Quality Assurance Manager - Research Paper Example

? Topical Paper Quality Assurance Manager In the next five years, I aspire to lead one of the outlets of a food manufacturing company such as Unilever as a quality assurance manager. Quality assurance and control in organizations is a vital part in all organizations since it plays an important part in growth and development and the continual improvement in quality for that organization. Unilever Company is a multinational company that deals in the production of different products ranging from beverages, food and cosmetics. The food division of the Uniliver Company interests me since it has outlets in different countries and hence quality management of their products is challenging and hence provides exciting opportunity for exposure to different quality standards and standardization of products in different jurisdictions. Quality assurance is the assurance that the customer will continue to be supplied with high quality products and services. Vision “To be the foremost consumer product company in the global perspective specializing in care, food and dental.” Mission “Working to create better future by inspiring people to take small actions with the aim of making people look good, feel good and make them satisfied with the brands that are good for them while reducing the environmental impact.” My general responsibility as a quality assurance, manager would be to head the quality assurance department and ensure that all the quality standards for all products and services are met. In particular, I would be responsible for the monitoring of the production process and methods, safety, quality and risks that are associated with different products and services to ensure that there is prior planning to manage them. I would be responsible for the quality assurance of products beginning from the raw materials, intermediate products, final products as well as packaging materials and distributions to ensure that quality standards are adhered to at all levels in the supply chain. It would also be my duty to ensure that the quality management systems conform to the best practices, procedures and standards with regard to the maintaining and assuring quality. Relations between the company and the customers with respect to quality of products and services will be based in my department and hence I would be responsible for the assurance that the correct quality tools, procedures and methodologies are applied with regard to best practices to ensure that quality is delivered to the customers. Research and development with regard to the development of new products that meet customers’ expectations and requirements will be part of my department responsibilities. My department will therefore be responsible for the research, study, evaluations and the implementation of quality assurance practices with regard to the compliance to the company’s best practices. In the cases where the systems and process exhibit deviation and out of control in terms of quality, my department would be responsible for the initiation and the implementation of corrective measures to ensure that quality control is assured. Lastly I would also be responsible for ensure that quality does not only conform to the customer’s requirements and expectations but also to the state laws and regulatory authorities’ standards. Quality assurance and control in an organization is therefore a challenging position that requires accurate analysis and implementation of policies. Strategic planning would be very important in success in the duty as a quality assurance manager. In this regard, preventive measures would be my first priority. As observed by Chapman (1999), preventive actions are vital in the reduction of the unnecessary costs of quality. Cost of quality are the expenses incurred while ensuring that the products and services meet the required quality standards. Preventive measures are those measures that ensure that the quality of the raw materials at its production stage is controlled. This results into the reduction in the number of products that do not conform when handled by machine and other intermediate process. It also reduces the cost of production and produces high quality products. Maintenance of enthusiasm of teams would be very important as my strategy however, strict measures would be taken while adhering to quality management practices of the organization. Good communication and free exchange of ideas would be my principle as far as talent development in my department is concerned. This is because it would ensure every member in my department participates in management and hence feel a sense of ownership of the organization. This is essential for team morale and motivation. Total Quality Management (TQM) is one of the management philosophies that is currently implemented by different organizations. TQM is a management philosophy that puts a lot of emphasis on the satisfaction of customers’ needs and hence makes sure that they are satisfied. It emphasizes in the management of quality at all levels in an organization to ensure the reduction of wastes. The implementation of the TQM must start from the top management if it has to succeed. The first step I would take to ensure Uniliver Company embraces TQM as corporate goal would be to assess the company with regard to how it operates. Management skills as well as employee morale would be my first priority. As stated by Chapman (1999), the leadership skills and the employee morale are two vital important aspects of an organization that wants to succeed in the implementation of TQM. The second step would be to analyze the history of the company with reference to change and adoption of the new management practices. It would be very difficult to implement TQM in companies that have continued to adhere to the traditional forms of management and resist change. Since the top management is the key to the success of the TQM implementation, I would then introduce the concept of the TQM to them. AS observed by Daft & Marcic (2009), TQM is a concept that cannot be delegated and hence has to be driven by the top managers in order to succeed. The services of TQM consultants would be necessary once the concept has been accepted by the top management team and there would be need for the empowering of employee to identify need changes such as training needs. Rewards for measurable improvements would then be necessary for improvements. However, it is important to recognize that this process must take some time and cannot be implemented in an overnight. My leadership dimensions would be enrolling. Enrolling leadership would be relevant to my department since it seeks to use inputs from other individuals in the organization and not just my own ideas. In this way, democracy prevails at different levels of work and hence gets employees committed to their work. As outlined earlier in this paper, generating new ideas and product development lies squarely in my role as the quality assurance manager and hence enrolling leadership dimension would give me diverse opportunities to tap talents from other team members. This is important for the improvement of quality of the products and services (Daft & Marcic, 2009). Paying attention to the life of employees would be very important in my leadership dimension. This is because the employee’s well being in the organization would affect their work and efficiency. For example, troubled employees would not be keen on inspecting the quality of raw materials, intermediate products as well as finished products and may lead to poor quality products get their way to the market. Another example is the intentional intoxication of the food products by an employee due to failure of the manager to pay attention to the employee’s needs and requirements. This may lead to stressful work conditions and hence compromise quality of the products and services. It is therefore necessary to invent ways of employee encouragement, motivation and mediation of the conflicts. My leadership style would be charismatic leadership. As outlined in the introduction part of this paper, one of the creative ways of achieving success as a quality assurance, manger would be to ensure that the employees are motivated. Charismatic leadership model is therefore important for this job since we need to motivate people to follow the right quality management practices of the organizations. This department in an organization is very important and hence getting employees to accept your ideas and new concepts willingly is very important. Inspiration of the employees play an important role as it motivates the employees and hence they are likely to succeed in their duties with little efforts. The introduction of new processes and procedures would be simple and acceptable to the other team members. Flexibility in leadership is important as it influences the management decision making and hence the organization is capable of adapting to new changes effectively (Daft & Marcic, 2009). While this position requires that most activities be done fast and feedback received as fast as possible, it also requires that the tasks be completed as accurate as possible. This makes authoritarian leadership model irrelevant even though it makes tasks accomplishment be faster. Charismatic leader is therefore important for this position since it makes the followers improve their efficiency and effectiveness in the job which is important requirement of a quality department. Self directed leadership teams would be very important for my work. I would ensure that I develop well motivated self directed teams who would be responsible for their own activities. As outlined by Cleland (1996), self directed work teams are important since it relieves the manager of the other tasks since the junior members of the team can perform the tasks. This would give me humble time and opportunity to focus on the future plan and monitor quality management system in the organization with a view to improving it. This will also limit the number of staffs that I would have in my department since certain roles like the supervisory roles would not be necessary. Self directed teams are given important responsibility in the organization and hence individuals feel that they own the organization. However, the success of my leadership as a global leader in a food manufacturing company would be accompanied by different challenges. First, the differences I the languages, cultures and the differences in time zones would create a challenge to my leadership. For example the understanding of the customers’ needs in different parts of the globe would be difficult. Since our quality would be based on the customers’ needs, it would be important to understand the needs in different parts of the globe and how they affect the quality of our product. This information would be useful for the continuous improvement in the quality of products and services in our organization. The challenges of staying on top of the rest in the ever changing business world in terms of resources as well as social, political and economic conditions are also important consideration. Ability to manage the resources and keep the team members focused throughout the business processes is important as well since it determines the organizations’ future. Generally, the first production of a high quality product is simple; however, the maintenance of the quality through the production process of products and services is a challenge. Chapman, H. (1991). “Total Quality Management: The Key to business Improvement.” New York: Kluwer Publishers. Cleland, D. I. (1996). “Strategic Management of teams.” Belmont: John Wiley and Sons Inc. Daft, R. L. & Marcic D. (2009). “Understanding management.” New York: Cengage Leaning Inc. Read More