Quality Management - Sony PlayStation 2 - Case Study Example

Case Study for Quality Management: Sony PlayStation 2 [Name] [Professor Name] [Course] [Date] Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Introduction 2 Quality problem from Customer Perspective 3 Proposal for research investigation 3 Quality management 5 Quality Processes for Sony’s PlayStations 5 Customer Focus 7 Leadership 7 System approach to management 7 People involvement 7 Process approach 8 Continual improvement 8 Mutually-beneficial supplier relationships 8 Fact-based decision making 9 Conclusion 9 References 10 Introduction Sony’s products have recently been criticised for their poor quality compared to competitor brands. For instance, Customers have complained about overheating, degradation, wear and tear, unsafe PlayStation 2 manufactured by the company. This report argues that Sony should reconfigure its quality management system, by reviewing its quality management mechanism in a range of its electronics manufacturing, including design, development, distribution and sales and services. This will require redefining the roles of employees responsible for product and service quality. Total quality management (TQM) is therefore suggested due to its comprehensive nature. The report concludes that the company needs to strengthen the company’s ability to identify quality issues. It should also improve the safety standards of the product. Next, it should respond to customer expectations by considering their viewpoints. It should also aim to promote customer satisfaction. Quality problem from Customer Perspective Sony products have continued to lose reputation (Adeltstein and Stucky 2012). Despite the products carrying premium price over competitor brands, the products have continued to lose favour among many shoppers of electronics. Indeed, a current string of problematic products manufactured by Sony such as LCD TVs, PlayStation, digital cameras and batteries are evident that the company is losing its touch with its customers. Consequently, the company recalled may of these products after problems with their functionality were found to be widespread. In using PlayStation 2, a number of quality problems have been realised (Sony 2012; Tang 2012). For instance, console overheats and the drive does not read. The problem is however noticeable in a number of other Sony products. Indeed, Sony has continued to lose its market share to Korean companies such as Samsung and LG. The company’s financial year ending March 2012 projected a net loss of $5.7 billion (Adeltstein and Stucky 2012; Kim 2004). Proposal for research investigation Usually, there are often changes that have to be made in order to improve the quality of a company’s products (Friedman 2005). There is need to investigate into the nature of the problem. Identifying the root cause for quality-related products are fundamental issues in the manufacturing processes. Root-cause identification can indeed be a challenging problem in a multi-stage manufacturing facility where a range of processes and decisions are performed. Given that consumer expectations are incessantly evolving, there is a need for continual improvement of the quality of the products to keep with the expectations (Mahto and Kumar 2008). The focus should therefore be on quality improvement that is only as economical and logical. It should also be capable of adding value to the customers (See Figure 1 below). Figure 1: Price Performance Graph for Quality and improvement Since the PlayStation market is becoming much more competitive, Sony is being driven to the walls and therefore has a burden to overcome such tough situation. This report proposes that Sony should focus on innovation. Reflecting on the company’s need to improve the quality of its PlayStation 2 brand of products, Sony should integrate a quality management system that can improve the company’s innovativeness, review its personnel and incorporate quality improvement measures across all production processes, from service processes to sales. Process-oriented quality management should also be implemented (Sony 2010; Tange 2012; Sony 2012) Quality management Quality management is a critical aspect of management. It consists of integrating a number of related activities and techniques including specifications of what are needed, designing products to meet certain specifications or manufacture of products that meet the full intent of specifications, or review of usage to generate information for revising the required specifications (Aitken et al 2003). This report proposes using Process-oriented quality management. Process-oriented quality management is a general term referring to a range of approaches for quality management. The four main processes include Kaizen, Six Sigma, Business Process Reengineering (BPR) and Total quality management (TQM) (Stracke 2006; Anon n.d.). For this particular study, this report further proposes the use of TQM since it is the most comprehensive approach. This is because the problems that Sony products are facing are complex, and concerns the entire production, distribution and marketing processes. Using this method, all members of Sony are expected to take part in improving production processes, the products, company services as well as the culture in which they work (ASQ 2013; Szewieczek at al 2008). Quality Processes for Sony’s PlayStations This report suggests the development, improvement and implementation of quality management systems (See Figure 2). Total quality management consists of a management system for a customer-focused company that integrates employees in the continual processes of improvement. The approach uses data, strategy and effective communication to improve quality into the set of activities and processes that make up a business operation (Baly 2011). Figure 2: Model of proposed quality management system (Stracke 2006) Along with orienting the products to customer preferences, there is a need for continual product improvement. This model requires a comprehensive approach in the sense of TQM. The following comprise eight quality management principles that form the basis of this report. Customer Focus Sony should capitalise on its strong global presence and customer base. It should therefore examine both the current and the future customer needs. In addition to striving to see that its range of PlayStations meet its customer requirements, it should aim exceed their expectations. This is since the customers ultimately determine the level of quality. Despite the activities that a business does to promote quality improvement – such as integrating quality in the design process or purchase of new measuring tools – the customers’ response to the ultimate program will determine whether the efforts were worthwhile (McGraw Hill 2004). Leadership Sony’s management should establish a unity of purpose that gives the company a new direction. The internal environment in which employees can be become entirely involved in achieving corporate objectives should be should be created (Pyor, Toombs and Anderson 2008). System approach to management Through identification, understanding and management of interrelated processes, it can work to the benefit of the company by contributing to efficiency and effectiveness in attainment of objectives. An essential part of managing quality consists of strategic and systematic approach to attaining an organization’s mission, vision and goals (Ming 2008). People involvement At all levels, people are the essence of an organization and should therefore be fully involved to capitalise on their capacities and abilities to the benefit of the company. Total employee involvement can be achieved after the company drives fear out of the workplace, when employee empowerment has been done and once management has offered the property environment. Sony can invest in self-managed work teams as a form of empowerment (Mullins 2007; WRF 2011). Process approach Sony should seek to manage related resources as a process to attain the desired results more efficiently. Despite Sony consisting of a range of functional specialities vertically organised into departments, it is however the horizontal processes that interconnect these functions, which are the focus of TQM. Micro-processes combine to larger processes, which add up into business processes needed for delineating and implementing strategies. It will be essential that each employee understands the mission, vision and guiding principles in addition to the quality of objectives, policies as well as critical processes. The company will also have to monitor as well as communicate business processes continually (Hwang 2009). Continual improvement Sony should encourage continual improving its overall performance, which should be its long-term objective. As a key driver of TQM, continual improvement can drive an organization to be creative and analytical in seeking means to becoming more effective and competitive at meeting the expectations of the customers (Markus 2004; Dale 2003). Mutually-beneficial supplier relationships Since Sony and its suppliers are interdependent, mutually-beneficial relationships should be encouraged to enable both the company and its suppliers to create value. Fact-based decision making Sony should encourage the use of evidence-based decision-making across its management processes. Generally, effective decisions are based on information analysis and synthesis. To determine how effective an organization is performing, information on the performance measures is essential (Mire-Sluism et al 2010). Conclusion Based on the principles of TQM, this report concludes that: To strengthen the company’s ability to identify quality issues, Sony should create a committee in charge of monitoring quality issues in each of its global operations. This will enable the organization to collect information on product quality fast. In order to improve the safety standards of the product, the company should institute an in-house committee that addresses the safety of its products and prepare internal safety standards to be updated with regard to the change in technology. The company should also respond to customer expectations by considering their viewpoints. It should also aim to promote customer satisfaction. Sony should capitalise on its global customer information centres to respond to customer inquiries. Sony should also train its employees to be customer-oriented. To improve Sony product reliability as s result ensuring product reliability, Sony should assign specialists who work to ensure the products are reliable in the long-term. Focus should be on prevention of tear and wear, determination and corrosion of parts. References Adeltstein, J & Stucky 2012, How Sony Is Turning into a Ghost in Japan and Around the World, Kotaku, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://kotaku.com/5960411/how-sony-is-turning-into-a-ghost-in-japan-and-around-the-world Aitken, A, Horngren, J, Jones, N, Lewis, D & Zilhao, J 2003, Handbook on improving quality by analysis of process variables, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/quality/documents/HANDBOOK%20ON%20IMPROVING%20QUALITY.pdf Anon n.d., Total Quality Management, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://www.wiley.com/college/sc/reid/chap5.pdf ASQ 2013, Total Quality Management (TQM), viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/total-quality-management/overview/overview.html Baly, D 2011, Product Quality Management, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/Manufacturing/UCM332550.pdf Dale, B 2003, Managing Quality, Blackwell Publishers Friedman, R 2005, "Aseptic Processing Contamination Case Studies and the Pharmaceutical Quality System," PDA J Pharm and Tech, Vol 59, pp.118-126 Hwang, S 2009, "Process Quality Levels of ISO/IEC 15504, CMMI and K-model," International Journal of Software Engineering and Applications, Vol. 30 .No. 1, pp.33-42 Kim, SH 2004, Product Development Strategy for LG Electronics in Optical Storage-based Consumer Electronics, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://dspace.mit.edu/bitstream/handle/1721.1/17865/56611707.pdf Markus, L 2004, Performance Management Ñ Problems and Potential, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://www.performancegroup.co.nz/pm.pdf Mahto, D & Kumar, A 2008, "Application of root cause analysis in improvement of product quality and productivity," Journal of Industrial Engineering and Management, Vol 2 No. 2, pp16-53 McGraw Hill 2004, Customer expectations of service, Cha 3, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/0077107950/577210/04ch03.pdf Ming, KL 2008, An Assessment of Acceptance Sampling For the Propose of Quality Control: Case Study in Glove Manufacturing Industry, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://library.utem.edu.my/index2.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_view&gid=5744&Itemid=113 Mire-Sluism A, Ramnarine, E, Siemiatkoski, J, Swann, P, O'Keeffe, R, Kutza, J, Edwards, J & McLeod, L 2010, "Practical Applications of Quality Risk Management," BioProcess International, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 20–32 Mullins L 2007, Management and Organisational Behaviour, Prentice Hall Pyor, G, Toombs, L & Anderson, D 2008, "What Management and Quality Theories Are Best for Small Businesses?" Journal of Management and Marketing Research, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://www.aabri.com/manuscripts/09208.pdf Sony 2010, Products and Services, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr_report/issues/report/2010/pdf/CSR_Report2010_07.pdf Sony, 2012, Product Quality and Quality Management, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr_report/quality/management/ Stracke, C 2006, Process-Oriented Quality Management, Handbook on Quality and Standardisation in E-Learning, Springer, BErline Szewieczek, D, Roszak, M & Helizanowicz, D 2008, "Methodology of the quality management in the productive process," Journal of Achievements in Materials and Manufacturing Engineering ,Vol. 30 Iss. 1, pp87-94 Tang, H, Misra, R & Shanhot, E 2012, Sony Corporation, Griffin Consulting Group, viewed 21 Oct 2013, http://economics-files.pomona.edu/jlikens/SeniorSeminars/Likens2012/reports/Sony.pdf WRF 2011, Quality Management Plan, Water Research Foundation, Colorado Read More