Modern Quality Management - Essay Example

Modern Quality Management Introduction Since few decades, a significant importance has been given to the sector of operations management, which plays a vital and crucial role in effective and efficient management of business operations involving production, maintenance, and quality improvement of products and services that is essential for success of any business organization. In addition, goods and services are distributed through proper management of available resources in the sector of operations management, which results in productivity, as well as, cost-effective management. (Davis, pp. 19-22) Moreover, management information systems, production and quality management, etc. are some of the significant components of operations management that are focused in the abovementioned field of study. Fundamentally, enterprise performance is made optimal by effective alignment of abovementioned activities of operations management with the needs and requirements of market. Usually, operations management is not focused by small and medium enterprises; however, it is noted that similar activities are performed by these organizations, which are referred as a part of operations management by the bigger companies. Specifically, some of the similar processes of SMEs and huge business organizations are production, creation, distribution, etc that are focused mainly by the operations managers. One of the significant characteristics of different components of operations management is that it ensures effectiveness of related processes, which is essential for achieving success in any business market. In specific, this report will define and discuss different aspects of one of the most significant and innovative components of operations management, modern quality management that plays a crucial and vital role in the effective implementation of abovementioned areas of the operations management. Modern Quality Management With respect to system and its performance, products and services are developed, designed, employed, and managed effectively by quality management, which is one of the most important components of operations management. Since few years, such component of operations management has advanced rapidly due to globalization resulting in competitive environment at national, as well as, international level. Such advancement in quality management has resulted in a new term, which is referred as modern quality management. A number of experts have contributed their lives for development of modern quality management, in order to facilitate and guide business organizations for effective management of different business processes. Some of the noteworthy contributors in this field are Deming, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa, Juran, and Taguchi that played a vital role in the provision of different approaches to modern quality management. (Frazier, pp. 270-273) In specific, quality planning, improvement, assurance, and control are the four important components of modern quality management. In other words, quality of a product or service is not the only focused matter in the modern quality management; however, different related processes are focused by this element of operations management. Therefore, quality of the product or service is achieved by efficient amalgamation and management of different components of modern quality management. (Davis, pp. 23-25) It is observed by experts that manufacturing organizations were the first ones to get benefit from the quality management, as manufacturing problems were considered by the experts while developing different tools for quality analysis and assurance of products and services. It is noted that cost-effective products were the major concern of companies in the past, as it was considered the only option to compete in the market, and acquire greater profits. However, emergence of modern quality management modified this concept, as higher quality of products and services was taken as an alternative to get rid of a number of processes that were related to customer complaints regarding the product quality, product warranty, and other interruptions that were caused by defects in the products. In other words, quality of products and services dominated the concept of productivity in modern phase of quality management, and customer satisfaction was achieved by recognizing the significance of quality assurance and quality service by the companies. It is an observation that new concept of modern quality management has not modified only the production and distribution phases of a business organization, but has changed almost every organizational process that may play even a minimal role for the improvement of products and services. In the result, such a modification has brought the concept of in-house training of workers and managers for efficient management of different processes. (Cummings, pp. 89-91) Moreover, development of different quality systems has also been advanced rapidly in the sector of industry and manufacturing particularly. A number of experts have related modern project management with different approaches of modern quality management. In other words, individual and humanistic aspects of business processes are focused by the experts to achieve quality products and services. In this regard, methodology of total quality management has been introduced by different experts, which includes some of the effective tools of modern quality management. Generally, statistics and team involvement are the major approaches of total quality management, which is an important methodology in modern quality management. In specific, the check sheet, the histogram, the scatter diagram, the flowchart, and the cause-and-effect diagram are some of the significant tools of TQM, which is the major focus of modern quality management in the present era. (Juran, pp. 69-72) Furthermore, benchmarking is one of the imperative components of modern quality management in which, standard measurements are utilized for acquiring different perspectives of performance in different organizations, in order to compete efficiently in the market. Organizational quality and performance is considered by another major component, which is referred as continuous improvement of products and services. In specific, unnecessary processes are removed from the business for the improvement of performances and acquiring customer satisfaction, which is significant for business success. Additionally, potential processes are prioritized and identified by effects analysis in the modern quality management, and different failures in the processes are identified by failure mode, which has been considered in MQM. Six Sigma is another important element of MQM in which, defects are eliminated by employing a methodological approach in the organization. (Cummings, pp. 48-50) A desired target of quality is identified, and then six standard deviations are categorized for the efficient elimination of defects in the products or services. In this regard, all such aspects of modern quality management plays an effective and crucial role in ensuring quality improvement and management of different business processes in an organization. Moreover, international perspective of modern quality management has given a lot of importance to individuals without respect to their responsibilities. In other words, chief executives, operations managers, floor managers, and workers are focused equally in the modern quality management, as every business process can play an effective role, and make difference in the quality management of products and services. It is observed that if employees will have a motivating environment from their supervisors, it will have an impact on the quality of products and services. Lastly, concept of accepting a single defect to develop a cost-effective product is disregarded by the innovative notion of modern quality management, as it focuses on zero-defect products and services. (Frazier, pp. 270-273) Conclusion Conclusively, the report has discussed and analyzed some of the different aspects of operations management, and specifically, modern quality management that plays a vital and crucial role in achieving success in any business organization. It was noted in the report that a number of experts like Deming, Crosby, Feigenbaum, Ishikawa, Juran, and Taguchi have contributed greatly in the field of modern quality management, which has modified the concept of customer satisfaction by giving importance to quality improvement and assurance, rather than focusing on productivity issues. It was observed during the report that there is still a huge room in analysis of modern quality management. Further research in the future will facilitate in effective management of discussed issues. It is hoped that the paper will be beneficial for better understanding of the topic. Works Cited Gaither, N. & Frazier, G. Operations Management. Mason, OH, Southwestern Thomas Learning, 2002. Joseph M. Juran. Total Quality Management. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2001. Stanley Davis. Quality Management. Prentice Hall, 2005. Thomas G. Cummings. Organizational Development and Change. Southwestern Thomas Learning, 2004. 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