The Various Theories in the Field of Quality Management - Research Paper Example

Total Quality Management Table of Contents Table of Contents 0 1.Introduction: 1 2.Summary of Contributions 2 a)Deming’s Theory: 2 b)Juran’s Theory: 3 c)Crosby’s Theory: 4 d)Shigeo Shingo’s Theory: 4 3.Analysis of Theories 5 a)Explanation of Quality Theory 5 b)Expected Outcomes to be achieved 6 4.Application of Theories 7 a)Theory in a Workplace - Banks: 7 b)Expected Results: 8 5.Closure: 9 a)Summary: 9 b)Conclusions: 9 6.Bibliography 11 7.Appendix 13 1. Introduction: A commonly used definition for quality has been, ‘Delighting the customer by fully meeting their needs and expectations’ (DTI, 2009). This report aims at understanding the various theories that have been presented over the past few years in the field of quality management. As a well known fact lies, that there are three main ‘Gurus’ of quality management who have provided the world with a number of theories and explanations of means and modes to help improve the quality of products and services. This report will touch upon a few of the contributions that these authors have made to the field and will provide a summary of Shingo’s theory of quality as well. Following this an analysis of one of the three main theories will be made and a practical use of theories in a scenario of ‘banks’ will be applied. The paper will be concluded with a summary of the theories and the pitfalls that need to be considered for each of the theories and an overall conclusion will be provided at the end of the paper. “TQM is the way of managing for the future, and is far wider in its application than just assuring product or service quality – it is a way of managing people and business processes to ensure complete customer satisfaction at every stage, internally and externally. TQM, combined with effective leadership, results in an organisation doing the right things right, first time” (DTI, 2009). The next section will detail the various theories included in making up the essentials for TQM in any business. 2. Summary of Contributions a) Deming’s Theory: Dr Edward Deming has been recognised to be the best reminder to all management that the main cause of any ineffective work on the end of the employees is due to ineffective management. He has argued that the higher quality leads to higher productivity and thereby leads to higher levels of profits. The underlying idea of Deming’s Theory has been that higher quality leads to lower costs and also higher levels of production since the amount of rework, mistakes and delays are relatively much lower. Also there is clearly a much better use of resources and materials. Deming has created his ‘System of Profound Knowledge’. Deming is well known for his ‘Seven Deadly Diseases’ and ‘14 points’ to clear the seven deadly diseases. His Profound Knowledge included a set of four main theories namely, (Haller, 1993) a) Theory of Optimisation, b) Theory of Variation, c) Theory of Knowledge and d) Theory of Psychology Deming also suggested a cycle which was called Plan – Do – Check – Act (PCDA cycle) which has been recognised to be the Principle of continuous improvements (Deming, 1993). b) Juran’s Theory: Juran was recognised to be one of the other Gurus of Quality Management. He has provided the world with a few concepts which can prove to be effective not only on the traditional quality systems but also on the Strategic Quality Systems. He has provided two main philosophies which include: i) Juran’s Quality Planning Road Map: The Road map as seen in the Figure (Appendix 1), acts as a checklist for the managements across the world to understand the needs of the customers and to develop the products based on the needs of the customers. ii) Juran’s Quality Trilogy: Juran’s second theory is the Trilogy that he had created. According to Juran, there are three main roles which need to be given most importance in any company. These include the quality planning, quality control and quality improvements. He emphasised that the focus of a company needs to be on the needs of customer and each of these stages forms a base for this to be determined. c) Crosby’s Theory: Philip Crosby is referred to be the third Guru of Quality Management. He has provided the world with a simpler and more straightforward solution for quality management. Crosby believed in providing simple and non technical solutions and hence he came up with a simple one liner – ‘Do it right the first time’. He also provided the four Aboultes of Quality Management and these are as listed below: i. “Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not as 'goodness' or 'elegance'. ii. The system for causing quality is prevention, not appraisal. iii. The performance standard must be Zero Defects, not "that's close enough". iv. The measurement of quality is the Price of Non - conformance, not indices.” He also defined Quality as: “Quality is conformance to requirements; non-quality is Non - conformance". d) Shigeo Shingo’s Theory: Shigeo Shingo was a Japanese Industrial engineer and was recognised to be the leading expert in the manufacturing practices. He was a major contributor to the Toyota success and had been teaching in Toyota for a number of years. He provided the world with a theory which was mainly invented in the Toyota Production system and this was referred to as ‘Poka – yoke’ which meant mistake proofing and not fool proofing. He explained the need for ‘zero quality control’ with the mistake proofing within the organisations. Some of the major concepts contributed by him include, Poke –Yoke, JIT, and Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED). 3. Analysis of Theories a) Explanation of Quality Theory One of the most interesting theories of the three main Gurus is the one provided by Juran – The Trilogy. As mentioned earlier, this theory mainly aims at three main steps these will be discussed in detail as below (SHSU, 2009): i) Quality Planning: Here the company needs to make plans and regulations that the products and services need to adhere to. This is where the quality of the product is highlighted based on the needs of customers. If an error happens in this process, there could be high levels of wastes that could occur in the company. ii) Quality Control: This is a measure to be taken to prevent things from becoming worse. This is the inspection part of the Trilogy and this is where the companies can ensure that the production is in line with the quality regulations and needs of the customers. iii) Quality Improvements: This process involves the fitness – for – use and also the error reduction processes. This involves a number of innovative ideas and techniques being put to use to ensure the quality are constantly improving and are focused completely on the needs of the customers (Crosby, 1984). Each of these processes has an impact on the business. The next section will deal with the expected outcomes that can be achieved using this theory in action. b) Expected Outcomes to be achieved The theory as explained earlier, is one which aims at continuous improvements and continuous researches about the needs of the customers. The expected outcome that can be achieved using this theory is very high. This is majorly because, firstly, the planning of the required quality from any process will help ensure that the production needs are in line with the actual needs of the customers. Following which the quality checks help ensure that the quality plans are in place and being followed, with complete care being taken on the side of the company to ensure that all customer needs are met. Also the third step of continuous quality improvements allows the company to move on with times and to ensure that the quality plans are in line with trends required by the current time. Hence the outcome of this theory in practice allows the processes to be much better and more focused on quality which has a direct impact on the costs and the profitability of the company. 4. Application of Theories a) Theory in a Workplace - Banks: The example taken into account here is a Bank and its numerous processes. Incorporating Juran’s Trilogy into the banking system will allow the processes to run more smoothly and will also ensure that the amount of queuing time for the customers is also reduced. In a bank, the processes require to be of cent percent quality and security. Using the Trilogy here will prove to be very effective as the banks at all times need to keep their quality strategy at the best as the amount of competition within the banking sector is also seen to be increasing to a great extent. Use of the trilogy will allow the processes to be well planned and strategically carried out and this has a strong impact on many other aspects of the business as well. Firstly, it will reduce the turn around time for customers, secondly, it will attract a number of newer customers and also it will directly help improve the employee satisfaction and motivation to work as well. Hence incorporating the Trilogy into the banks will prove to very beneficial and will also allow the businesses to grow to a great extent. This proves that the trilogy is not only beneficial in the case of products and productions but also in case of services like – wise. Banks are an essential aspect of every country and the most essential element that affects the business of a bank is the trust and confidence that the customers have on the banks. With the quality of every process being perfect, the banks will see a direct impact on the profitability of the institution. b) Expected Results: As discussed earlier, the effects of the use of the philosophy of Trilogy will prove to be very beneficial for the banks. This will allow the banks to reduce the work and the possible confusions in terms of the processes and the outcome of the processes. Also with the quality processes in place and with the organisation confident of the security, it will help increase the trust of the customers as well. The relationship between banks / financial institutes and the customers is one which requires a lot of care and cent percent trust. Banks and financial institutions take a number of risks in their businesses and the nature of the operations are very complex and the levels of risk are perceived to be extremely high as well. In such cases the customers of these institutions in the normal circumstances do not have complete knowledge of the various products and thus trust the financial services institutions for advice. The maintenance of quality in these areas will allow the banks to increase the trust of the customers. 5. Closure: a) Summary: The report has dealt with all the positive aspects if the theories however there are very few simple pitfalls that exists in each of these theories. The theorists have taken into account all the major aspects of quality management however one aspect that has not clearly been mentioned in any of the theories is whether the theory would fit a certain business. Also, the need to understand how the implementation of the theories would affect the businesses is also lacking. Businesses need to recognise their needs, and to implement each of the theories in the most appropriate manner. For instance the philosophy of Deming lacks to deal with businesses that run on smaller levels of budgets and lack enough funds similarly, Juran’s theory lacks the accounting for other aspects like the finances, production or other processes within the company. Also the theory set down by Crosby is very simple with no connection to technicalities and technical aspects of the business. Hence these theories should be utilised as a stepping stone to further improve the quality within the business and not as the ultimate solutions for business. If noticed the further defined theories by more recent authors is more focused on all these aspects as well. b) Conclusions: In conclusion it is clear that each of theories discussed have a strong influence on business and each of them in their own special way help the businesses develop and grow. As has been understood, quality is one of the most essential aspects of every business and the success of a business is directly impacted by the quality of the processes, products and services. Hence it is essential for businesses to recognise and choose the right theory to be applied for the business or the right combination of the various theories that will benefit the company. 6. Bibliography Crosby, P., 1984, ‘Quality without Tears’, New York, NY: McGraw Hill Publications Deming, W. E, 1993, ‘The New Economics’, Cambridge, MA: MIT Center for Advanced Engineering Study DTI, 2009, ‘Total Quality Management’, Accessed on 12th September 2009, Retrieved from http://www.businessballs.com/dtiresources/total_quality_management_TQM.pdf Haller, H. S., 1993, ‘Managing with profound knowledge: A management process based on the Deming management theory’, Harold S. Haller & Company Juran, J. M., and Frank M. G, 1988, ‘Juran's Quality Control Handbook’, New York, NY: McGraw-Hill SHSU, 2009, ‘Juran’s Quality Trilogy’, Accessed on 13th September 2009, Retrieved from http://www.shsu.edu/~mgt_ves/mgt481/lesson13/sld012.htm 7. Appendix Juran’s Roadmap: Read More