TecSmart for Total Quality Management - Case Study Example

Introduction In global today’s business environment the level of competition has forced companies to improve all their business dimensions. A product or service attribute that attracts customers and helps ensure their satisfaction is quality. The American Society for Quality Control defines quality as all the features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs (Heizer & Render, 1996). In the auto industry Japanese companies such as Toyota and Honda utilized superb quality to surpass the American auto industry. Two internationally recognized quality standards are Deming’s 14 points and the Baldrige criteria. TecSmart electronics is an enterprise that has achieved tremendous success for decades following Deming’s quality framework. The new administration of the company feels that the Baldrige criteria is a superior quality framework whose implementation can provide greater value than what Deming’s points have accomplished for TecSmart Electronics. This paper discusses three questions related to the applications of Deming’s 14 points and Baldrige criteria at TecSmart. 1. The management at TecSmart Electronics has been using Deming’s 14 points to guide its quality control efforts since the 1980s. A list of Deming’s 14 is illustrated in Appendix A. The employees received training on Deming’s 14 points. As part of its quality assurance program the company provides the employees with training on how to solve problems using a five step problem solving process. The sixth point of Deming’s system states to start training. Employees at TecSmart receive an average of 72 hours of quality / service training (Evans, 2007). The company collects departmental data that is then analyzed by senior managers and cross functional teams. This practice complies with Deming’s point of breaking down barriers between departments. TecSmart is following Deming’s point of driving out fear in its quality assurance processes by getting the employees involved. The customer service employees of the company help define the quality standards (Evans, 2007). A lot of the quality control work at TecSmart is realized through team unit mechanisms. This practice is aligned with Deming’s point of emphasizing leadership. Working in teams units helps empower employees and improves their leadership skills. Team members have individual and group accountability. The use of self-managed groups in which employees make the day to day decisions is another example fostering leadership. The cooperation between cross functional teams and the managerial staff follows Deming’s point of providing support, help, and improvement. The utilization of statistical tools in the quality control process complies with Deming’s point of creating consistency of purpose. 2. TecSmart Electronics underwent a managerial philosophical change and its administration switched from Deming to Baldrige criteria quality standards. Some of the current quality practices at TecSmart already have Baldrige criteria considerations. The practice of assessing quality through internal audits, employee surveys, and customer feedback answers the Baldrige criteria question concerning how to improve work processes to improve performance, reduce variability, and improve products (Baldrige, 2009). The practice of providing employees with 72 hours of quality and service training answers the Baldrige criteria question of how to utilize quality to drive learning and innovation. The Baldrige criteria question concerning how the company determines its key processes is answered at TecSmart by the practice of the having senior managers and cross functional team cooperate to set company objectives. A way the company improves the performance of its employees was by empowering them to make their own decisions. Eliminating wasteful processes is a way to improve the quality of a business operation because it provides cost savings. 3. The Baldrige criteria could be used in different ways to further improve the operations at TecSmart Electronics. A core value of the Baldrige criteria is societal responsibility. The business could improve its corporate responsibility practices. A way to showcase the corporate responsibility initiates of an enterprise is by preparing a corporate social responsibility report. This report is prepared separate of the annual report A US firm that was able to achieve organic growth during the 1990’s in large part due to its corporate responsibility practice of using only fair trade coffee as its primary raw material is Starbucks Café (Starbucks, 2007). A concept of the Baldrige criteria that could help the quality assurance at TecSmart is the use of performance metrics to evaluate the work being done by business partners. A good quality assurance programs considers both internal and external stakeholders. The Baldrige criteria uses quality as a grand strategy that adds value to the brand image of a company. Creating a promotional campaign that focuses on the quality of products and services TecSmart offers is an alternative that could be used to increase sales demand. TecSmart could also benefit by following the Baldrige criteria managing for innovation concept. Innovation can help a company expand its customer base. It can also be used to create the future revenue generating ideas at TecSmart. Conclusion TecSmart Electronics has been able to achieve tremendous success for decades due to the company emphasis on quality. After many years of utilizing Deming’s 14 points helped TecSmart improve its quality assurance. For example the application of Deming’s philosophy allowed the enterprise to eliminate departmental barriers that were affecting quality control. Another way Deming’s 14 points improve quality performance of the company has by ensuring the employees professional development opportunities in the form of trainings. When the company switched its quality framework to the Baldrige criteria it was able to further improve the quality of its products and services. Appendix A: Deming’s 14 Points 1. Create consistency of purpose 2. Lead to promote change 3. Build quality into the product; stop depending on inspections to catch problems 4. Build strong relationships based on performance instead of awarding business on the basis of price 5. Continuously improve product, quality and service 6. Start training 7. Emphasize leadership 8. Drive out fear 9. Break down barriers between departments 10. Stop haranguing workers 11. Support, help, and improve 12. Remove barriers to pride in work 13. Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement 14. Put everybody in the company to work on the transformation (Heizer & Render, 1996, p.83). Appendix B: 11 Core Values of Baldrige Criteria 1. Visionary leadership 2. Customer driven excellence 3. Organizational and personal learning 4. Valuing employees and business partners 5. Agility 6. Focus on the future 7. Managing for innovation 8. Management by fact 9. Societal responsibility 10. Focus on results and creating value 11. Systems perspective (Baldrige, 2009). References Baldrige.com (2009). 10 Critical Questions: Process Management. Retrieved November 24, 2009 from http://www.baldrige.com/criteria_processmanagement/10-critical-questions-process-management/ Baldrige.com (2009). Baldrige Core Values. Retrieved November 24, 2009 from http://www.baldrige.com/criteria/baldrige-core-values/ Evans, J. (2007). Quality and Performance Excellence: Management, Organization & Strategy (5th ed.). Ohio: Thompson. Heizer, J., Render, B. (1996). Production & Operation Management: Strategic and Tactical Decisions (4th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Starbucks.com (2007). Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report. Retrieved November 30, 2009 from http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/csrreport/Starbucks_CSR_FY2007.pdf Read More