Assignment #1
1. What is quality?
It is hard to define quality in a few words since it is a very broad term. ISO 9000 defines quality as the degree to which a commodity meets the requirements of the customer at the start of its life. But in general, quality is the degree of excellence of a product or service and is commonly used to compare products within similar standards. High quality things are expected to be better, more reliable and expensive than low quality ones. The quality of something is stated and measured by the creator of the product or service and depending on the level of it, the product can meet different types of standards.
2. What is TQM?
Total Quality Management is a managerial approach in a company or organization with the purpose of bringing its customers the best possible quality products or services in order to satisfy their needs. TQM is constantly looking to improve its products by using their customer’s feedback, this way the company can know exactly what they want and what they are looking for. Additionally, TQM is used in the company processed to minimize errors, making them more productive. Total Quality Management can be adapted or used in any organization in any particular way or area in order to satisfy their needs. TQM is commonly divided in four stages (PDCA): Plan, Do, Check and Act. Its categorized as a cycle because once you complete the 4th stage, you proceed to go back to the 1st one and improve it.
3. How can we achieve organizational excellence with quality?
Any company’s desire is to have loyal customers who like and admire their products over the competitor’s one. One of the key elements for a product to be appreciated and have a competitive advantage over others is the quality of it. Many customers stick to a specific brand because of the reliability and superior value given by the quality of a product or service. Implementing Total Quality Management to the inner processes of the organization can significantly reduce the amount of errors made, making the company more efficient and reliable. This way they would be able to deliver superior quality products or services to their customers.
4. What is the Deming cycle?
The Deming cycle is a model that strives continuous quality improvements. It is also known as PDSA Cycle, the acronyms of its four stages (Plan, Do, Study and Act). Its first stage consists of defining the problem, collect data and figure out the root of the cause. Then comes the “do” phase in which the implementation of what was planned occurs and the project gets developed. After that occurs, the studying phase comes in, in which data gets compared and verified based on the before and after. With those results, the last phase takes place (act), in which everything gets documented, bringing in recommendations and feedback for the next Cycle’s starting point.
5. What are the most common errors when starting quality initiatives?
Total Quality is not an easy task to implement in an organization. It takes time, training and cultural changes to the organization, it changes the way the company does business. It has to be viewed as a management norm and way to do things in a long term and not as a “quick fix”. This means that all the company should work in team and with the same total quality mindset. If this is not taken in consideration, errors start to occur when starting quality initiatives. Common errors are poor leadership from the top management, also they have to understand the total quality principals and how to implement them to their own needs. Also training often gets confused with skill building. Training can be fast, but skills are learned with time and experience that can only be developed with the cultural change.
6. Explain the cost of poor quality
Many companies struggle to survive in some point. Obviously, making budget cuts is one of the most common strategies they make to save money. Quality initiatives is often one of the top of the budget cut’s list. This is a big mistake, since total quality itself is a great tool to identify errors which are causing excessive overall costs. By identifying the causes of excessive overall costs, money can be saved without compromising the quality of the essential product that will be delivered to the customer. This way the customer won’t even notice that the company did some arrangements and the loyalty won’t get affected.
7. What are the quality characteristics of world-class organizations?
Based on a research made by the Global State of Quality 2, these are the quality characteristics of a world-class organization:
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See quality as strategic and competitive.
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Increase investment in quality departments
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and/or programs.
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Train all employees.
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Train suppliers in quality methodology.
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Offer comprehensive quality training to employees.
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Understand product performance through customers’ eyes.
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Have visible metrics on performance against customer needs.
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Measure the cost of remediation.
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Deliver standard reports across the organization.
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Reap greater than $1M in net savings.
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These metrics were used to identify which of the participating companies were cataloged as a world class organization and only 1.6% passed the test.
8. Responsibility and total quality
Ethical behavior; Accepting self-responsibility is part of it, people often try to divert responsibility by blaming others for their own faults. In a total quality culture environment, it’s critical that everyone takes responsibility for their own work, success or failure. Accepting failure is great for this type of environment because the time usually wasted on criticizing the error is invested on how to resolve it and make the process better and faster. This way, the whole process runs more smoothly and at the end of the day it ends up being more productive and ethically healthy.
9. Discuss some models for ethical quality decisions
The following are some examples of models for ethical quality decisions which different organizations can modify and adjust to their needs in order to apply them correctly. Doctrine of Mean Model: Its basically deciding on a middle point in between to opposite or very different opinions or situations. This way, all parties will join and decide in a common solution. Golden Rule Model: This one has been thought even to me by my parents, don’t do to others what you would like them to do to you. It’s a very simple and straight forward rule which can be applied to everyone in the world.
10. What is the engineering manager’s role in quality ethics?
A manager is often seen as a leader or person in charge of a group of people. When you are in a position like this, you have to set the example of ethical behavior so that your subordinates follow you in a correct way. It’s important for the manager not only to set the example, but also help employees and guide them on their ethical choices. After that it’s just matter of making sure they follow ethical behavior as you (the manager) have thought them. There are several approaches that a manager can use in order to give the message. For example, Black and White Approach, which doesn’t believe in the in-between, basically right is right and wrong is wrong.
11. Sustainable Green focus
Would you like to live in a dumpster full other people’s garbage? No right, fish and other marine species feel the same way. We all live in the same world and we have to respect each other’s personal spaces. That’s why this company is not going to pollute oceans nor any part of this beautiful world in any way. We are going to operate in a complete sustainable and green way. There are many options out there and with today’s developments is even easier and not that expensive at all. We are going to explore options like solar panels and wind turbines. Yes, it’s an investment which implies spending money but we have to see it in the long run. After a few years we are not just going to recuperate the investment but also we are going to help the world be a better, greener place.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi7tY273O7w
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