Quality Mangement And Six Sigma

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Total quality management philosophy is a set of beliefs and general concepts that adopts practices of continuous improvement in every sphere of organisational activity. The philosophy of Total Quality Management has developed over the years through the work of quality gurus such as Deming, Crosby and Juran.

Total Quality Management is a philosophy that stresses 3 principles for achieving high levels of process performance and quality that is customer satisfaction, employee involvement, and continuous improvement in performance (pg. 196, Operations management, Processes and Value Chains) 7th Edition).

Total Quality Management incorporates a set of philosophies, tools and processes that are used to achieve business objectives of organisations implementing it. The major elements of Total Quality Management are People, Philosophy, Processes, Continuous Improvement and the Customer.

PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy is defined as the most basic beliefs, concepts and attitudes of an individual or group. (Merriam-Webster). This can also be attributed to the culture of an organisation and its employees. The culture of an organisation is characterized by a number of attributes such as behaviours of employees, dominant values, or the value system of the organisation, and beliefs. The culture of Sandalias Finas is simply the way things are done around the organisation. This has an influence on employee behaviour at the workplace.

Therefore the implementation of Total Quality Management would not be possible if John and the management of Sandalias Finas do not change the culture of the Mexican employees. Total Quality Management as a system is based on different norms and values as compared to that of the Mexican Workers.

This means that the guiding philosophy of the new system Total Quality Management should suit the core values and beliefs of the various working groups of the company. This will require the creation of a new organisational culture for the company that will respond to the changes that Total Quality Management brings on board. Subsequently this new organisational culture can change the attitudes and behaviour of workers to achieve the new organisational objectives and goals of improving quality and productivity levels of the leather products.

PROCESSES.

To improve the quality of products of Sandalias Finas, the processes and activities that produce the Sandals must be thoroughly managed.

John’s aim to increase the company’s competitiveness will require the management of the company’s processes. A process is a collection of related structured activities or tasks that produce a specific service or product (serve a particular goal) for a particular customer or customers". (Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia). A process takes in inputs and transforms them into outputs. The resulting output is either a product or service. This process transformation adds value to the input to create an output that is received by a customer. It is the quality of this output, be it a product or service that must be improved to make customers continuously purchase an organisations products.

And Total Quality Management does not only focus on the outputs but rather on the entire value chain of an organisation. A business process can be separated into several constituent sub-processes, with each sub-process having its own characteristics. These processes and sub- processes can be mapped down to various activities and tasks used in producing business outputs.

Therefore the performance or the quality of sandals being produced by Sandalias Finas can only be improved if management pays attention to all that happens in the organisation’s processes. By giving due attention to the quality of inputs and all resources deployed in its value chain and also managing business processes involved in sandals production and managing both internal customers / internal supplier interfaces then the final product to the final consumer will meet the desired quality.

The EFQM (European Foundation for Quality Management) Model recognised that processes are the means by which an organisation harnesses and releases the talents of its people to produce results and performance. This framework shows that essentially customer results, employee results and favourable society results are achieved through leadership driving policy and strategy, people partnerships, resources and processes, which lead ultimately to excellence in key performance results- the enablers deliver the results which in turn drive innovation and learning ( John S Oakland Pg.35)

In Total Quality Management, business processes can also be managed across the traditional functional areas of an organisation. This kind of cross functional management removes the boundaries that normally exists in functional areas such as sewing, cutting.

PEOPLE

Here, employee empowerment is used to apply or deploy Total Quality Management system in the improvement of processes and quality in the organisation. Employees are normally brought on board the Total Quality Management system by the use of teams. And the most often used teamwork approaches are quality circles, self-managing teams and special-purpose teams.

These approaches help in moving decision making responsibility down the organisational ladder. John achieved this by setting up sewing teams and reorganising employees into additional teams.

John empowered his employees through further training to instil in them the new philosophy of Total Quality Management and also the new way of doing things, that is a new cultural change in the way things are done to achieve new quality targets.

CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT

This is one of the key elements that form one of foundation of Total Quality Management. It is based on a Japanese concept named Kaizen, which means the continuous improvement of organisational processes. This involves the identification of standards of excellent practice and then bridging the performance gap in the identified process. This is done on a continuous basis so that processes are improved and the focus is on problems such as process design, variability reduction, failure of internal suppliers to deliver desired quality inputs etc.

Implementing a continuous improvement technique in an organisation requires the use of Total Quality Management tools such as Statistical Process Control, histograms, bar charts, Pareto Charts, Scatter Diagrams, cause-and-effect diagrams etc. Statistical Process Control (SPC) is the use of statistical techniques to judge whether a process is achieving what the customer desires. The steps required for the implementation of continuous improvement technique are

Train employees in Statistical Process Control and other Total Quality Management tools for improving quality and performance.

Make Statistical Process Control methods a normal aspect of daily operation.

Build work teams and employee involvement.

Utilize problem-solving tools within the work teams

Develop a sense of operator ownership in the process ( Pg.201 Operations Management)

Most organisations also train their work teams to use the plan-do-check-act cycle (also called the Deming Wheel) for problem solving. The PDCA cycle.

PLAN – In this phase, the problem is defined by the team and relevant data is collected.

This aids the team to analyse the cause of the problem.

DO - The team implements the solution and monitors progress.

CHECK - Results are confirmed by the team through the comparison of data before and after the implementation.

ACT - Results are documented and stakeholders are informed about the process changes. Then recommendations for the problem are made to be looked at in the next PDCA cycle.

CUSTOMERS SATISFACTION

The target of a Total Quality Management program implementation should ultimately be the satisfaction of the customers’ needs. The famous American ‘gurus’ of quality management defined quality differently as follows:

CROSBY defined quality as "conformance to requirement".

JURAN defined quality as "fitness for use".

DEMING defined quality as "A predictable degree of uniformity and dependability at low cost and suited to the market"

The quality is determined from the perspective of the customers hence customer satisfaction is the primary focus of what the implementation of Total Quality Management seeks to achieve. One of the ways customers estimate the product and service they receive is how, what they receive conform to specification. This can be related to on-time delivery, consistent quality. Another way is through the psychological impressions they get from products or service. Example aesthetics, image.

CONCLUSION

Total Quality Management is a technique that places customer satisfaction before profit. Customer satisfaction produces long term, sustainable whereas a profit priority creates a short term focus. Total Quality Management is a system that consists of a set of integrated elements such as philosophies, tools, people, and processes that are used to delight stakeholders especially employees and customers.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

QUESTION 1a.

Oakland John’s, (2003), Total Quality Management Text with cases, 3rd Edition, Butterworth Heinemann Publications.

Krajewski Lee J, Ritzman Larry P (2005), Operations Management Process and Value, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall.

Price Michael, Chen Eva E, (1993), Total Quality Management in a Small High Technology Company, California Management Review.

Elements of Total Quality Management, (online), Available at www.weemancom.files.wordpress.com, 27th February 2013.

Total Quality Management (online), Available at www.managers.net.com, 8th March 2013.

QUESTION 1b.

The institute of Management Studies defines Total Quality Management as ‘A strategy for improving business performance through the commitment and involvement of all employees to fully satisfying agreed customer requirement, at the optimum overall costs, through the continuous improvement of the products and services, Business processes and people involved" .This calls for a culture of partnership between managers and workers and also managers acting as effective leaders in the introduction of Total Quality Management. The amount of work-in-process inventory for shoes keep on increasing and this has affected both the quality of shoes and the productivity of the Mexican company. And this meant that an application of new perspective and approach to quality was needed. Hence the introduction of a new quality philosophy Total Quality Management to the processes of shoe manufacturing in Sandalias Finas De Cuernavaca.

Successful implementation of Total Quality Management requires a behavioural and role change for both managers and entire workforce.

CHANGE IN ROLES AND BEHAVIOURS FOR MANAGERS

The role of managers in the shoe factory is to facilitate the implementation of Total Quality Management. Their duty is to help the various categories of workers (cutting, skiving, sewing etc.) to understand the concept and embrace Total Quality Management as new philosophy for the shoe factory.

ACT AS ROLE MODEL

Managers are supposed to be driving force behind the implementation of a Total Quality Management program. Therefore to be able to succeed requires that they must lead in the usage of Total Quality Management tools such as control charts, flow charts and data capture tools. Must be seen to be using customer feedback to drive decision making.

The managers are to provide visionary leadership to entire workforce and also provide support for the workers. By acting as role models, managers assist in creating employee empowerment by rewarding good behaviour. The focus should be on encouraging teamwork.

They also lead and empower change by implementing training programs for workers on the new Total Quality Management philosophy. John organised an in-house series of seminars for his office staff, plant supervisors and other workers on the new Total Quality Management concept.

Managers should provide effective leadership through the development of the vision, values, purpose and mission needed for longer-term performance success (Oakland Page. 39). The main items that are needed to deliver effective leadership are clear beliefs and objectives in the form of a mission statement, clear and effective strategies and supporting plans, the critical success factors and core processes, the appropriate management structure, employee participation through empowerment, and the EPDCA helix. (Oakland Page 42)

ACT AS INSTIGATORS

The initiation of Total Quality Management by managers must bring about a corporate cultural transformation where line managers or employees put away individualism and embrace the teamwork approach of attaining the corporate quality objectives. Managers are supposed to change their behaviour from passive bosses who are far away from the factory floor to actively involved managers taking part in the implementation of a Total Quality Management program. They are also supposed to develop the strategy for the implementation of the program. The senior managers are to communicate and offer training programs about Total Quality Management techniques to other line managers and the entire organisation.

The management team normally drives the Total Quality Management program and therefore should create the enabling environment for the implementation of Total Quality Management techniques.

Commitment from senior manager is a pre requisition when introducing a Total Quality Management program because this philosophy incurs costs and also involves changing the culture of an organisation.

ACT AS FACILITATORS.

The Total Quality Management manager should be able create a team of supervisors that have adequate knowledge about Total Quality Management so as to provide the needed support for the implementation of a Total Quality Management program. This team of supervisor will then communicate the principles of Total Quality Management and behaviours associated with Total Quality Management to the workers. The management team should also assist in the acquisition of resources, organise the training programs and facilitate the recognition and reward of deserving employees for the efforts in the implementation of Total Quality Management. John created a sewing team and instituted a group compensation system based on the overall output of the team. Hitherto this was not in existence and was only established after the implementation of Total Quality Management as a motivation for workers efforts in achieving the quality objective. The behavioural change by the management team in the way workers are motivated has brought about the reduction in in-process inventory and reduction of waste in the operation of Sandalias Finas.

CHANGES IN ROLES AND BEHAVIOUR OF WORKERS.

One of the important Total Quality Management practices is employee involvement. And to involve employees or workers in any Total Quality Management program implementation requires that they change their attitude to work and embrace the teamwork approach of doing things. In the pursuit of the objectives of Total Quality Management implementation, all workers of Sandalias Finas must be involved in improving organisational processes, products, services and the corporate culture. In dealing with Mexican Workers of Sandalias Finas, there are challenges such as low level of education of workers and the paternalistic approach to management and problem solving. This behaviour results in supervisors or line managers having difficulty in decision making and their reluctance in assuming responsibility. They also prefer to work independently.

UNDERGO ATTITUDINAL CHANGE.

In Total Quality Management, every worker should be aware that quality is important to everybody involved in the organisational processes and all are expected to contribute to the quality of the final product or service. For instance, to produce a better quality sandals, in Sandalias Finas, every worker from design, marketing, sales, manufacturing process (all departments) is expected to contribute to the overall improvement of the final product (sandals). In developing the right attitude and behaviour for Total Quality Management the idea of some of the workers being internal customers, internal suppliers should be explained to all workers. This concept when embraced by the entire workforce will break down the barriers between different functions and encourage cross-functional coordination in the way work is done in various operation.

ACCEPTING AND ABILITY TO WORK IN TEAMS

Another behaviour change for workers of Sandalias Finas will be their ability to work individually and more importantly to work in teams. Total Quality Management as an initiative, requires every employee to work individually and also as a team. Teams in a continuous improvement environment will be able to develop a total quality culture through building collective responsibility. Here use is made of quality circles, where problems are solved by way of effective relationships developed by members. Team members will work together to improve quality of the sandals produced. By this workers of Sandalias Finas will be empowered to take decisions at the lowest level of the organisational structure.

CONCLUSION

Total Quality Management result in a radical change in corporate culture and the way operations in an organisation are carried out. To make Total Quality Management an organisation wide technique it has to be rooted in the culture of the company such as Sandalias Finas. And this requires that both workers and managers of Sandalias Finas change their roles and behaviours in order align with the demands of Total Quality Management implementation.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Oakland John’s, (2003), Total Quality Management Text with cases, 3rd Edition, Butterworth Heinemann Publications.

ROLE OF MANAGERS, (ONLINE), AVAILABLE AT www.ehow.com, 3rd march 2013.

ROLE OF MANAGERS, (ONLINE), AVAILABLE AT managementsstudyguide.com 3rd March 2013.

QUESTION 3.

John Kortright being the president of the Sandalias Finas located 90 kilometres south of Mexico City is convinced that the quality of the sandals being produced needs to be improved in order to raise the company’s competitiveness. And to effect this change requires that John implements a Total Quality Management program. His acquisition of extensive knowledge about Total Quality Management has made him recognise the need for his company to do things differently to improve ultimately the competitiveness of the company in this era of globalisation.

For a small manufacturing outfit like Sandalias Finas a Total Quality Management implementation plan will be based on the following framework.

LEADERSHIP.

A successful implementation of Total Quality Management will require that the leadership take a lead role and show management commitment towards the implementation program. John Kortright and the top managers must demonstrate their commitment through their collective deeds rather than words. The demonstration of commitment from the top management of the organisation will have a positive effects on worker’s commitment to the new program and its implementation. They will also raise awareness about quality. And this also requires the participation of the top management in implementing quality improvement measures in the organisation.

One of the key elements of Total Quality Management is continuous improvement and therefore the top management of any Total Quality Management implementing organisation should cultivate the habit of learning continuously. This is to ensure that they improve their managerial abilities and learn from the best practices of other successful companies so as to equip themselves with relevant insights and knowledge. This will also enable top management to empower and encourage workers of Sandalias to develop their skills and knowledge in quality management.

Lastly, top management should lead this Total Quality Management implementation by example as the workforce will always look up to their top managers for direction. John Kortright and management should serve as role models for other employees.

PLANNING.

John and his management should integrate Total Quality Management into the policy and strategy of the company. This entails the crafting of vision and mission statements that helps in defining of the alignment of the organisations processes and roles and responsibilities of all employees involved in the manufacture of sandals. And this will include those involved in the manufacturing process. Example cutters, skiving, sewing, administration, marketing and sales etc. And to implement the vision requires the translation to critical success factors and then to Key Performance objectives.

Also the organisation should craft a quality policy document. A sound quality policy, together with the organisation and facilities to put it into effect is a fundamental requirement, if an organisation is to fully implement Total Quality Management. The quality policy should be the concern of all employees, and the principle and objectives communicated as widely as possible so that it is understood at all levels of the organisation. Practical assistance and training should be given, where necessary, to ensure the relevant knowledge and experience are required for successful implementation of the policy. [Oakland Page 31-32]

STRATEGY EVALUATION.

The main aim of implementing Total Quality Management in Sandalias Finas is as stated in the case study B. is to reduce inefficiencies, to improve the quality of the sandals and to increase the company’s competitiveness. All these will result in the improvement of the overall business performance of the organisation. Sandalias Finas management should ensure that there is alignment of quality strategy with the corporate and business strategy to achieve. This will require that the various functions of the organisation coordinate to achieve the quality objectives.

Implementing Total Quality Management requires that areas that needs improvement are identified and given the required attention. Therefore management should analyse and evaluate the quality strategy continuously by assessing the overall business performance, performance of individual functions and performance of individual employees and that of work groups. Employee performance appraisals can be done by first establishing quality targets for them and then measuring performance against the agreed targets.

PEOPLE (EMPLOYEE PARTICIPATION).

This is one of the key elements of Total Quality Management. In the implementation of Total Quality Management, the main target is the empowerment of the workers involved in the manufacturing of sandals and this is achieved through teamwork. Mexicans rank high on power distance (they acknowledge hierarchy and authority) and on uncertainty avoidance (they prefer security and formality over risk). In addition they prefer collectivism over individualism, putting premium on the good of the group. The family is very important loyalty and commitment to the family normally determines employment, promotion or special treatment for contracts. (Pg. 455 Int Mgmt).

It is against this cultural background that training programs must be organised for all employees including plant workers and middle level management. Various training programs should be carefully planned taking into account the training needs of the various group of workers (skiving, sewing, cutting etc.) about the new management tool Total Quality Management. The actual delivery of the Total Quality Management training can be done in-house through a series of seminars and workshops and outside.

One of the key characteristics of Total Quality Management is the use of teams to achieve process improvement. Therefore John and the management of Sandalias Finas should organize the various employees into teams so as to give team members the encouragement to share ideas on quality strategy. In this regard, cross-functional teams will be of more benefit to implementation of a Total Quality Management program. John initially set up sewing teams to show the benefits of Total Quality Management to the rest of the employees and then switched on to the use of cross-functional teams by including workers in the heel wrapping and in sole cushioning and wrapping areas. The use of cross-functional teams improves communication and tracking of work, which would lead to increased productivity, and more quality product. Teamwork is a vital part of the Total Quality Management program as it brings about change in the way processes are aligned with the Total Quality Management strategy of the organisation. Training programs should be conducted for all employees of Sandalias Finas to further improve teamwork, communication skills and relationship skills thus empowering all employees.

RECOGNITION AND REWARD.

As part of pursuing total quality management objective, Sandalias Finas should put in place a reward and recognition program. This scheme should have the following criteria.

The employee recognition and reward scheme must be compatible with values and objectives of Sandalias.

The criteria of this scheme should be objective and measurable.

The recognition and reward should be purposeful and be able to fit the culture of Sandalias.

The program should have the approval of the workers.

The recognition and reward can be provided at all the organisational levels.

Apart from the above, Sandalias also needs to promote a working environment that facilitates the well-being and morale of the employees. The organisation should also consider motivating the workforce who demonstrate knowledge, skills and performance with good salaries and bonus. A bonus scheme gives monetary rewards to employees who meet their set targets. This can be given through performance feedback mechanism, pay progressions and bonuses. All these are meant to improve employee satisfaction and contributions.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING.

Sandalias Finas should first draw up an education and training plan that takes into consideration the organisation’s strategies, available resources, skills of the current employees and average level of formal education of the Mexican workers in the plant. Training programs designed should address the technical and behavioural issues of the workforce and also address their short term and long term training needs.

The training program should encompass quality management knowledge such as Total Quality Management, tools and techniques of Total Quality Management. This will include statistical process control, quality function deployment, continuous improvement (Kaizen) etc. The workforce are expected to use the quality management knowledge gained to improve the quality of leather products manufactured. Also the middle level managers such as supervisors so trained will then become trainer of trainers for them also train the lower level employees (plant employees).

Different employees need to be trained differently and therefore the requirements of the training will be different. For example, the training program for sales representatives should differ from that of sewers. Therefore in order to make Sandalias Finas produce better quality products and more competitive, the management should invest in the further training of the workforce of sewers, cutters, marketers.

SUPPLIER QUALITY MANAGEMENT.

In order to improve the quality of leather products manufactured by Sandalias Finas, management must pay attention to the quality of inputs or raw materials received by the organisation. Thus the team must monitor supplier quality in order to ensure that inputs received meet our requirements or standards.

Sandalias Finas should have a supplier selection criteria in place, ensuring that suppliers selected have the capability to provide input that meet all fitness-for-use requirement. Some of the criteria that can be used are quality of leather raw materials, price, delivery times, reliability and working relationships. The organisation should also establish long term stable business relationship with some reliable suppliers. This is done on the basis of mutual trusts, understanding and mutual benefits.

Sadalias Finas must also participate in the activities of suppliers that relate to quality improvement. John and his management can organise supplier training and supplier quality improvement projects. This will be done to improve the supplier’s quality of products, services, processes and employees. Eventually this will reduce or avoid the non-value adding incoming inspection activities.

Lastly, the management of Sandalias Finas should evaluate the performance of inputs that they receive from their suppliers.

PROCESS CONTROL AND IMPROVEMENT

Sandalias Finas create value through its value chain by the delivery of sandals to its numerous customers. The company currently has a problem with its in-process inventory which is affecting its competitiveness with regard to the global market. And to improve quality and productivity levels of its products, Total Quality Management program needs to be implemented. This will require the consideration of the paternalistic culture of the Mexican employees and the manufacturing process, the organisational structure of the company.

For the successful implementation of this Total Quality Management program, the focus should be on the analysis of processes rather than functions. So to deliver improved quality to customers, the company require very good process management. A process is the transformation of a set of inputs into outputs that satisfy customer needs and expectations, in the form of products, information or services (J S Oakland Pg.11). Each process can be dissected by examining the inputs and the outputs to determine some of the actions necessary to improve quality. The outputs from a process are transferred to customers. And therefore outputs must meet the requirement of the customer. Total Quality Management implementation requires that the management of Sandalies Finas efficiently organizes the inputs, the resources and controlling the processes. In addition management must ensure that the processes used to manufacture the leather products are both stable and capable. Process capability refers to the extent to which organisation’s production system can meet design specifications. The organisation should study both the process capability and process stability and improve them if possible. Efforts should be made to reduce or eliminate piles of in-process inventory by organizing production efficiently and effectively. This is done by John creating sewing team that consists of employees from different functions-one cutter, one sewer and four other people with specialized skill.

Total Quality Management tools such as statistical process control play a major role in the adoption of continuous improvement approach (Kaizen) and their usage ensures that quality improvement process succeeds. Some of the tools are cause and effect analysis Pareto analysis, Histogram, Process Control Chart. Statistical Process Control apply statistical methods to measure and analyse variations in a process, and can be used to judge the quality to processes. The information derived can be used for process control and improvement.

PRODUCTS DESIGN

Designing quality into products such as sandals should reflect an organisation’s quality policy and also the corporate strategy, business strategy and operational strategy. Sandalias Finas can make use of approaches such as quality function deployment (QFD) which translates customer needs into the product design and interdisciplinary approach. An interdisciplinary approach requires early involvement of other disciplines such as sales, sewing, cutting and marketing etc. in making inputs to product design.

Quality function deployment is a set of tools that facilitates the building of the voice of the customer into the product design. The key aim is to ensure that the final design of the leader products actually meets the needs and expectations of customers. This technique will give priority to customer wants and needs and all the efforts of management will be focused on meeting customers’ requirements.

Lastly, Computer-Aided Design system can be used to design the prototypes of the leather products. CAD system has the ability to store and retrieve design data quickly increasing the productivity of the design process.

QUALITY SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT

The management of Sandalias Finas should have a quality manual in the pursuit of Total Quality Management implementation. This manual is a document that states its quality policy and also describes the quality system of the organisation. This document should be concise and easy to understand.

CUSTOMERS FOCUS

All the activities of Sandalias Finas must be planned and deployed to improve the processes to produce quality leather products. And this must be done with the focus on the customer and customer satisfaction. The organisation needs to put in place, a central complaint registration system, to receive various pieces of complaint information from customers. These customer complaints must be dealt with decisively, promptly and effectively. Inability to respond to customer complaints creates a negative corporate image for the organisation. The creation of this system should be seen as an opportunity by Sandalias Finas to improve the quality of leather products.

Additionally, the management of the organisation should conduct market investigation periodically, as this will help in assessing the strength and weaknesses of their products and that of competitors. Customer satisfaction surveys can also be conducted to provide regular customer feedback to keep track of the customer perception of the quality of leather products. The organisation should also use the benchmarking technique on the sandals produced as well as the processes. Benchmarking must be done with a clear focus of reducing and cost of purchasing as well as improving the quality of the product.

Lastly, the organisation should put in place a warrant system to provide assurance to its customers that the sandals is fit for use or, a kind of compensation is provided to the customer.

CONCLUSION

Once the Total Quality Management plan has been agreed upon by the key stakeholders, the top management of Sandalias Finas should show commitment and implement this plan. Continuous support from top management is needed to sustain the deployment of this plan. Effective implementation demands a good understanding of principles and concepts of the plan. To ensure the success of the deployment of the plan, sufficient resources should be provided for the entire workforce.

The implementation of the plan needs constant monitoring.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Oakland John’s, (2003), Total Quality Management Text with cases, 3rd Edition, Butterworth Heinemann Publications.

Deresky Helen, (2002), Internation Management, 4th Edition, Prentice Hall.

Development of a Total Quality Management model, (online), available at dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties, 19th March 2013.

QUESTION 2

Edger H Schein defined culture as a " A pattern of shared basic assumptions that the group learned as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems"

Cultural assumptions are often implicit beliefs adopted by virtue of upbringing in a society (www.criticalthinking.org). The assumption means that a person has values and attitudes that is unique to their cultural background. Mexican employees of Sandalias Finas are noted for the following cultural traits.

Young executive appear subservient and accepts instructions without questions.

They are not used to solving organisational problems that arise in the course of their work.

They resist change by preferring to work at one place because of their strong emotional attachment to family and friends.

Mexicans have difficulty developing problems-solving skills.

No delegation of authority as the manager is an extension of the autocratic, authoritarian father.

Middle level managers are not used to handling authority and are afraid of making mistakes.

The above observations are also supported by Geert Hofstede’s framework for assessing national cultures. He states that, Mexican culture.

Rank high on power distance – the degree to which people in a country accept that power in organisations is distributed unequally. That is, the acknowledgement of hierarchical authority and they respect the status roles.

Rank high on uncertainty avoidance- a preference for security and formality over risk. Here Mexican workers will resist change.

Rank low on individualism, preferring collectivism which values the good of the group, family or country over individual achievement. This connotes shared responsibility, moral obligation, harmony and paternalistic management.

Therefore Mexican employees are expected to behave as follows.

Workers will follow instructions, respect their managers, avoid conflict and criticism and save face. Managers make decisions, direct, control and discipline their subordinates. Most managers in Mexico prefer the authoritative and paternalistic management style.

Most of the norms, assumptions and values on which Total Quality Management is based is different from that Mexican workers.

USING SELF MANAGED TEAMS.

The complexity of most of the core processes that Total Quality Management deploys puts them beyond the purview of an individual and therefore use is made of teams to manage and improve these processes. Using self-manages teams require individual risk taking of managers to lead team initiatives, and these norms of behaviour are in sharp contrast’ to the behavioural norms of the paternalistic and hierarchical tradition of the Mexican workforce. The Mexican workers of Sandalias Finas expect the managers to give instructions and make decisions. The implementation of Total Quality Management technique will require team members to solve problems, set goals assess performance, initiate change and communicate upwards. Therefore, using self-managed teams to implement Total Quality Management contradicts the paternalistic behaviour of the Mexican culture.

CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT AND LEARNING.

Continuous improvement and learning is one of the core values and concepts of Total Quality Management. Organisations such as Sandalias Finas should relentlessly improve their processes, products and services, as well as their workforce in order to implement Total Quality Management successfully. Therefore the effective training of the workforce in the rudiments of Total Quality Management will go a long way of achieving the objectives of developing the capacity of the employees. And due to the level of education, skills of the Mexican workforce of Sandalias Finas, it then becomes difficult to achieve the objectives of the training program. Therefore, learning as one of the cultural assumption on which Total Quality Management is based will be incompatible with Mexican culture. Continuous improvement will be difficult to achieve with such a workforce due to the low level of education.

RESISTING CHANGE

Mexican workers rank high in uncertainty avoidance and therefore resist change. Total Quality Management implementation requires the changing of the organisation structure and the war Sandalias Finas does business, in other words a change in corporate culture. The focus of the implementation will be the reorganisation of manufacturing of sandals into processes and teams, instead of the original formal structures and systems that initially existed. This approach to change which demands a shift from formal structures and systems into work based on process alignment ie. Moving on to core processes. Each core process will be allocated to a team. It is this change that Mexican workers by exhibiting a high uncertainty avoidance will resist. This in effect demonstrate on incompatibility of a Total Quality Management based cultural value with Mexican culture.

From the above, Total Quality Management is based on different norms, assumptions and values that these of Mexican workers.

In conclusion, the cultural assumptions on which Total Quality Management is based is incompatible with Mexican culture due to the following Total Quality Management cultural norms.

Personal accountability

Confidence in ability

Confrontation and debate

Individual responsibility

Self-leadership

Bottom-up decision making

Taking self – initiative

These are all in sharp contrast to the following assumptions and values of the Mexican worker.

Shared responsibility

Paternalistic management

Resist change

Top-down hierarchical structure

Difficulty in developing problem-solving skills.