Total Quality Management - JAKES Enterprises - Case Study Example

Total Quality Management Introduction Doing business in the modern times, which are characterised by economic liberalization and global competition, the delivery of quality services has become one of the factors that determine the competitiveness of an enterprise. The delivery of good products, which requires the delivery of services, enables entrepreneurs to attract more customers and retain them (Faraj and Xiao 1155). On the other hand, in the business conditions characterised by stiff competitions, the delivery of poor quality products or the compromise of the services that go with the products leads to the discontentment of customers, which will affect short and long-term sales. Developments in technologies of communication have also permeated across geographical boundaries, making the market more competitive and volatile, due to the increased access to information by customers (Hair 134). The complexity of the business environment has increased more and more, mainly due to the blending between local and global markets. All these changes exert more pressure on the management of enterprises, calling for the improvement of competitiveness, which is mainly created through the reduction of the costs of operations and doing business and the improvement of logistics (Faraj and Xiao 1157). Now, more than before, the customer is getting more knowledgeable about rising standards of products and services, due to their access to a wide range of services and products to choose from (Fitzsimmons 105). This report will explore the different mechanisms that were employed by JAKES enterprises in the managing its human resources – throughout the implementation of its Total Quality Management (TQM) initiative. The paper will also review the mechanisms used, and inspect the extent to which they reflected best practice approaches. Lastly, the paper will whether the author considers the enterprises management of Human resources to have taken responsibility for the success of the TQM initiative. Overview of JAKES enterprises JAKES enterprises is a small player in the automotive industry, manufacturing vehicle components, particularly vacuum brake parts, air brake actuation modules, and other brake parts like pedals, discs and drums. The company has been very successful over the past four years, and that is mainly due to its commitment to the values of delivering value, trust and impactful customer service. Unlike in the present, the company instituted its TQM initiative in 2009, during a strained and difficult time for its business. The problems facing the company were arising from the slow movement of commercial vehicle parts, which made it, as a supplier of braking systems dependent on the market conditions of the automotive industry. The slow nature of the automotive industry could be traced to the financial crisis of 2008, which affected the industry adversely. Towards correcting the crisis, the company took three steps: it started with the diagnosis of the crisis, followed by the formulation of a strategic goal orientation and the communication of the strategies, together with corporate education in three stages (Ahire, Golhar and Waller 56). The administration of the TQM initiative Preparatory stage (February to April 2009) The first stage in the change process entailed gaining the support of the employees of the company. For the three-month period, the company held company seminars for all workers, emphasizing the importance of the change program and the benefits it would yield for the company and the employees. The barriers that were evidently hampering the acceptance of the change process, from the company entailed the institution of a policy requiring all company employees, including the senior staffs to use one uniform and using all company canteens freely; the prices and the quality of items were set at the same standards (Ho, Duffy and Shih 529). The company also removed the cabins from which the managers of the company used to work from, and the different changes increased the accessibility of the management and the communication between the different employees improved. The different changes contributed to changing the mindset of the workers of the company; the employees started associating with the management as members of their teams. The planning of the change process also entailed the creation of product groups, where the employees were trained to become multi-skilled, with the ability to work at more than one sections of the company. Apart from the changes discussed before, the production line managers of the company were trained on all aspects of change process, and that made it possible for the company to hold them accountable and responsible for the delivery of products, quality and the costs of actualizing the changes (Ho, Duffy and Shih 529). The promotion stage (May to Dec 2009) The policy management implementation of the TQM initiative started in May 2009 and ended in July 2009. The stage helped the company to structure a company-wide goal orientation covering the changes to be made and the redirection of the activities of the company’s business and activities. The stage entailed the communication of the performance targets expected from the various product groups and departments and all the workers of the company. The stage also entailed the provision of the guidelines required to guide the company towards the realization of the objects formulated; highlighting the strategic actions and changes to be incorporated by all. The various departments aligned their performance objectives and the strategic actions needed to be implemented, so as to foster the realization of the overall objectives of the company (Ho, Duffy and Shih 530). As a component of the implementation of the TQM initiative, company-wide systems for the review of quality were put in place. The traditional culture of quality inspection was replaced with quality assurance and quality control, where the focus was channelled towards the identification of quality as a core value among all company units, the improvement of supplier quality and the administration of periodic audits. The Deployment stage (Jan to June 2010) During the third stage in the implementation of the program, the company engaged in daily work management, together with the definition and monitoring of main processes. The two processes were administered with the goal of ensuring that they met the targets set by the company, detecting performance abnormalities and instituting the measures needed to prevent their recurrence or strengthening available ones (Ho, Duffy and Shih 530). The third stage of the initiative also entailed the continuous improvement of the work of product groups and employees in all areas of work became the norm of practice; the process employed total employee engagement (Reed, Lamark and Mero 5-7). Towards improving the company’s objective of business improvement and realizing total customer satisfaction, the company categorized the priority areas and instituted new activities to foster the Total Quality Management initiative. The priority areas were identified using the periodic assessment done across the organization, where the feedback collected from customers among other external groups was used to improve the TQM’s scope. The periodic assessment gave the company, all the information it needed about changes in the internal and the external environment, and the deficiencies of the core value system of the enterprise. The priority issues identified were addressed through policy organization, the continuous improvement of all the business areas of the company and also the incorporation of TQM activities. The newly-developed practices to be incorporated into the TQM initiative were used to create synergy throughout the company, which guaranteed that all priority issues would be incorporated, and that conflict were as minimal as possible (Ho, Duffy and Shih 540). Leadership style and employee participation The managing director of the company played a major role in the finalization of the vision, the quality policy and the long-term mission of the company. The roles of the managing director, together with other leaders and managers include that of checking for gaps in the performance of the company. This review of the performance gaps of the company were administered on a monthly, quarterly, half-yearly and annually bases. During the review sessions, the leadership of the company investigated and approved the time-based performance targets of the company as well as its policy objectives. For example, the heads of departments, together with the managing director administered monthly reviews of the performance of departments and product groups (Ho, Duffy and Shih 542). The performance reviews by the leaders of the different levels yielded information about the departments or the product groups that were not meeting the set targets and the performance standards to be met. Throughout the implementation of the initiative, all the employees of the company were involved in the different TQM activities of the company, paying particular attention to the TQM roles assigned to their respective product groups, departments and work roles. The workmen of the company were actively involved in performance improvement, through administering Quality Control Circles (QCCs) and tendering suggestions to the respective managerial teams of their departments. The managers and the executives of the company, on the other hand, participated in the program aimed at the improvement of the quality of the company’s performance through the working of cross functional teams (CFT) and Supervisory Improvement Teams (SITs) (Goetsch and Davis 56). The major goal of the teams (for the managers and the executives of the company) included checking the performance of different organizational departments and functional units, with the aim of verifying the effectiveness of performance. During the administration of the duties played by the different teams, the managers and the executives were mandated to take the necessary change measures to correct situations and address performance gaps, in less than an hour (emergency mode) (Ho, Duffy and Shih 530). The CFTs of the company were also responsible for venturing throughout the industry, in search of changes in product or service standards, and this role helped in ensuring that the company’s products and services met local and international standards. The mechanisms used in the management of the Human resources during the implementation of the TQM initiative Selective recruitment From the review of the successful implementation of the TQM initiative of JAKES enterprises, the selection procedures of the employees assigned to the different offices and roles was highlighted as a major determining factor. From the case of the company, the selection used to assign different staffs their respective offices entailed the introduction of new selection techniques (Ahire, Golhar and Waller 23). Some of the selection methods incorporated into the selection process included aptitude and psychometric testing, and the administration of assessment tests aimed at identifying the workers that performed better in team settings. Teamwork is an important ingredient incorporated into the process of creating a quality culture. This careful selection and recruitment of workers characterises many of the Japanese companies that have been successful in the UK. From the case of JAKES enterprises, aptitude tests were administered to determine the staffs that were supposed to head the newly formed product groups, especially the ones that required more sophisticated technology. Education and communication The study of the implementation of the TQM initiative at JAKES enterprises demonstrated that the company emphasised the role of communication and education. The two functions were delivered through different functions, including briefing, videos, newsletters, conferences, notice boards and group meetings. The evidence shows that it was inadequate for senior management to show their commitment through the communication of the mission statement and visions. However, through the adoption of personnel practices and communication practices between the non-managerial and the managerial staffs of the company was instrumental to the success of the TQM program. Training Technical training techniques and tools dominate the delivery and the implementation of TQM initiatives, despite the fact that TQM initiatives also place major emphasis on the soft skills used during the program, including teamwork. The emphasis of training in both soft and hard skills was emphasized during the implementation of the program at JAKES enterprises. In particular, training was a principal litmus test for the management commitment of employees at the company; the training of the personnel of the organization was offered the first priority. The training programs administered at the institution were a major boost to the team working and interpersonal skills of the employees. Appraisal Dale, Van der wiele and Iwaarden maintain that performance appraisal plays a key role as a communication tool, which is very helpful in communicating to executive staffs, whether their personnel and departments are meeting quality standards (215). Additionally, under TQM the customer is regarded the most important piece of the puzzle, which calls for customer evaluation. In the case of JAKES enterprises, the company reassessed the appraisal system to include quality criteria, which reinforced the message of quality (Deblieux 3-4). This area is very important in filling the gap between managerial practices and the organization’s philosophy, which is a very important area. The inability to fill these gaps between the operational reality and the espoused policies is likely to frustrate the employees and make them cynical, which can hinder the success of the initiative. Recognition This area is very important, taking into account that companies are, now more than ever, abandoning the pay policies that reward output levels and nothing else. The evidence presented by different authors has showed that the efforts of many companies in promoting the culture of quality have not bore fruits, mainly because they do not connect the development of the culture to their payment systems (Evans 12). More importantly, Evans emphasized that recognition is one of the practices that promote the growth of teamwork and cooperation within an organization, which are important ingredients in the implementation of TQM initiatives (12). Some forms of recognition like giving awards and prizes has proved to be a critical influencer for performance increment during TQM initiatives. The commitment of senior personnel Maromonte maintains that the senior management of an organization is supposed to participate in the TQM visibly, through acknowledging and recognizing the engagement of employees (38). The senior management of an organization, like in the case of JAKES enterprises, will highly advantaged the organization through increasing their levels of accessibility among the employees, who are in most cases in contact with the reality targeted by the TQM initiative. In the case of JAKES enterprises, the management was directly involved in the oversight of the initiative, and also mixed with the workers in a manner demonstrating that they are team members, and that was one of the factors underlying the success of the program (Maromonte 38). Employee involvement From the case of JAKES enterprises, it was evident that the engagement of employees played an important role in the success of the TQM initiative. The evidence of employee engagement included that the senior staffs of the company collected feedback from employees, about the success of programs and also the response offered to their products by customers. Through the engagement of employees, the senior management of the company increased the engagement levels of the employees, mainly because engaging employees offers them the feeling that their participation and input is important and appreciated. The reflection of best practice approaches through the mechanisms used in managing HR Best practice approaches are the strategies that increase the effectiveness of HR systems, where there is evidence to support the contribution of the strategies in question. From the case of the implementation of TQM at the company, many of the HR management strategies and systems used to aid the effectiveness of the TQM program meet the standards of best practice approaches (Armstrong 35). This is the case, due to the fact that many of the human resource management practices used by the managerial staffs of the company are those that have been proven to improve the performance of organizations remarkably (Armstrong and Redmond 55). The company’s adoption of selective employee selection reflects their acceptance and usage of best practice approaches, where the set of the selection strategies used were more likely to promote the performance of the organization. The selective employee selection used by the company is in line with the selective hiring covered under the list of best practices (Armstrong and Redmond 55). For example, selective employee selection is effective in any situation, because it guarantees that the right employee is assigned a role that they can perform satisfactorily; it guarantees the performance of the organization. The delivery of education and communication services before the initiation of the TQM program was also in line with the best practice of sharing information. This is the case, mainly because the emphasis of the education and communication was to improve the exchange of knowledge and information (Armstrong and Redmond 55). The training of employees before the implementation of the TQM program was in line with best practice approaches. In particular, it coincides with the practice of training employees, to provide a skilled and motivated employee base (Armstrong and Redmond 55). The training offered by the company was effective and applicable to all imaginable situations, taking into account that it empowered the employees and widened their potential. The practice of appraisal was also in line with the best practice of training to create a skilled and motivated workforce; appraisal is a practice that enables workers to develop skills in the areas of weakness. The practice of recognition is inline with the best practice of adopting compensation models that are contingent to an employee’s performance. In particular, the commitment of senior personnel is in line with the best practice of reducing status differences, and that demonstrates that the management of the company embraced best practices. Through employee involvement, the company’s management demonstrated the importance of different best practices, including that of increasing the employees’ sense of security, the creation of self-managed teams and that of sharing information (Armstrong and Redmond 55). Thought on the management was responsible for the success of the initiative From the outlook of the implementation of the initiative, it becomes clear that the management of the JAKES enterprises took responsibility for the success, and would also have taken the responsibility of the failure of the initiative. The responsibility of the HR management in the success of the initiative is evident from the elimination of the barriers facing the initiative, which entailed wearing uniform, using the same canteens with the workers, and through the removal of the managers’ cabins (Armstrong 35). The evidence of taking responsibility is also available from the training of managers in all aspects of the change process, which would allow them to assume accountability for the delivery of quality products and services. The leadership style and the participation of the leaders in the implementation and the evaluation of the program also evidenced that the company and its HR function, among others accepted responsibility of the initiative, including that the working of cross functional teams (CFT) and Supervisory Improvement Teams (SITs) was directly linked to the success or the failure of the initiative. Accepting the role of sourcing for new information and knowledge also evidenced the readiness of the management of the company, in assuming responsibility for the success or the failure of the initiative (Robinson 247). Conclusion Doing business in the current times is extremely challenging, mainly because the economic liberalization of the market gave birth to intense competition in local and international markets. The increase in the competition calls for the increment in the quality of the products and the services delivered to customers; product improvement has become the norm of the day. The complexity of the market environment has increased the emphasis channelled towards the delivery of service that guarantees an entrepreneur that, he/she will benefit from the widely available consumer population. The current market also presents the threat of having immense knowledge about products and pricing. JAKES Enterprises Limited Company was adversely affected by the market slow-downs triggered by the economic crisis, until it initiated a TQM initiative, which turned it around and improved its performance in the market since 2010. The company’s TQM program was administered in three steps, starting with the preparatory, going to the promotional stage and ending with the deployment of the program. The main aspects of the program included that the leadership style and the employee participation outlook of the company had to be changed appropriately. The HR management mechanisms used to foster the success of the initiative include selective recruitment, the delivery of education and communication, training, employee appraisal, recognition, employee involvement and incorporating the commitment of the company’s senior personnel. Different aspects of the administration of the program evidence the commitment of the management in the success of the initiative. The activities that evidenced their commitment included the formation of the CFT and SIT teams, which was also a best practice approach. Works Cited Ahire, Sanjay, Golhar, Damodar, and Waller, Mathew. ‘Development and validation of TQM implementation constructs.’ Decis. Sci, 27.1(1996):23-56. Armstrong, Michael, and Redmond, Kate. Armstrongs Handbook of Strategic Human Resource Management. 5th Edition. London: Kogan Page, 2011. Armstrong, Michael. Armstrongs Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page, 2009. Print. Dale, Barrie, Van der wiele, Dale, and Iwaarden, Josan. Managing Quality. Fifth edition. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Print. Deblieux, Mike. Performance Reviews Support the Quest for Quality. HR Focus, November (1991): 3-4. Evans, James. Quality & Performance Excellence. Management, Organization, and Strategy. 7th edition. Mason, OH: South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2013. Print. 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