Quality Assurance in an Organizational Context - Case Study Example

Running Header: Quality Assurance in an organizational context Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Code & Name: Date of Submission: Table of contents Summary……………………………………………………………………………..3 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………..3 Findings………………………………………………………………………….……4 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………11 Reference…………………………………………………………………………....13 Summary Sony Company is highly reputed all over the world for its quality electronics with a brand name Sony. Sony manufactures digital cameras, computers, television sets, Digital versatile disc players, play stations among many other electronics which are distributed globally. This company has over along time been able to maintain the quality of its products and services thus winning consumer confidence; this is the reason why this report is aiming at evaluating various strategies put in place by Sony for quality assurance for its services and products. The report makes concrete conclusions on the need to comply with international standardization such as the ISO 9000, introduction of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle in manufacturing processes to ensure high quality of the products this reports concludes that Sony is doing great in quality assurance, and it recommends that safety standards and quality assurance be made compulsory for all sectors and parts of any organization and regular training of employees Introduction Sony Company is one of the leading organizations in the United Kingdom primarily focusing on manufacturing electronics; the It products and components, this includes television sets, radios, microwaves, fridges and computers. Among the other products manufactured by Sony are; play stations, Motion pictures and music as well as financial services such as banking and insurance. Sony has for a long time maintained its global uniqueness. As the quality assurance manager; this role is very critical in giving consumers the best in terms of quality products and services throughout the supply chain. Quality assurance is an essential tool to market the organization. The main objective of this report is to discuss the various strategies put in place by Sony Company in product quality assurance and delivery of services to the consumers. Findings Product responsibility and quality management is the main commitment for the Sony Organization; for products that are reliable hence, ensuring that customers can make use of the Sony products and services with confidence. This is well set in the Sony Pledge of Quality. There has been a decisive effort so as to enhance quality of the products as well as reinforcing quality management systems, as indicated in the figure below. Sony's Quality Management System Organizational Structure (Sony 2011) The above figure shows the management structure within the Sony Company; this is to ensure effectiveness in maintaining the commitment to the quality assurance of all the Sony products. Sony through its effort for quality management started with a review of the quality management; this began with the development, planning, design manufacturing and through to selling the products and services (Hans 2006, p.223). By having redefined roles as well as the responsibilities of those involved in the quality of services and products; Sony developed some frameworks and guidelines to enable attainment of high level quality products. This framework ensured that product’s quality is well looked at in the policy level. First Sony appointed an executive officer to be in charge of the product quality and services by delivering policies meant to streamline the whole process of product delivery while maintaining the quality of the product and making sure that there is a quick response to any problem likely to affect the quality of the products. Appointment of quality officers in each unit of the company also contributed much in quality assurance. Sony has also obtained the certification under ISO-9001 in all the sites manufacturing electronic products; this is an international standard for ensuring quality management of businesses, it mainly applies to all process creating and controlling product and services, dictating systematic control of activities ensuring meeting of the customers’ needs and expectations. ISO-9001 is mainly intended to be applied in any kind of a product or service which is made by a process anywhere in the world (David 2005, p.221). In order for Sony to have high and unique products and services, it has been able to identify the main problems affecting consumers after they purchase their products. For example the quality related issues where by consumers have been claiming that problems of malfunctioning products for example a product quality issue that involved the Lithium-ion batteries for notebook computers back in the year 2006. This led to the drastic improvement in the designs which included the selection of a higher and improved grade of insulating materials and the redesigning of the structure so as to prevent penetration of foreign particle into the device (Sony 2011). Sony also had to develop a new manufacturing process that enhanced a high level of cleanliness to meet the set safety standards, thereby improving the quality of the battery. According to Aran and Peter (2009, p.83), the supply chain management is essential in ensuring that the quality of a product is well maintained through out the entire process of product delivery. Quality assurance is integrated in the policy level of a company to ensure adherence to set international standards and legal regulations. The importance of having or the steps of product manufacturing assessed have increased the efforts of Sony to assure their customers on the quality of their services and products. Quality assurance is a tool enhancing marketability of a product; hence, improving on the reputation of a company. Sony group has formulated quality standards which are applicable to its Electronic products and other related services; this focuses on the product safety, quality, performance, labeling and services. These quality standards are updated often in line with the technological advances and consumer demands as well as to meet legal and regulatory demands plus the social changes. The formulation of mid term quality targets and fiscal year quality targets are a major motivation towards the attainment of the Sony pledge of Quality. As proposed by Hatterner and Antony (2011, p.12), Quality assurance is must for all organizations and companies willing to maintain and compete in business; this is the case because consumers awareness on their rights to quality services and products has risen over the recent years, consumers are alert on the services and the products that they are purchasing .Therefore necessitating the need to offer quality products and services. A business should not only be driven by making profits but also to satisfy the needs of customers. Policies should be documented for reference points as in the case of the Sony whereby, all policies are well documented to offer information sharing within the company and to keep trail of internal and external audits to check on growth of the company. Thomas (2011, p.19), argues on the importance of education and training in quality assurance within all sectors of a company; it is vital to have regular employee training to have well skilled and updated employees on the current market trends, consumer preferences and technological advancement as well as the impacts brought when a company’s product is of low quality or has malfunctioned in the hand of the consumer. Sony has a strategy of training its employees as the company depends on innovations and new designs, therefore, Sony must be aware and able to implement new designs to keep the quality of its products at a higher level. Sony Corporation established a compliance division which is charged with the overall exercise of controlling the compliance activities within the Sony group; this is very essential in enhancing business ethics and submission to all applicable laws, policies and regulations. Paul and Ernest (2009,p.97), emphasizes on the importance of accreditation and certification of a company; a company that has been certified by international bodies such as International Organizational for Standardization improves it reputation and quality assurance as regular audits are done to check on the compliance of the organization to the set quality standards. Fig 2 Customer feed back and relation model for Sony Company (Sony 2011) It is policy for the Sony Company to actively make use of the customer feedback; this ensures information gathering mainly on product quality improvement. This is done through opinion reports of purchased products to determine whether there is malfunctioning of Sony products. A company that has clear information via the company’s customer centres as in the case of Sony Company; is able to disseminate accurate information to the planning and policy makers of the company; this is a very crucial step in quality assurance of products and services from any kind of industry or a company (Werner 1996, p. 229). A good example was the case of the new release of digital cameras and video cameras which had a great usability; the feedback from the customers led to the designing of a new storage media slot which was external, thereby increasing the usability as well as the quality of the digital camera. Customers are the main key stakeholders in the process of the quality assurance as they are the one who give a feedback on the effectiveness of the product, the effects it has to the users and to the environment. Ensuring that customers have a quality hotline has helped in assuring the consumers on the company’s efforts to keep the quality of services and products at a level fit for the consumers. This hotline helps in detection of problems related to quality as early as possible so as to take the appropriate measure immediately. As indicated by Sony, it has received more than 1,300 reports via the quality hotline; this in return has led to more than 800 quality improvements. The initiatives put in lace by the Sony Company is an indication of the commitment of product quality improvement and assurance to the consumers as well as maintaining the customers trust in their products and services (Sony 2011). Monitoring quality in markets. There is an establishment of of quality management organization in various areas to enable monitoring the quality of their products in the market places. The main aim of monitoring the products is to identify issues related to quality. The monitoring committees have been operating in different places where an incident has been reported and makes recommendation and overseeing the recommendations’ implementation. Any reported incidence regarding the quality of the products is handled very urgently to enhance customer satisfaction. As it is indicated by David (2005, p.124), it is recommended that a company carries out regular quality monitoring of all markets and the response analyzed accurately; to provide a mechanism for appropriate measures in response to the quality upgrade and assurance son as to have customers’ satisfaction where quality is important in maintaining economic viability of a product or a service. Sony Corporation has a compliance monitoring program that helps in assuring adherence of global codes of conduct and policies. The framework for monitoring the quality compliance program mainly consists of hotline system and reports from regional offices as well as the assessments by key Sony group companies and internal audits. The compliance self assessment carried out by the Sony Company involves the self inspection of itemized compliance related activities together with detailed reporting. After thorough evaluation of the results of all self assessments, the corporate executive officer who identifies the appropriate measures of quality improvement throughout the production and distribution process in all the Sony companies. This is a major step in quality assurances as the company makes well informed decisions before implementing new designs and new technologies as well as improving on the complains raised by the consumers related to the quality of Sony products (Rita and Antony 2009, p. 24) Initiatives Aimed at Improving the Quality, Safety and Long- Term Reliability of Products Sony over a long time had design related quality initiatives to ensure that the quality of their products is well maintained. This begins by verification of new technologies and parts by experts involved so as to ascertain their suitability in the user’s perspective. The design process helps the designer to assess the degree to which the intended level of product quality and its reliability can be applied. This approach is crucial in quality assurance as it prevents any occurrence of problem relating to the quality of the product or a service that may be as a result of new technologies and product parts. According to (Susan and David 2010, p.311), the first stage of introducing new technologies in a company is a major factor for quality check. Therefore, it is very important for the first stage of designing and pretesting new product parts especially in a manufacturing industry to be taken very seriously. The entire process for quality assurance begins with formation of the right policy and strategy, and then what follows is a well defined design; with this Sony Company has been able to maintain and monitor any new technology and new parts in the entire process of manufacturing and distributing their products. Uniqueness of a product depends on the uniqueness of the design. The other important initiatives making the product quality of Sony products is the manufacturing-related quality initiatives; Sony believes in policy of ensuring skill in all the production sites, this includes establishment of targets related to the quality of its products whereby there is an implementation of a Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle in the entire manufacturing process, this cycle is implemented through a groupwide implementation .This manufacturing cycle involve proper and timely planning mainly focusing on short and long term policy making; to establish a well defined objectives and the right process which is necessary in the delivery of all the desired outcomes. From this stage the other most important is carrying out the planned task to check on the practicality of the plan for example introduction of a new model of the digital cameras, from this point the assessment, monitoring and evaluation; this is meant to test the results to ensure that the objectives set in advance are met ( Marilyn 1999, p. 221). The last step is acting; this is getting practical actions that are necessary for betterment if the result acquired requires changes. This cycle is important in quality assurance as the final product and service taken to the consumers are already tested and its quality assured earlier before its bulk manufacturing. Collection of accurate information is very critical in implementation of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle; inaccurate information may lead poor decision making regarding a product (Shannon (2011, p. 126), Sony Company selects its parts for product manufacturing very carefully, this is to ensure that their products are built for long term use. A company cannot rely on one part of its production process; all parts within a company are crucial in ensuring that quality services and products are delivered. Sony has initiated a committee whose main aim is to assess the safety of the products medically and environmentally. This committee prepares standards which are updated regularly to be inline with the ever developing human health as well as compliance with the legal requirements and laws regulations and standards (Pfeifer 2002, p.142-143). For Example when Sony is developing a product or is introducing a new product; it has to seek expertise advice to be incorporated into the product development, design as well as engineering so as to be certain that the product or the technology to be introduced has less or no negative impacts at all to the human health and the environment in totality. Standardization such as the ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 pertains to the process of how a product is manufactured. Sony Company has complied with these international standards, therefore, ensuring that the product safety is well maintained. These standards are well integrated within the company’s policy for economic prosperity and product quality assurance. Sony also seeks to respond fleetly to the interests of customers in the event of a quality-related issue, following a process common to all Sony products for determining the basic policy and timing of a public announcement. The process begins with the gathering of information from Customer Service Centers worldwide and collaborating with concerned local parties to guarantee an accurate understanding of the issue. Based on information collected, Sony identifies the causes of a quality-related issue and implements the appropriate measures, taking prompt steps to verify the potency thereof, as well as to view the issue from the customer's perspective, and deciding on the right measures in cooperation with the personnel in charge of product quality at local sites to provide the same level of service to customers worldwide. Customers have to be treated equally regardless of their locality (John and Tnish 2010, p.122). Conclusion Quality assurance is a mandatory requirement for all companies all over the world. Sony Company has for long been able to maintain the uniqueness of its products as well as the quality of the products and services; this can also be seen to be a marketing tool for the company. The success of Sony can be attributed to its efforts in ensuring that its products are well designed and of high quality. It is important for a company to look at the products rather than targeting huge incomes without proper plans for quality assurance. The other most important factor which should be implemented in all organizations including the Sony is the corporate social 0responsibilities; this is giving back to the society or the surrounding communities. This will ensure creation of consumer confidence in the products of that particular company or organization as this creates a good image and also acts like marketing strategy. Response to customers is also crucial role played by Sony to keep their product quality at a higher level. Employee training program should be a must to keep them updated with the current consumer preferences and technological advancement so as to maintain the performance of the company quality wise while at the same time improving the economic status of the company. Quality assurances the way forward for better product development ad should be made mandatory. References Arun, S & Peter, J 2009, Engineering education quality assurance: a global perspective, Springer Publishers, New York. David, G & Stanley, D 1998, Understanding and implementing ISO 9000 and ISO standard, Prentice Hall Publishers, New Jersey. Rita, H & Antony, B 2011, ‘Quality assurance as a marketing tool’, The Quality Assurance Journal’ Vol. 14, no 1, pp.24. Thomas, S 2011, Furthering the study of Global Supply chain quality management, Quality Management Journal, Vol. 18, no 2, pp.19. David, H 2005, ISO 9000 Quality Systems, Butterworth Heineman, United Kingdom. Hans, G D 2006, Hard or soft or problem structuring methods, critical systems, Prentice hall Publishers, USA. John, M & Tnsh, E 2010, Introducing quality management, Journal of Health care quality assurance, vol.3, no.5, pp.122. Marilyn, R 1999, Identifying environmental aspects and impacts, ASQ Quality Press, United Kingdom. Pfeifer, T 2002, Quality management essentials, Heinemann, United Kingdom. Paul, D & Earnst, H 2009, Accredation and quality assurance, Journal for quality, comparability and reliability in chemical measurement, no. 769, pp. 97. Rita, H & Antony, B 2011, Abstract of the society of quality assurance, Journal of Quality Assurance.vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 122-143. Shannon, K 2011, Quality assurance, viewed 19 April 201,http://www.wisegeek.com/what- Is-quality-assurance.htm Sony 2011, Sony information viewed 19 April 2011, http://www.sony.net Susan, S & David, F 2010, Understanding global strategy, Cengage Learning, United Kingdom. Werner, F 1995, Quality by design for electronics, Springer Publishers, New York Read More