The History Of The Top Quality Management

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

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Top Quality Management

An organizations model illustrates how managers can set up or group the activities in an organization according to function and division. This grouping of activities allows the organization to achieve its goals effectively. In a functional model, people who hold similar positions, perform similar tasks or have the same skills fall in the same group. A divisional structure of organization is suited for large businesses that deal in many products. In a divisional structure, the organisation is grouped into business units with independent divisions, which are run from the head office. Each independent division runs the functions that relate to product, market segment or regional market. A matrix model of organisation combines the functional and divisional forms. In this model, there are two managers a functional manager and a divisional manager.

Evans and Lindsay describe performance excellence as an integrated approach to organizational performance management. Performance excellence ensures organizational sustainability through the delivery of continually improved value to customers and stakeholders. Performance excellence ensures the improvement of organizational effectiveness, organizational and personal learning (Evans and Lindsay 12).

A system is an organized structure made up of interrelated and interdependent elements, which influence one another directly or indirectly. Deming systems theory explains that organizations have systems of interconnected processes and people that make up system components. Deming considers the success of any system is dependent on the management’s ability to coordinate the influence of each component in order to achieve optimization of the whole system (Evans and Lindsay 91).

Juran explains quality as the features of a product that meet consumer satisfaction. In this case, the effect is on sales Juran explains that providing quality products increases costs. On the other hand, Juran considers quality as being free of errors by reducing error rates, waste, customer dissatisfaction, field failures. In this case, the effect is on cost, which in the end means higher quality costs less (Evans and Lindsay 104).

Evans and Lindsay explain four absolutes for quality as stated by Crosby. According to Crosby, quality is conformance to clients’ expectations. Crosby states that quality comes from prevention of defects. Quality requires standards that ensure zero defects. This requires that a company meet the customer requirements. Crosby explains that we measure quality by being aware of the price of non-conformance. Failing to meet the customers’ requirements does make a business lose money (Evans and Lindsay 106).

Total quality is a management approach that guarantees success through customer satisfaction. In total quality, the members of an organisation participate in improving the products, services and organizational culture. In total quality, organizations utilize strategy, data, effective communication to incorporate quality into the culture and activities of the organisation. On the other hand, Evans and Lindsay describe six sigma as a measure of quality that aims at achieving perfection. It is a data driven approach, which seeks to eliminate defects in processes such as manufacturing, transaction, and product or service delivery. According to this approach defect stands for anything outside customer specification (Evans and Lindsay 133).

Process management is a planned approach that targets to improve the workflow in an organization. Process management focuses on improving an organizations efficiency, effectiveness and the ability to adapt to a constantly changing environment. Process management involves breaking down the activities of an organization into processes, monitoring and managing these processes to achieve the organisations strategic goals. Process management involves defining and formalising organizations strategic goals, analysing the processes in the organization, identifying the input and output elements in each process, defining the interaction between the various processes. Thereafter there is the formalising the performance indicators for each process, determining the present performance of each process, suggesting ways of modifying the existing processes, proposing of new processes, implementing the modifications proposed and measuring of new performances.

The quality of a product or services it determined in respect to the variation of its characteristics from nominal design specification. Evans and Lindsay explain that a product that has excessive variation of characteristics from the designed specifications indicates poor quality. The improvement of the quality requires a reduction in variation. Reducing variation requires reworking, which indicates an increase in cost incurred (Evans and Lindsay 510). Excessive variation in a products specification affects the field performance of a product resulting from customer dissatisfaction. Customer dissatisfaction reduces market sales of a product this means reduced income for an organisation.

Top managements in organisations determine the responsibilities of control systems. This is by considering factors such as an organization’s mission statement, the laws and regulations in the organisation or the industrial standards and practices. Control systems can be either detective or preventive. A detective control is responsible for detecting errors or irregularities that have occurred in an organization. Preventive controls are responsible for preventive the occurrence of undesirable events in the organization.

Evans and Lindsay provide the six steps in process improvement: first step is process selection of a small and achievable number of processes that influence the success of organisational goals and objectives. Process understanding requires management to understand the sub processes and the importance of the processes to the organisation. Process performance is the third step it involves recording and describing historical performance of the process. Process review is a step that involves identifying a continuous improvement process. The benefit, resource allocation, a monitoring and reporting mechanism are identified in this step. Process change is the fifth step and it involves translation of the prioritised improvement authorization into an integrated programme of continuous improvement. Lastly, there is capturing the change where the process improvements are incorporated into the business management system (Evans and Lindsay 326).

There are four stages in Deming’s cycle the plan stage, the do stage, the study and the act stage. The plan stage involves identifying processes that needs improvement, the nature of improvement, the period that the change needs to be implemented, the means of measuring the change, and the areas affected by the change. In the do stage we are looking at the implementation of the change. It involves identifying the areas and people affected by the change. It includes providing a reason for implementing the change. The study stage involves analysis of the events carried out in the do stage. Management accesses if the process improvement suggested does bring about change, the magnitude of change and the success of the objectives s set. In the act stage, we consider the success of the other three stages, standardizing the new processes and communicating the targeted change to all persons affected by the process improvement. The act stage involves training on the process improvement. For unsuccessful process improvements, the plan requires revision and a repeat of the process (Evans and Lindsay 333).

DMAIC is a five-step approach for managing process improvement. It involves identification of problems, determining the cause of the problem and finding a solution. DMAIC stands for define, measure, analyse, improve and control. In the defining phase managers come up with a project charter which involves formulating a statement of problem, stating the goal of the project, estimating the financial impact of the project , describing the scope of the work, briefing team members and stakeholders on the project and drawing a time plan. The measure phase involves data collection and process mapping this will allow management to assess the impact of the project. The analysis phase s allows the organization to assess the performance of the project and determine the factors that affect the process. It is in this phase that problems affecting the project are identified. The improve phase looks at the variations in the process improvement and seeks to reduce the variations. Reducing variations helps management improve on quality. The control phase involves handing over the process to the organisation. The control phase ensure that checks are put in place to prevent the performance regressing. This is involves constant audits, standard work instructions and control plans (Evans and Lindsay 531).

Work Cited

Evans, James R., and Lindsay, William M. Managing for Quality and Performance Excellence (8th

edn). Ohio: South Western Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.