Total Quality Management

 

 

 

1st Block Assessment

 

 

Case Study :

 

The methods to ensure the quality of products and services have evolved continuously in accordance with the rapid technological and socio-cultural changes, that have marked the evolution of society, especially in this century. Also, in the European Union, the consumer protection policy should be regarded as a horizontal policy aimed to promoting consumer interests. In addition, this policy has significant effects on other EU policies such as: Common Agricultural Policy, environment, transport and energy policy which include rules regarding consumer rights. These requirements taken into account, integrated quality assurance concepts have been implemented since the 80s. The starting point of these strategies was the "new philosophy" defined by Feigenbaum: Total Quality Control. Of these, particular interest is the concept of total quality managemt used in parallel, or in relation to the "total quality." In the definition of total quality management (TQM) more guidelines can be highlighted.

 

The vast majority of authors agree that TQM is, above all, a new philosophy, a new model of enterprise culture, with the aim to orient towards customers all its activities and processes and optimize them so that they could bring long-term benefits. According to Drummond, for example, TQM is a business philosophy based on customer satisfaction through quality orientation of the entire organization. Koller defines TQM as representing a systematic way of managing an organization's results. TQM involves new management strategies, changes in culture and infrastructure, tools and techniques to determine all members of the organization to collaborate and enable continuous improvement of quality defined by the client.

A number of authors point out, defining TQM, besides its philosophical dimension, the technical and social aspects that are involved in this philosophy. In Oess’s opinion, for example, TQM must be approached as a two-component system, including a technical and a social subsystem of inter-relationships being established between them.

According to another orientation TQM is a threedimensional concept, a management philosophy based on a certain logic that involves the use of specific methods and techniques, resulting its third dimension, the technical one. In essence, TQM is a philosophy of business management dealing with getting continuous improvement of customer satisfaction through quality management products and services, led in the entire company. TQM is a new approach to corporate management by applying total quality ideas across the organization.

The advantages of implementing TQM are: -

Improving the company's reputation - faults and problems are identified quickly (the "zero defects"); - Significant improvement in quality of products or services; - Customer satisfaction increase, which leads to additional sales; - A significant decrease of resources waste; - Increased productivity because the staff use the time more efficiently; - Increasing the market share on the long term; -The workforce is motivated by additional responsibilities, teamwork and involvement in decision-making on TQM; - Lower costs; - Focus on continuous improvement.

British Airways overview

British Airways is the national airline of the United Kingdom, the operational headquarter being based in Waterside. The airline is a founding member of the Oneworld alliance with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas. British Airways is one of seven airlines that fly to all six inhabited continents. British Airways carry passengers, cargo and letters from Heathrow, Gatwick and London City airports. It has expanded its network in more than 500 destinations through joint business agreements with American Airlines and Oneworld alliance members. The carrier manages a fleet of over 240 aircrafts, consisting primarily of Airbus and Boeing. In 2013, British Airways has taken delivery of its first of 42 Boeing 787s, with the first of its 12 Airbus A380s due to touch down in the UK July 4. British Airways is the largest Boeing 747-400 operator in the world.

In 2010 British Airways and Iberia have merged and created International Airlines GroupTo survive both short-term and long-term on global market, where there is fierce competition between airlines, British Airways had to focus on a variety of goals and objectives. In this respect, the general objectives of the company are divided into three categories:Global- for all passengers - whether they are traveling just for pleasure or on business. Premium - ensure that passengers receive the highest quality services. Air - focuses on aviation; owning the best equipment, products and services.British Airways is considering four strategic objectives: First airline customers top choices - to remain the first choice when it comes to premium international flights, cargo, economy or short flights. Quality service - to provide the best service to passengers on all routes and in all classes of aircrafts during flight and to improve online services. Global expansion - to continue to expand its list of destinations, through partnerships with other airlines. Satisfying customer needs - to explore the latest features and products to enhance customer loyalty. The main competitors of British Airways are: Deutsche Lufthansa AG - Air Ambassador of Germany, Lufthansa offers flights to 209 destinations in 81 countries worldwideIt manages a fleet of over 300 aircraftsfor passengers. It is also a market leader in international air transport through Lufthansa Cargo. Other major segments of the group are the maintenance, repair and overhaul by Lufthansa Technik services, air catering services by LSG Sky Chefs, and IT services through Lufthansa Systems.Lufthansa is a founding member and leader of the Star Alliance, the largest alliance of airlines.

Continental Airlines, Inc.-Continental Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,600 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 132 domestic and 137 international destinations. Continental is a member of Star Alliance.

United Air Lines, Inc. - A leading passenger and cargo airline, United serves more than 230 destinations in some 30 countries. The airline, which also offers regional services via subsidiary United Express, operates a fleet of some 700 mainland aircraft. In addition, it leads the Star Alliance, a marketing and codesharing group that includes Continental and Lufthansa.

Implementation of total quality management at British Airways In order to practice TQM, the main focus was on the British Airways transformation from an engineering based company in one dictated by the market.

There are four key factors that contributed to the success of the company, namely: 1. Continuous reduction of costs; 2. Focus on providing excellent customer service at a premium price; 3. Cover growing market through alliances and partnerships; 4. Maximize return on individual flights by investing in computerized reservations. In 1987, the year when the company was privatized, the company management believed that to be the best and to be a world-class organization, they have to use the strategies and processes that should create vision and inspire the employees to gain their trust. This could only be possible by implementing TQM program. It was implemented in British Airways' Technical Workshops. The Technical Workshops (hangars) of British Airways are responsible for the overhaul and the repair of aircraft components.

In order to be the best in this industry, the management team of British Airways Technical Workshops decided that they must win through teamwork, customer satisfaction, profitability and reputation. Along the "path" to implement TQM, there were identified the following key steps: 1. Conducting a study to diagnose the current position within the technical workshop and reporting results; 2. Obtaining support and a full commitment to TQM concept from all levels of management; 3. Educating staff according to the principles of TQM and facilitate necessary changes in management style;4. Changes in policies, procedures and work practices that would fit and would facilitate new organizational culture required; 5. Starting the quality improvement process; 6. Reviewing progress made and fostering a sustained commitment from all levels of the organization. In order to examine the controversial issues and problems facing the staff, a survey was distributed among employees from technical workshops, among customers and in supplying areas. To do this, an analysis of the cost of quality was made. The approach taken by the company in collecting quality costs was the breakdown of employees activities related to quality in three main activities, namely: 1. Anticipation - activities that provide performance "right first time"; 2. Assessment -activities that check if the concept of "right first time" is done; 3. Failure - activities resulting from the failure of the concept "right first time". Each manager or team leader was asked to make an assessment of how their subordinate staff spent time during activities related to quality. Knowing how to bear the cost of quality has had a significant contribution in educating staff on the concept and principles of TQM. It also helped of strengthening and justification of need for training personnel in accordance with TQM, to overcome any skepticism about TQM, to promote considerable debate on this issue and to ensure that the improvement of individual projects activity can be measured. Data collected from the survey was introduced in a diagnostic report and seven improvement activities have been identified: 1. The way the employees view the company's management; 2. Managerial style; 3. Implementation of changes; 4. Communication; 5. Systems and procedures; 6. Facilities and conditions; 7. Attitude of employees. They held some courses for managers for three days. These courses have conceptually explained TQM philosophy and revealed findings of the report. Managers were encouraged to submit ideas and action plans for staff involvement in improvement process. This required some changes in managing style. Similar courses were held for all employees. Delegates of each course were taken from different areas of workshops to facilitate the exchange of ideas between departments. Quality improving groups, each involving up to 12 people, actively conducted projects for improvement.

 

Examples of projects: improved methods for sorting aircraft test equipment to ensure ease localization and certification control, an improved library for storing approved technical publications and a design of new measures regarding the workshop performance, so that the figures which provide performance to be meaningful and easy to understand. British Airways Technical Workshops are recognized as the best in the aviation industry, by customers, competitors and even by British Airways itself. Benefits began to appear Two years after the launch of TQM. There have been positive changes in measures of higher level, which were used to report progress to the directorate. These measures included the proportion of components which are in good condition, the number of units that are not in good condition in the workshop and the number of units produced per month. British Airways launched their TQM program in September 1988 and by the end of 1999 the benefits of the program were visible. British Airways, founded in 1935, which is the subject of the case study, is the national airline of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, founding member of the Oneworld Alliance and one of the seven airlines that fly to all six inhabited continents. The carrier manages a fleet of over 240 aircraft, consisting primarily of Airbus and Boeing. Total Quality Management was implemented by British Airways in September 1988 from the technical workshops in the desire to improve and contribute to the success of the organization. TQM program was characterized by customer focus, full participation, process improvement and process management and planning. TQM implementation process was a very long-term procedure. Thus, in only two years of program implementation, benefits began to appear (e.g. positive changes took place in the top-level measures). The company also had to experience many changes made on TQM program requirements and extensive market research that identified customer expectations for the standards to be served by an international airline known as British Airways

 

 

 

1. In this Case study , the main competitor of British Airways is : ( A) Deutsche Lufthansa AG (B)Continental Airlines, Inc (C ) United Air Lines, Inc.

 

All A, B & C

 

Only A

 

Only B

 

Only C

 

 

 

2. Total Quality Management was implemented by British Airways in

 

1988- sepember

 

1858 July

 

1991 september

 

1980 July

 

 

3. As per this case study , the British Airways has considered strategic objectives. These are ?

 

First airline customers top choices

 

Satisfying customer needs

 

Quality service & Global Expansion

 

All of above

 

 

 

4. Some key factors that contributed to the success of british airways are?

 

Continuous reduction of costs

 

Focus on providing excellent customer service at a premium price

 

Both A & B

 

None of these

 

 

5. The approach in a Survey taken by the company in collecting quality costs was the breakdown of employees activities related to quality in some main activities. These Activities were : (A)Anticipation (B)Assessment (C)Failure

 

All A, B, C

 

Only A & B

 

Only B & C

 

Only A & C

 

6. Data collected from the survey was introduced in a diagnostic report. So which of the following improvement activity have been identified?

 

Managerial style

 

Systems and procedures

 

Communication

 

All of above

 

 

 

7. TQM involves which of the following: (A) new management strategies,

(B) Changes in culture and infrastructure, (C) tools and techniques to determine all members of the organization to collaborate (D) enable continuous improvement of quality defined by the client.

 

Only A & B

 

Only B & C

 

Only B, C & D

 

All A,B,C, D

 

 

8. TQM program was implemented in

 

British airways Head office

 

British Airways Technical Workshops

 

British airways Support Offices

 

None of these

 

 

9. Which of the following is an advantage of implementing TQM

 

Focus on continuous improvement

 

Increasing the market share on the long term

 

Significant improvement in quality of products or services

 

All of above

 

 

 

10. In order to be the best in this industry, the management team of British Airways Technical Workshops decided that they must win through : (A)teamwork, (B) customer satisfaction,(C ) profitability and reputation.

 

Only A

 

All A, B, C

 

Only A & B

 

Only B & C

 

 

 

Score 80/100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2nd Block Assessment

 

 

 

 

Case Study :

 

 

 

Continuous improvement is based on a Japanese Concept called Kaizen, is the philosophy of continually seeking ways to improve operations. It invloves identifying benchmarks of excellent practices and instilling a sense of employee ownership of the process. The focus can be on:

• Reducing the length of time required to process requests for loans in bank
• The amount of scrap generated at a milling machine or the number of employee injuries.
• Continuous improvement can also focus on problems with customers or suppliers, such as customers who request frequent changes in shipping quantities and suppliers that to maintain high quality.

The bases of the continuous improvement philosophy are the beliefs that virtually any aspect of an operation can be improved and that the people most closely associated with an operation are in the best position to identify the changes that should be made. Consequently, employee involvement plays a big role in continuous improvement programs.

Getting Started with Continuous Improvement

Instilling a philosophy of continuous improvement in an organization may be a lengthy process, and several steps are essential to its eventual success.

1. Train employees in the methods of statistical process control (SPC) and other tools for improvement quality.
2. Make SPC methods a normal aspect of daily operations.
3. Build work teams and employee involvement.
4. Utilize problem-solving techniques within work teams.
5. Develop a sense of operator ownership of the process.

Here employee involvement is central to the philosophy of continuous improvement. However, the last two steps are crucial if the philosophy is to be the part of everyday operations.A sense of operator ownership emerges when employees feel as if they own the processes and methods they use and take pride in the quality of product or service they produce. It comes from participation on work teams and in problem-solving activities, which instill in employees a feeling that they have some control over their workplace.

The Total Customer Satisfaction (TCS) worldwide competition showcases the quality achievements of Motorola teams. All employees are given an equal opportunity to participate. Like many companies, Motorola uses teams to solve problems. In fact, almost half of Motorola's employees are on teams. But Motorola takes it one step further. It gives teams the opportunity to compete with one another and share firsthand what they have accomplished, allowing them to see how their achievements impact the organization through their TCS competition. Winning team members from all over the world are treated like royalty for a few days and are given the opportunity to make a presentation to top executives of the company.

The Need for TCS

Why develop such a competition? The Chairman of the Board says the first few years of Motorola's quality journey "were carved by the idea of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award." But after winning the award in 1988, "the company needed something to carry the momentum." This led the company to develop the TCS team competition. Teams already existed within Motorola and the idea of a competition was met with enthusiasm. Since its inception eight years ago, Motorola estimates this quality program has resulted in savings of $2.4 billion a year-- a savings that is essential for the company to remain competitive when its products have a price learning curve of 15% to 35% a year. In addition to the dollar savings, TCS has helped develop a company of empowered workers. "I'm not sure if maybe the whole empowerment aspects of what we did with the team process is not more important than the individual savings that we've generated," comments the Director of Corporate Quality for Business Systems. "Nothing has empowered the work force faster than the team process-- it makes the difference between a good company and a bad company." This opinion is echoed by the Chairman of the Board who says, "The numbers are impressive, but the numbers are not what counts."

The TCS competition is based on the following objectives: • Renew emphasis on the participative process at all levels of the organization, worldwide • Recognize and reward outstanding performance at the team level • Reaffirm the environment for continuous improvement • Demonstrate the power of focused team effort • Communicate the best team achievements throughout Motorola

How it works?

The competition starts with preliminary contests held for each of Motorola's business units. As many as 5,000 teams take part initially, incorporating roughly 65,000 of Motorola's 142,000 plus employees. The number of teams has grown from approximately 1,500 seven years ago and has increased every year. Depending on the size of each regional competition, one to five teams are selected to move forward to the worldwide finals.

This year's one-day competition featured 24 teams from countries that included the United States, Ireland, the Philippines, Israel, Taiwan, China, Malaysia and Japan. Teams took command of a large stage with four video screens and microphones at both ends. Each team had 12 minutes to present its accomplishments to a panel of judges that included the company's top executives. Teams that went over time lost points. The presentations were well rehearsed and proceeded like clockwork, with many teams having committed their entire presentations to memory. It was very impressive considering all the presentations were given in English, a language some of the team members did not even speak. The TCS teams generally consist of 10 to 12 members, all of whom participate in the presentation. Teams are awarded points in the following seven categories: 1. Project selection-- The project should be tied to Motorola's key initiatives and should use specific customer input. Also, the projects should last from three to 12 months. 2. Teamwork-- The team should handle the project from selection through implementation. Participation of customers and/or suppliers is encouraged and all team members are expected to contribute to all phases of the project. 3. Analysis-- Analysis techniques used should support appropriate analytical processes for the project, lead to a root cause, identify alternative solutions and reflect innovative use of analytical tools. 4. Remedies-- The team should defend its choice of remedies from the alternatives, and remedies should be consistent with the analysis. Creative and innovative solutions are especially noted.5. Results-- Results should be compared with the original goals and requirements. The degree of achievement of these goals is considered by the judges. 6. Institutionalization-- Teams should demonstrate that improvement is maintainable over time. They are encouraged to adapt solutions from other teams and spread their success throughout the company. Teams should emerge as leaders in their own right. 7. Presentation-- Presentations should be clear and concise, with overhead graphs and charts that are clear and easy to read. Listeners should be able to easily follow the team's thinking through the entire process.

Impressive Results

The accomplishments of these teams are truly impressive. A team from Motorola's Automotive Energy and Controls group in Sequin, Texas, achieved a savings of $1.8 million in 1996 by reducing polyamide delaminating for electronic circuits-- an 85 % improvement in six months.Another cross-functional team from the company's General Systems Sector in Hong Kong set out to make the best cellular phone in the market in China and increase production capacity by 50% in just eight weeks. It also corrected a design problem that prevented users from ending their phone calls when closing the lower flap on the cellular phone. Motorola's Land Mobile Product Sector in Schaumberg, Illinois, created a cartoon character named Eugene and a site on the World Wide Web to help improve its responsiveness to the Motorola service station community. The team's work resulted in 86% growth in new-account setups, 99% improvement in cycle-time reduction and 90% improvement in customer satisfaction.

The Real Reward

Even though team members are there to compete, the worldwide final is more than a competition-- it is actually a celebration. It is a way for Motorola to thank its employees and vice versa. It is no coincidence that the 1996 worldwide competition was held at the Phoenician in Scottsdale, Arizona, a five star resort. To the presenters, the real prize was just being there and being a part of something so grand.

At Motorola, all the teams are considered winners. "We do say, and mean it, that everybody wins because you're here," stated the CEO. Following the competition, an awards banquet was held to honor all the participants. Company executives were visible throughout, mingling in conversation with team members and other guests. After dinner, each team was called up on stage to be recognized and photographed with the President and CEO. These photos were just a few of some 2,000 pictures taken throughout the event that will be compiled in a TCS yearbook for all participants. The excitement and enthusiasm of these Motorola employees was evident. "This is probably the grandest display of our efforts to be global and the way we manage and think about our business," said the CEO. He continued by saying that "This event reflects all of the important aspects of the corporation."

The winner of this year's customer satisfaction competition was a team from a manufacturing plant in Boynton Beach, Florida, with a history of noteworthy quality improvements. The team had members representing Motorola's messaging, information and media sector. Its goal was to develop and implement a low-cost, reliable packaging system that demonstrates environmental leadership and corrects problems identified by the team. Team members found $1.2 million in hidden packaging costs and identified three root causes-- lack of packaging standards, stock outages and inefficient reuse of materials. After tackling each problem individually, the team developed a standardized packaging tray that could be used to hold both finished pagers and incoming housing. It also created a central database to track packaging requirements. The result of their efforts was a per unit total cost reduction, expected to save $6.1 million in 1997.

An Open Invitation

How do Motorola employees become a part of the contest? The TCS competition is open to all Motorola functional or cross-functional teams, 98% of which are self-forming. Since all team members are required to participate in all phases of the project, teams with representatives located around the world rely heavily on e-mail, telephone and other communications technology. Motorola also realizes the challenges of working with employees from different countries and offers cultural diversity classes to help employees prepare for these differences. For every team that enters the competition, there are numerous others that have also made significant accomplishments, perhaps on a smaller scale. Roughly 40% of Motorola's teams are present in the competition. Many of the teams choose not to compete, but participate in what Motorola calls "showcase days" at their facilities, where teams set up booths and display their accomplishments to facility managers and co-workers. To help them learn how to solve quality problems as a team, Motorola employees are trained in quality techniques and teamwork. Additionally, many teams, particularly those in Asia, have big sisters or brothers who act as sponsors for newly formed teams. These sisters and brothers are more experienced workers who help direct the teams and offer expertise. The company also has TCS process manuals that describe quality tools. One of Motorola's business units even developed a CDROM training tool that creates graphs and visual aids which can be used in the presentations. Finally, Motorola University offers quality training in areas such as quality processes and teamwork.

Never Good Enough

In keeping with Motorola's philosophy of continuous improvement, the competition has changed over the years. For instance, in past years, all teams that made it to the worldwide finals were presented either a gold or silver award. But the silver award winners went away feeling like losers, even though they were really winners. So in 1996, after recognizing each team for its work, the company gave away one diamond award to the overall winner. To pinpoint areas for improvement, team members are usually surveyed at the worldwide competition for suggestions. Some of the regional competitions have been shifted to different countries to allow more employees to experience other cultures. While the events have been refined so that they are good for the employees, they have been designed to retain the travel and the excitement.

Sharing the Wealth

Motorola encourages other companies to learn from its success. This year, Motorola extended the TCS competition to its suppliers and for the first time held a formal supplier contest in conjunction with the Motorola competition. Fifty-one supplier teams competed in three regional competitions. The three winners participated in the worldwide supplier competition, which was held the day prior to the TCS Motorola. Many of them had heard about quality processes, but did not know how to implement them until Motorola stepped forward. Representatives from other countries, educators, foreign government representatives and customers were also invited to attend the competition. Sun Microsystems started a similar competition few years ago based on TCS. Additionally, to help others learn about the process, Motorola offers quality briefings to the public through Motorola University that address total customer satisfaction. Motorola University Consulting and Training Services offers quality briefings to the public that explain the six-sigma story, total cycle time reduction and total customer satisfaction teams. Equally impressive as the competition is the company's ability to motivate its employees. It has much to do with Motorola's culture. The company stresses on the importance of trust before implementing something similar to TCS. Teams and empowerment will not work without trust. The employees have to trust management as well as each other. Without trust, it just would not work. A team from Dublin, Ireland, was motivated by the opportunity to show others in Motorola what they had accomplished. And the chance to win a trip did not hurt. For TCS team members, it is an opportunity not only to get away, meet new people and learn, but also to have fun. The day following the contest is usually set aside for recreation, which, in the latest edition, included hiking, rafting, mountain biking and golf. Whether employees are executives or factory workers, Motorola works to show them that they are valued. The TCS competition only reinforces these feelings. The experience emphasizes even more the value of each individual in the company. Finalists say they treasure each one of their TCS memories. It is worth remembering time and again, even forever. competition. The winning team from Varitronix was presented at the Motorola competition as a showcase team.

 

 

1. One of Motorola's business units developed ____ that creates graphs and visual aids which can be used in the presentations.

 

Several Softwares

 

CDROM training tool

 

Applications

 

None of these

 

 

2. As per this case study , TCS teams participated in the presentation. Teams are awarded points on various categories. These categories were : (A) Teamwork ( B) Project Selection ( C ) Analysis

 

All A , B & C

 

Only A & B

 

Only B & C

 

Only A & C

 

 

3. Kaizen refers to ?

 

the philosophy of continually seeking ways to stop operations

 

the philosophy of continually seeking ways to improve operations

 

Both A & B

 

None of these

 

 

 

4. Motorola Won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in ?

 

1978

 

1968

 

1988

 

1972

 

 

5. In this case study , Teams are awarded points in various categories. Some of the categories are:

 

Institutionalization

 

Project selection

 

Teamwork

 

All of above

 

 

6. Motorola University offers quality training in______

 

quality processes

 

teamwork

 

Both A & B

 

None of these

 

 

7. Kaizen invloves: (A) identifying benchmarks of excellent practices (B)instilling a sense of employee ownership of the process.

 

Only A

 

Only B

 

Both A & B

 

None of these

 

 

8. As per this case study, the Winning team members from all over the world_____

 

are treated like royalty for a few days

 

are given the opportunity to make a presentation to top executives of the company

 

Both A & B

 

None of these

 

 

9. "A sense of operator ownership emerges when employees feel as if they own the processes and methods they use and take pride in the quality of product or service they produce". This statement is ?

 

True

 

False

 

Partially False

 

None of these

 

 

10. The TCS competition was based on the following objective?

 

Renew emphasis on the participative process at all levels of the organization, worldwide

 

Demonstrate the power of focused team effort

 

Recognize and reward outstanding performance at the team level

 

All of above

 

 

 

90/100

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3rd Block Assessment

 

Case Study :

 

The global financial crisis hit higher education harder than many might have expected, and nowhere have the odds stacked higher than in India. The nation plays home to one of the world’s fastest-growing markets for business education. Yet over recent years, the relevance of business education in India has come into question. A report by one recruiter recently asserted just one in four Indian MBAs were adequately prepared for the business world.

At the Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies (RIMS) in Bangalore, recruiters and accreditation bodies specifically called into question the quality of students’ educations. Although the relatively small school has always struggled to compete with India’s renowned Xavier Labour Research Institute, the faculty finally began to notice clear hindrances in the success of graduates. The RIMS board decided it was time for a serious reassessment of quality management.

The school nominated Chief Academic Advisor Dr Krishnamurthy to head a volunteer team that would audit, analyse and implement process changes that would improve quality throughout (all in a particularly academic fashion). The team was tasked with looking at three key dimensions: assurance of learning, research and productivity, and quality of placements. Each member underwent extensive training to learn about action plans, quality auditing skills and continuous improvement tools – such as the ‘plan-do-study-act’ cycle.

Once faculty members were trained, the team’s first task was to identify the school’s key stakeholders, processes and their importance at the institute. Unsurprisingly, the most vital processes were identified as student intake, research, knowledge dissemination, outcomes evaluation and recruiter acceptance. From there, Krishnamurthy’s team used a fishbone diagram to help identify potential root causes of the issues plaguing these vital processes. To illustrate just how bad things were at the school, the team selected control groups and administered domain-based knowledge tests.

The deficits were disappointing. A RIMS students’ knowledge base was rated at just 36 percent, while students at Harvard rated 95 percent. Likewise, students’ critical thinking abilities rated nine percent, versus 93 percent at MIT. Worse yet, the mean salaries of graduating students averaged $36,000, versus $150,000 for students from Kellogg. Krishnamurthy’s team had their work cut out.

To tackle these issues, Krishnamurthy created an employability team, developed strategic architecture and designed pilot studies to improve the school’s curriculum and make it more competitive. In order to do so, he needed absolutely every employee and student on board – and there was some resistance at the onset. Yet the educator asserted it didn’t actually take long to convince the school’s stakeholders the changes were extremely beneficial.

“Once students started seeing the results, buy-in became complete and unconditional,” he says. Acceptance was also achieved by maintaining clearer levels of communication with stakeholders. The school actually started to provide shareholders with detailed plans and projections. Then, it proceeded with a variety of new methods, such as incorporating case studies into the curriculum, which increased general test scores by almost 10 percent. Administrators also introduced a mandate saying students must be certified in English by the British Council – increasing scores from 42 percent to 51 percent.

By improving those test scores, the perceived quality of RIMS skyrocketed. The number of top 100 businesses recruiting from the school shot up by 22 percent, while the average salary offers graduates were receiving increased by $20,000. Placement revenue rose by an impressive $50,000, and RIMS has since skyrocketed up domestic and international education tables.

No matter the business, total quality management can and will work. Yet this philosophical take on quality control will only impact firms that are in it for the long haul. Every employee must be in tune with the company’s ideologies and desires to improve, and customer satisfaction must reign supreme.

TQM in an organization is defined by and supports the constant attainment of customer satisfaction through an integrated system of tools, techniques and training. TQM focuses on continuous improvement of organizational processes resulting in high quality products and services. The ideal goal of TQM is do things right the first time and every time. The customer is the ultimate judge of quality.

Quality cannot be improved without significant losses in productivity. It is imperative that the top management provide leadership and support for quality initiatives. Quality goals are moving targets and improving quality requires establishment of effective metrics. The three aspects of TQM are counting, customers and culture. Customer’s impression of quality begins from the initial contact with the company and continues throughout the life of the product. All departments of the organization must strive to improve the quality of their operations. Value based approach relies on service dimensions like reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy and tangibles.

TQM’s objective is continuous improvement of principles like customer focus, process improvement and total involvement. Elements of TQM speak about leadership, education and training, support structure, communications, rewards and recognition, and measurement or metrics. The critical success factors hinges on areas of managerial action and planning that must be practiced to achieve quality management in a business unit. The critical success factors are very essential for TQM and if it fails, the process gets terminated. Performance evaluation is based on quality, top management’s responsibility for quality performance, acceptance of responsibility for quality by major department heads, consideration of quality as first priority, discussing quality related issues in meetings and degree of comprehensiveness of quality plan. The ability of an organization to adapt to change in the business environment to capture best practices and achieve and maintain competitive performance is also critical for TQM to be successful. Input is company’s total quality effort and output is the level of performance of the plant.

 

 

1. In this Case Study , the KrishnamurthyÂ’s team used _____ to help identify potential root causes of the issues plaguing the vital processes.

 

Plan-DO -study - Act Cycle

 

fishbone diagram

 

Kaizen

 

All of above

 

 

2. "TQM focuses on continuous improvement of organizational processes resulting in high quality products and services". This statement is___?

 

TRUE

 

FALSE

 

Partially True

 

None of these

 

 

 

3. The school nominated Chief Academic Advisor Dr Krishnamurthy to head a volunteer team that would_______ process changes that would improve quality throughout.: (A) audit (B) analyse ( C) implement

 

Only A&B

 

Only B & C

 

Only A & C

 

All A , B & C

 

 

4. CustomerÂ’s impression of quality begins from the initial contact with the company and continues____

 

till the product is purchased

 

throughout the life of the product

 

till the support services are provided by company

 

Both A & C

 

 

5. In this case study, Each member underwent extensive training to learn about : (A) action plans, (B) quality auditing skills ( C) continuous improvement tools.

 

Only A

 

Only A & B

 

All A, B, C

 

Only B & C

 

 

 

6. which of the following is critical for TQM to be successful. The ability of an organization___

 

to adapt to change in the business environment

 

to capture best practices

 

to achieve and maintain competitive performance

 

All of above

 

 

7. As per this case study , the faculty began to notice clear hindrances in the success of graduates. So, the RIMS board decided it was time for a_____?

 

reassessment of quality management

 

appointing new faculties

 

Both A & B

 

None of these

 

 

8. TQMÂ’s objective is continuous improvement of principles like : (A) customer focus, (B) process improvement ( C) total involvement

 

Only B & C

 

Only A & C

 

All A, B, C

Only A & B

 

 

 

9. Input is companyÂ’s total quality effort and output is the______

 

Level of Quality

 

level of performance of the plant

 

Both A & B

 

None of these

 

 

10. with reference to this case study , the aspects of TQM are: (A) counting, (B) customers ( C) culture

 

All A, B &C

 

Only A & B

 

Only B & C

 

Only A & C

 

 

100/100

 

 

 

 

 

 

4th Block Assessment

 

 

Case Study :

 

There are few boardrooms in the world whose inhabitants don’t salivate at the thought of engaging in a little aggressive expansion. After all, there’s little room in a contemporary, fast-paced business environment for any firm whose leaders don’t subscribe to ambitions of bigger factories, healthier accounts and stronger turnarounds. Yet too often such tales of excess go hand-in-hand with complaints of a severe drop in quality.

Food and entertainment markets are riddled with cautionary tales, but service sectors such as health and education aren’t immune to the disappointing by-products of unsustainable growth either. As always, the first steps in avoiding a catastrophic forsaking of quality begins with good management.

There are plenty of methods and models geared at managing the quality of a particular company’s goods or services. Yet very few of those models take into consideration the widely held belief that any company is only as strong as its weakest link. With that in mind, management consultant William Deming developed an entirely new set of methods with which to address quality.

Deming, whose managerial work revolutionised the titanic Japanese manufacturing industry, perceived quality management to be more of a philosophy than anything else. Top-to-bottom improvement, he reckoned, required uninterrupted participation of all key employees and stakeholders. Thus, the total quality management (TQM) approach was born.

Similar to the Six Sigma improvement process, TQM ensures long-term success by enforcing all-encompassing internal guidelines and process standards to reduce errors. By way of serious, in-depth auditing – as well as some well-orchestrated soul-searching – TQM ensures firms meet stakeholder needs and expectations efficiently and effectively, without forsaking ethical values.

By opting to reframe the way employees think about the company’s goals and processes, TQM allows CEOs to make sure certain things are done right from day one. According to Teresa Whitacre, of international consulting firm ASQ, proper quality management also boosts a company’s profitability.

“Total quality management allows the company to look at their management system as a whole entity — not just an output of the quality department,” she says. “Total quality means the organisation looks at all inputs, human resources, engineering, production, service, distribution, sales, finance, all functions, and their impact on the quality of all products or services of the organisation. TQM can improve a company’s processes and bottom line.”

Embracing the entire processes companies strive to improve in several core areas, including: customer focus, total employee involvement, process-centred thinking, systematic approaches, good communication and leadership and integrated systems. Yet Whitacre is quick to point out that companies stand to gain very little from TQM unless they’re willing to go all-in.

“Companies need to consider the inputs of each department and determine which inputs relate to its governance system. Then, the company needs to look at the same inputs and determine if those inputs are yielding the desired results,” she says. “For example, ISO 9001 requires management reviews occur at least annually. Aside from minimum standard requirements, the company is free to review what they feel is best for them. While implementing TQM, they can add to their management review the most critical metrics for their business, such as customer complaints, returns, cost of products, and more.”

The customer knows best: AtlantiCare

TQM isn’t an easy management strategy to introduce into a business; in fact, many attempts tend to fall flat. More often than not, it’s because firms maintain natural barriers to full involvement. Middle managers, for example, tend to complain their authority is being challenged when boots on the ground are encouraged to speak up in the early stages of TQM. Yet in a culture of constant quality enhancement, the views of any given workforce are invaluable.

One firm that’s proven the merit of TQM is New Jersey-based healthcare provider AtlantiCare. Managing 5,000 employees at 25 locations, AtlantiCare is a serious business that’s boasted a respectable turnaround for nearly two decades. Yet in order to increase that margin further still, managers wanted to implement improvements across the board. Because patient satisfaction is the single-most important aspect of the healthcare industry, engaging in a renewed campaign of TQM proved a natural fit. The firm chose to adopt a ‘plan-do-check-act’ cycle, revealing gaps in staff communication – which subsequently meant longer patient waiting times and more complaints. To tackle this, managers explored a sideways method of internal communications. Instead of information trickling down from top-to-bottom, all of the company’s employees were given freedom to provide vital feedback at each and every level.

AtlantiCare decided to ensure all new employees understood this quality culture from the onset. At orientation, staff now receive a crash course in the company’s performance excellence framework – a management system that organises the firm’s processes into five key areas: quality, customer service, people and workplace, growth and financial performance. As employees rise through the ranks, this emphasis on improvement follows, so managers can operate within the company’s tight-loose-tight process management style.

After creating benchmark goals for employees to achieve at all levels – including better engagement at the point of delivery, increasing clinical communication and identifying and prioritising service opportunities – AtlantiCare was able to thrive. The number of repeat customers at the firm tripled, and its market share hit a six-year high. Profits unsurprisingly followed. The firm’s revenues shot up from $280m to $650m after implementing the quality improvement strategies, and the number of patients being serviced dwarfed state numbers.

Six Sigma is a quality management methodology used to help businesses improve current processes, products or services by discovering and eliminating defects. The goal is to streamline quality control in manufacturing or business processes so there is little to no variance throughout.

Six Sigma was trademarked by Motorola in 1993, but it references the Greek letter sigma, which is a statistical symbol that represents a standard deviation. Motorola used the term because a Six Sigma process is expected to be defect-free 99.99966 percent of the time — allowing for 3.4 defective features for every million opportunities. Motorola initially set this goal for its own manufacturing operations, but it quickly became a buzzword and widely adopted standard.The Six Sigma DMAIC project methodology includes five phases, each represented as a letter in the DMAIC acronym. These include:Define the problem, the customer, the project requirements and the ultimate goals and expectations of the customer.Measure performance of the current process by establishing a data collection plan to determine defects and gather metrics.Analyze the process to establish root cause of variations and defects to identify issues with the current strategy that stand in the way of the end goal.Improve the process by eliminating the root causes of defects through innovative solutions.Control the new process to avoid falling into old habits and to ensure it stays on track.

Six Sigma is specifically designed to help large organizations with quality management. In 1998, Jack Welch, CEO of GE, helped thrust Six Sigma into the limelight by donating upwards of $1 million as a thank you to the company, recognizing how Six Sigma positively impacted GE’s operations and promoting the process for large organizations. After that, Fortune 500 companies followed suit and Six Sigma has been popular with large organizations ever since.

 

 

1. Six Sigma is a_____methodology.

 

quantity management

 

quality management

 

Workers participation

 

Support process improvement

 

 

2. in this case study , The firm Atlanticare, chose to adopt ________, revealing gaps in staff communication – which subsequently meant longer patient waiting times and more complaints

 

plan-do-check-act cycle

 

Six sigma Cycle

 

Kaizen Approach

 

all OF Above

 

 

 

3. In this case study , At orientation, atlanticare staff started to receive a crash course in the company’s performance excellence framework – a management system that organises the firm’s processes into key areas. What are these kry areas?

 

quality and customer service

 

people and workplace

 

growth and financial performance

 

All of above

 

 

4. with reference to this case study , DMAIC stands for:

 

Define,Measure, Analyze,

Improve ,Coordinate

 

Define,Manageable, Analyze,

Improve ,Control

 

Define,Measure, Analyze,

Improve ,Control

 

Define,Measure, Approve,

Implement,Control

 

 

5. Six Sigma was trademarked by_____

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