Incorporating Quality Through Business Excellence Models - Case Study Example

Incorporating Quality Through Business Excellence Models In an organization, employees, individually or as part of a team, will accomplish their allocated tasks under the supervision of a leader. While accomplishing the tasks, employees have to take extra care not to compromise on the quality. Quality is the key aspect because any organizational process, which are completed without the expected quality will be abhorred by the intended customers, leading to problems for the organization. This is where Total Quality Management (TQM) comes into the picture. TQM is the management function, which should be incorporated in all the processes that will happen in an organization. Furthermore, if Excellence is inbuilt into that TQM, then there will be optimal quality in all the processes, making organization’s every initiative a successful endeavour. So, this paper by focusing on the “Excellence Models” from the perspective of TQM, will discuss how excellence can be managed optimally in an organization with the leader playing the optimal role. According to princeton.edu, Excellence can be defined as the “quality of excelling and also possessing good qualities of highest degree”. The term gives the same meaning when analyzed from the organizational perspective as well. That is, when the organization manufactures products or offers services, during that process, they have to incorporate quality in every level. Only if quality is incorporated at every level, the product or service will be of optimal quality, when it reaches the intended clients. Otherwise, the clients can find out the deficiency in quality in the initial stages or later, and surely it will be disliked by them. While trying to achieve that expected quality, organizations in many sectors will also or should also try to achieve excellence. This standard or level of excellence could be some thing that is set by the organization themselves or by certain external agencies focusing on quality testing and certifications. Thus, if the organizations following its own quality standards or external standards, achieve excellence in quality, it can maximally reach the ‘minds’ of the customers. When they entice the minds, they can ‘make’ the customers use their hands to buy the product or utilize the services. This focus on client regarding quality was stated by Zafirovski, “Quality is ensuring everything we do has the customer in mind... Quality is about building reputation, performance and an attitude of winning in everything we do.” Total Quality Management was first introduced by the Egyptians in the 1420’s. The root of TQM originated in the 1920’s, from Quality Control ideas in manufacturing, which were developed in various industries of Japan particularly the automobile industries in the late 1940 and 1950’s. In addition, TQM resulted from the research and contributions of quality experts including W. Edwards Deming, Joseph Juran and others. Thus, TQM had its origination in 1950's and has steadily become an integral component of any Organisation’s functioning since the early 1980's. “From the original statistical ideas of Deming (1986) and Juran (1974), the rhetorical TQM has exploded into a broadly used, ambiguous term with unclear Organisational implications - save that it presumably improves an Organisation” (Zbaracki 1998, p.603). Thus, as mentioned above, this state of quality or excellence could be some thing that is set by the organisation themselves or by certain external agencies The leader or the management team should always put a lot of emphasis on the concept of TQM, to provide a quality end product or service to the customer. TQM is “an approach to management embracing both social and technical dimensions aimed at achieving excellent results, which needs to be put into practice through a specific framework.” (Bou-Llusar et al. 2009). When this TQM process is adopted and implemented by the organizations to accentuate quality, they in way will try to reach “excellence”. That is, while implementing TQM, organizations and its management will make the departments and employees to follow certain set of guidelines during the various organizational processes to achieve excellence. These guidelines to achieve excellence will be set on the basis of Excellence models. “Frameworks to guide your organisation towards achieving success exist in various forms across the world -- we call these Excellence Models” (excellencemodels.org). This was further expanded by Wiele (2000) who stated that there were various international, national and regional quality awards or standards, based on the Excellence Models and this has increased the use of self-assessment methods with the aim of optimizing the business performance The EFQM Excellence Model, followed by the European organizations, is now the most widely used organisational framework in Europe, becoming the basis for the majority of national and regional Quality Awards (Srdoc et al. 2005). Another important model is the “4P” model, which can be used for achieving organizational excellence (OE) (Dahlgaard-Park, 1999). The “basic assumption behind the model is that OE is a result of building excellence into the following “4P” – people, partnership, processes and products” (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2007, p.372). As mentioned above, various countries have also formulated excellence models like the American model called The “Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence framework”, Australia’s “Australian Business Excellence Framework”, “The Japan Quality Award’s assessment criteria”, etc. Although, all these models have different originations and allegiances, these models including European centric EFQM sets mostly similar standards of excellence. That is, all these models, without any major differences, stipulate similar standards for the organizations to follow to maximize their excellence in quality. So, excellence in quality can be achieved as well as managed optimally in the favour of the organizations, if the organizations follow certain standards based on the Excellence models. Excellence can be managed optimally, only if the leader firstly imbibes it, in his/hers own functioning. Then only, he/she can set example and imbue it in the employees. If the leaders follow set standards or excellence models regarding quality, they can “seduce” the employees to follow the same quality standards of the excellence model. “He had to seduce the employees into a situation in which they had no choice but to rethink their identity” (Schein, 2004, p.306). This aspect of how the leader should lead the way and thereby optimize the employees output was further validated by Rockefeller (1996), “Good management consists in showing average people how to do the work of superior people”. So, leaders’ behaviours will largely determine if core values regarding many issues particularly TQM “will be diffused and will become a part of the organizational culture” (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 1999). Former Xerox’s MD David Kearns did exactly this, when its products particularly photocopying machines faced a downslide in sales, due to quality issues and also due to lack of input from the employees. He once opined that “We are determined to change significantly the way we have been doing business, particularly the way the employees are functioning” (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2007, p.376) When prospective employees are being recruited, they need to be checked to know their affinity to quality standards in their particular industry. Even if the recruited employees fall short in the quality aspects, they can be trained or even coached or mentored to manage excellence in quality. This importance of coaching and how it can do wonders was pointed out by Luecke (2004) who stated that if the employees are imparted greater know-how and effectiveness through coaching and mentoring regime, and then the people will work smarter. Quality gurus, W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran did that exactly as they coached many Japanese companies, and if ever there were a Dream Team on quality in the workplace, it would be made up of them (Landesberg, 1999). Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park (2007) added to this perspective by stating that organizations should recruit “the right people,” and should also train them the right values and the competencies regarding excellence in quality. Senge (1990) provided a different perspective regarding the role of leaders in making the employees incorporate quality in their working. According to him, the leader can make the employees focus on quality, by making adherence to quality as one of the main visions for the organization to achieve. “The start of inspiring (literally ‘to breathe life into’) the vision of the learning organization.” (Senge 1990, p.340). This single focus on quality as the company’s vision, mission or philosophy will surely motivate or even push the employees to achieve quality by managing excellence Excellence can be managed optimally, if the employees are made to work as a team. This way, the teams can be imbued with TQM concepts and aspects en masse and importantly drive them to do the work, they are currently doing with excellence. This can be achieved if the leader associates quality concepts and quality models as part of organizational culture. In any organization, organizational culture will play a key role in making the employees follow a common set of practices, thereby making them work as a team. To actualize organizational culture, and thereby enable team formation, leaders have to play a prominent role. Although, organizational culture will be normally created by the shared experience of the group working, the leaders will mainly initiate the process of culture formation by imposing his or her beliefs, values, and assumptions at the outset (Schein 2004). Zairi (2005) added to this perspective by stating how the leaders by leading in a culture of change will in the process create a culture. Then importantly, if that culture has to be modified according to the needs and realities of the organization particularly in managing excellence, the leader has to tune it. This role of leader in culture change during excellence models implementation was aptly pointed out by Davies (2007, p.384), “It is clear that the implementation of a TQM initiative such as the EFQM Excellence Model involves a culture change…(then) a contingency-sensitive approach to implementation should be employed in which the implementation approach is tailored for the organisation”. This change of culture according to quality aspects was further discussed on how the existing but failing organizational culture has to be changed and replaced by an optimum one. “Cultural changes sometimes involve a complex process of replacing an existing paradigm or way of thinking with another.” (DeSimone, Werner & Harris, 2002, p.594). So, the organization to manage excellence has to formulate and implement an organizational culture, incorporating the set standards of Excellence models (Zairi 2005). If it is done that way, the employees will follow it en masse without dissenting to it, leading to better team formation and also apt adoption of quality concepts. Furthermore, if the leaders involve all the employees from lower level staff in all the TQM process that may take place inside the organization, it can lead to further teamwork and could also act as a motivation tool. Kondo (1995) brings out how it can be, he states that optimum Management involves a process where lower management are invited to comment and come up with suggestions for improvement of the company’s strategic plan (Kondo, 1995).That is, the leaders can place their thoughts, ideas, strategies, etc, for analysis and discussion among the workers, and then can ask for the employees’ feedbacks, suggestions, or even criticisms. Based on their input, apt decision including decision regarding quality management can be taken by the leader. As the employees would have played a key role in the decision taken, they can be easily made to follow those decision regarding quality aspects. This point was aptly validated by Paul and Elder (2006) who has stated that good decision-making has to start from the right place, which in this case, are the employees. Latham, Locke & Erez, (1998) also gave a relevant perspective by stating how participation of employees in decision making process as well as goal-setting was found to be an effective method for enhancing goal commitment and motivational levels. So, involving and allowing co-workers to play a part in the different processes including in the management of excellence would surely yield optimum results. Conclusion Normally, the indicator which can forecast a positive and favourable future or a negative and bleak future for an organization regarding growth is the quality of the products or services offered. To actualize a positive and favourable economic future, the objective of providing good quality products has to be incorporated into the strategic planning of organization. The goal of total Quality Management is to ensure continuous improvement, employee empowerment, customer orientation and a strong commitment from the management to safeguard the interests of the customers, employees and stakeholders. Thus, if the leader performs the above discussed roles regarding quality implementation, then the organization can taste success. 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