Organizing for Organizing for QualityQuality
Organizing for Organizing for qualityquality
ISO 9000/QS 9000 Continuous improvement Six sigma TQM Quality circles
Concept of TQMConcept of TQM TQM foundation:
• Any product, process, or service can be improved.• A successful organization is one that consciously
seeks and exploits opportunities for improvement at all levels.
• The load bearing structure is customer satisfaction.• The watchword is continuous improvement.
What must What must organizations do organizations do for quality to for quality to succeedsucceed
“Organizations must adopt a cultural change that appreciates the primary need to meet customer requirements, implements a management philosophy that acknowledges this emphasis, encourages employee involvement, and embraces the ethic of continuous improvement.”
Transition to Transition to quality culture at quality culture at XeroxXerox
TransitionTeam Training
Senior Management
Behavior
XeroxCultureChange
Tools andProcesses Communication Reward and
Recognition
What are some of What are some of the steps the steps organizations must organizations must take?take? Effectively develop and communicate quality
policy, procedures and requirements across all company functions.
Mobilize resources to solve quality-related problems.
Effectively coordinate quality requirements with suppliers. (feed forward)
Maintain direct contact with customers (feedback).
Communicating Communicating quality quality requirementsrequirements
Examples of formal communication:• Quality Policy Statement• Quality Manuals• ISO 9000 quality standards
Examples of informal communication:• Word of mouth• Management actions
Quality - basic Quality - basic beliefsbeliefsFord Quality is job one; there's a Ford in
your future Chrysler "If you find a better car, buy it!"
(Spoken by Lee Iacocca)Serta “We make the world's best
mattress” Caterpillar Strong dealer support; 24-hour
spare parts support around the worldMcDonalds Fast service, consistent quality
Sprint You can hear a pin drop
Quality policy Quality policy statementstatement
Most companies today have a written quality policy or mission statement • For example, “It is the established policy and
intention of this company to provide its customers with products which conform to customer requirements and are delivered on time. This will be ensured through a defined quality program as detailed in the company quality manual.”
Some companies rely on verbal quality policies. for example, • “our goal is to ensure customer satisfaction and
minimize rejects.”
Other examplesOther examples Goodyear: “our mission is constant improvement in
products and services to meet our customers’ needs. This is the only means to business success for Goodyear and prosperity for its investors and employees.”
Other examplesOther examples Motorola - “all employees at Motorola must
consistently strive for a six sigma target.” Motorola – “Doing the right thing. Every day. No
excuses.”
The bottom line:Organizations must demonstratewhat Deming termed “constancy of purpose”.
Identifying and Identifying and resolving quality resolving quality problemsproblems
Quality problems transcend individual and functional boundaries. Companies need multi-discipline problem solving.
Organizational Organizational approaches for approaches for multidiscipline multidiscipline problem solvingproblem solving
Form cross functional teams.• Quality improvement teams• Quality circles
Co-locate engineering resources to open communication channels.• Engineering technical centers/Centers of expertise
Coordinating Coordinating quality quality requirements with requirements with supplierssuppliers Importance of supply chain management
• Many quality problems are caused by defective purchased material (Crosby 50%).
• Suppliers often represent a large % of manufacturing costs.
Strategies for Strategies for supplier supplier relationshipsrelationships
Criteria Traditional Approach
Long Term Partnership
Philosophy "keep suppliers on their toes" "mutual dependence"
Supply base Large supply base Few suppliers - "single sourcing"
Contract length Often short term contracts Often long term contracts
Awarding contracts
Low cost bid Negotiated
Supplier costs Either company or supplier wins
Share cost savings (win-win)
Cooperation Cooperation as needed; company protects knowledge
Frequent joint problem solving
Managing human Managing human resources & TQMresources & TQM
Growing research indicates that TQM has not achieved its objectives due to human resource management (HRM) problems.
Failures occur when management falls short in their efforts to adopt a corporate culture fully embracing TQM.
What makes TQM What makes TQM an HR problem?an HR problem?
TQM requires employee development & employee cooperation.
Thus, the task of top management is to:• provide workers with the necessary skills and
knowledge.• create a quality-minded culture among employees.
A quality culture that:• nurtures high-trust relationships.• has a shared sense of commitment.• believes that continuous improvement is for the
common good.
Establishing a Establishing a quality minded quality minded cultureculture
Formation of a quality minded culture is a human interaction issue.
Therefore, quality management systems must provide:• channels of communication for product-quality
information among all concerned employees. • means of participation for employees so employees
feel they’re part of the system
Some HR Some HR challenges?challenges?
Is company culture a subset of national culture? Should companies encourage TQM participation via
monetary incentives? Do workers want to be involved in the quality
management process - • Actually, some want to have input.• many others do not want any increased
responsibility.
Quality Quality Improvement Improvement TeamsTeams
Roles for QI teamsRoles for QI teams In addition to solving quality problems, QI teams help:
• provide a means of participation for employees in quality decision-making.
• aid employee development: leadership, and problem-solving skills.
• Lead to quality awareness which is essential for organizational culture change.
Types of quality Types of quality improvement teamsimprovement teams
Project teams
Quality circles
Project team Project team characteristicscharacteristics
Teams address key organizational issues• concurrent engineering• ISO 9000 implementation
membership - generally mandatory temporary in nature participation is cross-functional team leaders have varying degrees of authority
Quality circle Quality circle characteristicscharacteristics
Voluntary groups of 6-8 members Quality circle teams are semi-permanent Teams are from single functional department Members have equal status and select their own
project Minimum pressure to solve problems with a set time
frame
Implementing Implementing quality circlesquality circles
Quality circles require top management support Personal characteristics of facilitators are critical Scope of project needs to be small enough to be
capably addressed by the team Success of other teams has positive peer pressure
effect
ImplementationImplementation Japan- highly successful
• Widely publicized quality circles• Product development teams
U.S. - marginal success• Product development teams have succeeded more
so than quality circle teams
Concurrent Concurrent engineering engineering project teamsproject teams
Concurrent engineering teams are having success - examples: Boeing Chrysler• a concurrent process carried out by a multi-
functional product development team.• intended to replace sequential development
process.• they avoid potential quality problems by integrating
upstream and downstream functions in the preliminary design phase.