Read the pages and make a summary of them
with your own words, please. Mention important parts. Also, you will put your comments and ideas about the topic.
Extracted text: attempt to adopt the total quality approach. This is because they look at total quality as just another management innova- tion rather than as a whole new way of doing business that requires an entirely new corporate culture. Too few organiza- tions begin the implementation of total quality with the long- term commitnment to change that is necessary for success. KEY ELEMENTS OF TOTAL QUALITY improvement of products, processes, and people in order to prevent problems before they occur. The traditional view of quality saw employees as passive workers who followed or- ders given by supervisors and managers. It was their labor, not their brains, that was wanted. With total quality, employ- behind management-labor discord ad infinitum without achieving consensus. From the perspective of total quality, who or what is to blame for adversarial management-labor rela- tions is irrelevant. What is important is this: To apply the total quality The total quality approach was defined in Figure 1.2. This definition has two components: the what and the how of total quality. What distinguishes total quality from other ap- proaches to doing business is the how component of the defi- nition. This component has several critical elements, each of which is explained in the remainder of this section and all of which relate to one of the components of the three-legged stool in l'igurc 1.1. approach, This means that internal politics have no place in a total quality cation. Rather, collaboration should be the norm. organizations must have unity of purpose. to think and make recommendations for ees are empowered continual improvement. They are also shown the control boundaries within which they must work and are given free- organization. question TWO VIEWS OF QUALITY Teamwork frequently asked concerning this clement of total quality is "Does unity of purpose mean that unions will no longer be needed?" The answer is that unity of purpose has The total quality philosophy introduced a whole new way of looking at quality. The traditional view of quality mea- sured process performance in defective parts per hundred produced. With total quality, the same measurement is livuglıt of in te HIs of defeutive parls per million pruduced. The traditional view focused on after-the-fact inspections of products. With total quality, the emphasis is on continual In traditionally managed organizations, the best competitive efforts are often among departments within the organization. Internal competition tends to use energy that should be focused on improving quality and, in turn, external competitiveness. dom to make decisions within those boundaries. The traditional view of quality expected one improve- nothing to do with whether unions are needed. Collective bar- ment per employee per year. Total quality organizations per cimpioyee expect to make at least ten or more improvements per em- gaining is about wages, benefits, and working conditions, not about Dout corporate purpose and vision. Employees should fel more involved and empowered in a total quality setting than in Strategically Based ployee per year. Organizations that think traditionally focus on short-term profits. The total quality approach focuses on Total quality organizations have a comprehensive strategic plan that contains at least the following elements: vision, mis- sion, broad objectives, and activities that must be completed to accomplish the broad objectives. The strategic plan of a total quality organization is designed to give it a sustainable competitive advantage in the marketplace. The competitive advantages of a total quality organization are geared toward achieving world-leading quality and improving on it, con- tinually and forever. Continual Process Improvement managed goal of total quality i a traditionally managed situation, but the g to enhance competitiveness, not to eliminate unions. For exam- is long-term profits and continual improvement. The following statements summarize some of the major differences between the traditional view of quality and the total quality perspective: Products are developed and services delivered by people using processes within environments (systems). To continu- ally improve the quality of products or services-which is a fundamental goal in a total quality setting-it is necessary to continually improve systems. ple, in Japan, where companies are known for achieving unity of purpose, unions are still very much in evidence. Unity of pur- pose does not necessarily mean that labor and management will • Productivity versus quality. The traditional view is that productivity and quality are always in conflict. You cannot have both. The total quality view is that lasting productivity gains are made only as a result of quality improvements. - How quality is defined. The traditional view is that quality is defined solely as meeting customer specifica- tions. The total quality view is that quality means satisfy- ing customer needs and exceeding customer expectations. . How quality is measured. The traditional view is that quality is measured by establishing an acceptable level of nonconformance and measuring against that hench- mark. The total quality view is that quality is measured by establishing high-performance benchmarks for customer satisfaction and then continually improving performance. quality is achieved. The traditional view is that quality is inspected into the product. The total quality view is that quality is determined by product and process design and achieved by effective control techniques. Attitude toward defects. The traditional view is that defects are an expected part of producing a product. Measuring detects per hundred is an acceptable standard. The total quality view is that defects are to be prevented using effective control systems and should be measured in defects per million (Six Sigma). always agree on wages, benetits, and working conditions, but it does mean that all employees work toward the common goal. Education and Training Education and training are fundamental to total quality be- cause they represent the best way to improve people on a con- tinual basis. It is through education and training that people who know how to work hard learn how to also work smart. Customer Focus Employee Involvement and Empowerment In a total quality setting, the customer is the driver. This point applies to both internal and external customers. External customers define the quality of the product or ser- vice delivered. Internal customers help define the quality of the people, processes, and environments associated with the products or services. Employee involvement and empowerment is one of the most misunderstood elements of the total quality approach and one of the most misrepresented by its detractors. The basis for involving employees is twofold. First, it increases the Freedom Through Control 15 fa good decision, a better plan, or a more ef- Involving and empowering employees is fundamental to total quality as a way to simultaneously bring more minds to bear on the decision-making process and increase the ownership improvement by bringing more minds to bear on the situation-not just any minds but the minds of the people who are closest to the work in question. Second, it promotes ownership of decisions by involving the people who will have to implement them. fective Obsession with Quality employees feel about decisions that are made. Total - renb ment as a loss of management control, when in fact control is fundamental to total quality. The freedoms enjoyed in a quality setting are actually the result of well-planned and well-carried-out controls. Controls such as scientific methodologies lead to freedom by empowering employees ity detractors sometimes mistakenly see employee involve- In a total quality organization, internal and external custom- ers define quality. With quality defined, the organization must then become obsessed with meeting or exceeding this definition. This means all personnel at all levels approach all aspects of the job from the perspective of "How can we do this better?" When an organization is obscssed with quality, good enough" is never good enough. Empowerment means not just involving people but also involving them in ways that give them a real voice. One of the How total ways this can be done is by structuring work that allows employees to make decisions concerning the improvement of work processes within well-specified parameters. Should a machinist be allowed to unilaterally drop a vendor if the vendor delivers substandard material? No. However, the ma- chinist should have an avenue for offering his or her input into the matter. Should the same machinist be allowed to change the way she sets up her machine? If by so doing she can improve her part of the process without adversely affecting someone else's, yes. Having done so, her next step should be to show other machinists her innovation so that they might try it. to solve problems within their scope of control. Scientific Approach Unity of Purpose Historically, management and lahor have had an adversarial relationship in U.S. industry. One could debate the reasons Total qualty detractors put off by such concepts as employee empowerment sometimes view total quality as nothing more than another name for "soft" management or "people" man- agement. Although it is true that people skills, involvement, and empowerment are important in a total quality setting, they represent only a part of the equation. Another important part is the use of the scientific approach in structuring work and in making decisions and solving problems that relate to the work. This means that hard data are used in establishing bench- marks, monitornıng performance, and makıng improvements. a function. The traditional view is that Quality as quality is a separate function. The total quality view is that quality should be fully integrated throughout the organization-it should be everybody's responsibility. . Responsibility for quality. The traditional view is that employees are blamed for poor quality. The total quality view is that at least 85% of quality problems are manage- ment's fault. QUALITY TIP Cuntinually Improving People, Processes, and Products Peak Performance The total quality approach seeks to improve everything all the time forever. This mears that it encompasses continually im- proving (1) how well people are able to do their jobs, (2) how well processes perform, and (3) the quality of products and services pruvidesd Ly the peuple ad prucsss. Tu autieve tulal quality, it is necessary to focus more on solving problems and continually improving and less on blaming individuals for problems. When effectively practiced, total quality allows every aspect of an organization to operate at peak levels. This means that all personnel and processes are operating at their best. Peak performance is essential to organizations that operate in a global environment where competition is intense, constant, and unforgiving. • Supplier relationships. The traditional view is that sup- plici selatiouslips are slunt term and Lust driven. The total quality view is that supplier relationships are long term and quality oriented. Long-Term Commitment Organizations that implement management innovations after attending short-term seminars often fail in their initial