MSC Administrative Sciences

Name : Fouzeena Hameed

Roll No#: CC524120
Course: Total Quality Management (5011)

Question 1#:

Discuss the concept of Total Quality Management and its importance in

the business management. Critically discuss the role of gurus in the
development of Total Quality Management?

What Is Total Quality Management (TQM)?

Total quality management (TQM) is the continual process of detecting and reducing or eliminating
errors in manufacturing, streamlining supply chain management, improving the customer
experience, and ensuring that employees are up to speed with training. Total quality
management aims to hold all parties involved in the production process accountable for the overall
quality of the final product or service. TQM was developed by William Deming, a management
consultant whose work had a great impact on Japanese manufacturing. While TQM shares much in
common with the Six Sigma improvement process, it is not the same as Six Sigma. TQM focuses
on ensuring that internal guidelines and process standards reduce errors, while Six Sigma looks to
reduce defects.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Total quality management (TQM) is an ongoing process of detecting and reducing or

eliminating errors.
 • It is used to streamline supply chain management, improve customer service, and ensure
that employees are trained.
• The focus is to improve the quality of an organization's outputs, including goods and
services, through the continual improvement of internal practices.
• Total quality management aims to hold all parties involved in the production process
accountable for the overall quality of the final product or service.
• Understanding Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total quality management is a structured approach to overall organizational management. The

focus of the process is to improve the quality of an organization's outputs, including goods and
services, through the continual improvement of internal practices. The standards set as part of the
TQM approach can reflect both internal priorities and any industry standards currently in place.

Industry standards can be defined at multiple levels and may include adherence to various laws and
regulations governing the operation of a particular business. Industry standards can also include the
production of items to an understood norm, even if the norm is not backed by official regulations.

Primary Principles of Total Quality Management.

TQM is considered a customer-focused process that focuses on consistently improving business

operations. It strives to ensure all associated employees work toward the common goals of
improving product or service quality, as well as improving the procedures that are in place for
production. Special emphasis is put on fact-based decision making, using performance metrics to
monitor progress; high levels of organizational communication are encouraged for the purpose of
maintaining employee involvement and morale.

Industries Using Total Quality Management.

While TQM originated in the manufacturing sector, its principles can be applied to a variety of
industries. With a focus on long-term change rather than short-term goals, it provides a cohesive
vision for systemic change. With this in mind, TQM is used in many industries, including, but not
limited to, manufacturing, banking and finance, and medicine.

These techniques can be applied to all departments within an individual organization as well. This
helps ensure all employees are working toward the goals set forth for the company, improving
function in each area. Involved departments can include administration, marketing, production, and
employee training.

What Does Total Quality Management Do?

TQM oversees all activities and tasks needed to maintain a desired level of excellence within a
business and its operations. This includes the determination of a quality policy, creating and
implementing quality planning and assurance, and quality control and quality improvement
measures.
What Is an Example of TQM in Practice?

Perhaps the most famous example of TQM is Toyota's implementation of the Kanban system.
A kanban is a physical signal that creates a chain reaction, resulting in a specific action. Toyota
used this idea to implement its just-in-time (JIT) inventory process.1 To make its assembly line more
efficient, the company decided to keep just enough inventory on hand to fill customer orders as they
were generated. Therefore, all parts of Toyota's assembly line are assigned a physical card that has
an associated inventory number. Right before a part is installed in a car, the card is removed and
moved up the supply chain, effectively requesting another of the same part. This allows the
company to keep its inventory lean and not overstock unnecessary assets. Effective quality
management resulted in better automobiles that could be produced at an affordable price.

What Are the Principles of TQM?

Various iterations of TQM have been developed, each with its own set of principles. Still, certain
core elements persist. These include, among others: Good leadership; a focus on quality; putting
the customer first; error-correction and improvement as an on-going process; and job training.

Quality Management and its importance in the business management.

Quality management” ensures superior quality products and services. Quality of a product can
be measured in terms of performance, reliability and durability. Quality is a crucial parameter which
differentiates an organization from its competitors. Quality management tools ensure changes in the
systems and processes which eventually result in superior quality products and services. Quality
management methods such as Total Quality management or Six Sigma have a common goal - to
deliver a high quality product. Quality management is essential to create superior quality products
which not only meet but also exceed customer satisfaction. Customers need to be satisfied with your
brand. Business marketers are successful only when they emphasize on quality rather than quantity.
Quality products ensure that you survive the cut throat competition with a smile.

Quality management is essential for customer satisfaction which eventually leads to

customer loyalty. How do you think businesses run? Do businesses thrive only on new customers?
It is important for every business to have some loyal customers. You need to have some customers
who would come back to your organization no matter what.

Would you buy a Nokia mobile again if the previous handset was defective? The answer is
NO. Customers would return to your organization only if they are satisfied with your products and
services. Make sure the end-user is happy with your product. Remember, a customer would be
happy and satisfied only when your product meets his expectations and fulfills his needs.
Understand what the customer expects from you? Find out what actually his need is? Collect
relevant data which would give you more insight into customer’s needs and demands. Customer
feedbacks should be collected on a regular basis and carefully monitored. Quality management
ensures high quality products and services by eliminating defects and incorporating continuous
changes and improvements in the system. High quality products in turn lead to loyal and satisfied
customers who bring ten new customers along with them. Do not forget that you might save some
money by ignoring quality management processes but ultimately lose out on your major customers,
thus incurring huge losses. Quality management ensures that you deliver products as per promises
made to the customers through various modes of promotions. Quality management tools help an
organization to design and create a product which the customer actually wants and desires.

Quality Management ensures increased revenues and higher productivity for the
organization. Remember, if an organization is earning, employees are also earning. Employees are
frustrated only when their salaries or other payments are not released on time. Yes, money is a
strong motivating factor. Would you feel like working if your organization does not give you salary on
time? Ask yourself. Salaries are released on time only when there is free cash flow. Implementing
Quality management tools ensure high customer loyalty, thus better business, increased cash flow,
satisfied employees, healthy workplace and so on. Quality management processes make the
organization a better place to work. Remove unnecessary processes which merely waste
employee’s time and do not contribute much to the organization’s productivity. Quality management
enables employees to deliver more work in less time.

Quality management helps organizations to reduce waste and inventory. It enables employees
to work closely with suppliers and incorporate “Just in Time” Philosophy. Quality management
ensures close coordination between employees of an organization. It inculcates a strong feeling of
team work in the employees.

Critically discuss the role of gurus in the development of Total Quality

Management.

The history of quality management, from mere 'inspection' to Total Quality Management (TQM) and
its modern 'branded interpretations such as 'Six Sigma', has led to the development of essential
processes, ideas, theories and tools that are central to organizational development and
change which are generally desired for individuals, teams and organizations. These free resources,
materials and tools are an excellent guide to the quality management area, for practical application
in organizations, for study and learning, and for teaching and training others. These free PDF
materials are provided by permission of the UK Department of Industry - now the Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform - which is gratefully acknowledged. The materials listed
and linked from this page are subject to Crown Copyright. Please note that since the replacement of
the UK Department of Industry by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform,
the branding on the materials is now obsolete. Nevertheless, since the Quality Management
technical and historical content is unaffected by the DTI branding the materials remain relevant for
training, learning and reference. It is appropriate to note the passing of Joseph Juran, a seminal
figure in the history of quality management, who died 28 February 2008, age 103. Juran did more
than teach Japan about quality management. He was also arguably the first quality expert to
emphasize that no quality management system works unless people are empowered and committed
to take responsibility for quality - as an ongoing process - effectively for quality to become part of
part of people's behaviour and attitudes - an ethos. The section below on Kaizen explains the
connections between the true ethos of quality management, and the positive ethical management of
people. Further TQM information and quality management terminology explanations are on the Six
Sigma page.

History of Quality Management The roots of Total Quality Management can be traced to early
1920 production quality control ideas and notably the concepts developed in Japan beginning in the
late 1940 and 1950, pioneered there by Americans Feigenbum, Juran and Deming... here is more
about Quality Management and TQM history.

Quality Management Gurus and Theories Quality Management resulted mainly from the work of
the quality gurus and their theories: the American gurus featured in the 1950's Japan: Joseph Juran,
W Edwards Deming, and Armand Feigenbum. The Japanese quality gurus who developed and
extended the early American quality ideas and models: Kaoru Ishikawa, Gnocchi Taguchi, and
Shigeo Shingo; and the 1970-80's American Western gurus, notably Philip Crosby and Tom Peters,
who further extended the Quality Management concepts after the Japanese successes...

Total Quality Management Total Quality Management features centrally the customer-supplier
interfaces, (external and internal customers and suppliers). A number of processes sit at each
interface. Central also is an organizational commitment to quality and the importance of
communicating this quality commitment, together with the acknowledgement that the right
organizational culture is essential for effective Total Quality Management.... More about
the fundamentals and structures of the TQM model, including the people, processes and systems in
the organization.

Processes and Methods Understanding Processes and Methods for Process Improvement
Understanding processes is essential before attempt is made to improve them. This is a central
aspect to Total Quality Management, and also to more modern quality and process improvement
interpretations and models such as Six Sigma.... More about Total Quality Management process and
process improvement methods

Quality Process Improvement Tools and Techniques A wide range of tools and techniques is
used for identifying, measuring, prioritizing and improving processes which are critical to quality.
Again these ideas and methods feature prominently in modern interpretations of Total Quality
Management methodology, such as Six Sigma. These process improvement tools and techniques
include: DRIVE (Define, Review, Identify, Verify, Execute), process mapping, flow-charting, force
field analysis, cause and effect, brainstorming, Pareto analysis, Statistical Process Control (SPC),
Control charts, bar charts, 'dot plot' and tally charts, check-sheets, scatter diagrams, matrix analysis,
histograms..... click here for more about tools and techniques for process evaluation and
improvement.

A summary of quality tools is below.

The Kaizen methodology is also described below in some detail. Developing People and Teams
People are a fundamental component within any successfully developing organization. Take away
the people and the organization is nothing. Take away the people's motivation, commitment and
ability to work together in well-organized teams, and again, the organization is nothing. Conversely,
inspire the people to work well, creatively, productively, and the organization can fly. Logically
therefore, the development and proper utilization of people are vital to the success of all quality
management initiatives. There are a wide range of models that are used
in selecting, assessing, training and developing and motivating people, among which are classical
models such as Belting, Myers Briggs Type Indicator (see the personality models section), Bruce
Tuchman’s 'Forming, Storming, Forming, Performing' model and John Adair's Action Centered
Leadership model.

Quality Management Systems A 'Total Quality organization' generally benefits from having an
effective Quality Management System (QMS). A Quality Management System is typically defined as:
'A set of coordinated activities to direct and control an organization in order to continually improve
the effectiveness and efficiency of its performance.' Customer expectations inevitably drive and
define 'performance' criteria and standards. Therefore, Quality Management Systems focus on
customer expectations and ongoing review and improvement.

Question 2#:
Define and discuss the concept of Deming philosophy and its importance in TQM. Critically
discuss the 14 points of Deming philosophy and their main themes keeping in view the
financial sector of Pakistan?

Deming said that production targets can encourage high output but result in low
quality. Provide support and resources so that both production levels and quality are high
and achievable. Measure the process rather than the people behind the process.
What Is Deming's 14-Point Philosophy?

Dr. W. Edwards Deming is largely credited with the focus on quality within business to achieve
success. A statistician who went to Japan to help with the census after World War II, Deming also
taught statistical process control to leaders of prominent Japanese businesses. His message was
this: By improving quality, companies will decrease expenses as well as increase productivity and
market share. After applying Deming's techniques, Japanese businesses like Toyota, Fuji, and Sony
saw great success. Their quality was far superior to that of their global competitors, and their costs
were lower. The demand for Japanese products soared – and by the 1970s, many of these
companies dominated the global market. American and European companies realized that they
could no longer ignore the quality revolution. So the business world developed a new appreciation
for the effect of quality on production and price. Although Deming didn't create the phrase "Total
Quality Management," he's credited with starting the movement. He didn't receive much recognition
for his work until 1982, when he wrote the book now titled "Out of the Crisis," which summarized his
famous
There's much to learn from these 14 points. Study after study of highly successful companies shows
that following the philosophy leads to significant improvements. That's why these 14 points have
since become a standard reference for quality transformation.

The 14 Points

1. Create a Constant Purpose Toward Improvement

• Plan for quality in the long term.
• Resist reacting with short-term solutions.
• Don't just do the same things better – find better things to do.
• Predict and prepare for future challenges, and always have the goal of getting better .

2. Adopt the New Philosophy

• Embrace quality throughout the organization.
• Put your customers' needs first, rather than react to competitive pressure – and design
products and services to meet those needs.
• Be prepared for a major change in the way business is done. It's about leading, not simply
managing.
• Create your quality vision , and implement it.
3. Stop Depending on Inspections
• Inspections are costly and unreliable – and they don't improve quality, they merely find a lack
of quality.
• Build quality into the process from start to finish.
• Don't just find what you did wrong – eliminate the "wrongs" altogether.
• Use statistical control methods – not physical inspections alone – to prove that the process is
working.

4. Use a Single Supplier for Any One Item

• Quality relies on consistency – the less variation you have in the input, the less variation you'll
have in the output.
• Look at suppliers as your partners in quality. Encourage them to spend time improving their
own quality – they shouldn't compete for your business based on price alone.
• Analyze the total cost to you, not just the initial cost of the product.
• Use quality statistics to ensure that suppliers meet your quality standards.

5. Improve Constantly and Forever

• Continuously improve your systems and processes. Deming promoted the Plan-Do-Check-
Act approach to process analysis and improvement.
• Emphasize training and education so everyone can do their jobs better.
• Use kaizen as a model to reduce waste and to improve productivity, effectiveness, and
safety.
6. Use Training on the Job
 • Train for consistency to help reduce variation.
• Build a foundation of common knowledge.
• Allow workers to understand their roles in the "big picture."
• Encourage staff to learn from one another, and provide a culture and environment for effective
teamwork.

7. Implement Leadership
• Expect your supervisors and managers to understand their workers and the processes they
use.
• Don't simply supervise – provide support and resources so that each staff member can do
their best. Be a coach not a policeman.
• Figure out what each person actually needs to do their best. For example, hardware,
software, other tools, and training.
• Emphasize the importance of participative management and transformational leadership .
• Find ways to reach full potential, and don't just focus on meeting targets and quotas.

8. Eliminate Fear
• Allow people to perform at their best by ensuring that they're not afraid to express ideas or
concerns.
• Let everyone know that the goal is to achieve high quality by doing more things right – and
that you're not interested in blaming people when mistakes happen.
• Make workers feel valued, and encourage them to look for better ways to do things.
• Ensure that leaders are approachable and that they work with teams to act in the company's
best interests.
• Use open and honest communication to remove fear from the organization.

9. Break Down Barriers Between Departments

• Build the "internal customer" concept – recognize that each department or function serves
other departments that use their output.
• Build a shared vision.
• Use cross-functional teamwork to build understanding and reduce adversarial
relationships.
• Focus on collaboration and consensus instead of compromise.

10. Get Rid of Unclear Slogans

• Let people know exactly what you want – don't make them guess. "Excellence in service" is
short and memorable, but what does it mean? How is it achieved? The message is clearer in
a slogan like "Always be striving to be better."
• However, don't let words and nice-sounding phrases replace effective leadership. Outline your
expectations, and then praise people face-to-face for doing good work.
11. Eliminate Management by Objectives
• Look at how processes are carried out, not just numerical targets. Deming said that
production targets can encourage high output but result in low quality.
 • Provide support and resources so that both production levels and quality are high and
achievable.
• Measure the process rather than the people behind the process.

There are situations in which approaches like Management By Objectives are appropriate, for
example, in motivating sales-people. As Deming points out, however, there are many situations
where a focus on objectives can lead people to cut corners with quality.
You'll need to decide for yourself whether or not to use these approaches. If you do, make sure that
you think through the behaviors that your objectives will motivate.

12. Remove Barriers to Pride of Workmanship

• Allow everyone to take pride in their work without being rated or compared.
• Treat workers equally, and don't make them compete with colleagues for monetary or other
rewards. Over time, the quality system will naturally raise the level of everyone's work to an
equally high level.

13. Implement Education and Self-Improvement

• Improve the current skills of workers.
• Encourage people to learn new skills to prepare for future changes and challenges.
• Build skills to make your workforce more adaptable to change, and better able to find and
achieve improvements.

14. Make "Transformation" Everyone's Job

• Improve your overall organization by having each person take a step toward quality.
• Analyze each small step, and ask yourself how it fits into the bigger picture.
• Use effective change management principles to introduce the new philosophy and ideas in
Deming's 14 points.
• From Deming, W. Edwards, Out of the Crisis, 14 Points, pages 23-24, © 2000 Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, by permission of The MIT Press.
Key Points
Often organizations focus on improving and delivering quality in one, key are of their business.
However, according to Dr. W. Edwards Deming, quality should be built in at every level of the
business - from suppliers and production facilities to customer service and frontline staff - in order to
achieve success. To achieve this Deming created a 14-Point strategy (also known as Deming's 14-
Point Philosophy) that organizations can use to improve quality across their business. It includes the
following:

• Create a constant purpose toward improvement.

• Adopt the new philosophy.
• Stop depending on inspections.
• Use a single supplier for any one item.
• Improve constantly and forever.
• Use training on the job.
 • Implement leadership.
• Eliminate fear.
• Break down barriers between departments.
• Get rid of unclear slogans.
• Eliminate management by objectives.
• Remove barriers to pride of workmanship.
• Implement education and self-improvement.
• Make "transformation" everyone's job.

Question No# 3.

Discuss the concept customers’ feedback in continuous quality improvement.

Critically discuss the role of comments card and focus group in getting the
customers’ feedback with reference to the manufacturing organization?

What is customer feedback?

Customer feedback is information provided by clients about whether they are satisfied or dissatisfied
with a product or service and about general experience they had with a company. Customer opinion
is a resource for improving customer experience and adjusting your actions to their needs. This
information can be collected with different kinds of surveys (prompted feedback), but you can also
find opinions and reviews your clients post online (unprompted feedback) and collect them using
Internet monitoring tools. Both sources are important to get a full picture of how your clients perceive
your brand. Top performing companies understand an important role that customer feedback plays
in business. They consistently listen to the voice of their clients. Not only they search for opinions
they clients publish on social media and reviews they provide on websites designed for gathering
feedback (e.g. TripAdvisor), but they also deliberately ask for feedback using distinct kinds of
surveys. If you want to stay ahead of competition you should never stop listening to customer
feedback whether it is positive or negative, prompted or unprompted.

Here are the top seven reasons why customer feedback is important in business.

1. Customer feedback helps improve products and services

When you initially introduce a new product, brand, or service to market you probably have an idea
about customer needs. Market research that you conduct before introduction gives you an idea if
potential customers would be willing to buy it and also they can give you some tips on how you could
improve it. However, only after your customers use your product or service you can learn about all
the advantages, flaws, and their actual experience. On top of that, their needs and expectations
evolve with time. Customer feedback is an insight into what is working well about your product or
service and what should be done to make the experience better. You might have the best expertise
in the industry in which your company operates, but your professional knowledge will never be more
valuable to business performance than customer insights. Their opinions help you ensure that the
end product will actually meet their expectations, solve their problems and fulfill their needs.
Ready-to-use examples of customer surveys
• Net Promoter Score (NPS) Survey
• Service satisfaction survey (relationship NPS)
• Product satisfaction survey (relationship NPS)
• See more templates

2. Customer feedback helps you measure customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction and loyalty is a crucial factor that determines a company’s financial
performance. It is directly linked to many benefits, such as increased market share, lower costs, or
higher revenue. Many studies confirmed the close connection between customer satisfaction and
business performance. Therefore, there is no doubt that you want to make sure your clients are
happy with your products and services. Naturally, the best way to find out if you meet their
expectation is to get their opinions. Using rating-based questions you can easily estimate the level of
satisfaction and consequently predict your company’s financial condition in the future. One of the
most accurate methodologies that have helped many companies measure, manage and improve
customer satisfaction is NPS (Net Promoter Score). The metric is based on one simple question that
investigates how likely it is that a customer would recommend a brand to a friend. Response options
for the loyalty questions are based on a 0–10 point rating scale, with 0 representing extremely
negative and 10 representing extremely positive. This methodology is both simple and universal, so
every business can apply it in customer satisfaction management.

3. Collecting customer feedback shows you value their opinions.

By asking your clients for feedback you communicate that their opinion is important to you. You
involve them in shaping your business so they feel more attached to your company. Listening to their
voice helps you create stronger relations with them. This is the best way to gain valuable brand
ambassadors who will spread positive word-of-mouth for you. And I am sure you are aware that their
recommendations is probably the most effective and, at the same time, the cheapest way to acquire
new customers and become more trustworthy in the eyes of your current and potential clients.
People always appreciate when you ask them if they are happy (or unhappy) with your service. It
shows you actually value their opinion and that you are here for them, not the other way around.
They feel that your primary business goal is to solve their problems and fulfill their needs, not to get
their money. It puts a customer in the central position of your company and this is the right way to
run a business.

4. Customer feedback helps you create the best customer experience.

Today’s marketing is heavily based on experiences people have with products, services, and brands.
They do not buy Apple products just because they are good. They want to demonstrate their status
and affiliation to a particular group. They do not buy Nike clothes because they are durable. They
buy courage to extend their boundaries. Therefore, if you focus on providing the best customer
experience at every touch point clients will stay loyal to your brand. And naturally, the most effective
way to give them an amazing experience is asking them what they like about your service and what
should be improved.

5. Customer feedback helps to improve customer retention.

A satisfied customer will stay with you. An unhappy customer will eventually find a better alternative
to your business and leave. Customer feedback benefits are significant. It helps you determine if
your clients are satisfied with your service and detect areas where you should improve. Thanks to
asking for opinions regularly you can always keep a finger on the pulse. Each time a dissatisfied
customer expresses his disappointment you can immediately react and find a solution to fix an issue.
This is a perfect moment to win a client back and even increase his level of loyalty. In many cases,
an unhappy customer who encountered a problem with your service, but you got it fixed straightaway
demonstrates bigger devotion to your brand that a customer who has never been disappointed with
your service.

6. Customer feedback is a reliable source for information to other consumers.

In the times of social media, consumers do not trust commercials or expert advice so much.
Opinions provided by other customers who have already used a product or service are more reliable
source for information these days. When you look for an accommodation in a city you visit or you
want to find a nice new restaurant to have dinner with friends you read reviews beforehand. When
you want to buy new shoes you ask for opinion on Facebook or go to a trustworthy blog to read a
review. Many companies today incorporate review system in their services and products. Think of
Uber, or AirBnb. They all do their best to ensure that poor service will be detected and excluded from
their business. Customer feedback is as important to your business as to other customers, so you
should make sure that both you and your clients have easy access to opinions and reviews.

7. Customer feedback gives you data that helps taking business decisions.

There is no place for business decisions based on loose guesses on a highly competitive market.
Successful business owners gather and manage distinct kind of data that helps them develop future
strategies. Only in this way they are able to adjust their products and services to perfectly fit
customer needs. Customer feedback is one of the most reliable sources for tangible data that further
can be used in taking business decisions. Customer insights will help you understand clients and
their needs more profoundly. Take their suggestions into consideration and thanks to that find out
where you should allocate your money to get the highest return on investment. You might discover
that, for instance, further product development is not necessary in your case, but instead you should
focus on promoting your brand to get bigger exposure. Customer feedback is a valuable source for
such data, but you must learn how to listen to it and how to translate it into actionable takeaways for
your business.
Question No# 4.
Define and discuss the term team in the view of Total Quality Management. Critically discuss
the role of teams in the continuous quality improvement process with reference to
commercial organization.

WHAT IS A TEAM?
Quality Glossary Definition: Team

A team is defined as a group of people who perform interdependent tasks to work toward
accomplishing a common mission or specific objective. Some teams have a limited life: for example,
a design team developing a new product, or a continuous process improvement team organized to
solve a particular problem. Others are ongoing, such as a department team that meets regularly to
review goals, activities, and performance.

An organization with many teams requires careful alignment. As teams and individuals link with other
teams, the principles of developing understanding and trust will apply, but the structure will get more
complex (Figure 1). Understanding the many interrelationships that exist between organizational
units and processes, and the impact of these relationships on quality, productivity, and cost, makes
the value of teams apparent.
THE THREE TYPES OF TEAMS

Many of today’s team concepts gained popularity in the United States during the 1970s through the
use of quality circles or employee involvement initiatives. However, these initiatives were often seen
as separate from normal work activities, not as integrated with them. Team designs have since
evolved into a broader concept that includes many types of teams formed for different purposes.

Three primary types of teams are typically used within the business
environment:
1. Process Improvement Teams

Process improvement teams are project teams that focus on improving or developing specific
business processes. These teams come together to achieve a specific goal, are guided by a well-
defined project plan, and have a negotiated beginning and end.
2. Work Groups or Natural Teams

Work groups, sometimes called "natural teams," have responsibility for a particular process (e.g., a
department, a product line, or a stage of a business process) and work together in a participative
environment. The degree of authority and autonomy of the team can range from relatively limited to
full self-management. The participative approach is based on the belief that employees will be more
productive if they have a higher level of responsibility for their work.
3. Self-Managed Teams
Self-managed teams directly manage the day-to-day operation of their particular process or
department. They are authorized to make decisions on a wide range of issues, such as safety,
quality, maintenance, scheduling, and personnel. Their responsibilities also include processes
traditionally held by managers, such as goal-setting, allocation of assignments, and conflict
resolution.
THE VALUE & BENEFITS OF TEAMS
• Team processes offer the following benefits to the organization:
• Synergistic process design or problem solving
• Objective analysis of problems or opportunities
• Promotion of cross-functional understanding
• Improved quality and productivity
• Greater innovation
• Reduced operating costs
• Increased commitment to organizational mission
• More flexible response to change
• Increased ownership and stewardship
• Reduced turnover and absenteeism
Individuals can gain the following benefits from teams:
• Enhanced problem-solving skills
• Increased knowledge of interpersonal dynamics
• Broader knowledge of business processes
• New skills for future leadership roles
• Increased quality of work life
• Feelings of satisfaction and commitment
• A sense of being part of something greater than what one could accomplish alone
REASONS WHY TEAMS FAIL

Difficulty with teams is often blamed on a cultural emphasis in the United States on individual
accomplishments versus shared responsibility and success. But problems are also caused by
inadequate organizational support structures, reward systems, for example, often reinforce individual
performance.

Numerous reasons have been noted for why teams often fail to reach their full potential.
Among them are:

• Failure to integrate cooperative work methods into the organizational culture

• Lack of organizational systems necessary to support the team process
• Minimal upfront planning of how the organization plans to utilize teams
• Failure to prepare managers for their changing roles
• Failure to prepare team members for their new roles
• Inappropriate reward and compensation systems
 • Inadequate training
• Impatience of top management with the time needed for maturation
• Incomplete understanding of group dynamics
TEAM RESOURCES:

Effective White-Collar Teams: The New Imperative (PDF) The work of white-collar teams must be
aligned with strategic and operational goals, individual and team responsibilities, protocols, and
personal relationships.

Moving to a Team-Based Structure in Health Care (PDF) Voluntary Enterprises, Inc., a subsidiary
of Community Hospitals Foundation in Indianapolis, changed from a traditional reporting structure to
a team-based approach, creating an environment of ownership among the people responsible for
doing the work.

Beyond Design: Implementing Effective Production Work Teams (PDF) Achieving sustainable
performance gains following the introduction of production work teams depends upon the design and
management of the implementation process.
Question No# 5.

Discuss the different improvement strategies used in continuous quality improvement

management. Critically discuss the primary improvement strategies with examples in the
light of business organization. Which one strategy in better in your view and why?
What is Continuous Improvement?

First things first, let’s define what continuous improvement means. With its roots in manufacturing,
continuous improvement is a method that strives to locate opportunities for ensuring efficiency,
continuously. This involves the assessment of current processes, products and services to ensure
that output is maximised and waste is minimised. Continuous improvement benefits internal and
external stakeholders, from employees to customers and investors alike. But, continuous
improvement isn’t a one-and-done deal that a company performs and then forgets. If the name
doesn’t give it away, let’s drive this fact home - the method is continuous, as in, it does not have an
end. It’s a method that becomes a part of a business’ ongoing operations. You can consider it to be
like a way of life, rather than something new you might try once. But, even though it becomes a part
of your business, it still requires strategy and methodology to impact change. Since continuous
improvement becomes a way of operating, this means that everyone must be on board. So, creating
a culture of improvement is a priority to make it work. This can be done by empowering everyone
within an organisation to understand that they can point out places for development to spark positive
change.
Types of Process Improvement
There are various methods for process improvement. We’ll briefly define three kinds and then move
into examples of continuous improvement.
1. LEAN Technology: Created by Toyota to optimise its production cycle, LEAN
improvement is customer-focused. It defines what customers value from the process most
 to determine what can be eliminated from the production of a product to decrease waste
and cut costs.
2. Six Sigma: Six Sigma is a method that focuses on improving the quality of business
processes. It’s aimed at limiting the variation in processes to ensure consistency and
increase performance. It uses statistics to measure deviations from a defined centre line on
a control chart.
Total Quality Management: With some similarity to Six Sigma, Total Quality Management (TCM)
holds all involved parties responsible for producing quality outputs. It looks to standardise processes
to reduce errors.
How to Implement Continuous Process Improvement
As mentioned above, continuous process improvement doesn’t always have a clear beginning and
end. Instead, it works best when it is part of the company culture and involves everyone within an
organisation.
Here are some considerations for how to make continuous process improvement the norm within
your business:
1. Manageable improvements:
Set reasonable goals. When setting out for improvement, you want to break down larger projects into
smaller, measurable pieces. This will help to reduce overwhelm, as well as keep everyone involved
on the right track to succeed.
2. Elicit Feedback:
You should continuously seek feedback from customers, stakeholders and employees throughout
your operations. This feedback will not only help locate opportunities for improvement, but it can also
offer new perspectives and breed new ideas.
3. Motivate employees:
Not only should you breed a culture where each employee feels empowered to notice inefficiencies
and offer solutions, but you should also develop a rewarding culture to be motivational. For example,
you can create rewards or develop an accessible system for employees to share feedback
continuously.
• Kanbanize
• Blog
• Lean/Agile
• Benefits of Continuous Improvement as a Business Strategy
The term continuous improvement is fairly self-explanatory. It almost seems too simple, but this
industry buzzword is about continually improving your business, processes, and way of working.
How you go about studying, planning, implementing and evolving that improvement is where it gets
more complicated. You need to encourage a philosophy of constant, logical, and sustainable
improvement throughout your organization. This allows continuous improvement to go beyond being
a slogan on a poster, so it becomes the way your company operates at all [Link] continuous
improvement can range from simple changes in the day-to-day workings of your company to major
shifts in focus and procedures across a global structure, in all cases, you will require the right
instruments to achieve success and keep it going.
Why Is Continuous Improvement Important?
 “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone” – Neale Donald Walsch
There’s a reason humans often resist change: There’s a comfort in what we know. While the call of
the unknown is appealing to some, it is a natural and reassuring thing to resist putting ourselves in
new situations. In the business world, this is no longer possible.
In times gone by, it was often possible for companies to “rest on their laurels” and maintain the
status quo with their products and services because people trusted their brands and products and
knew what they were getting. There are several reasons why this doesn’t work anymore:

• There’s More Competition Than Ever: Competition is a good thing. It gives us a basis for
comparison amongst our peers and pushes us to do better. But it also means we aren’t the only
ones offering a certain product, service, or feature. When there’s limited competition, you can more
easily defend your corner of the market, but in today’s competitive climate, you don’t get a moment’s
rest.
• It’s a Global Marketplace: For most industries and businesses these days, you not only have to be
concerned about local competition but also with foreign competition. More and more borders are
coming down, and mature products and services from other markets can catch you by surprise. If
you don’t watch what’s going on elsewhere in the world and prepare for it, you won’t be prepared to
deal with it when it does arrive.
• Information is Everywhere: Consumers are connected 24/7 these days. They have access to
information at their fingertips. For example, 85% of consumers use the Internet to locate
businesses that meet their needs. Whereas previously a product, service or marketing plan was
designed for longevity, nowadays you need to be ready to react to shifts and trends in the market.
It’s important to use the speed of information flow to your advantage and not sit and watch it fly by.
• Dynamics are Changing: The old walls around products and services have been torn down, and
intelligent, flexible companies are reaping the rewards. Mobile apps are turning the taxi industry
upside down. Online banks are offering an alternative to brick-and-mortar banks. Home delivery is
changing the way we buy everyday products. “Same old, same old” won’t work anymore. But that
doesn’t have to be seen as a bad thing. On the contrary, realizing and accepting that there is a new
way of doing business is exciting and can create many great opportunities for you and your
organization, company or group.
Not a New Concept
To be clear, the continuous improvement concept isn’t a new one. Formalized in the 1980s in
countless textbooks and publications, the notion that we should always strive to do our jobs better
has existed for a very long time. It comes naturally to some people. Look at the case of the
caveman:
• The poor caveman struggled to catch his food, which was too fast to catch by hand.
• He discovered that if he used a stick, he had a longer reach and a better chance.
• Throwing the stick gave an even better range and improved his odds of catching his prey.
• Adding a sharp stone to the end of the stick meant even greater success.
• Involving other cavemen in the hunt also multiplied his chances of catching dinner.
This is continuous improvement. It’s not finding a method that works and sticking with it. It’s looking
at where you are today, setting a goal and doing what needs to be done to reach that goal. Once
that goal is met, you start again, finding ways to improve further. It doesn’t matter what kind of
industry or business you’re in — a continuous improvement approach is necessary to keep ahead of
the game. With the wealth of information available on the subject of continuous improvement, it can
be difficult to know where to start. What we suggest is always starting with analyzing your current
situation. You need a full understanding of how you operate today so you can follow the principles of
PDCA.
First you establish your baseline, your starting point. Then you:
• PLAN: Plan your improvements, including setting goals.
• DO: Put in place the actions required for improvement.
• CHECK: Measure your success relative to your baseline.
• ACT: Adjust or tweak your changes.
This process is often represented in the graphical form of a wheel, known as a “PDCA wheel” or
“Deming wheel” after the creator, Dr. W. Edwards Deming. As you progress through each step, you
keep the wheel moving, representing continuous improvement. When you arrive again at your
baseline stage, you take into account your previous improvements and plan the next improvements.
The Continuous Improvement Project – Make It a Strategy
Even if your company or organization doesn’t actively promote a continuous improvement process
today, that doesn’t mean you don’t do any continuous business improvement. It just means that
you’re probably not doing it as systematically or effectively as you could, and you might not be
deploying changes from one sector or area to others that could benefit.
This is where the notion of a culture of continuous improvement comes into play. When you first
broach the subject of continuous improvement with your employees and collaborators, most will
agree in the necessity but not necessarily know where to begin. Creating a formalized plan that
works for your structure is critical.
There are many reasons why formalizing your continuous improvement strategy is important:
• It gets everyone using the same language. This is key when you’re looking to deploy
lessons learned and best practices across your facility, processes and business units.
Formalizing documents, procedures and work instructions makes it easier to get everyone on
the same page.
• It creates a mindset. Instead of viewing continuous improvement as something to restart with
every new project, a formalized and consistent approach to continuous improvement teaches
people that the system is inherent to how your business runs. It isn’t something you add to
how you work — it becomes how you work.
• It makes people accountable. When continuous improvement permeates all levels of your
organization, it stops being one person’s job and becomes part of everyone’s job. Knowing
that your business never stops evolving helps your employees see where they can be an
active part of continuous improvement.
• It reinforces the importance. In this day and age, it’s easy to get lost in corporate-speak and
boardroom slogans. Continuous process improvement needs to be treated as an integral
foundation for your organization, and formalizing how you approach it makes it more concrete.