evaluate; Vision and Department SPC Charts. Summary

Disband To Complete Process Report Forms

Table 9. : The Purpose. Characteristics. Process, and Reward System Defined for Cross-Functional Teams

Proactive/Implementation Teams

Purpose/activities Member Process/Tools Used Reward System

Characteristics

Formed To Selected Employees Implementation Company Sponsored

Implement and Manag eme nt Process

Specific From The Intact Methodology

Process/System: Work Groups And

Measure/Evaluate; Problem Solving Tools:Charts

Continuous Teams (Must Be Flowc harts, Cause

Problem(s) Solving Linked); Have &Effect Charts, SPC

Measures Content Knowledge; Charts. Summary

Have Report Forms

Vision/Temperament

To Implement And

Solve Problems For

Entire Process

Consists Of Six To

Eight Members;

Cross-Teamed With

Problem Solving

Teams

Table10 : The Purpose. Characteristics. Process, and Reward System Defined for Proactive/Implementation Teams.

Small group activities Purpose/activities Member Process/Tools Used Reward System

Characteristics

Formed To Selected Employees Implementation Company Sponsored

Implement and Manage m ent Process

Specific From The Intact Work Methodology

Process/System: Groups And Problem

Measure/Evaluate; voluntary Solving Tools:Charts

Continuous Teams (Must Be Flowcharts, Cause

Problem(s) Solving Linked); Have Content &Effect Charts, SPC

Measures Knowledge; Have Charts. Summary

Vision/Temperament Report Forms

To Implement And

Solve Problems For

Entire Process

Consists Of Six To

Eight Members;

Cross-Teamed With

Problem Solving

Teams

Table 11: The Purpose,C ha rac terist ics,P roce ss,a nd Reward System Define d for Small Group Activities.

Small group activities

Small group activities are activities developed on Japanese companies and could be any kind

of team activities in order to improve business process , give solutions on problems , or do

proactively. The most known small groups are the cross-functional teams or quality circles with

characteristics as developed in Japan and then transferred elsewhere.

Cross functional teams

Cross-functional teams are formed to conduct Kaizen events. A Kaizen event is a project in

which a specific area or manufacturing process has been identified as the target for

improvement, and a team has been assembled to undertake the project. A team leader is

more concerned with "how" his or her team works rather than "what” the team produces.

Solutions are sought as a team, even if a problem has to do with only one member, which

reflects the Kaizen process-oriented approach.

In such an organizational culture, the role of the manager is to improve the processes and to

facilitate people's roles in achieving such improvements. A Kaizen team leader will be primarily

a coach. A process-oriented manager who has genuine concern for process-oriented criteria

will be interested in:

Discipline,

Time management,

Skill development,

Participation and involvement,

Morale, and Communication.

A cross-functional team assembled for a Kaizen (continuous improvement) event is

responsible for attaining the results targeted by the team itself. Initially, the most difficult part of

the Kaizen exercise is what problem to tackle first and how to measure the outcome desired.

This is a typical situation experienced by functional teams in trying to focus on a specific task

that has to be visibly measured. Once the team achieves some synergy the tasks of advising

and innovating take place. Advising consists of gathering source data and information so that

the team can use it as the foundation from which subsequent actions can be planned.

Innovating consists of creating new ideas and thinking of new ways of improving existing

processes and products .

Kaizen approach means that rules on the team has to be established:

Goals shared by all team members,

Participation and contribution by all team members,

Conflicts should be negotiated to resolution, not suppressed, and

Criticism directed at processes, not individuals.

Researchers like Robinson (32) and Liker (33) assert that the concept of establishing cross-

functional teams to examine the processes and improve them depends on several factors that

"empower" the teams to seek change.

There are many ways to achieve the same level of performance:

Jobs are broadly defined and skill sets diverse to assure quick adaptation to change

and effective resource utilization,

Work teams control work design and functional responsibilities,

The human/machine interface is designed to be optimal,

Rewards are based on contributions made to the effectiveness of the team, and

Training and development are considered life-long endeavors. Because of these attitudes, the cross-functional teams are motivated to assure that the

organization is continuously improving its performance through the redesign of work,

experimentation, and risk-taking. This research deals with the role of training in Kaizen

practices

Quality Circles

Quality circle are typically said to have originated in Japan in the 1960s but others argue that

the practice started with the United States Army soon after 1945 with the Japanese then

adopted and adapting the concept and its application. Quality circles are not a panacea for

quality improvement but given the right top management commitment, organisation and

resources they can support continuous quality improvement at shop-floor level.

What is a quality circle? a group of staff who meet regularly to discuss quality related work

problems so that they may examine and generate solutions to these. The circle is empowered

to promote and bring the quality improvements through to fruition. Thus the adoption of quality

circles (quality improvement team) has a social focus. There must be commitment from senior

management, unit management and supervision, other staff and of course the circle members.

A team of 3-9 people need to participate freely together, to challenge assumptions and existing

methods, examine data and explore possibilities. They need to be able to call in expertise and

ask for training. The quality circle needs a budget so that members can be responsible for

tests and possible pilots. The need a skilled team leader who works as a facilitator of team

efforts not a dominator.

The circle needs to have a very good approach to analyzing the context of the problem and its

situation defining just exactly what the problem is and the relationship between its component

parts. how it identifies and verifies that the causes are indeed the causes. These must be

understood otherwise solutions as developed may fail to address the real problem.

Problem definition requires quantitative measurement and often a consensus of qualitative

judgment. The impact of the "problem" - if it continues - must be comprehended. Where is it

affecting other parts of the "problem system"? we need to understand the quality objectives to

be achieved and evaluate the resources that can be brought to bear on the problem and

possible solutions. Objectives relate to both what must be done and what we would like to do -

if only everything else will fit into place. in the classical "functional, problem analysis" cycle,

solution generation involves conceiving what might be done.

We must recognise also that there are tensions between resource constraints and solutions

and the imagining processes of solution development. These must then be elaborated and

grounded in detailed planning and operational implementation. such implementation planning

and management of the change/operational programme involves scheduling, work allocation,

capacity management, communicating, development of information monitoring systems and

overall coordination and control of the solution programme.

Quality Circles, in the 1970's, was the first big push to mimic Japan's success with a team

based work culture. Although there were success stories, and some organizations still use

them, most saw them as a failure. Some of the reasons for failure included:

Inadequate measurements of results.

Management understanding of process.

Team members not right for the problem.

Management dominated the process.

Lack of training with problem solving tools.

Teams, often called Quality Improvement Teams (QIT), Process Improvement Teams or a

wide array of other names, are now in-place in many private and public sector organizations.

They may be management or self directed. A well managed team process, tied with other

quality programs can make an organization more viable while empowering employees to find

solutions and opportunities .Management has to believe in the quality team process, listen to

proposals and enable feasible solutions to be progressed through pilot stages and into full

operation. Open-mindedness and a desire to avoid blocking is essential. It is a useful

philosophy to realize that experimentation enables learning.

More modern team processes did learn from many of the mistakes of Quality Circles. Still

there is much improvement that can be made.. Measurement of the overall team process is

weak, if nonexistent, in many organizations. This can lead management to be misinformed

about the effectiveness of "teams" and since a large amount of company time is spent by

teams, it is a significant. Most organizations have limited resources to insure teams are

operating effectively. Not everyone can be involved on a team. Those people often feel "left

out". The ability of everyone to be able to participate on a team or in another quality process is

important.

If the most skilled team of individuals is established, but the culture remains conventional and

the structure of the systems in place remains rigid, the team is set up for failure and defeat The

consequence of such a failure could be catastrophic for the survival of innovation and change,

because the results would condemn the process, without taking into consideration that the

process was faulty because of the constraints imposed on the team . In a Kaizen approach,

there is no gray line. Teams must be effectively empowered and management must be willing

and able to cope with change, as well as some loss of control for the bigger benefit of the

organization.

2.3.2 Kaizen and Upper Management Commitment

Since the benefits of Kaizen principles come gradually and its effects are felt usually on a long-

term basis, it is obvious that Kaizen can thrive only under top management that has a genuine

concern for the long-term health of the company. It has often been pointed out that one of the

major differences between Japanese and Western management styles is their timeframes. In

general, Japanese managers have a long-term perspective, while Western managers tend to

look more for short-term results. This difference is also reflected in the way each management

style approaches improvement. Western management is usually reluctant to introduce

improvement gradually and tends to favour innovation, which is more visible and provides an

immediate return . If management makes positive use of the process-oriented way of thinking

to support innovation and further reinforces it with a Kaizen approach, it will find that the

company's overall competitiveness will be improved in the long run .

2.3.3 Kaizen and rewards and recognitions

Corporate culture has several essential components — corporate values, leadership, and the

reward and recognition structure of the organization (34) .The reward system reflects the

corporate philosophy, democratic and innovative or autocratic and bureaucratic. Promotion

and rewards reinforces employee commitment to corporate values and to the corporate

culture.

Reward and recognition (R&R) have various functions and can be valuable tool at

organizations on their road for TQM as for example:

1.They improve the reinforcement of quality-related behavior and achievements. 2.They show organizational values, and they show how the organization appreciates efforts .

3. They indicate achievement, and R&R activities provide feedback which is an element of

continuous improvement ( Kaizen ). Recognition is also a form of feedback about the result of

individual or team efforts. It shows the individuals or the teams that they are on the right track

toward continuous improvement. Recognition as feedback can come from supervisors, other

teams, internal customers in the organization, or external customers in the marketplace. 4.Kaizen philosophy and TQM processes demand empowered employees, team players and

cross-functional activities. R&R can motivate these individuals and groups to continue their

active participation in the organization. It will also create a positive environment for various

teams to compete against each other and these give a 'win-win' situation between the

organization and employees. Employees can also be motivated to utilize various TQM tools,

solve problems, and to interact with internal and external customers.

5.The R&R system will increase the awareness among 'workers that management is prepared

to reward them if they are serious in applying critical TQM values, such as quality, customer

satisfaction, and continuous improvement. Employees will have higher motivation if they work

in organizations that are consistent in their R&R process and the workers will perceive

management initiative as a fair effort by management. .This will extend the feeling of trust, and

create a strong sense of belonging in the organization. According to Deming's views, R&R can

help transform the organization toward a philosophy of quality.

6.Some forms of recognition, such as awards and plaques, show publicly that the individual or

team has achieved some degree of success within TQM frame . They are a visible indicator,

both to the team and to outsiders, of a job well done. So recognition highlights employees and

teams who make a definite contribution to the continuous improvement or TQM effort. Such

recognition stimulates additional effort in employees.

The researcher believes that recognition should not be of high monetary value. There are

some variations between the Japanese and Western methods of rewarding the worker. Imai

on his influential book “ Gemba kaizen a common sense, low cost approach to management “,

mentioned that the Japanese method does not encourage large monetary rewards. To them,

monetary gain demeans the process. They do recognize the workers' efforts. Rewards for

suggestion ideas from the workers are given on the basis of the number of ideas they

contribute, and it does not really matter if it saves the company $ 1 or $100,000. Each

suggestion will receive a point that later can be converted into products or services, such as a

holiday trip, or $5 worth of merchandise (depending on the accumulated points).

Oliver, cited on book on Imai“ Gemba kaizen a common sense, low cost approach to

management “,has given some examples of rewards . There it is stated that rewards as much

as possible, it should be given to team members rather than being based on individual

participation. Recognition, ceremonies, and symbols are important underpinnings to the

successful functioning of system or the TQM process. An expression of appreciation for a job

well done can be as formal as a written "thank you." or a plaque, or a certificate. An informal

verbal "thank you" can also encourage morale., such as a holiday trip, or $5 worth of

merchandise (depending on the accumulated points). For example, managers are encouraged

to know their workers by name, only effective in big corporations. This process not only

increases the manager's awareness of the worker's name, but it also increases the motivation

of the worker to be recognized by performing well and by receiving the token .To make this

plan workable, the company gives 25 tokens to hand out during the coming year for every 100

workers in the department. The manager will give a token to the worker who did an exceptional

job, whether the work was consistent or incidental. A bag may be given for the second year,

and a company T-shirt may be the reward for the third year. A manager for exceptional

performance must single out workers who receive this token.

2.4 Kaizen and Total Quality Management (TQM )

Kaizen as explained earlier is a kind of umbrella concept that includes initiatives and activities

like TQM, suggestion systems , to mention those we think are the most important ones ( and

are the most interest issues faced by organization A, that we focus later on).

TQM is a journey, a movement centred on the improvement of managerial performance at all

levels. It deals with:

Quality Assurance,

Employee Involvement,

Cost reduction,

Safety,

Continuous Improvement, and

Productivity improvement. Moreover, TQM journey deals with management concerns such as organizational

development, cross-functional management, and quality deployment. In other words,

management has been using TQM as a concept and a tool for improving overall performance.

TQM integrates fundamental management techniques, existing improvement efforts, and

technical tools under a disciplined approach focused on continuous process improvement

(35).The activities are ultimately focused on increased customer-user satisfaction.

The importance of people in the total process is emphasized on TQM journey. Considerations

such as culture, incentives, teamwork, training, and work involvement are typical. The optimum

effectiveness of TQM results from an appropriate mix of the social and technical systems. It is

common practice to emphasize the technical aspects of improvements, such as machine or

computer-related, with less emphasis on people and their roles in the process. Improving

quality and productivity to achieve competitiveness emphasizes the need for an enterprise to

capture the potential inherent in the workforce by enabling each employee to do his or her job

right the first time. This requires that top management to demonstrate to all employees that it is

personally committed and continuously pursuing efforts to improve quality .

The organization must provide an environment in which all employees will voluntarily

cooperate to achieve the organizational objectives. This requires that management accept the

idea that employees can and want to contribute. Management thus flows down ideas and

goals and encourages the flow of ideas upward. The TQM philosophy provides a

comprehensive way to improve quality by examining the way work gets done from a

systematic, integrated, consistent, organization-wide perspective . On TQM journey the focus is to:

Emphasize continuous improvement of processes (kaizen), not compliance to

standards,

Involve all functional units, not just the Quality Control/Assurance function,

Motivate and involve employees to become the driving force behind improvement,

Satisfy the internal and external customers,

Understand the effects of variation on processes and their implications for process

improvement.

So it is self-evident that employee involvement and a process-oriented approach to

manufacturing are cornerstones on journey to TQM. The team-based structures and activities

fulfil both requirements by fostering greater individual participation and enhancing the

organization's ability to pursue processes across functional boundaries.

The TQM journey needs patience otherwise there will be frustration and disappointment. A

study conducted by Pfau and Gross for Conference Board Inc., (36) found that those looking to

TQM for a quick fix were likely to be disappointed. “Patience, leadership, and the ability to

nurture a long – term commitment to TQM is crucial to promoting and the buy – in process” .It

was further reported on journey to TQM of 20 companies that their approach to quality divided

into two categories: Little Q and Big Q. The Little Q approach emphasizes training and other

tools, but lacks an overall strategy and top management support. The Big Q approach, led by

management, has a well – articulated strategy, and is fully integrated in the companies. The Big Q strategy requires fundamental changes in a company’s culture, structures, and

processes.

TQM as a system that drives improvement is very analogous to a Kaizen approach. The

elements and characteristics are considerably supportive of each other, and the two

philosophies mandate a similar organizational mindset. Consequently on the road of a

company to TQM, a Kaizen approach and any of its tools under its umbrella in practice, is a

compatible valuable tool to TQM.

Companies that implement TQM as a comprehensive integrated initiative, report results in the

areas of operational efficiency (such as cycle-time reduction, unproved productivity, and fewer

defects), in customer satisfaction, and in organizational values such as lower turn over and

higher morale

2.5 Kaizen and suggestion systems

One of the most frequently discussed aspects of Kaizen as it is practiced in Japan, is

suggestions and proposals system, as a part of the Kaizen constituents as described in the

beginning.

During 70s many Western business persons visited Japan to see suggestion systems in

progress as part of kaizen umbrella-concept and when returned home started efforts on their

companies by initiating and establishing systems like that . But the process of obtaining ideas

from employees is not a new one also in the West. Kodak company started such a program

around the turn of the century in the United States. British Royal Navy had a suggestion

scheme in 1772. Since their inception, suggestion systems have gone through significant

evolution and new forms include: continuous improvement and employee driven idea systems

(EDIS). Although some quality experts agree that idea processes (or suggestion programs) are

dead, a well designed idea program will significantly add to an organization's quality arsenal

while helping it cut costs and improve its performance (38).

Through suggestions, employee participate in continuous improvements activities in the

workplace and play a vital role in upgrading standards(39). So they doing kaizen. Employee

suggestions or ideas management systems serve a duality of purpose . At one and the same

time serving as a productivity enabler as well as a culture change enabler. This duality is being

served quite different in Japan than in Western countries .

Suggestions or proposals start from a problem perception and recognizing the need to solve it .The problems inside an organization are the sources of any kind of proposal systems. But

employees inside the organization do not perceive problems on the same way . There are

considered 5 levels of problems perceiving from employees in an organization, and are

presented :

Level 1: People deny that are problems or don’t want to see them Level 2: People admit that there are problems but find excuses not being able to solve them Level 3: People accept the fact that there are problems but unable to solve them because they

don’t know how attack them

Level 4: People want to see potential problems for this try to visualize them. They will attack

them by learning proper methods

Level 5: People know their problems, methods to solve them and how to involve all the people

to attack them. They are ready to attack any problem and to change their organization if

needed after solving the problem.

It is management’s main target to move organization’s status on level 4 and level 5 , so a kind

of suggestion or proposal system should help on this direction.

The effectiveness of the suggestions management system can be evaluated by a combination

of results-oriented criteria (i.e. suggestions submitted per employee , benefits per suggestion

etc.) and by process-oriented criteria during idea processing. (i.e. employee morale) . The

proposals system as devised, improved and developed in Japan is known as Teian-system

(40).Teian systems work on Kaizen environment where the process counts significantly as well

, so have to be evaluated by process oriented criteria and below are presented some as taken

from bibliography :

Number of meetings

Participate rate

Number of intermediate reports

Use of 7 tools

The extent that company policy was used in selecting projects

Originality of approach

Standardization and prevention of a problem’s recurrence

On each on element could be assigned a certain number of points and then the system

evaluation can easily be accomplished.

2.5.1 Proposal (Teian ) system versus traditional suggestion systems

There are two quite different directions in idea submitting and management systems ,the

proposal systems that developed in Japan and the Western-style suggestion systems. The

concept of proposals system differs from the concept of suggestions system as Kaizen differs

from that of improvement. On Teian-system the financial aspect is not be highlighted instead of

a suggestion system where there is a reward per suggestion, a business like transaction

between the company and whoever comes up with a suggestion.

The Teian-system is created to promote participation in proposals activity from as many

employees as possible . Kaizen driven proposal systems have much higher participation than

classic suggestion systems .They require from employees to have the resources to solve their

own problems and the support from management to tackle them. To give an understanding

there are compared data from organizations in Japan and in U.S.A. where a participation rate

of 75% in 1989 was a typical of a Japanese proposal system, where a participation rate of only

9% was typical of a suggestion system in the United States(41). On Teian-system most

proposals will be used, will receive some kind of evaluation and will be rewarded with some

kind of bonus. Even small proposal and ideas are welcomed and carefully collected, because

even small proposal are considered to have educational values. From the other side Western

suggestions systems are designed to promote excellent, big result ideas, which are rewarded

accordingly. These being stricter resulted in rejecting proposal as unsuitable after evaluation

and employees often feel frustrated by the system and often do not bother to come up with

suggestions at all. On following Table.12 , are presented the differences between Kaizen- Teian systems and Western type suggestions systems(42) .

Characteristics Teian systems Western suggestions system

-employee involvement and

Purpose

development -economic benefits

-communication

-economic benefits

Focus -many very small changes -few very large changes

-"breakthroughs"

Awards

-few dollars -usually thousands of dollars

-merchandise

-cash

Participation

-50% and higher -5% and lower

-many ideas accepted

-many ideas not accepted

-employees implement most of own -management,

ideas -engineering driven

Implementation -quick -slow, drawn-out

-suggestion = implemented -employees less accountable

improvement idea -suggestion = improvement idea

Adoption rate -near 100% -near 25%

-majority of time spent processing -majority of time spent investigating

Administrator

implemented ideas and issuing unimplemented ideas And

awards

explaining "rejected" ones

-specialist -manager

Suggestions -thous ands

-hundreds

received/year

Highest award

-$2.00-$10,000(or merchandise $200,000

valued at) relative data

-intrinsic satisfaction ,personal

Motivators

development and recognition -extrinsic rewards

-frequent feedback and awards

-money-infrequent

Table 12: Teian- Systems differ from Western type suggestions system

A proposal proceed through an appropriate system must be checked on issues of

acceptability, legibility and quantifiαbility. Also concerning its content a proposal from

employee could forward towards his (her) own department or towards other departments, and

as expected could be a simple improvement ( kaizen ) or innovation . So if a proposal is a

means of changing the status quo in an organization, then according the aforementioned

combinations there are four ways of changing it , shown on following Figure 9

( 43).

Figure 9 :There are four ways of changing the Status Quo

The Japanese think it is important to promote small improvements that focus on improving

one’s work area, targeting area A on figure2.9 and as Imai estimates as much as 99% of

suggestions do not have much economic impact on their own, by they do effectively.

Evaluation of any idea irrespective of the employee level on hierarchy that should include a

balance set of financially approved procedures and standards. Any idea must provide a net

benefit versus as i.e. saving costs in one operation phase. As B. Sanders states (44), the

financial benefits from a suggestion can be broken into 2 categories: 1) savings and

2)revenues. The suggestion programs historically cover the saving category. Looking at

international statistics there can be seen that the majority of employee ideas, over 95% have

focused on making improvements to existed situation rather having look at new services,

products, opportunities markets etc, so the revenue generating ideas, category 2.

2.5.2 Teian and evaluating levels

In an organization a proposals system could be built on consequently levels(stages) where on

each one there are different objectives and evaluated items. There are considered in

bibliography (45) 4 levels (0 through 3) which are presented below followed by objectives for

each one. Level 0 No energy ,no interest , and no responsibility.

Level 1-Participation Meaning developing and activating all the people of the organization pointing our problems .

Level 2-Development of skills

Improving the on the job performance, by encouragement for further skill development .

Level 3-Implementation effects

Looking at the results by aiming at targets with economic impact. On Table 13 are presented the 4 levels with the objectives and evaluated items for each one

(46) .

Table for Evaluating Level and Objectives of Teian system

Level Objectives Evaluated item

0

Indifference ,Irresponsibility --

--

Lethargy

1 Positive attitude,Problem awareness Participation Problem identifi c ati on

2

Examining,research, ingenuity, planning, Skill development

Countermeasure

studying, devising solution

idea

3

Implementation,consent, cocperation, Effect

Effect

followed by effect

implementation

Table 13 : Evaluating levels and objectives of Teian system

For each one level that an organization is developed the quality of proposals is evaluated on

how they serve and fulfill different objectives as, to promote participation, developing of skills

and effectiveness. Firstly has to be encouraged people to submit low-level proposals through

participation bonus, secondly to work towards tuning low level proposals into medium level

ones. Then encourage people to be given chances to practice creative improvement activities

every day on their job and to end up with to submit proposals But what gets to be a good (high

level) proposal ?

2.5.3 Teian and rewards and recognition

On most types of proposal system there is a kind of bonus award, but the concept of an award

depends on the system used. According some Japanese managers such an award might has

with three meanings(47):

compensation given to communicate a proposal’s effect

an incentive for encouragement for further development

awards that expresses appreciation for participation

On the classic suggestion system or suggestion scheme used by Western companies takes

employee ideas and passes them on to an expert (evaluator) for review. If the idea is feasible,

it is then passed on for final review and implementation. The employee then often receives a

cash award for their efforts, based on actual savings calculations (typically with a top award in

the $10,000 to $20,000 range). These programs are still in effect in many organizations. They

can be effective, if properly managed and promoted.

More modern idea processes directly involve the employee(s) with the solution and

implementation process. The method of rewarding their efforts may be based more on

recognition than actual cash awards.

2.6 Goals of Kaizen vs Quality,Cost and Delivery

Ιn a market economy, the customer is king, and satisfying customers' expectations for

products and services in terms of Quality, Cost, and Delivery (QCD) should be the ultimate

goal of every business So the ultimate goal of Kaizen strategy and activities aim at

improving Quality, Cost, and Delivery (QCD), thus QCD target has become a top priority for

survival in business.

A market sensitive company must have a strong dissatisfaction with its status quo on existed

QCD status. It should review its current competitive position on that and its strengths and

weaknesses and take into account the changing environments and consumer behaviours. A

company that is happy with the status quo is not qualified to stay on market, so it should

answer the following questions the soonest possible:

What are the targets to be achieved in terms of QCD?

What will be the deadline for achieving such targets? To do the above, one of the best ways is to motivate and challenge its employees ,to set clear

targets with numerical values and a deadline to achieving such a target. On the targets must

be involved activities improving quality during each process in terms of organization's internal

customers until the process ends with external customers.

Quality runs throughout the process from purchasing, developing, designing, producing,

selling, distributing, and servicing the products or services. According to Imai (49) ,jobs of

(48).

developing a new product or service, or designing a new process, always start with paperwork

or blueprints. Bugs or malfunctions can be rectified quite easily, instead of malfunctions that

are identified later and can will be very expensive to be corrected. The Japanese management

team uses the quality assurance system diagram or Quality Function Deployment (QFD) as a

powerful tool.

Quality is followed by cost effectiveness, which refers to the overall cost of designing,

producing, selling, and servicing the product or service. According to Imai, cost reduction in

work place does not mean cost cutting. It is about cost management. The cost management

teams oversee the process of developing, producing, and selling products or services of good

quality while retaining a lower cost. A huge waste of resources can happen in the way a

product is designed, made, and sold. The current business competition for quality and cost is

intensifying. Thus, improving quality while reducing cost is the only option for survival . Cost

reduction should come as a result of better cost management. The key is to build a

management system that reduces cost while achieving quality. Cost management

encompasses a wide spectrum of activities including: cost planning to maximize the margin

between costs and revenues, overall cost reduction in Gemba by eliminating muda (waste).

Cost reduction through waste elimination can be done with the methodologies based on waste

elimination discussed before. Cost reduction is not synonymous with cost cutting. Reducing

cost by firing employees, restructuring, and harassing suppliers will invariably disrupt the

process of quality and usually ends in quality deterioration.

Delivery on the other hand, means delivering the requested volume in time, such as practicing

a just-in-time production system. Delivery could be part of quality of product or service. So any

diverge from prescribed standards can hurt the quality as well.

Management also encompasses such activities as policy deployment, standardization, training

and education. Where training is concerned, most companies today have the tendency to put

too much emphasis on teaching knowledge. In Kaizen, group learning places great emphasis

on improving the fundamental values that are derived from common sense, self-discipline,

order, and economy. Quality, Cost, and Delivery are closely related subjects .

2.7 Kaizen and successful applications

Realizing that the Kaizen methodology originated in Japan in response to the oil crisis in the

early ‘70’s, it is easy to understand why it developed so much. Also the kaizen attitude helps

us to explain why Japanese firms are so exploiting new technology, even when they are not its

originator. Kaizen-driven firms do not suffer from “not invented here” syndrome. Ideas are not

the exclusive outcomes of R&D department, corporate planning, or market research; every

new idea is welcomed and new ‘channels’ are forsaken. An example of Kaizen’s effectiveness

is Nissan’s experience with welding robots. First introduced in 1973 and within a decade cut

work time per unit by 60 percent and increased overall production efficiency by 20 percent.

(50).These gains were achieved through a series of Kaizen programs that searched out

improvements that cut time by as little as half a second. The programs, initiated within three to

six months of one another, formed a staircase that each step was secured before the next to

rise

Kaizen practices can deliver breakthrough improvements in the range of 40-60% (51).But what

about Kaizen application elsewhere than in Japan ? In U.S.A. some managers even now do

not recognize the tremendous value that Kaizen can bring. Kaizen became a buzzword in U.S.

industry in the 1980s when American companies tried to copy the quality assurance programs

used by Toyota Motor Corp. and other Japanese manufacturing companies. However, to adapt

its dramatic potential to the more creative and self-directed American and also European

culture, it was developed a participative approach, customized for the circumstances , allows

the team itself, and not the "Sensai" (Kaizen expert/facilitator) to problem-solve and decide on

the solutions that are appropriate for the process. This puts more pressure on the facilitator to

teach, coach and guide, rather than direct the team. The results of the participative Kaizen

American Style (52) approach are that the results are better sustained because the people

themselves make the key decisions, and the learning process is thus better reinforced,

because it is active rather than passive . Some leading manufacturers in USA are now utilizing

the process known as "Kaizen American Style" which results that companies are expanding its

use to transform their businesses from end to end, becoming lean manufacturers. Kaizen

American Style is the umbrella methodology that successfully embraces JIT, TQM, self-

directed work teams, and modern industrial engineering approaches into a working system

that achieves dramatic and sustainable breakthrough process improvements. Kaizen American

Style’s major tools are: Concepts of ‘Takt’, One-Piece-Flow, Standard Work, 5 S, Visual

Systems, Kanban, 8 Wastes and Set-Up Reduction. Masaaki Imai, chairman of Japan’s Kaizen Institute in Tokyo and author of the 1986 book Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive

Success, said in an interview that kaizen applied in American companies today in isolated

instances, such as within one plant, instead of company-wide. Also continues that kaizen

appears in only one form, such as total quality management or just-in-time production. “The

problem in most American companies is that the impetus for change is taken by middle

management and often top management is not involved,” he said. “But middle management

does not have enough resources.” Imai says top executives are to blame. He also warns that

intensifying global competition will only make kaizen even more important. “In today’s world,

competition is so tough that if you don’t have this kaizen spirit, you won’t survive,” Imai said.

“This is a tough world. The customers are more and more demanding.”

In western style Kaizen a lot of researchers argue that the following elements must be

included:

Highly committed top management, to both rapid improvement and new ideas.

Highly trained and experienced facilitators for the assessment phase, the event, and the

follow-up.

Specific goals and objectives with a well-developed and clear mandate.

A balanced, multi-disciplinary team for the event and to sustain the momentum.

Professional team education and preparation.

Clearly defined roles of the participants; process owner, team leader and co-leader and

Kaizen consultant.

Commitment to follow-up and sustain the improvements made.

Fundamentals of Total Quality Management By R.C.Panda

BASIC CONCEPTS OF TQM Page 228

Fundamentals of Total Quality Management By R.C.Panda

BASIC CONCEPTS OF TQM Page 229

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