The Experience in SQM Course - Assignment Example

My Experience in SQM Introduction Before I had the chance to study strategic quality management and acquaint myself with the various principles and strategies, I had no idea on what quality and quality management entailed. To me quality and quality management did not have any impact on my line of specialization. I never saw any relationship between quality management and human resource, which is my area of specialization. The only idea I had on quality is that it dealt with manufacturing of high standard goods. Therefore I believed that quality management basically is for the manufacturing sector with focus on the producing high standard good. I never thought of quality management being used in other departments or sectors including the public sector. However, after getting an opportunity to study quality management, I have come to learn that it is an integral part of every sector and all the departments in an organization or firm. Quality Management, as I have come to know, involves planning the operations and activities of an organization strategically with the aim of satisfying customer needs and achieving the visions of an organization. (Dale, Boaden, & Lascelles, 1994) Quality management is highly structured and detailed and focuses on different aspects to achieve the set goals. Through my study of Total Quality management, I have learnt that leadership is an integral part of quality management .According to Auckland (1993) quality management starts with the top management. The way an organization takes matters of quality is therefore dependent on the leadership structures in an organization. The top management should be comprised of people with personal commitment to matters concerning quality. The leadership of an organization needs to create clear and visible values. The leadership is the role model to the rest of the staff members for proper implementation of quality management strategies. I learn that for quality goals to be achieved there should be close relationship among divisions in an organization. This will help in clearly creating and communicating quality ethics. This understanding has enabled me to appreciate that even at the place where I work; there is need of the human resource department to work together with other sections and provide good leadership to attain the vision of the organization. Through studying of quality management I have been able to understand the role of benchmarking in achieving quality objectives. Before my study understanding of benchmarking was distorted. In Total Quality Management, benchmarking refers to comparing the operations of a company to that of another company that is considered to be performing at the accepted standard. It may focus on costs, production methods and processes. The aim of benchmarking is to help an organization gauge where they are in relation to a particular standard. Benchmarking can involve comparing the standards of a company to those of their greatest competitor in order to gauge how they rank in terms of production, cost, and processes and so on. Benchmarking is a very interesting aspect of quality management. This is because it means that the organization is literally accepting that their performance is not up to standards and accepts to gauge their standard against those of another organization. It may involve, financial, product, performance, strategic and functional benchmarking. Functional benchmarking for examples involves evaluating the functions of each department and comparing them against a set standard. The department whose functions are being benchmarked may range from production to human resources. It is therefore a task that focuses on all divisions of the organization and its proper execution and implementation impacts hugely on the ability of a company to achieve it s vision. In my study of Total Quality Management, I was able to come to understand the relationship between customer satisfaction and quality management. According to Crosby, (1979), customer satisfaction entails ensuring that the needs of the costumers are fully satisfied. This will first of all require the understanding that quality is something that starts and ends with the customer. This understanding leads to defining quality as fitness of a product or service for use by the customer. With this understanding of quality, alignment of the processes in order to ensure that the needs of the client will be easy. Furthermore, it requires addressing product and service attributes that directly or indirectly contribute to the satisfaction of the needs of the customer. Customer satisfaction is something that is applicable in all sectors and departments including the public sector and therefore this understanding will be of great help to my carrier even in the human resource department where I currently work. Teamwork also plays a vital role in TQM. This is because provision of good quality products and services to clients is a collective responsibility in an organization. Studies on the relationship between teamwork and quality control reveals that when a company has an organized and well structured team, it will end up producing goods and services effectively ( Von Krogh, Ichijō& Nonaka,2000).This is basically because of the integration of production processes. Teamwork is therefore an important factor for consideration when developing quality management plans. Due to the fact that management of quality at times involve changes in the production process or service delivery, it is important to build an atmosphere of trust and self confidence in the team with each person clearly understanding the organization’s expectations. Team enables the members of the organization work together to find solutions to problems that might be affecting the production process or services delivery (Martinez, Dewhurst &Dale, 1999). This will facilitate generation of many solutions to a single problem and then selecting the most effective that will address the quality concern. This strategy is also effective since it give the team a sense of ownership through participation in problem identification and solving process. It will in turn boost the morale of the team. Teamwork just like the other factors I have learned during my study of Total Quality Management is applicable everywhere and in every department both in the public and private sector. This has enabled me appreciate the importance of creating good team spirit in order to achieve the objectives of the human resource department that I work in. (Joel, 2009-08) Traditional culture of an organization or entity dictates how it implements implementation of quality control plans. Quality management can involve a lot of changes in the operations of the organization in order to shift focus to the customer. The culture influences how the organization will respond to suggestions needed to improve the quality of goods ad services. Culture also dictates how the employees of the company approach their day to day work. This will in turn determine the quality of goods and services offered. Most organizations find it very hard to abandon their traditional ways of operations and therefore are not willing to make changes that lead to quality improvement. For example workers in the public sector are used to minimal supervision and when this is introduced to increase productivity, it becomes very hard to implement. Therefore, organizations and workers should be flexible to accommodate changes such as use of technology that will in the long run promote quality. Cultural flexibility is therefore paramount in every sector. Total Quality Management requires use of various analysis techniques. SWOT analysis and Sigma Six are some of analysis procedures that I have come to grasp about and appreciate. SWOT analysis involves analysis of the weaknesses, the strength and the opportunities of an organization. The threats that it might face are also critically analyzed The weaknesses of the organization and its strengths are internal factors that may include financial capability, production capacity and skilled manpower. The threats of the organization as well as the opportunities are external factors. These external factors may include the macro economy, the legislations in a particular country as well as technological advancement. SWOT analysis therefore enables the organization to open up to changes and carry out any improvement that will make it more competitive and enable it produce quality goods and services. SWOT analysis may also be done at the departmental level. The other technique is the SIGMA SIX which group of techniques for improving a process. It is used to improve quality by identifying all the causes of defects in a product or service and then removing them. This technique focuses on quantifiable things like cost and cycle time. In order to determine the effectiveness of a quality management program, quality audits are usually carried out (Howard, 2001). This examination of the system is done by either an internal or external quality auditor. Over the years focus has been on assessing the procedural adherence but that has changed with focus shifting on the effectiveness and efficiency of the system. Quality audits can be carried out in every sector and department (Webber& Wallace, 2006). Some sectors still require quality audit to focus on the procedural issues rather than results or efficiency. An example is the education system Conclusion Getting the opportunity study Total Quality Management has for sure enabled me to learn about quality and how it is managed. It has enlightened me on the various aspects of managing quality with the focus being satisfying the needs of the client or customer. Therefore, every organization both in the public and private sector should embrace quality management since it not only makes the organization more profitable but improves its image and helps it satisfying the needs of the clients and achieving the visions of that organization References Blumberg, Cooper, R. & Schindler, P. (2005). Business Research Methods. Berkshire: McGraw Hill. Crosby, P. B., (1979). Quality is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain. New York, NY: Penguin. Dale, G. Boaden, J. & Lascelles, M., (1994). Levels of Total Quality Management Adoption: Managing Quality .New York, Prentice Hall. Dimitrades, Z. S., (2000). Total Involvement in Quality Management, Team Performance Management. An International Journal, 6 (7/8): 117 – 121. Hazlet, S., McAdam, R. & Murray, L. (2007). Quality Management to Socially Responsible Organizations. The Case for CSR pp 32-40. Hellsten, U., Klefsjö, B., (2000). TQM as a Management System Consisting of Values, Techniques and Tools. The TQM Magazine, 12(4): 238- 244. Howard, J. (2001). The Cost of Quality Audit, pp 4-7 Jens,J., Chi-Kuang, C.,Jiun-Yi, J., & Leonardo A. (2013). Business Excellence Models: Limitations, Reflections and Further Development. Shanghai: Jen Ling Press Joel, K. (2009-08).Policy Deployment: A review and Comparisons of Two Best Practices Models. London: Britannia Publishers Martinez, A. R., Dewhurst, F. & Dale, B.G., (1999). TQM and Business Innovation. European Journal of Innovative Management, 2(1): 12-19. Muffato, M., and Panizzolo, R., (1995), ‘A Process Based View for Customer Satisfaction’, International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management, 12(9): 154-169. Oakland, J. S., (1993) Total Quality Management: The Route to Improving Performance. London: Butterworth Heinemann Ltd Ugboro, O. & Obeng, K., (2000) ‘Top Management Leadership, Employee Empowerment, Job Satisfaction and Customer Satisfaction in TQM Organizations: An Empirical Study’. Journal ofQuality Management, 5: 247-272 Von Krogh, G., Ichijō, K. & Nonaka, I. (2000). Enabling Knowledge Creation: How to Unlock the Mystery of Tacit Knowledge and Release the Power of Innovation. Ebrary, Inc Webber, L. & Wallace, M. (15 December 2006). Quality Control for Dummies. 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