Assignement Total Quality Management

Assignment
TOTAL QUALITY
MANAGEMENT
Shabzada Rizwan Ahmed

Registration No 1052-214004
MBA Project Management
4th Winter Quarter 2015
PRESTON UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD
ASSIGNMENT
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
PRESTON UNIVERSITY
EMBA Program
DISTANCE LEARNING ASSIGNMENT

Quarter: Winter 2015, Deadline for Submission of Assignment: February 15, 2015
Solve all problems given below. All pages references pertain to your textbook.
Q.1
Page 19
Question # 1 -7
Q.2
Page 45
Question # 2 7
Q.3
Page 72
Question # 3 4
Q.4
Page 104
Question # 4 5
Q.5
Page 128
Question # 5 1
Q.6
Page 168
Question # 6 6
Q.7
Page 219
Question # 7 6
Q.8
Page 250
Question # 8 6
Q.9
Page 281
Question # 9 2
Q.10
Page 319
Question # 10.6
Q.11
Page 344
Question # 11. 3
Q.12
Page 372
Question # 12.2
Book: Total Quantity Management

By: Joel Ross
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ASSIGNMENT
Question No 1
Compare the Bald ridge Award criteria to the principles promoted by the Deming and
Crosby. What are the similarities and differences?
ANSWER
BALDRIDGE AWARD CRITERIA
The requirements of the Criteria for Performance Excellence are embodied in seven categories, as
follows:
1. Leadership:
The Leadership category examines how your organizations senior leaders personal actions guide and
sustain your organization. Also examined are your organizations governance system and how your
organization fulfills its legal, ethical, and societal responsibilities and supports its key communities.
2. Strategic Planning:
The Strategic Planning category examines how your organization develops strategic objectives and action
plans. Also examined are how your chosen strategic objectives and action plans are implemented and
changed if circumstances require, and how progress is measured.
3. Customer Focus:
The Customer Focus category examines how your organization engages its customers for long-term
marketplace success. his engagement strategy includes how your organization listens to the voice of its
customers, builds customer relationships, and uses customer information to improve and identify
opportunities for innovation.
4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management:

The Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management category examines how your organization
selects, gathers, analyzes, manages, and improves its data, information, and knowledge assets and how it
manages its information technology. He category also examines how your organization uses review
findings to improve its performance.
5. Workforce Focus:
The Workforce Focus category examines your ability to assess workforce capability and capacity needs
and build a workforce environment conducive to high performance. The category also examines how
your organization engages, manages, and develops your workforce to utilize its full potential in alignment
with your organizations overall mission, strategy, and action plans.
6. Operations Focus:
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ASSIGNMENT
The operations focus category examines how your organization designs, manages, and improves its work
systems and work processes to deliver customer value and achieve organizational success and
sustainability. Also examined is your readiness for emergencies.
7. Results:
The results category examines your organizations performance and improvement in all key areas
product and process outcomes, customer-focused outcomes, workforce focused outcomes, leadership and
governance outcomes, and financial and market outcomes. Performance levels are examined relative to
those of competitors and other organizations with similar product offerings.
PRINCIPLES OF DEMING
He set out his 14 points for management, which we have paraphrased here:
1. Create constancy of purpose towards improvement
Replace short-term reaction with long-term planning.
2. Adopt the new philosophy
The implication is that management should actually adopt his philosophy, rather than merely expect
the workforce to do so.
3. Cease dependence on inspection
If variation is reduced, there is no need to inspect manufactured items for defects, because there
won't be any.
4. Move towards a single supplier for any one item
5. Multiple suppliers mean variation between feed stocks
6. Improve constantly and forever
Constantly strive to reduce variation.
7. Institute training on the job
If people are inadequately trained, they will not all work the same way, and this will introduce
variation.
8. Institute leadership
Deming makes a distinction between leadership and mere supervision. The latter is quota and targetbased.
9. Drive out fear
Deming sees management by fear as counterproductive in the long term, because it prevents workers
from acting in the organizations best interests.
10. Break down barriers between departments
Another idea central to TQM is the concept of the 'internal customer', that each department serves not
the management, but the other departments that use its outputs.
11. Eliminate slogans
12. Another central TQM idea is that it's not people who make most mistakes - it's the process they
are working within. Harassing the workforce without improving the processes they use is counterproductive.
13.
Eliminate management by objectives
Deming saw production targets as encouraging the delivery of poor-quality goods.

14. Remove barriers to pride of workmanship many of the other problems outlined reduce worker
satisfaction.
15. Institute education and self-improvement
16. The transformation is everyone's job
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ASSIGNMENT
Deming has been criticized for putting forward a set of goals without providing any tools for
managers to use to reach those goals (just the problem he identified in point 10). His inevitable
response to this question was: "You're the manager, you figure it out."
PRINCIPLES OF CROSBY:
Crosby also developed a 14-point program, which is again more practical than philosophical. It provides
managers with actual concepts that can help them manage productivity and quality.
1. Management Commitment: Make it clear that management is committed to quality.

2. Quality Improvement: Form quality improvement teams with representatives from each
department.
3. Quality Measurement: Determine where current and potential quality problems lie.
4. Cost of Quality: Evaluate the cost of quality and explain its use as a management
tool.
5. Quality awareness: Raise the quality awareness and personal concern of all employees.
6. Corrective action: Take actions to correct problems identified through previous steps.
7. Zero Defect Planning Establish a committee for the zero defects program.
8. Supervisor training: Train supervisors to actively carry out their part of the quality improvement
program.
9. Zero Defect day: Hold a zero defects day to let all employees realize that there has been a change.
10. Goal setting: Encourage individuals to establish improvement goals for themselves and their groups.
11. Error-Cause removal: Encourage employees to communicate to management the obstacles they
face in attaining their improvement goals.
12. Recognition: Recognize and appreciate those who participate.

13. Quality Councils Establish quality councils to communicate on a regular basis.
14. Do-it-over-again: Do it all over again to emphasize that the quality improvement program never
ends.
Comparison of the Deming Prize and Baldrige Award

Topic
Definition of
Baldrige Award
customer-driven quality it views
Deming Prize
conformance to specifications it
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ASSIGNMENT
Quality
quality as defined by the customer
Primary Focus
Overall Approach
Types of
Organization
Orientation
Scoring Weight
customer satisfaction and quality

quality of management
promote competitiveness through
total quality management
manufacturing, service and small
business
60% result, 40% process
different weight for each criteria
Consideration
less concern
Purpose
Information
Management
Continuous of the
award
Winners
Scope
heavily concern
less concern
N/A
Japan Quality Control Medal
Maximum of two per category

U.S. firms only
All firms meeting standard

Firms for any country
1000 pages and one year working
with consultant from the union of
Japanese Scientist & Engineers
one year
Applications
$2500 and 75 pages packet
Grading time
six months
Grading Criteria
views quality as defined by the

producers
statistical quality control
management of quality
promote quality assurance through
statistical techniques
essentially private or public
manufacturing
60% process, 40% results
equal weight in 10 criteria
concern in productivity, delivery,
safety, and environment
1.
Leadership
of top-ranking managers
policy
management control system
& quality improvement
process
allocation and utilization of
resources
responsibility to society
unique and creative
leadership technique
2. Information and Analysis

utilization of analysis
technique or system
utilization of information
about product quality and
servicing quality
customer data and analysis
analysis of quality and data
of subcontractor and
1. Policy and Objectives

pursued for management
quality & QC
method of establishing
quality
justifiability and
consistency of policies
review of policies and the
result achieved
relationship between
policies and long term &
short term planning
2. Organization and its
Management
explicitness of the scopes
of authority and
responsibility
interdivisional cooperation
committees and their
activities
utilization of staff
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ASSIGNMENT
distributor or sales agent
3. Quality of Strategy Planning

operation target and strategy
target
function of planning
quality improvement plan
unique and innovative
planning for strategy
4. Utilization of Human Resource

control and operation
quality consciousness and
participation of employees
training and education
concerning quality
personnel assessment,
motivation, award system
innovative strategy
concerning utilization of
human resource
5. Quality Assurance of Product and

Servicing
reflection of customers
opinion on product and
servicing
design and development of
new product and new
servicing
measurement,
utilization of QC Circle
activities
QC diagnosis
3. Education and dissemination
education program and
results
degrees of understanding
of QC
teaching of statistical
concepts and methods
grasp of the effectiveness
of QC
QC circle activities
system of suggesting ways
of improvements and its
actual conditions
4. Collection, Dissemination and

Use of Information on Quality
collection of external
information
transmission of
information between
divisions
speed of information
transmission
data processing, statistical
analysis of information and
utilization of the results
5.
Analysis
selection of key problems
and themes
propriety of the analytical
approach
utilization of statistical
methods
linkage with proper
technology
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ASSIGNMENT
standardization, data system

engineering, audit, recording
safety, health and
sanitation, ,environment
approach to quality
assurance of product and
servicing
6. Result of Quality
Assurance of Product and
Servicing
reliability and achievement
of product and servicing
reduction of scrap, rework,
rejection, concerning product
and servicing
reduction of complaint and
claim suit concerning quality
innovative index and
economic gain for quality
improvement
6.
quality analysis, process

analysis
utilization of analytical
results
assertiveness of
improvement suggestions
Standardization
systematization of
standards
method of establishing,
revising, and abolishing
standards and their
outcome
utilization of statistical
methods
contents of the standards
accumulation of
technology
utilization of standards
7. Customer Satisfaction
quality of product and
servicing from customers
viewpoint
comparison of
competitiveness of product
and servicing
customer servicing and
countermeasure for
complaint
assurance from customers
viewpoint
technique to grasp customer
satisfaction
7. Control
system for the control of quality
and related matters
control items and control points
utilization of such statistical
control methods as control charts
and other statistical concepts
contribution to performance of QC
circle
actual conditions of control
activities
8.
8. Results
Quality Assurance
procedure for the

development of new
products and services
measurement of results
substantive results in
quality, services, delivery
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ASSIGNMENT
safety and immunity from

product liability
customer satisfaction
process design, analysis,

control and improvement
process capability
instrumentation, gauging,
testing and inspecting
equipment maintenance and

control of subcontracting,
purchasing, and services
time, cost, profits, safety

environments
9.
intangible results
measures for overcoming

defects
Planning for the Future
grasp of the present state

of affairs and the
concreteness of the plan
measures for overcoming

defects
plans for further advances
linkage with the long term

plans
Question No 2
Choose a manufacturing company and a service company. Identify a key activity for
improving quality?
ANSWER:
A Quality System is the organizational structures, processes, procedures and resources used to
manufacture pharmaceutical products in accordance with applicable regulations. This entails quality
planning, quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement for achieving consistent product
quality. The objective of a Quality System is to achieve product realization, establish and maintain a state
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ASSIGNMENT
of control and facilitate continual improvement across the different lifecycle stages. The major
components of a products lifecycle are pharmaceutical development, technology transfer, commercial
manufacturing and product discontinuation.
Key Elements to a Quality System in a manufacturing company

The elements of a Pharmaceutical Quality System, as described in International
Conference on Harmonization (ICH) Q10 Pharmaceutical Quality System Guideline, outline the effective
quality systems for the pharmaceutical industry. The systems are designed to be used throughout each
stage of the products lifecycle. The Quality System consists of these four key elements: Process
Performance and Product Quality Monitoring, Corrective Action and Preventive Action (CAPA), Change
Management, and Management Review of Process Performance and Product Quality.
1. Process Performance and Product Quality Monitoring System

A process performance and product quality monitoring system ensures that pharmaceutical companies
are operating in a state of control. The system should provide assurance that the processes and
controls produce products with safety, efficacy and quality. These systems include risk management,
statistical tools, quality control, process excellence tools, supplier/material management,
internal/external source review and validation.
An example of a process performance and product quality monitoring system are Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs). The following case study illustrates how one company benefitted from outsourcing
a quality systems assessment to determine the state of their Quality Systems.
2. Corrective Action and Preventive Action System

Once a company has a system in place that identifies and monitors gaps in its system, a systematic
approach should be taken to handle those issues. This leads us to the next element of the Quality
System, Corrective Action and Preventive Actions (CAPAs). CAPAs are the systematic investigation
of the root cause of non-conformities in an effort to mitigate the issue or prevent their recurrence. In
recent years regulatory agencies have focused heavily on CAPAs during regulatory inspections.
A company must have a robust CAPA system to ensure regulatory compliance, organizational
effectiveness and operational efficiencies. A CAPA should address areas of nonconformance and
strategies to stop issues from recurring. The three critical elements of a successful CAPA system
include development of a proper CAPA system, monitoring and analysis to ensure that the CAPA
system is compliant and performing appropriately and a continuous improvement plan to eliminate or
mitigate nonconformities or the potential of nonconformity. So how does a company develop a CAPA
system?
Developing a CAPA System
As a regulatory requirement, the CAPA process must consist of the following key elements:
Having documented procedures in place to define how an organization will track the records;
Performing an investigation to determine the root cause once a nonconformance has been
identified;
Identifying the corrective and/or preventive actions after the root cause has been determined;
Having an established and approved action plan
Implementing the action plan;
Having actions that support continuous improvement within the CAPA;
Having mechanisms in place to allow monitoring and analyzing of all CAPAs;
Completing all documentation and proper notifications;
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ASSIGNMENT
Evaluating the effectiveness of the actions performed after implementation.
These steps are vital for a CAPA System to be successful. The content of the CAPA should
address the nonconformity; the actions must be documented and recorded; and the actions should
be monitored and tracked for common root causes. The goal of the CAPA System is to show
continuous improvement within the defined processes that govern the operations of an
organization.
Monitoring and Analysis

In order to assure that the CAPA System is compliant and performing appropriately, the CAPA
System must have a monitoring process. To effectively monitor the process, a company must
select appropriate measurements to show that the corrective action always addresses the root
cause of the problem.
One way to assure that the established CAPAs are appropriate is to have KPIs in place, as noted
above in the first element of the Quality System. KPIs will alert management of the effectiveness
of the CAPAs and also determine if additional actions are needed. The running of KPIs against the
data may be a continuous or periodic process depending on the source/availability of the data. The
overall monitoring process should be routinely reviewed to assure continued suitability.
There are several tools that can be used for the measurement and analysis of the data against
established parameters. The analysis will allow a manufacturer to identify nonconformity (or
potential nonconformity), and identify areas that may need further investigation. In this way the
manufacturer is able to fully establish a preventive action process, allowing them to address a
potential problem before impacting the product. The analysis can be performed using several
methods, such as analytical tools, a team of experts or process owners.
The use of statistical tools will help the manufacturer to identify any sources of variation,
determine if the CAPA has truly remedied the problem, and potentially assist in the decisionmaking process.
Continuous Improvement
The purpose of making continuous improvements to a CAPA process is to eliminate or
mitigate nonconformity or the potential of nonconformity. There have been many observations
issued by regulatory agencies to manufacturers that state there is a failure to establish a
verification process to show the adequacy of the established CAPAs. Therefore, in order to
establish CAPAs that will address nonconformity, a strong investigation process must be
established, which includes a strong root cause analysis of the problem.
3. Change Management System.

A plausible definition for change management is the act of handling or controlling something that
passes from one state to another. Any time a change to a Quality System is being considered, there
are certain steps that must be taken in order to determine the risk involved with the change and
how it may impact the product. These steps are called the Change Management system, the third
element of the Quality System. This system ensures continual improvement is undertaken in a
timely and effective manner while providing assurance that the improvement does not adversely
affect the quality of the product. When a change is required, the change management system
should address the risk of the change, the safety, and the performance. The change management
system should include the quality risk assessment, justification for the change and a proper
evaluation by appropriate subject matter experts. After implementation, the effectiveness of the
change, and its regulatory impact, should be assessed by qualified individuals.
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ASSIGNMENT
4. IV. Management Review of Process Performance and Product Quality
The fourth element to the Quality System is Management Review of Process Performance and
Product Quality. The management review system assures the process performance and product quality
are managed properly throughout the products lifecycle and ensure that opportunities for
improvement, such as training, are identified. Regulatory inspections and audit result are evaluated in
this system as well as product quality reviews, customer complaints and CAPA effectiveness.
Regulatory agencies take a hard approach to assessing the compliance of Quality Systems within
a pharmaceutical company to ensure the safety and efficacy of the products being produced. If the
FDA determines that a company has a poor quality system in any way, they will inform that
company and the public of all the details.
Key Elements to improving Quality in a service company

Customer experience and fulfillment process
Telling your customers the kind of experience they will get when they do business with you.
Providing a friendly environment
Making your customers feel welcome and comfortable.
Understanding your customers needs
Helping your customers decide what to buy so they get the best value
Managing the sales and purchase transaction well
Handling performance problems and customer complaints well
Following up to check that customers are happy
Effective staff management
Helping staff understand the kind of experience customers are looking for
Knowing the type of person you need to hire to deliver that experience
Hiring that kind of person
Introducing new staff to your company, products, services and systems
Ensuring all staff have the skills and tools to provide a great customer experience
Understanding each employees strengths and weaknesses
Looking after your staff so they are willing and able to look after the customer
Ensuring staff understand and meet the needs of their internal customers
Managing results to drive improvement
Making customer retention your primary aim

Understanding staff performance directly affects customer retention
Monitoring the performance of your suppliers
Monitoring your companys financial performance
Using results to drive improvement
Involving staff in improving the business
Effective leadership
Having a vision, strategy and plans for your organization

Ensuring everyone in the organization shares your vision
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ASSIGNMENT
Ensuring your policies processes and procedures enable your vision.

Keeping abreast of developments in your industry and marketplace
Entering your customers world
Knowing who you want to do business with and why

Entering your customers world and learn what they value
Identifying opportunities to add value
Bringing the world of the customer into the workplace
Using what you have learned to change the way you run your business
Ensure staff put themselves in the customers shoes
Question No 3
How does information Technology affect organizational structure? Give an example of
how information Technology can facilitate TQM.
ANSWER:
Effects of IT on TQM in Organization
Top management support
The support of senior management is necessary both for the success of TQM and the introduction
of IT. Zuboff outlines how the introduction of a new IT intervention may generate some uncertainty
within the workforce and how the support of senior management is vital in maintaining the continuous
improvement process. On some occasions, the introduction of IT has created problems with the
workforce and other members of the staff (Wilson, 1994), so top management has to be very cautious in
this task and avoid contradictions between the new IT requirements and the TQM policy being followed
at the time. If IT increases management control by top management, this needs to be applied without
creating undue stress and concerns.
Customer relationship
The development of IT may help to improve relationships with customers in several ways. Barcoding, product recognition systems and electronic point of sales are in wide use and increase the
accuracy and speed of sales and lead to improved customer service. IT will also certainly enable
organizations to reach customers who are geographically remote providing opportunities, in particular,
for SMEs. Gilmore and Pine outlined how customization is also facilitated by IT. Rathnam et al. have
analyzed the utility of IT to increase the coordination amongst customer support teams. Kauffman and
Lally have developed a model to measure the benefits of customer access information technologies.
It is important that organizations understand the speed and extent of the shift to electronic
commerce conducted between businesses, homes and countries and start to put into place the means of
controlling such invisible processes. For example, companies can offer their products through the
Internet, including explanations of the characteristics of the products, and clients can procure products
and services through this means and feedback opinions about the characteristics of the products/services
through the e-mail system (some examples can be found in Chandler, 1998). The results of a study by
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ASSIGNMENT
Stone et al. (1996) indicate that in the future, customers will increasingly seek to manage the relationship
themselves; using new technologies and those companies need to prepare themselves for this.
Companies can also use these aspects of IT by undertaking customer surveys to obtain relevant
and useful information. This information can be saved in electronic databases and be used for mail shots
and targeting at specific products. However, this should not replace the actual systems of selling and
collecting of customer information. At the present, there are only a minority of the population who have
access to the Internet and amongst those who have such systems the capacity of many of hardware
systems is not sufficient to support satisfactory use due to problems such as slowness, system
compatibility, keeping the data up to date and lack of financial security. Consequently, the use of IT as a
marketing system should be considered as a complement to enrich actual systems, and not as a substitute
for existing survey methods.
IT can also lead to efficiency in market analysis since the statistical systems required for this are too
complex to apply with any degree of efficiency without computer aids. The increase in the capacity of
calculation that computers provide should be used in order to develop more complex systems of analysis
about consumers needs, expectations and behavior.
The information about customer needs and competitor's offerings is facilitated by IT. This should
be made available for employees within company databases and in this way help to make improved
decisions about new products and processes.
Supplier relationship
As is the case with customers, IT systems can help to develop improved communication links
with suppliers through systems of electronic data interchange (EDI). The electronically transmission of
data can be used to place orders, send product specifications, design details, etc., along with confirmation
of invoices and paying for suppliers. Teague et al. outline how suppliers can be involved earlier in the
design process by the use of IT. In some cases, companies can access the inventory systems of their
suppliers and place orders automatically and there can also be access to production scheduling systems.
Mukhopadhyay et al. report the considerable savings achieved by Chrysler using EDI systems between
itself and suppliers. The study of Banerjee and Sriram shows that those organizations that have
encouraged their vendors to use EDI, appear to have significantly improved organizational efficiencies.
The research of Srinivasan et al Concluded that investments in information technology to support both
the sharing of JIT schedules and the establishment of integrated information links are related to
significant reduction in the level of shipment discrepancies. Bakos and Brynjolfsson and Stump and
Sriram argue that IT speeds up of the reduction in the number of suppliers used by an organization.
Another issue touched upon in the literature is that electronic transactions and their accompanying
systems will re-configure how business organizations function and this, in turn, will impact on the
development and advancement of TQM. Consequently, the necessary IT interactions between a company
and its supplier should be analyzed in terms of how they can help the communication process between the
parties, including access to databases, systems and the necessary integration and software interfaces.
Workforce management
This is one of the areas in which IT systems have more controversial implications, in particular, in
terms of the changes in the role of shop floor employees and intermediate managers as a consequence of
increased levels of automation. Although some authors (e.g., Business Week, 1984 and Bradley, 1989)
claim that the number of levels of organizational hierarchy will decrease with the use of IT, others (Blau
et al., 1976 and Pfeffer and Leblebici, 1977) consider that IT may increase the depth of hierarchies by
reducing the delays and distortions introduced by the movement of information through the organization
levels. Pinsonneault and Kraemer (1997) found that IT was associated with a decrease in the numbers of
middle management in organizations with centralized decision authority but in organizations where
decision authority was decentralised they increased. According to writers such as Attewell and Rule
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ASSIGNMENT
(1984), Haug (1977), Wilson (1994) and Zuboff (1982), IT may also reduce job satisfaction and diminish
skill requirements by: reutilizing work, subdividing work into small, highly specialized and repetitive
tasks, subjecting humans to machine control, replacing low-level clerical jobs with high-skill professional
jobs and automating the more mundane tasks.
From this there are clear arguments both in favour and against IT applications leading to
deskilling. Zuboff (1983) and Attewell and Rule (1984) report both sides of this, and it is difficult to
determine which view predominates. There are also arguments (e.g., Walton, 1982) both in favour and
against the view that IT increases workers' autonomy. These opposing views lie in two possible
applications of IT (Eason, 1988). One of them is focused on the use of IT as an agent to control work
processes, an argument defended by Beniger (1986) and Wilson (1994). This kind of application leads to
deskilling and monitored jobs, with the usual results of higher productivity, increased control and
command, and inflexibility. The other view is focused on the use of IT as an enabling mechanism. In this
case, jobs are enriched and job satisfaction increases. The result of this is not necessarily higher
productivity (although it would be unlikely to decrease), but it is expected that performance, employee
initiative and flexibility will increase. These two kinds of IT implementation are sometimes applied
simultaneously in companies, the first type impacts on clerical staff and the second on professional staff.
If the labour required is more intellectual, autonomous and less mechanical controlled as a result
of the IT implementation, training become more important, and the content of this should reflect the new
knowledge needs. When work becomes more intellectual, the argument put forward by quality
management experts is that supervisors should function as coaches rather than giving subordinates'
orders. On the other hand, if IT implies less autonomy and intellectual challenging jobs, this conflicts
with a number of the TQM principles and practices (e.g. empowerment, trust and discretion, and team
working, in particular, self managing workgroups). In any case, IT implies a change in the training
requirements of the workforce. How organizations plan for this needs to be examined, in particular, the
new roles which will be created should be analyzed with the aim of deciding if it is necessary to design a
new organization structure.
Employee attitudes and behavior

When new systems are introduced, based on IT, some organizational restructuring is implied, and
the natural resistance of employees to this change may reduce the level of commitment to company goals
and objectives. The usual argument that IT applications will lead to a reduction in the number of
employees has its protagonists (e.g., Jonscher, 1994 and Brynjolfsson et al., 1994), but there are others
(e.g., Osterman, 1986) who claim that this may not be the case. Also, when IT implementation means
deskilling and loss of worker autonomy it is likely that motivation will decrease. Wilson (1994) describes
a situation where the conflict between the utilization of IT and the TQM program generated some illfeeling amongst management and staff because the increase of information requirements demanded by
top management through the new faster means of communications that IT enabled was contradictory with
the demand for improved customer service that TQM implies. On the other hand, when IT is used as an
enabler to eliminate boring, dirty and hazardous jobs, job satisfaction increases. In any case, the change
in workforce attitudes that may occur after the introduction of IT needs to be considered in order to
prevent a decrease in factors such as loyalty to the organization, pride in work, ability to work with
employees from other departments, job satisfaction, and stress.
A positive effect of IT is that they help to share information among different departments and
functions. However, the implementation of IT does not mean that people will be more disposed to share
information; if they think that they have reasons to believe that this will not be in their best interests then
this will not happen. A strong emphasis in the need for the sharing of information should be made if an
organization wishes to make the best use of shared databases.
Product design process

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ASSIGNMENT
The capacity to innovate increases with the use of IT, CAD technologies are a fundamental aid in
the design process because, using CAD the design of products, according to consumers needs, is faster
and the innovation can be greater. Moreover, an effective new product design and development process
requires information from different departments (production, marketing and R&D) and IT may aid the
effective and speedy transmission of this information. Hameri and Nihtila (1997) report a case study in
which the design projects involved numerous teams from various locations. Those Web-based
applications in new-product development efforts provided the effective media for communicating and
disseminating information.
IT is also useful in Design of Experiments (Mezgar et al., 1997), Failure Mode and Effects
Analysis (Webber, 1990) and QFD (Rangaswamy and Lilien, 1997 and Zhang et al. 1996). In all these
cases, IT does not change the way to apply these quality tools and techniques, but it helps to facilitate a
more complete use of all their possibilities and eases their application.
Process flow management

IT has been found useful in the task of process flow management. They assist the maintenance
function through the use of automated systems to detect the need for machine maintenance and diagnose
what needs to be done; this can be carried out at allocation remote from the machine (Dilger, 1997;
Krouzek, 1987). Automation helps to reduce process variance, because machines usually demonstrate less
variability than workers and increases the speed of production processes with a significant quality
enhancement (Freund et al., 1997). However, this does not mean that the need for quality management
disappears; on the contrary, automated machines only work with quality products (Karatsu, 1988). Both
electronic detection and signaling devices also help to reduce process variance. These types of
applications lead to the reduction and eventual elimination of a number of inspection type activities
(Litsikas, 1997).
SPC may be facilitated, through the automated measurement of product and process parameters
and the registration and processing of data (Kendrick, 1995 and Papadakis, 1990). IT can also be useful
in bridging the gap between SPC and Statistical Problem Solving (SPS) as described by Layden and
Pearson (1992). For example, Gong et al. (1997) proposed a procedure for combining an on-line sensor
and a control chart to improve statistical process control decisions.
Those companies involved in a process of quality management systems certification, such as ISO
9000 and QS-9000, now have access to a variety of software to assist them in the process of
implementation and self assessment (Ward, 1998).
These three different types of application are a clear indication of the way in which IT can help to
improve quality at a shop floor level. On the other hand, automation can imply less flexibility and this is
not in line with the TQM principles (Schonberger, 1986).
The design of processes to ensure that outcomes conform to quality requirements is a key issue
along with the control of processes in which transactions are conducted on-line. It could be that new
generations of quality control and improvement tools are required in this type of environment. Patterson
et al. (1997) provide an example of the need of new quality control and improvement tools created as a
consequence of the use of CNC machinery. In relation to this there is a need to develop appropriate
algorithms and software interfaces to evaluate the effects of process interfaces and changes to processes
and systems, prior to their implementation.
IT also enables companies to run all their global businesses on one system. They can operate the
same processes in every country and have real time data such that executives know the current state of
the business anywhere in the world (see, for example, Palvia et al., 1996 and Paxton, 1997).
Quality data and reporting

The use of IT is a fundamental skill to work with data, access to different databases is made easier
and the subsequent analysis is faster and more accurate. Organizations have to consider how to apply IT
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to facilitate the interchange of information between different departments (Lawler, 1991). Some IT
applications provide an automated means to gather, record, and act on ideas during meetings of
workgroups (Jackson et al., 1995). Information from newsgroups and listservers provided in the Internet
can also be useful aids to improve product quality (Finch and Luebbe, 1997).
The manner in which IT can help in different tasks, such as the determination and use of quality costs,
feedback of quality data to employees and managers for problem solving, providing timely quality
measurements, and improving the availability of quality-related data is an issue which has started to
surface in the literature but needs further explanation.
Role of the quality department

The role of the quality department does not have to change with the introduction of IT. It needs
the same autonomy, same access to top management and has to work with other departments in a
facilitating role. Nevertheless, its work will be made easier because these technologies assist in the
collection and analysis of data and transferring information to other departments. The quality department
in conjunction with senior management will be responsible to provide answers to questions which arise
from the implementation of IT in a TQM environment.
Benchmarking
IT can aid the Benchmarking process in a number of ways: communication with partners is made
easier, identifying best in class companies is facilitated, simulation of performance measures and gap
analysis is made available, and the internal communication of data gathered from benchmarking and of
the resulting action plans is made faster. All these new possibilities of benchmarking development that IT
facilitates should be explored.
EXAMPLE:
HR MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (HRMIS)
Benefits of HRMIS
Larger companies are integrating their separate HR systems (HRIS). An HRIS may be defined as
interrelated components working together to collect, process, store, and disseminate information to
support decision making, coordination, control, analysis, and visualization of an organizations human
resources management activities. There are many reasons for installing such a system:
1. Competitiveness,
HRIS can significantly improve the efficiency of the HR operation and therefore a
bottom line, even for mid-size Firms.
companys
2. Improve transaction processing.

HRIS packages provide computerized processing of a wider range of the firms HR transactions
than would be possible if individual systems for each HR task had to be used.
3. On-line processing making the companys employee literally part of the HRIS.
4. Improved reporting capability.
The HRIS can bump the firm up to a new plateau in terms of the number and variety of HRrelated reports it can produce.
5.
HR system integration.
Because its software components are integrated, a true HRIS enables an employer to reengineer
its entire HR function by having the IS take over and integrate many of the tasks formally carried
out by HR employees.
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HRMIS and the Internet / Intranet technology

As weve seen there is a wealth of information available on the Internet that employer and
employees can use to help them carry out their HR tasks. Many employees find that the Internet is
especially useful for searching for and finding jobs. Firms are reporting extraordinary results with their
recruitment Websites. Synchronous and asynchronous Internet-based training are two other examples of
how forms make the Internet part of their HR systems today.
Question NO 4
How can quality be reflected in the following:
1. Distribution Policy
2. Human Resources
3. Sales
4. Suppliers
ANSWER:
Distribution Policy:
To make sure the implementation of quality in distribution policy, select the distributors that
complement organizations quality edge. To select and manage the appropriate distributors following
points should be considered:
Choosing a Distributor:
In choosing a distributor, the following are a number of key steps that will help guide you.
1. Select your target market
Be very clear on which market you want to target. When doing so, take into account the strengths
of your own company. Go to understanding the market for market research tips.
2. Do your homework
They say to fail to prepare is to prepare to fail. The more homework you do and the more
information you gather, the better the chance you have of successfully choosing the right partner.
3. Talk to the trade

The experiences of others can help you in making the right choices. Talk to other manufacturers,
buyers and store managers.
4. Market research
The best way to see how a distributor handles products in the market place is to look at their
overall performance. This will also give you an idea of how your own products could fit in with
their portfolio.
5. The checklist
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Asking key questions will help you gather relevant information. Checklist:
Years in business
Sectors serviced
Coverage
Facility
Sales structure
Trade feedback
Payment terms
Sales information
Deliveries
6. Be confident
Emphasize what your company can bring to the table when in discussion with any prospective
distributor. Remember it is a partnership; so while you need a good distributor, the distributor
equally needs a good supplier.
7. Compare and contrast

In order for you to decide on your ideal partner, you need to compare the qualities of all
prospective distribution companies. A good way of doing this is a distributor comparison matrix,
which lists the key qualities of each operator.
8. Deciding on your distributor

The decision on which you should choose could be complex as some distributors will have certain
qualities that others dont have and vice versa.
One company may not have everything on your wish list. It may be necessary for you to prioritise
and make a decision on who can provide the best offering, even if they are lacking in certain
areas.
Very often, there will be very little difference between distributors and your decision will come
down to a gut feel as to who can best do the job for you.
9. The contract
This document will form the foundation of your relationship and should incorporate all the
elements required to successfully drive your business forward. It should also be a clear agreement
between both parties detailing the responsibilities and directives that each party must carry out.
Go to the manufacturer & distributor contract.
Finally as in all aspects of life including business there will always be change. It is important to
continually review your business model and adjust your goals accordingly.
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Managing a Distributor:
Now that you have chosen your distributor, the work really begins!
For the purposes of achieving maximum commercial success, both you and your distributor will need to
work hard at developing and advancing the relationship.
Some tips that will help:
Targets:
For an effective business partnership with your distributor, some form of measurement will need
to be in place with regard to sales. Having a defined set of targets is the best way of doing this.
These targets should be in agreement with the distributor and will need to be reviewed on a
regular basis. All of this should be in the contract.
Keeping control:
It is important to remember that although your distributor is your representative, you should
maintain the relationship at key account level (with the buyer). This ensures that you do not have
an over-reliance on any one distributor.
Relationship with your distributor:
Any healthy relationship requires the parties concerned to talk in order to successfully work
together as a team. It is important to keep the doors of communication open at all times, thus
allowing you to raise any issues of concern.
Weekly phone contact with distributor:

Contact should be ongoing and the development of a focused relationship with your distribution
companys account manager will help you to grow and develop your business. Ideally, contact
should be made on a weekly basis.
Weekly sales reports:

Your distributor should be providing you with weekly sales reports showing sales performance
versus targets. This report should list all the retail/foodservice outlets where your product is
currently stocked.
Quarterly review meeting:

It is vital that you review progress with your distributor once per quarter, at a formal review
meeting where sales performance and targets are compared. The objective of this meeting is to
review progress based on results achieved and to alter targets as well as overall strategy if
necessary.
Annual senior review meeting:

Equally important is the need to draw a line in the sand once per year to assess how the joint
business is progressing and to identify potential business opportunities. You will need to be
commercially minded about the partnership thus necessitating an in-depth performance review
annually.
Minimum of two full sales force meetings per year:

Your distributors sales force is effectively your sales team on the ground. You need to put
considerable effort into educating them and providing them with relevant information relating to
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your product range. This will equip them to grow sales in the marketplace. Briefings and product
tastings for reps and telesales staff can reap enormous benefits.
Minimum of one price review per year:

You must review your pricing annually as there are certain increasing costs. You will have no
choice but to pass these through to your distributor or retailer/foodservice outlet.
On the other hand, you must be perceived as efficient and be able to demonstrate to your
distributor that you have cost reduction strategies in place. These will absorb/deflect many of the
increases you get from your own suppliers creating a sense of confidence that you are only
passing on those costs that are absolutely necessary.
Remember, if you accept price increases from your own suppliers and service providers and you
do not pass these on to your distributor, you are reducing your own business profits.
Review strategy:
Despite the best efforts of both you and your distributor, sometimes sales do not materialize as
planned. You need to recognize this, and react rapidly with a new sales strategy for the product.
Additional promotions, new listings, sales force reviews, fast track NPD, etc. should all be
harnessed to re-energize the relationship and drive sales forward.
Management by walking about:

A simple policy of visiting stores and calling into a number of customers to see how your product
is performing is a great way to stay in touch and measure your distributors performance. It also
sends a strong message to the distributors team that you are fully in touch at trade level.
Human resource for Quality:

The TQM is defined as a management approach of an organization, centered on quality, based on
participation of all members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits
to all members of the organization and the society (Rao, Ashok & et al, (6)). TQM is a continuous
process of improvement for individuals, and whole organization.
To reflect the quality from Human resource following points should be

considered:
1- HR planning, recruitment, and selection
2- HR development & training
3- Compensation and benefits
4- Safety and health
5- Employee and labor relations
6- HR research
Human resources functions refer to those tasks and duties performed in both large and small
organizations to provide for the coordinate human resources. The Society of Human Resources
Management identified above mentioned six main functions.
Performing an HR audit which is the first step of a strategic human resource function. The audit examines
every major aspect of HR management and identifies strengths, weaknesses and necessary corrective
actions.
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Designing the interventions to prepare the people and the organization for the proposed change.
Providing intensive training of personnel programs in the topic of TQM methods and tools and initiating
employee involvement in TQM activity.
Creating TQM mindset through the following orientations:
The customer orientation
The process orientation
The people orientation
HR AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Impact of information systems on HR strategic management

Automating the paper work to save time and effort and to avoid the use of additional staff.
Storing data about applicants facilitates searching and selecting tasks.
Administrating of risk management by monitoring licenses, safety training, physical exams and
report deviation.
Managing the training activities to specify the organization training needs.
Upgrading expertise and skills to provide training development.
Planning and simulating the financial impact and recommending strategy changes.
Analyzing turnover causes.
Elaborating iterative planning processes by identifying a logical path and monitoring its steps
Administrating flexible-benefits that save money.
Tracking and analyzing attendance reports.
Supporting the HR planning using IS capabilities in making projection.
Analyzing accident reports that help to prevent them.
Providing all regular calculations and statistical reports that assist managers.
Supporting the strategic, tactical, and operational use of the HR of an organization.
Sales:
To reflect the quality from sales, sale forces should be:
Effective sales representatives have a style unique to their personalities, interests and experiences.
Moreover, different types of sales teams--executives, telemarketers, door-to-door representatives-will typically have different characteristics. At the same time, however, all high-performance sales
teams tend to share a few fundamental traits. Some are developed over years of experience in a
variety of social, academic and professional environments; others can be taught and learned in
quality sales workshops.
Confident
Members of an effective sales force are confident in their abilities as salesmen and in the value of
their product or service. Their confidence is evident in body language, direct eye contact,
enthusiasm and assumption of the sale. Potential clients will tend to feel persuaded to believe in
the quality and value of a product when they see the sales representative is genuinely sold on the
product.
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Organized
Organizational skills are extremely important in sales, especially when dealing with dozens of
clients with different personalities, needs and timetables. An organized sales force is punctual,
prepared for anything and on top of all accounts, goals and targets. Disorganization can result in
lost leads and sales opportunities; it can also cause a lack of preparation for sales meetings which
can offend clients and result in higher stress.
Motivated
Effective sales representatives are motivated to sell. This is due to many factors like commission
incentives; respect and recognition at the office; loyalty to the company they represent; and
perhaps most importantly, a sincere belief they are providing their clients with a product that will
benefit them in some way. Motivation and drive will help representatives maintain their energy
and enthusiasm levels, and focus their will on reaching their sales targets and professional goals.
Professional
In sales, professionalism can relate to the way you dress and take care of yourself (hygiene), the
caliber of your language, the timing of your sales calls and your ethics when dealing with clients.
An effective sales force is sharply dressed, polite and courteous, considerate of a clients time and
honest and forthright in all dealings. To hire sales representatives not exemplifying these attributes
is to do your product and company a complete disservice.
Solution-Oriented
Effective sales representatives see challenges, not problems, and never let a challenge stop them
from reaching a professional goal. When they run into a challenge, they are motivated to look for
solutions instead of getting discouraged and frustrated. This characteristic is especially important
for sales leaders who are looked to for support and guidance.
Enthusiastic
High-performance sales teams are enthusiastic. They exhibit positive energy that is infectious; this
helps them disarm tough customers and increase their sales numbers
Suppliers:
The new age mantras of any business today are the customer knows best and the customer is always
right. Businesses have grown and fallen because of the all important customer. While the customer is
king, and businesses are geared towards serving their customers in every way possible, without a good
supplier or supplier chain to sustain the business, the customer base will fast disappear.
Hence the key to running and managing a business successfully means that you have a strong customer
base and a stronger supplier base. So how do you decide if a supplier is good and trustworthy?
Before answering that, let us begin with first understanding what defines a good supplier.
A good supplier is one who can meet all customer expectations, with respect to delivery time, quality of
goods and dependability.
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Therefore it is logical to infer then that a good supplier is one who meets theses qualities. However while
the laws of commerce have remained relatively simple, the demands and expectations of the customer
keeps evolving. And hence the role of the supplier has changed as well. Keeping in mind the expectations
of the customer, the following list contains seven key characteristics of a good supplier:
Timely delivery:
A good supplier is someone who keeps up to timely delivery of goods and supplies. Delayed
supplies leads to business losses to the immediate customer and in turn delayed delivery to the
end customer. This also opens up avenues for other secondary systems like buffer inventories to
keep the chain going in addition to increasing overall costs.
Constant frequency of delivery (daily basis):

If a supplier can keep to supplying goods at constant and smaller frequencies, then the cost
advantage is supplemented. Meaning, if a product or part is found to be defective, then the time
spent in replacing it is minimal as opposed to having to replace a whole carton or shipment of that
item since the delivery is frequent and the supply chain is actively functioning. This is not only
cost effective but is also a time and space saver.
Reasonable price:
Business owners and suppliers add the cost of purchasing materials for a product into its retail
price making it costlier. A reduction in this cost will lead to a reduction in the cost of the product
as well.
Minimal paper work:

From the placing of an order to the actual buying of an order involves a ton of paper work. A
good supplier will find ways of reducing the amount of paper work involved.
Quick response/ turnaround time:

The world of business is highly unstable, and often the gap between demand and supply can be
hard to predict. A good supplier will always be prepared to meet such a contingency. Again a
frequent and smaller quantity of supplies is the key to eliminating this gap.
Inspection of goods:
Inspection of goods is a time consuming activity for both the supplier and the buyer. However
quality assurance of the goods can again reduce the time spent on inspecting the goods.
Taking care of wear and tear and transport damage:

Transportation and delivery often involves a lot of wear and tear and a good supplier is someone
who recognizes these limitations and takes proactive steps to help reduce or avoid the damage
involved.
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The importance of a good supplier cannot be undermined and it can be said then that a business is
as good as its suppliers.
Question No 5
Would a quality improvement program based on process control be more appropriate for
employee involvement than a system based on traditional production methods? If so,
Explain why.
ANSWER:
Employee involvement is very important in any TQM initiative and quality improvement
program, as it is a system wherein employees are encouraged to use their expertise and knowledge to
suggest methods for improvements in their work areas. These suggestions could relate to improvements
in the job, the product, the work atmosphere or the company as a whole. Many companies have ventured
into a participation-style of management by involving employees in the problem solving and decision
making processes.
Some of the most successful companies are those that have achieved a close
relationship between workers and the managers. The policies in these companies
fostered teamwork, participation, continuous learning and flexibility.
Changing an organization from a strict top-down hierarchy to one that engages employees at all
levels to make decisions is not an easy thing to do- it involves not only structure and policy changes but
also cultural change, which takes time, effort, and expertise. That being said, organizations from every
industry are applying the concepts of employee involvement to drive the continual improvement of their
processes and performance.
The most important differences between the traditional approach and Systems Approach relate to the
following components:
establishing program goals,
employee involvement,
use of quality management tools, and
Implementing and integrating solutions.
Typically, the traditional approach to process improvement considers a particular option for each project
based on the results of a feasibility study that considers only a few alternative solutions. By contrast, the
Systems Approach typically considers more than 20 alternative solutions that are generated by using the
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quality management tools. It is root cause analysis that makes this possibleand root cause analysis is
rarely used in the traditional approach.
The Systems Approach uses systems thinking to link the process improvement projects that are
selected, and to leverage their lessons learned to every other aspect of the system that can use this
information. This differs from the traditional approach, which tends to be project-focused: Once one
project has been completed, the next project is startedtypically with little attempt to apply the lessons
learned from the previous project.
Typically, the traditional approach operates with a determined top-down style. Employees are rarely
involved in the selection and planning of process improvement projects.
In the Systems Approach, employees are directly involved in verifying the validity of hierarchical process
maps and in identifying opportunities for improving the process. Management then selects the particular
opportunities that are consistent with current business conditions and assigns employee teams to each
project.
The employee teams then use quality management tools to prepare draft action plans that management
approves for implementation.
Once management agrees to provide resources for a process improvement project, the employees will be
held accountable for its success. If management does not provide the resources or fails to provide proper
oversight, employees are not held accountable. This provides a proper balance of bottom-up and topdown management that should help the program to be more successful.
Question No 6
Explain the benefits of Just-in-Time (JIT).
ANSWER:
Just in time (JIT)
JIT is a production strategy that strives to improve a business return on investment by reducing inprocess inventory and associated carrying costs. To meet JIT objectives, the process relies on signals
or Kanban between different points in the process, which tell production when to make the next part.
Kanban are usually 'tickets' but can be simple visual signals, such as the presence or absence of a part on
a shelf. Implemented correctly, JIT focuses on continuous improvement and can improve a manufacturing
organizations return, quality, and efficiency. To achieve continuous improvement key areas of focus
could be flow, employee involvement and quality.
Benefits;
Reduction of direct and indirect labor cost by eliminating extraneous activities

Reduction of floor space and warehouse space per unit of output
Reduction of setup time and schedule delays as the factory becomes a continuous production
process
Reduction of waste, rejects, and rework by detecting errors at the source
Reduction of lead time due to small lot sizes, so that downstream work centers provide
feedback on quality problems
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Better utilization of machines and facilities

Better relation with suppliers
JIT Allows Customization and Increase Customer Satisfaction
Better plant layout
Better integration of and communication between functions such as marketing, purchasing,
and production
Quality control built into process
Question No 7
How would you establish a system to measure customer satisfaction?
ANSWER:
There are two basic steps in a measuring system:
1. Develop key indicators that drive customer satisfaction
2. Collect data regarding the perceptions of quality received by customers
Key Indicators
Key indicators of customers satisfaction are what the company has chosen to represent quality in its
products and services and the way in which these are delivered. The building blocks that the system
designed to track key indicators are expectations of customers and company perceptions of customers
expectations.
The range of key indicators depends of services or products provided by the company. Some important
key indicators suggested are as under;
Outcome
Timeliness of service
Satisfaction
Dependability
Reputation of the provider
Friendliness / Courteousness of employees
Safety / Risk of the service
Billing / invoicing procedure
Responsiveness to requests
Competence
Appearance of the physical facilities
Approachability of the service provider
Location and access
Respect for customer feelings / rights
Willingness to listen the customer
Honesty
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Ability to communicate in clear language
These indicators, if appreciate and addressable, are converted to action items that reflect specific delivery
systems where product or service meets the customers.
For example, in a bank customer needs and systems would combine to deliver short teller lines, friendly
and courteous staff, ATMs that work, and low fees on account.
Data Collection
Data collection is required in order to identify the needs of customers and the related problems of process
delivery. The data gathering process surveys both customers and employees. By including employees,
customers needs and barriers to service can be identified, as well as the recommendations for process
improvement. Different orientations are emphasized for customers and employees;
The former are asked for their expectations and latter are asked what they think customer expects.
Question No 8
Select an industry and list three or four key success factors (e.g., Advertising,
Distribution, Engineering and Sales) for that industry. Which firm in your opinion, would
be appropriate to benchmark?
ANSWER:
Success in the fast food industry requires mastery of different parameters than fine dining.
Customers who go to a fast food business are looking for speed, convenience and predictability rather
than a memorable dining experience. Fast food entrepreneurs who understand this can master these
elements of the business and perhaps make a profit.
Branding
McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and KFC are examples of extremely successful fast-food
branding. Their signs, logos and slogans are recognizable around the world. Fans of fast food like
predictability, and they want to know exactly what they are going to get before they go through the doors,
according to the website Customer Service Zone. By providing consistent, easily recognizable and simple
branding, a business reassures customers that nothing has changed. Simple slogans that lodge themselves
in the brain are repeated endlessly on television and radio commercials, ensuring that when customers see
the fast food outlet, they are primed to respond because the brand is already "inside" of them.
Location:
Fast food is about convenience, so to be successful a fast food outlet should be located in a high-traffic
area, according to the website Biplanes. Fast food isn't considered a destination; customers won't travel
into the countryside for a bag of fries in the same way that they would for a special restaurant experience.
By locating outlets in shopping malls and on busy commercial strips, fast food companies gain business
and impulse purchases from customers who had no preplanned patronage of the restaurant.
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Speed:
Fast food that lives up to its name gains more business than fast food that is actually slow. Many people
grab fast food on the way to work or to another destination. The reason that drive-through windows are
popular is that people don't even want to take the time to get out of the car. The faster a restaurant can
deliver the ordered food, the happier the customer is. Setting up efficient and standardized kitchens and
focusing on foods that can be cooked quickly are two of the ways that McDonald's became so successful
in this competitive industry, according to Business Week.
Efficiency:
Fast food restaurants run on thin profit margins and make their money by selling lots of product,
according to the website Street Directory. In this commercial environment, functioning efficiently is
critical. This means minimizing food waste, hiring help at minimum wage and benefiting from economies
of scale when purchasing supplies. Every dollar that is unnecessarily spent on operations is a dollar
subtracted from profits. Because of high employee turnover in the industry, training regimens for new
employees need to be standardized, rapid and effective.
Best Practices Companies which can be selected for benchmarking

Company
Function
American Airlines
American Express (Travel
Services)
AMP
Benetton
Disney World
Dow Chemical
Emerson Electric
Federal Express
General Electric
HP
Honda
GTE
IBM
3M
Information system (long time)

Billing
Supplier Management
Advertising
Optimum Customer Experience
Safety
Asset Management
Delivery Time
Management Process
Order fulfillment
New Product Development
Fleet Management
Productivity
Technology Transfer
Question No 9
Define the concept of synergism. How does organization around the principles of TQM
tend to integrate the organization and achieve synergism?
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ANSWER:
Synergism:
A synergy is where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it
means that the effect of the whole is greater than the sum of the effects of the individual parts. Although
the whole will be greater than each individual part, this is not the concept of synergy. If used in a business
application it means that teamwork will produce an overall better result than if each person was working
toward the same goal individually.
How does organization around the principles of TQM tend to integrate the
organization and achieve synergism?
In any product design quality and quality management process, the main driving factor is the
engineers with their experience, inherent faults-mistakes and competence. The quality management
system is called forth to help them to find a way to avoid human shortcomings. At first sight it seems that
in case of quality assurance we have to choose between two classical ways--either the prescriptive/
administrative or the descriptive/case-based approach. In fact, there should be an interactive and adaptive
environment between them. The successful separation of human and technical aspects at the design and
application of systems atomization opens up new possibilities to move ahead on the way of the synergybased approach to quality assurance in the framework of TQM. By integrating the technology of
Dependency (Design) Structure Matrixes (DSM) and the Theory of Domains it is possible to include time
and competence dimensions in quality assurance. In other words, it is possible to develop a family of
adaptive tools based on the level of competence and expert knowledge of the team and to synthesize their
own roadmap algorithm to move ahead on the way of synergy-based quality assurance [3]. The proposed
model makes it possible to take into account both "soft" parameters of integration--market conditions and
human aspects.
In the business environment, synergy occurs when two or more businesses or resources come together to
make a greater impact than they would separately. In his "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,"
author Stephen R. Covey lists synergy as one of them and notes that "two heads are better than one." As a
small business owner, you can use synergy in your workplace to enhance your business.
Integrate Writer and Designer Teams:

Creative agencies help businesses create messages that inform, persuade or remind potential or existing
customers about the products and services they offer. These messages typically involves the use of words
and images, which ensure the message is appropriately delivered to the target market. Agencies pair
writers and designers, and encourage them to work closely to to create cohesive marketing messages that
resonate with the company's target market. They may create a website, brochure, sales
sheet or poster. Synergy exists as the pair merges talents to create a final piece.
Send Email Cross-Promotions
Businesses use email marketing to connect with their customers. They send information on product
launches, announce sales and introduce customers to new employees. Businesses can leverage their email
marketing efforts by doing cross-promotions with non-competing firms that share similar target markets.
For example, a tutoring company can promote a school supply stores' products, while the school supply
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company can promote the tutoring company. Businesses can cross-promote through email marketing,
print advertising, social media, commercials, their websites and company signage.
Display Products In-Store
A business owner who doesn't have a storefront might form a strategic partnership with another business
with a similar target market that does have a storefront. For example, a handbag designer might feature
her merchandise inside a purse boutique, while area artists may commission their artwork to local
restaurants that need decor. In these situations, both parties work together to promote each others'
products and services.
Co-Host Events Together:

As a small business owner, you can partner with other small businesses that offer complementary
services. Both businesses benefit since you share a similar target market and understand the buying
behaviors of that market. For example, a bridal consultant can co-host a bridal showcase for area brides
by teaming up with a wedding cake decorator or popular wedding venue. Both hosts can use their
resources to plan and promote the event, potentially attracting a larger audience.
Schedule Brainstorming Meetings:

Employers gather employees for brainstorming meetings to solicit ideas on everything from proposed
colors or flavors for a product to devising creative ways to promote products and services through social
media. By working as a team, the employees can produce a longer list of diverse ideas.
Participate in Co-Blogging:
Employers and their employees use blogging to communicate and connect with their customers, but they
also can use blogs to connect with potential hires. Summer interns can co-blog discussing their
experiences at a company. By working together to create posts and ideas for the blog, the blogging team
is using synergy that would not exist if members established individual blogs. The combination of the
two or more individuals' ideas paints a broader picture of the organization for which they are working.
Question No 10:
List three of the five ways to improve the productivity rate of input to output, and identify
a specific action that could be taken to achieve the improvement.
ANSWER:
1. Managing Growth
It is more positive approach but growth without productivity improvement is fat. The improvement
may suggest an investment or cost addition, but the investment must return more than the cost, thus
increasing the ratio. Capital and technological improvements, system design, training, organization
design, and the development are among the many ways to manage growth while improving
productivity and quality. The approach does not necessarily mean additional investment in capital
improvement. It can also mean reducing the amount of input per unit of output during the growth
period. This may be termed cost avoidance.
2. Working Smarter
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Working smarter means more output from the same input, thus allowing increase in sales or
production with the same gross input and lower unit cost. Many companies think that working
smarter means putting a freeze on budgets while expecting a higher level of output. Although this
may be necessary as a stopgap measure, it is hardly a rational course of action to improve
productivity over the longer term. Better ways of improving this ratio might be getting more output
by reducing manufacturing cost through product design, improving processes, or getting more
production from the same level of raw materials by increasing inventory turnover.
3. Paring Down
It is similar to cost reduction, expect that as sales or production is off, input should be reduced by a
proportionately larger amount, thus increasing the ratio. This productivity improvement can
frequently be achieved through sloughing off. In many organizations there are many more
opportunities that are generally realized to reduce marginal or unproductive facilities, employees,
customers , products or activities.
Specific action that can improve productivity
Improve assembly output by 30 percent by reducing the excessive number and types of
fasteners
Reduce repetitive downtime of machines by problem solving
Set material standards and reduce rework by 10 percent
Improve clerical costs from by 30 percent by avoiding duplication with adequate work
procedures
Reduce labor cost by training technicians to replace engineers
Question No 11
What is the justification for Philip Crosbys claim that Quality is Free?
ANSWER:
The essence of Crosby's quality philosophy is embodied in what he calls the Absolutes of Quality
Management and the Basic Elements of Improvement.
Crosby's Absolutes of Quality Management are as follows:
Quality means conformance to requirements not elegance.

Crosby dispels the myth that quality is simply a feeling of "excellence." Requirements must be clearly
stated so that they cannot be misunderstood. Requirements are communication devices and are ironclad.
Once a task is done, one can take measurements to determine conformance to requirements. The
nonconformance detected is the absence of quality. Quality problems become nonconformance problems
that is, variation in output. Setting requirements is the responsibility of management.
There is no such thing as a quality problem.

Problems must be identified by the individuals or departments that cause them.
There are accounting problems, manufacturing problems, design problems, front-desk problems, and
so on. Quality originates in functional departments, not in the quality department, and the burden of
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ASSIGNMENT
responsibility for such problems lies with the functional departments. The quality department should
measure conformance, report results, and lead the drive to develop a positive attitude toward quality
improvement. This is similar to number 3 of Deming's Points.
There is no such thing as the economics of quality:

It is always cheaper to do the job right the first time. Crosby supports the premise that
"economics of quality" has no meaning. Quality is free. What costs money are all the actions that involve
not doing jobs right the first time. The Deming Chain Reaction provides a similar message
Quality is free. It's not a gift, but it is free. What costs money are the unquality things - all the actions that
involve not doing jobs right the first time."
The naive view of quality is that you can sacrifice it as one of the Four Variables to achieve more of one
of the others -- time, cost, or scope. In reality, improving quality up to some threshold typically results in
less time, less cost, and more scope. Beyond that, it begins costing again. Maybe there is a Quality
Elbow?
"Quality is Free" stands in contrast to the conventional wisdom that you achieve quality by testing and
throwing out or fixing defects. With that model, you achieve quality by testing, fixing and discarding
more -- at higher cost. The newer model is to do it right the first time: If you don't put the defects in, then
you don't have to pay to find and remove them.
One tactic for achieving this level of quality is to Code Unit Test First.
This is a possibility, but that is assuming you are using testing as the determination that a piece of code or
a system meets requirements. For designs, documentation, and code I far prefer the Fagan Defect Free
Process to testing of any kind. MARTY SCHRADER.
I believe that quality, for all practical purposes, never takes longer or costs more than non-quality.
Working without the quality-generating behaviors will hurt us in a matter of weeks or days, not a matter
of months. RON JEFFRIES
Generally speaking, I think good code takes longer to "write" (read that literally as "type into the editor"!)
than crummy code, but you get that time back quickly because testing goes faster, and there's less
debugging. This is more obvious with the continual testing of XP, while in a waterfall scene, it's easy to
miss. BCHAMBLESS
So low quality will in general come back to hurt you before the release. That is, before you get the pay-off
from any time saved. -- JOHANNESBRODWALL
8"Quality is not only free, it is an honest-to-everything profit maker. Every penny you don't spend on
doing things wrong, over, or instead becomes half a penny right on the bottom line. In these days of 'who
knows what is going to happen to our business tomorrow' there aren't many ways left to make a profit
improvement. If you concentrate on making quality certain, you can probably increase your profit by an
amount equal to 5 to 10 percent of your sales. That is a lot of money for free."
Question No 12
Compare the standards of ISO 9000 with those of the Baldrige Award.
ANWER:
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ASSIGNMENT
Similarities
First, it should be said that there are generally more similarities than differences between ISO 9001
and Baldrige. They are aligned with generally similar objectives for the organizations that employ
them, and we could find no areas where implementation of requirements from one document would
conflict with implementation of actions that are responsive to criteria in the other document.
Additionally, systems based on either document will tend to ensure that organizations identify and
meet their customers requirements and expectations.
Additionally, both the ISO 9001 requirements and the Baldrige criteria are accompanied by a
significant amount of elaborative and guidance information that can help the users of the documents
understand the underlying concepts, integrate their implementation, and move beyond basic
compliance. This guidance is provided in portions of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance
Excellence booklet other than the specific criteria enumeration, such as the Core Values, Concepts,
and Framework; Category and Item Descriptions; and Criteria Response Guidelines. For the ISO
9000 system, such guidance appears in ISO 9004:2000, Quality management systems Guidelines
for performance improvements.
Very strong alignment is seen between Baldrige Category 6 (Process Management) and the
requirements portion (clauses 4 through 8) of ISO 9001. Conversely, aspects of ISO 9001
clauses 7 and 8 (Product Realization and Measurement/Analysis/Improvement,
respectively) are reflected throughout the Baldrige criteria.. Areas of strong
overlap include product, service, and support process design, delivery,
measurement, and continuous improvement. Although approaches to supply
chain management differ, both documents address this subject as well.
Systems based on either document will involve internal, self-assessments against the criteria or
requirements, a key component of a culture of continual improvement.
Finally, both documents specify their requirements or state their criteria in terms of what should be
achieved or what conditions should be established, without dictating how to do so, leaving detailed
implementation to the using organization.
Differences
Several of the observable differences in the two systems arise from the fact that they exist for
different purposes. The Baldrige criteria are primarily intended to guide an organization in preparing a
written application to be considered for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, while ISO
9001 is a standard against which an organizations quality management system is assessed for
certification purposes. These differences create some notable contrasts.
One of the most apparent differences between the two documents, arising from their differing
purposes (and related evaluation processes), can be seen in the Baldrige category calling for results to
be enumerated and reported in a specific portion of an award application. ISO has no comparable
content, but does not need such a stand-alone requirement for reporting results. Because applications
for the Baldrige award are evaluated, at least initially, by examiners who do not visit the applicants
location, there is a need for qualitative and quantitative results from the applicants business system to
be included in their application.
However, since ISO conformance is evaluated by assessors who visit an organizations location to
directly observe the functioning of the organizations quality system, levels and trends in metrics
(results) used to monitor the organizations performance can be observed in real time. Therefore,
no separate, written enumeration of those outcomes is needed for ISO. So, even though this
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ASSIGNMENT
distinct difference exists (as illustrated in Figure 5 by the lack of correlation of Baldrige Category
7 with ISO 9001), there is no real significance to this difference.
Another difference arises from the differing purposes of the two documents and can be seen in the
style of the two documents. The Baldrige criteria, being criteria for an award, are phrased in the form
of questions to be considered and answered. ISO 9001, as a certification standard, states specific
requirements to be met, thereby aligning more strongly with other requirements-based, conformanceoriented systems such as Department of Energy Order 414.1A and ANSI/ASME NQA-1.
Individual, topical contrasts between Baldrige and ISO include the following:
In ISO 9001, the role of senior leaders in crafting, implementing, and supporting the
quality management system is clearly established, but ISO has few other
leadershipspecific criteria. Baldrige calls for leadership actions in directing all of an
organizations systems, including setting its vision, values, and objectives,
developing strategic plans, and supporting an ethos of social
responsibility.
Regarding customer knowledge and satisfaction, ISO focuses very
strongly on knowing customer requirements for the product/service,
with clear focus on achieving customer satisfaction. Baldrige also
stresses knowledge of customer requirements and is concerned with a
wider range of customer satisfaction information, including means for
customer access to the organization, complaint management, and
segmentation of customer information for analysis, as well as with
customer relationship development. Additionally, Baldrige addresses
using information about both competitors and comparable
organizations.
Regarding management use of information and data, ISO emphasizes the quality assurance
functions of process monitoring, verification of product/service characteristics, and
tracking customer satisfaction, plus use of data for improvement. Baldrige addresses those
uses of data, and includes criteria about ensuring the integrity, accuracy, and availability of
data, as well as the capture, consolidation, and dissemination of organizational knowledge.
In the area of Human Resources, ISO is concerned with adequacy of employee
competency in their work functions; Baldrige is concerned with that plus future
development of employees and their well-being and satisfaction, as well as the
organization and management of work systems in general.
Although it is not apparent from the content of ISO 9001 and the Baldrige criteria, a notable
difference between the two documents appears in the respective processes by which
organizations quality systems are evaluated and the sustainability of the resulting quality
management systems.
Both processes involve internal, self-assessments against the criteria or requirements; the
Baldrige evaluation then includes a critical review of the descriptive content of a written
award application by a group of independent examiners, while ISO certification involves
an in-depth on-site audit of an organizations quality management system.
The education, experience, and training required of Baldrige examiners and ISO assessors,
while demanding and rigorous in both cases, differ in detail.
The Baldrige award process includes a site visit for a few award finalists each year; every
organization that seeks ISO certification experiences an on-site audit conducted by
rigorously accredited auditors.
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ASSIGNMENT
Additionally, ISO certification evaluation is periodically and systematically repeated over

time for maintenance of certification; a Baldrige award evaluation is a one-time event.
As a result, the gains achieved in pursuing ISO certification are inherently more sustainable than those for
a Baldrige application, unless the organization is highly disciplined in maintaining their quality system.
Table, below, summarizes the similarities and differences described above
Table Summary Comparison of ISO 9001-2000 and the Baldrige Criteria

for Performance Excellence
Characteristic or
Area of Comparison
Effective as precursor for ISO
Certification?
Effective as precursor for
Baldrige levels of
performance?
ISO 9001
Baldrige
N/A
Not very effective
Yes
N/A
Explanatory, elaborative
information beyond basic
document
ISO 9004:2000, Quality

management systems
Guidelines for performance
improvements
Other portions of the Baldrige

Criteria booklet
Internal self-assessment
Required
Basic purpose
A standard for certification
Objective
Style
Type of external evaluation
On-site evaluation
Role of organization leaders
Increased customer
confidence
in your product/service
Specifies requirements to be
met
On-site audit by qualified
assessors
For every organization,
repeated semi-annually
Focused on establishing and
Supporting the quality mgmt.
system
Customer focus
Strongly oriented on meeting

customer requirements and on
customer satisfaction
Use of data and information
For production monitoring,
Implicit, for application

preparation
A guide for preparation of an
award application
Organizational/business
performance excellence
Poses questions to be
considered and answered
Evaluation of a written
application by selected,
trained examiners
For a very few award
candidates, once
Emphasizes directing and
leading all aspects of the
organization
Similar orientation on
knowledge of customer
requirements, Customer
relationship management,
Analysis of customer
information
The ISO uses, plus business
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ASSIGNMENT
product characteristics
verification, customer
satisfaction, supplier
performance
Human resource focus
Employee competency
Sustainability of performance
excellence
Most appropriate level of
application
Implicit, due to semi-annual

assessments
Either at corporate level or at
lower levels
results, organization
effectiveness results, and
management of org.
knowledge
Employee competency,
development, and well-being
No inherent mechanism
Corporate level or major
operating-element level
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Shabzada Rizwan Ahmed

PRESTON UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD

DISTANCE LEARNING ASSIGNMENT

Book: Total Quantity Management

MBA Project Management

4. Measurement, Analysis, and Knowledge Management:

MBA Project Management

Eliminate management by objectives

Deming saw production targets as encouraging the delivery of poor-quality goods.

MBA Project Management

1. Management Commitment: Make it clear that management is committed to quality.

12. Recognition: Recognize and appreciate those who participate.

Comparison of the Deming Prize and Baldrige Award

MBA Project Management

quality as defined by the customer

customer satisfaction and quality

Japan Quality Control Medal

Maximum of two per category

All firms meeting standard

$2500 and 75 pages packet

views quality as defined by the

2. Information and Analysis

1. Policy and Objectives

3. Quality of Strategy Planning

4. Utilization of Human Resource

5. Quality Assurance of Product and

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4. Collection, Dissemination and

standardization, data system

quality analysis, process

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procedure for the

safety and immunity from

process design, analysis,

equipment maintenance and

time, cost, profits, safety

measures for overcoming

Planning for the Future

grasp of the present state

measures for overcoming

plans for further advances

linkage with the long term

Key Elements to a Quality System in a manufacturing company

1. Process Performance and Product Quality Monitoring System

2. Corrective Action and Preventive Action System

Developing a CAPA System

MBA Project Management

Monitoring and Analysis

3. Change Management System.

MBA Project Management

Key Elements to improving Quality in a service company

Effective staff management

Managing results to drive improvement

Making customer retention your primary aim

Having a vision, strategy and plans for your organization

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Ensuring your policies processes and procedures enable your vision.

Entering your customers world

Knowing who you want to do business with and why

MBA Project Management

Employee attitudes and behavior

Product design process