Managing Quality Process - Coursework Example

MANAGING QUALITY. Name: Professor: Institution: Course: Date: Executive summary. Quality is the state of being free from any defects,deficiences or any significant variations from the stardard or required prouct.it can also be defined as a measure of execelence brought obout by the strict and consistent adherence to verifiable and measurable standards for the achievement of similar products or services that are aimed at satisfying the users or the targeted customers.it can also be defined as the completeness of all features and characteristics of a service or a product that has its ability to satisfy consumers’ implied needs or wants. Managing or rather management is the process of getting activities completed effectively and efficiently with and through other people.the main functions of management will include planning,organiazing,directing,staffing,reporting and budgeting. Managing quality is the act of maintaining a quality at its best level where the management is given the role to maintain the quality of a good or service at its best profitable level and performing at its best in mater of sales.managing quality calls for dedication from the key executives of any enterprise for ultimate dedication in their work so as to maintain the quality of a product. Introduction. Most of the organaizations all over the world and aspiring companies are fighting for a bigger market share for themselves by producing the best of products in the market by laying special emphasis on both quality and quantity.among the both of them, quality seems to be more paramount and therefore, most organaisations focus on how to better the quality of their products so as to have more sales and thus increase their profits. The whole ides of maintaining and managing quality now comes in. This does not only have to do with companies or organaisations but also with the people and the services they offer. As a result, anyone offering a service, a good or a product to the public should be well informed and very keen on how to manage quality. Background to topic Many organaisations have different types of managing skills and they differ from organaisation to onother.most of the most succesful organaisations employ the quality type of management that is mostly recomended for organaizations that have complex management system and is most suitable for organaisations that are more oriented on delivery to the customers other than the profit they make. Quality management is mostly suitable for companies that are more service delivery oriented and those that are focused on giving and delivering the best to their loyal customers.this is a wise way of maintaining a market share and maintaing the customer goodwill on the companies products. Litreview. Managing quality is the most effective way of maintaining and ensuring competitive advantage between organaisations in today’s global market. This is mainly in service provision.in products or goods selling, managing quality is of a very great importance as it helps in competion and healthy competion that helps the consumers get the best they can get from different companies. (yahoo,2011 pg.1). Managing quality in most organaisations will demand for new quality control procedures and methods , new customer assuarance methods , new production information , very intensive supplier qualification systems and shared design too. Managing the quality of products that are mostly distributed through the internet which may include browsing of newspapers, purchase anb booking of plane tickets and hotel rooms respectively, download and listen to music and even buy or shop from any convinient city or place in the whole world without necessarily leaving ones’ desk will demand the invention and advancement of ideas, methods or tools. (Blanton A. ,2011,pg.1) Different companies may have different ways and means of maintaning quality. virtual companies or companies that have branches outside their country of origin for example Nike, Volkswagen or manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz have their own test parts or install parts and this changes the role of these companies from manufactures to cordinaters and planners. these helps them maintain the quality of their goods as they give other persons the role of making and manufacturing the products and they moniter from a distance thus play the role of co ordinating the work done.it is in this way that they manage their quality. (Blanton A. ,2011 pg.1) Managing quality may also involve taking drastic measures some which may even affect the company but in a profitable way after all. A company like Nypro Clinton reduced its number and target of customers by more than 90% in a move aimed at increasing its customer focus. Through this reduction the company is now able to concentrate more on the few good and reliable customers , co locate its manufacturing premises or facilities and start strong and true business relationships either of the customers left. Other companies too are evolving into being small and they are doing this by flatening their management structure. A company like SOL which is a cleaning company based in finland is now operating with only 13 managers who are supervising 3700 employees. It has also eliminated all the non value adding positions in the company which may include clerical and secretarial just so as to manage the quality of the services they offer to the public. By reduction of the managers, the few that there are help in prompt decision making and improve the quality of their desicions making the organaization run smoothly. (Blanton A.,2011,pg 1). High quality achievement is not by accident. It is achieved by proper management of the production process. The management of quality is mainly concrened with contoling activities with the aim of ensuring that products oand the services produced are fit for their purpose and meet the specifications. This is mainly maintained by quality control which si defined as the process of inspecting products to ensure that they meet the required standards. Its main objective is to ensure that the business is achieving the standards it set for itself. In order for a business or company or an organaisation achieve its goals, it has to meet all the standards and maintain the quality of what it is offering to the public. The simplest way to manage quality of a product or a service is by inspection. This will mainly apply to a manufacturing business or company where trained personell are called upon to either inspect the raw materials, work in progress or even the finished goods. With this inspection, faulty and sub-standard products reaching the customers is prevented. This safeguards the image of the company at large and maintains the quality of the products so produced. This helps in managing the quality of the goods. While inspection may seem as a very efficient way of managing the quality of a product, it is not encouraged as the individuals involved in the manufacture are not encouraged to take responsibility for their own quality work. The advantage of managing the quality of a product is that its very efficient at preventing losses to a company through a lot of rejects and substandard goods which in turn will cause numerous losses to the company (Geoff Riley,2011,pg1). Managing quality also applies to learning institutions and mostly in institutions of higher learning. Most of the universities in many countries all over the world protect their critical market by managing the level of quality of their university courses. They do this by ensuring that the level or quality they offer is standard and matches the standards of the same courses in other learning institutions all over the world. Universities are also keen to compare among themselves in relation to the quality of education courses offered as well as what the general public thinks obout them.the increasing concern with the quality in higher education has made universities look for better ways of managing quality processes. In the current world,with the technology and the distance learning,all attention has been focused on the quality proceeses in the deliverly of online programmes and learning. The quality has been conceptualised as low quality and therefore the institutions of higher learning have to improve on the way to make them fit. This way,they will raise the stardards of their degrees. These institutions need to set stardards that will be followed by each student who wants to be a graduate of that particular institution. (Alistair Inglis ,2011) 5,pg 1.). Managing quality will also involve the improvement of the quality. Quality improvement mainly concerns raising the quality of a product or of a service.this is mainly judged by comparison between the current standard of a product or a service and the stardard of the product or service that the company aims to reach. It is also concerned with the past products or services produced and what is being produced now. The processes concerned with the improvement of a quality are more focused on the performance of a particular area or product than on the whole organaisation. Therefore,improvement of a quality is also a means of managing its quality. ( The Alistair Inglis,2011),pg 1.). Quality management is a philosophy of management that comprises of quality management systems, the customer focus and a consultive culture.the objective of managing a quality is to improve on the value of goods and services either internally or to the external customers with later outcomes of improved and accelerated business results and gerater efficiency and effectiveness of the companies day to day activities. (New Zealand Qualifications Authority,2008,pg 2.) Products and services can have different levels of quality depending on their conformance and requirements. In the words of Dale B. G.,quality is not aleays obout the standard of a good but can also be in the design of the good. This could mean the degree to which the design or a product or service achieves its purpose . This will also change the mentality that good quality always means a high price. He elaborates that in managing quality, an enterprise or a company must be able to focus on all aspects of quality from the compositiuon bit of it to the design and the marketing strategy a business employs. He explains that satisfying a customers expectations and understanding all the customers needs now and in the future will be of great help to the organaisation in planing on the quality goals a company wants to achieve. He explains that all the qualities and stardards set by the organaisation are all aimed at the satisfaction of the consumers and they should therefre be safeguardedby maintaing the quality of each. (B.G.Dale,2003 pg.9 and 10) Managing quality can also be explained by total quality management. Total quality management is a management approach to the long term success through customer satisfaction. Here all members of the organaisation are participative in improving processes services and products in their place of work. To help the business deliver in its quality implimentation total quality management procedures can be employed.this may include adoption of a new philosophy or motto or even a vision for the business.it could also include breakdown of barriers between staff, adoption of institute leadership,institute training on job so as to increase on the levels of expertise,institute a vigourous program of advancement in education and self improvement for all the workers,put everyone in the organaisation working towards the achievement and making the goals and quality stardards met among others. (ASQ,2011 pg 1). According to the Free Management Library,total quality management is a set of management practices that are geared to ensure that a company or organaisation always meets and exceeds the requitements of the customers. It places a strong focus on process measurement and the set controls as a means of countinous improvement. This is an approach used by organaizations to improve and better their internal processes and increase their customers satisfaction.If quality is well managed it can lead to deacreased costs related to preventive or corrective maintenance and increse the overall performance which inturn leads to increased number of happy and loyal customers. This however does not happen ubruptly but rather there are steps and philosophies that a company must integrate throughhout each depeartment of the organaisation so as to achieve all this economies. This will include some principles that are known as the principles of total quality management. Quality can and must be managed by any organaisation. Upon realising this, all companies must know that if any quality is aimed at,it can be managed and implimented in a way it is going to work for the betterness of the company.A company must also realie that in the journey to manage its qualities,the processes of implimenting the quality are the problem and not the people who are implimenting it. They are therefore supposed to deal with the processes and make them as simplified as they can but not the people who are strugliong to impliment the qualities.in the implimentation of qualities too, organaizations are advised not to treat symptoms but focus on the cure to heal a quality that is going sour but is very good for the product or service.They are advised to manage the quality from the inside rather than from the outside and therefore get the cure first before focusing on the problems. In proper implimentation of a quality the company and the top executive should realize that every employee is responsible for the proper implimentation of a quality. This means that from the upmost level of managers to the lowest level of surbodinates,each must realize that they have an important role to play in ensuring high levels of quality in their services or products. This is attributed to the fact that every employee of that organaisation will and always delights in the sucess and joy of the company and thus must take full responsibility delegated unto them into making the goals of the company meet up. Inorder for a quality to be managable,it has to be measurable. This is due to the fact that a quality management system can only be effective if the results achieved are quantifiable. The managers need to see the progress of a quality in relation to how the consumers are responding to it and how long they still have to go before the desired results or effect is achieved.In the same way,each department may want to knw its contribution to the better implimentation of a quality and therefore the idea of a quality being measurable becomes paramount. (Free Management Library,2011,pg 1) The improvement of a quality should be countinous and should not be a process that is done once and forgotten. For better implimentation of a quality ,it should be flexible to allow for upgrading when that is needed and continue as long as it is for the betterment of the business and the customers at large. The last philosophy that an organaisation must consider in the total quallity management implimentation is that a quality is a long term investment and therefore should be managed with atmost care and be allowed to grow and prosper with time. Everyone should knw that a quality does not bear results overnight but it should be designed to help get longterm success. (Free Management Library,2011,pg 1.) The quiker and better way of managing a quality is by also cheking the composition of the top management also given the authority to pass and generate the qualities. Incase of very many people,the qualities so passed may be biased and this may cause poor performance of the quality. Conclusion. In conclusion,the managing of a quality is a long process that should be applied in a long term basis and which if well implimented could lead to a business having the highest of profits and multitudes of customers due to better delivery of goods and services. If a company maintains all its qualities at a high stardard,it will also experience economies of scale that will increase the profitability and good pay for all its employees. The Future. What will happen is based on what there is today and the developments technology will bring forth. As a result of this,we expect that more and more organaisations in the near future will pick up this form of management where quality will be the focus of all organaizations and where customer satisfaction will be the sole aim of every single service or product provider. We expect that many organaisations will pick up quality management so that their focus will be their delivery and these will also bring forth healthy competition among different companies and this will make a consumer have the freedom of sovereignity to have what they want. An example of a company that employs quality management. (application) Siganto Air Service &Solutions Pty Limited is one of the largest privately owned air conditioning companies in queensland .With its establishment in 1969,it is a wholly owned and operated queensland company.This company specialises in the maintenance,installation,repair and performance management of commercial and industrial air conditioning,refregartion and electrical contracting.this company is fully accredited and insured and it currently maintains a quality system. This company has a subsidiary in Maroochydore on the sunshine coast . Through the use of quality management,this company has always propelled to higher heights and they are giuded by their mission statement which states that’the company will always strive to become the first choice air conditioning service provider for the commercial market in Queensland with cstrong client relationship focused on clients needs and providing a first class service at a reasonable price’. This mission has guided the company to achieve its dreams and is still a major contribution to the success of the company even today. Some major clients of Siganto Air Service &Solutions include Twin Towns RSL Club,Australian Catholic University Nudgee,Boonah Hospital,among others.the quality management system has been of great help to this company. (Siganto’s Website). references American Society for Quality(ASQ) Total Quality Management,(2011)pg 1,.retrived on 29/8/11. http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/total-quality-management/overview/overview.html Alistair Inglis (2011) Quality Improvement, Quality Assurance, and Benchmarking: Comparing two frameworks for managing quality processes in open and distance learning 29th August from http://www.irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/221/304 Blanton A.( 2011) quality management Pg. 1 retrieved on 29/8/11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_management_system B.G.Dale,(2003)management quality 4th edition http://books.google.com/books?id=06nSckwMjf8C&printsec=frontcover&vq=how+to+manage+quality&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q=how%20to%20manage%20quality&f=false Geoff Riley(2011) Economics at the Movies: Local Hero - Valuing our heritage retrieved on 29th august from http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/index.php/economics/ New Zealand Qualification Authority,(2008) Quality Management pg.2 retrived on 29/8/11. http://www.nzqa.info/nqfdocs/units/pdf/8085.pdf free management library,(2011) Total Quality Management retrived on 29/8/11. http://managementhelp.org/quality/total-quality-management.htm Siganto Air Service and Solutions Company Limited(2011)official website retrived on29/8/11. http://www.sigantoair.com.au/samain.html Shikha Sharma(2011) What is management? retrived on 29/8/11. http://choo.fis.utoronto.ca/fis/courses/lis1230/lis1230sharma/history4.htm Business dictionary (2011)what is quality? retrieved on 29/8/11.http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/quality.html Yahoo(2011) answers defination of managing quality in services pg.1. retrived on 29/8/11. http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091026064919AA2iPJz Read More