Quality Management in Education - Essay Example

Total Quality Management Part A "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it" is a truism that is applied to Total Quality Management (TQM) by all trainers and practitioners in the field. Increasingly one hears the comments, 'I am not interested in what you feel, and can you provide data to support what you say 'or, 'Show me the Data'. In the following passages an attempt is made to understand whether this truism applies to all quality management situations or is the concept being carried too far. Dr. W. Edwards Deming, the guru of all gurus of TQM, developed a list of fourteen points (Value based management) that he considered were at the core of quality management and seven deadly diseases of management. The present context narrows our interest lies in focusing to two of the points, these are: Point 03: Cease dependence on mass inspection to achieve quality - create quality in the product Point 12: Eliminate numerical quotas and remove barriers that rob workers of their right to pride in workmanship. In all industry and services the supervisor has traditionally used some form of measurement to lay down norms or objectives for the workers to attempt to achieve. These objectives were based on arbitrary averages of the past performance and while some workers found it easy to achieve these, some just could not cope. This method put a limit to what could or should be accomplished based on the supervisors perception of what was good or bad for the organization. Deming pointed out that counting and inspection of the end product presumed that there would be defects and mass inspection would only identify the defect that would need to be reworked or the product scrapped. There is no way that identifying a defect or shortage at the end of the process can help in improving quality. Management should instead shift focus to inspection of the systems and processes that go into the production of the article or service. Numerical quotas or norms or objectives do not assist in identifying the capability of the workers and systems they only measure what exists. Historically management has looked at producing larger volumes under the mistaken impression that more volumes meant lower cost of production per unit. In the push to produce larger quantities quality was lost sight of. The second error that was made was to measure a product or service against preconceived ideas of quality, determined internally, without understanding what the customer wanted. This resulted in the process now producing larger volumes of re-work and scrap and the worst of all, a product that the customer did not want. Cost of poor quality can be 25-30% of sales revenue (Ross, 1999, p167). This leads us to the next mantra of the TQM gurus, 'Don't inspect the product - Inspect the process' but what does 'inspection of the process' imply Information is the key to understanding any situation or process and any action taken on the basis of such information shall be directly in proportion to the quality of the information, its relevance, authenticity and timeliness. Information needs to be gathered and collated in the form of data that lends itself to easy interpretation, identification of trends and analysis. Data is fact recorded as numbers and no one can argue with numbers. Data instils a sense of confidence and, is the only way to 'change' all that which is blocked by entrenched perceptions (Jurow, 1993, p113-115). Most of all data helps in motivating everyone involved in the process when they see the progress being made enabling them to identify with the change and push to extend their individual capabilities as also of the organization. 'Measurement is just a habit of seeing how we're going along' Philip Crosby, TQM guru (Jurow, ibid, p 115) Measurement also helps in deciding the feasibility of a particular effort. If it is not possible to measure critical elements of the present situation then how will we ever know how well or indifferently we are progressing and how will it ever be possible to know when we arrive at the desired goal. Finding out what to measure is as important as the measurement and action following, and this decision must be based on what is necessary to measure and not what is easy to measure. It is easy to understand that the effort of improvement must target improved production of what the customer wants instead of improved production of defective goods and services. The result desired from efforts towards measurement is to generate data that allows managers to see their company clearly, from different viewpoints and to understand the larger picture, helping them to make better decisions from the long term perspective. The Baldrige Criteria (1997, 2005) emphasises this concept of fact based management as its workbook spells out: "Modern businesses depend upon measurement and analysis of performance. Measurements must derive from the company's strategy and provide critical data and information about key processes, outputs and results. Data and information needed for performance measurement and improvement are of many types, including: customer, product and service performance, operations, market, competitive comparisons, supplier, employee-related, and cost and financial. Analysis entails using data to determine trends, projections, and cause and effect - that might not be evident without analysis. Data and analysis support a variety of company purposes, such as planning, reviewing company performance, improving operations, and comparing company performance with competitors' or with 'best practices' benchmarks." A major consideration in performance improvement involves creation and use of performance measures or indicators that are measurable characteristics of products, services, processes, and operations the company uses to track and improve performance. Selection of the criterion that best represent the factors that lead to improved customer, operational, and financial performance. A comprehensive set of measures or indicators tied to customer and/or company performance requirements represents a clear basis for aligning all activities with the company's goals. Through the analysis of data from the tracking processes, the measures or indicators themselves may be evaluated and changed to better support such goals. Care and caution at the stage of selection of the criteria to be measured is vital to the success of management, and the organization should not get stuck in the 'analysis to paralysis' mode. There is no point in attempting to solve any problem, or attempting to improve any aspect of operation by breaking it down into unconnected parts, correcting each independently and then attempting to rebuild a new whole. An overview of the entire system can not be allowed to be lost in quibbling over details. Collection of data without an overall plan and purpose clearly identified has the risk of becoming and exercise in futility. 'Systems thinking is a discipline for seeing wholes. It's a framework for seeing interrelationships rather than things, for seeing patterns of change rather than static "snapshots"', argues Peter Senge (as quoted in Grigg, p120). There are certain things that can be measured and others that can not. The fifth of Deming's seven deadly diseases of management is the 'use of visible figures only for management, with little or no consideration of figures that are unknown or unknowable' (Sallis,E p-36,37). It is essential to understand that some of the things that can not be measured may also have an impact on the working and success of the organization. For example how to measure the value of customer loyalty won, the impact of motivation in employees and indeed the level of such motivation. Yet these will affect the bottom line much more than a large number of measurable things that may be identified and easy to measure. If you want to measure everything and only work on the basis of the measurements made then you run the risk of overlooking things that could not be measured but were of equal importance. It is argued that through measurement and corrective management action it is these very things that are attempted to be addressed and improved, namely employee morale, customer loyalty etc. and therefore it is necessary to measure and use what you can not losing sight of the overall objectives and direction of the organization (Sallis, E. p 38). Part B (1) Failure mode and effect Analysis Failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) is a method used in TQM. It is based on the principle that during the design of a product, process or service the possibility of failure and its effect on overall performance is carefully analysed, and the chances of failure are reduced by making changes in the design before it is implemented. While FMEA may be used at any time during the design, development, production or use, the correct stage for its application is during the design phase. The potential failure modes may be ranked in order of their seriousness and impact - criticality and attended to based on the seriousness of the result of failure. Such an analysis is called the Failure Mode and Effect Criticality Analysis (FMECA) (Wiebull). The basic objective remains the elimination of chances of failure through action taken at the design stage itself. The essential parts of FMEA/ FMECA are: Failure Mode - Anticipated conditions in which failure may take place to provide the basis for corrections in the design of the system, process, or product. Ranking - Evaluation of each mode of failure to assess the chances of failure and the effect such failure may have. Appraisal - Possible actions or corrections in the design are identified and an assessment of their suitability as well as the likelihood of the corrections made themselves leading to chances of failure. Selection - of the most appropriate correction method, and Action - To correct whatever is required to eliminate the possibility of failure. After the entire exercise is carried out a second, third and more iteration may be required to reassess the revised design for possible failure modes to totally remove chances of failure. FEMA is a non statistical method and does not use mathematics at all. Small errors, when examined individually may not look serious but a number of small errors have the possibility of combining and causing a disastrous outcome. To understand the concepts of FEMA a practical situation that may arise in a hospital is discussed below (Case as reported in J. Chao, 2005, p81): A hospital is installing a new Magnetic Resonance imaging (MRI) system. The hospital uses this opportunity to do some planned renovations in the room that is proposed to hold the MRI that have been pending for some time. Although the radiology department is in charge of the MRI installation, a different group is overseeing the renovation work. To carry out the renovation work a medical gas panel, located in the MRI room is removed from the wall and put back but the reassembly is not done under proper supervision and the reinstallation is faulty. The MRI equipment is provided with an emergency shutoff switch but this is located next to the gas panel. Despite this, once the MRI installation is complete the radiology department energises the equipment and the magnet is fully charged to commence work. A patient is then scheduled for an MRI, because the patient is a young child and will need sedation during the MRI procedure, the physician prescribes supplemental oxygen. Before the patient arrives the MRI technician discovers that she cannot start the oxygen supply, she concludes that the system is not working. She follows the department procedure and calls the biomedical department to investigate the problem. A technician arrives and checks the electrical outlet with his screwdriver tester, finds the power supply in order, attempts to start the oxygen supply but can not do so and concludes that the defect is due to failure of some part of the oxygen system. He calls the hospital maintenance department and places a work order for the repair of the oxygen apparatus. A maintenance technician is sent to fix the oxygen system. He enters the room with a metal toolbox containing several metal tools - missing the sign on the entrance indicating that no metal object is allowed to be brought into the room. The strong magnet of the MRI can make iron objects fly like projectiles. While working on the repair the technician accidentally trips the emergency shutoff switch next to the gas panel, damaging the expensive magnet so that it needs extensive and costly repairs as well as time lost through not having the MRI operational in time to meet commitments of the hospital. (Elements of the case as reported by J Chao, 2005 p81). Although a FEMA carried out at the stage when the plans for installation of the equipment, and renovations of the room were being made would have been the best way to go about the exercise, in a situation such as this conducting FMEA before the magnet was activated would have also been helpful and may have uncovered several issues, including: Improved interdepartmental coordination when a project involves multiple departments. Thorough testing of all new equipment before it is activated. Training of the maintenance and biomedical departments on the system Laying down policy requiring clinical personnel to be present when maintenance is being carried out. Signage indicating what type of materials can be brought in and restriction of entry to the MRI room. Thus we see the value of FEMA in helping to improve the quality of service and products and its particular use in the installation of a new equipment or service. The 'Moment of Truth' when the product organization first meets the customer leading to a judgement of quality is a concept similar to FEMA and lends itself to similar analysis (Oakland 2003, p 90-91). Part B (2) Quality Function Deployment - The House of Quality Quality Function Deployment (QFD) is a quality system that was developed by Dr. Shigeru Mizuno and Dr. Yoji Akao in Japan some 30 years ago. It targets the delivery of products and services that meet expectations of customers and looks at satisfying the customer need. The concept has been developed into a comprehensive system to assure quality and customer satisfaction in new products and services (Mizuno et al, 1994). In the initial method the Ishikawa diagram was turned around. Instead of extracting cause from the observed effects the attempt was to first identify the product/ service needs and the fishbone analysis was used to develop needed product or process characteristics. The fishbone diagram was replaced by the QFD matrix which was more flexible and adaptable to numeric treatment (Wikipedia). QFD is a comprehensive technique used in development of a product or service, marketing of a Brand and product management and yields visible matrices and graphs that draw a clear picture of the way to proceed. It changes the identified customer needs [Voice of the Customer] into characteristics that can be understood in engineering or system design terms and at the same time sets targets for development. This technique has been applied to a variety of products and services ranging from software to aircraft design (Sullivan, 1986, p 39-50). This technique somewhat resembles Management by objectives (MBO), but adds a significant element in the goal setting process, called "catch-ball". Use of these Hoshin techniques by U.S. companies such as Hewlett Packard have been successful in focusing and aligning company resources to follow stated strategic goals throughout an organizational hierarchy. It has been suggested that a learning organization can more easily overcome these issues due to the more transparent nature of the organizational culture and to the readiness of the membership to discuss relevant cultural norms (Wikipedia). To understand how QFD can assist a company to meet customer needs the case study of GCC Rio-Grande (GCC), as reported by Glenn Mazur (Mazur), is relevant and revealing. This Company is in the business of cement manufacture and caters to customers of different types, the primary being bulk buyers of cement, concrete pre-mix or blocks. They are located in Mexico and wished to expand their business in southwest America. How does one take a commodity that is essentially unchanged for hundreds of years and develop a competitive position that is based on something more than price GCC used QFD to create customer value that set them apart from competitors without resorting to a price reduction. The challenge was to provide value beyond that of the cement product through relationships and value-added services, GCC had developed programs over the years to meet customers' needs, however, the questions GCC wanted and continue to want the answers to were: What are the customers spoken and unspoken needs How does GCC RIO GRANDE provide solutions for their customers What added value will help drive the decision to purchase cement from GCC In order to satisfy customers, GCC needed to understand how meeting their requirements effected satisfaction. Customer needs were identified through visits to the Gemba and the understanding obtained classified under three heads Normal Requirements Expected Requirements Exciting Requirements The last are difficult to discover since they are beyond the customer's expectations. Their absence doesn't dissatisfy; their presence excites. These are the things that wow, that win new customers and keep the old ones coming back. Customers are may not even be aware such service even exists, and so these requirements go unspoken. Thus, it is the responsibility of the service organization to explore customer problems and opportunities to discover these new levels of service. Eliminating service problems can be likened to expected requirements. There is little satisfaction or competitive advantage when nothing goes wrong. Conversely, great value can be gained by discovering and delivering on exciting requirements ahead of the competition. QFD helps assure that expected requirements don't fall through the cracks and points out opportunities to build in excitement. Detailed analysis using the QFD techniques helped GCC to retain and grow its share of the business without having to reduce its prices, in face of competition that did! This was essentially due to the heightened perception among their customers that GCC was a caring company that kept the customer needs in the forefront while planning its strategies. References Baldrige, M, 1997 (rev: 2005), Baldrige Criteria accessed on July 19, 2006 from the websites: http://www.baldrigeplus.com/information.htm and http://www.baldrige.org Chao J, Failure Mode and Effect Analysis in Healthcare, Joint Commission Resources, UK, 2005 ISBN: 0866889108. Grigg, N.S. Water Resources Management, McGraw Hill Professional, UK, 1996 ISBN:007024782X. Jurow, S and Barnard S.B. Integrating Total Quality Management in a Library Setting, Haworth Press, US, 1993 ISBN: 1560244631 Mazur, Glenn QFD Case Studies and White Papers accessed on July 19, 2006 from the website: http://www.mazur.net/publishe.htm Mizuno, Shigeru and Yoji Akao. 1994. QFD: the customer driven approach to Quality Planning and Deployment. [Translated by Glenn Mazur]. Tokyo: Asian Productivity Organization. ISBN: 92 833 1122 1 Oakland John S, TQM: Text with Cases, (3rd Edition) Elsevier, UK, 2003 ISBN: 0750657405 Ross, J.E., Total Quality Management, CRC Press, USA, 1999. ISBN: 157444266 Sallis, E. Total Quality Management in Education, Routledge, UK, 2002, ISBN 0749437960 Senge, P.M. The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization, (1990) Currency Doubleday, New York. Sullivan, L.P., 1986 Quality Function Deployment, Quality Progress, Vol. 19 No. 6, June pp 39-50. Value Based Management, accessed on July 19, 2006 from the website http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_deming_14_points_management.html Wiebull, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, retrieved on July 19, 2006 from: http://www.weibull.com/basics/fmea.htm Wikipedia: Quality Function Deployment Accessed on July 19, 2006 from the website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quality_Function_Deployment Read More