Framework III: How to analyze a company relative to TQ and know where to go within the company to fix problems or maintain success.
As a consultant, manager, analyst, etc. you have to be able to first determine the state of a firm (profit or nonprofit) from many perspectives: financial, operational, environmentally, relationships with employees, customers, competitors, and suppliers. Once you have a clear understanding of where a company ranks on these points relative to where really successful companies stand, you can make suggestions about where you think the company is deficient, is OK, and how to fix the deficiencies. Most really successful companies that actually have to compete for market share follow most principals of TQ, even if they do not call their philosophy ‘TQ’. So, read the cases or other information dealing with an organization from the perspective of what we have learned from the first two sets of questions discussed in class. Then comparing what you find with the schema/perspective below, write your answer.
To answer HW1-3 and test one you need a lens/framework/schema from which to compare what a company is doing correct and incorrect in producing QM, QA, QD, Qconf, and Qcont relative to that lens/framework/schema. I also need a framework detailing what the best practices of implementing the behavior that produces TQ are. The frameworks should consist of what is known about how to create exemplary TQ and how to implement that creation.
TQ: capitalize on who we are as human beings (physiological and psychologically) by being stakeholder centric (book said customer centric, but…), involving everyone (goal congruency), and continuously improvement.
Implementation
1)The leaders of the company have to want the principles of TQ, thus they have to be convinced it will make the company money
- Have to have a formalized strategic plan of implementation
- Clear vision
- Clear SWOT process where the key success factors and change agents are known
- Customer and employee centric (stakeholder centric)
- SCM
- Knowledge management
- Training and Education
- Manage by fact “Quality Control Policy for each process” What to measure, how to measure it, how to respond to information from measuring, how to report….
- Have to release resources to implement
- Feedback as implementation progresses
How a person can analyze a company relative to TQ and know where to go within the company to fix problems or maintain success. Have to be able to use the causal model introduced in Question Set Two.
Are the stakeholders satisfied or not? Has the organization adequately addressed the wants and needs of their stakeholders? Why does it matter?
Are they stakeholder centric, goal congruent, and have a philosophy of continuous improvement?
Do they know what their customers’ wants and needs are?
How did they determine those wants and needs, was their methodology sound?
Do they know the key success factors and change agents relative to their product, and what is going on in the world relative to these factors and agents?
Istheir mission, vision, strategy (MVS) good enough to produce the correct product? Why or why not?
What mix of cost, flexibility, speed, and quality comprises theirproduction strategy? Is it the correct mix relative to the MVS and MM, and why do we care about these characteristics?
What knowledge, motivation, integration is needed at each level (organizational, process, operational) of this firm and does the company actively pursue the needed knowledge, motivation, integration (KMI)?
What perspectives of quality (judgmental, product based, user based, value-based, manufacturing based…) are covered and which quality attribute/characteristic drives those perspectives? (Performance, Features, Reliability, Conformance, Durability, Serviceability, Aesthetics). Does the company actively think about all aspects of quality at all levels, and what are they doing about linking the subjective to the objective?
How have they addressed increasing the value of the product and the firm over time?
Have they addressed how the supply chain (SC) contributes to their success?
Have they addressed training and continual learning?
Have they provided the mechanism to allow positive change in processes and products?
Have they suggested anything about using the scientific method and managing by fact (executed Quality Control Policy for each process)?
Is the communication and assessment processes such that there is real time feedback.
Are resources dedicated to achieve all of the above?
How well havethe owners addressed the facets of TQ (causal model in Question set Tow); QM, QA, QD, QConf, QCont at the three different levels of the firm? Are they even aware that they have to worry about these five facets of TQ at each level of the firm and how they are all interconnected? Why does it matter?
Leadership (QM)
1)Is there a defined SWOT process that is followed and measured
2)Is there a clear Mission, Vision, Strategy for both (MVS) that is shared and agreed upon across the company and with partners. Are the MVS based on what SWOT found about industry, product, customers (culture), employees (culture), and current and future state of technology/knowledge about the product and process?
3)Is the predominant leadership viewpoint theory y
4)Does the selection process for leaders consider
- Ethics; effectiveness (NPV not cost); stakeholder centric (balanced look at business; analysis/assessment ability; limitations & capabilities of humans; process is limitation, not worker; culture conscious; correct the 1st time; 0 defects through process management;
- Mantra is: know where you are at, know why you are there, have a good idea of where you want to go, know how to get there, and is it worth going there from stakeholders perspective
5)Do leaders and managers walk the talk
- Fix process instead of trying to exhort people
- Resources (training, time, money) to improve P/P (product and process), including SWOT and other management processes
- Create effective teams and partnerships (suppliers, customers, and governmental agencies (not bribing, but keeping them in the loop))
- Do leaders and managers know who is responsible for which processes
- Do they select based on employees motivation, ability, and then skill
- Do they create a positive work environment
- Safe physically and emotionally
- Has the fear of reprisal, failure (due to process), of the unknown, of losing control of a process, of change, of ambiguity been eradicated
- Is there fear of failing the customer and not doing their best with what they are given
- Is there pride in process output, in the company
- Appraisals used for improvement (where employee needs additional training and education), not punishment
- Are rewards tied to the desired outcome (intrinsic and extrinsic; Compensation, including Recognition)
- Are the communication channels flowing in all directions
- Are they (leaders/managers/owners) aware of employee, customer, community’s, and suppliers levels of satisfaction, and environmental impact
- Do they exercise Process Management
6)Do they understand that inspection in and of itself does not add value to the product, has a high probability of telling the incorrect story, and does not prevent defective product from reaching the customer?
7)Prevention is the only way to keep defective product from reaching the customer
8)Enables capitalization of human cognition/condition, not create barriers
9)Provides fast, honest feedback
10)Provides Resources to accomplish QM, QA, QD, Qconf, Qcont
QA:
1)Is there a realization that assessment needs to be at all levels of the firm dealing with products, resources, and processes, and that there is internal, external, and self assessment
2)Is there a clear understanding of what products are being produced
3)Clear understanding of available assessment tools and frameworks and that understanding is transferred into quality assessment
- Employee and supplier evaluations
- SWOT
- Market research (surveys, focus groups, comparison-shopping, observation, secret shoppers, sales, returns, suggestions,
- Engineering: reverse engineering, espionage, public information, returns, reading, TV
4) Constructive Feedback
QD:
1)Teams of all product stakeholders involved from beginning (congruent, parallel design) so that needs assessment is clear and correct.
2)Utilize tools: QFD, CAD, Prototype, Modeling
3)Understand that it is about congruent design of product and process, not just product
- Process flow charts
4)KISS: mistake proof, design for manufacturability
5)Feedback
Qconf:
1)Does the outcome conform to design
2)Ask the user of the output if the output conforms to expectations
- Prototyping
- Market research (remember that if there are internal customers, there needs to be internal market research)
3)Feedback
Qcont: is there a quality policy for each process that covers:
1. Over arching purpose for control method: measuring x will ensure that the product works as expected by making it possible to adjust the process before cost of failure exceeds cost of prevention.
2. What level of performance (Cp)
3. What to measure (trait that influences traits important to customer and is cost effective to measure)
4. How report: which control charts if any (normality, measurable variation)
5. How to measure/test (variables or attribute, instrument to measure with)
6. How to react (adjust or not, turn off machine or not, find problem and fix or not)
7. Sample Size: normality of sample, type of chart, number of defects, what shift in the mean do we want to detect, cost of inspection relative to failure
8. When/frequency: cost of inspection relative to failure, speed of production, robustness of system (how know when you have it correct failure cost is lower or equal to prevention cost.)
9. Who to report to: stakeholders that have use for the information
10. Limit level: cost of Type I relative to Type II
11. Where to measure in the process: cost of inspection vs cost of failure (BN, tolerance stack, before hidden,
12. Who should do the measuring
13. Where to measure on the product.
Simply put, have they done an adequate job of determining what the “correct product” is and how to achieve it given the Stakeholder Satisfaction Causal Diagram displayed in Question Set 2?