Summary Chapter Three: The Management and Control of Quality

Summary Chapter Three: The Management and Control of Quality

(Evans and Lindsay, Fifth Edition)

QUALITY CHAPTER THREE: PHILOSOPHIES/FRAMEWORKS

1. Explain the Deming Chain Reaction.

Deming’s Chain Reaction:

• Improve quality Costs decrease/less rework/fewer mistakes/fewer delays/snags/better use of time/materials
• Productivity improves
• Capture market/better quality/lower price
• Stay in business
• Provide jobs/more jobs

2. How does Deming’s definition of quality compare with the definitions discussed in Chapter One?

Deming’s Definition:

• Never defined or described quality precisely
• Focus on reduction of variability and uncertainty on production and design
• Continuous improvement never ending cycle (Chain reaction)
• System of Profound Knowledge (four points identified below)

3. Summarize the four components of Profound Knowledge. How do they mutually support each other?

Mutual support of four points of PROFOUND KNOWLEDGE

1. Appreciation of system: All components must work together to be effective, all people work together to contribute improvement.

2. Understanding of variation: Understanding of statistical theory, first understand then reduce variation through improvements in tech, design, and training.

3. Theory of Knowledge: Influence of Charles Lewis, “there is no knowledge without interpretation” Knowledge not possible without theory, experience is not theory. Cause and effect relationship.

4. Psychology: Understand people, how they work together, interactions between workers and management. Different ways of learning for different people. Pay is not a motivator. When people do not understand systems they blame individuals instead of seeking root causes of problems.

4. Explain the implications of not understanding the components of Profound Knowledge as suggested by Peter Scholtes.

Peter Scholtes: Implications of not understanding profound knowledge:

• See events as individual accidents
• See symptoms but not root causes
• Intervention and its implications to the systems not understood
• Blame individuals rather than the system
• Do not understand community accountability/responsibility

5. Summarize Deming’s 14 Points. How does each relate to the four components of Profound Knowledge?

Deming’s Fourteen Points

1. Create a vision/demonstrate commitment:

Business not only for profit, also a social entity.

2. Learn the new philosophy:

Business must take customer-driven approach to survive.

3. Understand inspection:

Workers must take responsibility for work

4. Stop making decisions based on cost:

Establish long term relationship with suppliers.

5. Improve Constantly Forever:

Make it a way of life as in Japan and Thailand.

6. Institute Training:

People are greatest resource provide tools and training to improve.

7. Institute Leadership:

Instead of supervision/provide real guidance/make decisions.

8. Drive Out Fear:

Gain mutual respect of workers and managers.

9. Optimize Team work:

Break down barriers, share the work (like chapter reviews?)

10. Eliminate exhortations/slogans:

No posters or slogans, cut the bullshit, manage effectively!

11. Eliminate quotas:

Management should understand system, and seek improvements.

12. Remove barriers to pride of workmanship:

Value and reward workers efforts, do not treat them like walking commodities or liability-zombies.

13. Encourage education/self improvement:

Continue broad education and self-development/develop worth of individual

14. Take Action:

Transform from top management and remove traditional inefficient hierarchical structure.

6. Explain Juran’s Quality Trilogy?

Juran’s Trilogy:

1. QUALITY PLANNING: Process to prepare and meet goals.

2. QUALITY CONTROL: Process of meeting goals during operations

3. QUALITY IMPROVEMENT: Process of breaking through levels of performance

7. How is Juran’s philosophy similar to or different from Deming’s?

Is Juran’s philosophy similar or different to Deming’s?

• More alike than different
• Quality is imperative in future of global markets
• Top management commitment essential
• TQM saves money
• Responsibility is management not workers
• Need for difficult process changes
  

8. What are Crosby’s Absolutes of Quality Management and Basic Elements of Improvement? How are they similar to or different from Deming’s 14 Points?

Crosby’s Absolutes of Quality Management & Basic Elements of Improvement :

QUALITY MEANS CONFORMANCE TO REQUIRMENTS/NOT ELEGANCE: Must be defined by management or nobody will know what they are supposed to be.

NO SUCH THING AS QUALITY PROBLEM: The quality department is not the problem, these occur in functional departments.

NO SUCH THING AS ECONOMICS OF QUALITY- DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME- IT IS ALWAYS CHEAPER: Quality is free.

ONLY PERFORMANCE MEASURE IS COST OF QUALITY= COST OF NONCONFORMANCE: Most companies spend 15-20% of sales dollars on quality costs.

ONLY PERFORMANCE STANDARD IS ZERO DEFECTS: Concentrate on preventing defects rather than just finding them and fixing them.

Crosby is mostly behavioural approach versus Deming. Use management and organisation rather than statistics to engage the changes. Few details, focus on management thinking (if they think?) Thus not much respect for Crosby’s ideals (maybe asking the managers to think too much!).

9. Summarize the key contributions of Feigenbaum, Ishikawa, and Taguchi to modern quality thinking

FEIGENBAUMS: Coined phrase Total Quality Control/Three steps to quality· Quality Leadership: Sound planning management versus reaction to failures. Constant focus on leadership· Modern Quality technology: All worker force must integrate to solve problems that traditional management cannot. · Organisational Commitment: Continuous training and motivation of entire workforce.

ISHIKAWAS: Developed participative, bottom-up view of quality, trademark approach of Japanese management. Collect data, he said, analyse it using simple tools (including visual), use statistical measurements, he said, and teamwork.

TAGUCHIS: Explained economic value of reducing variation. Costs do not actually represent value of quality characteristic as long as long as products are within specified values. His loss? The smaller the variation, the better the quality, products are more consistent, total costs are less. His loss? The closer to limits, the higher the loss, higher inconsistency, lower the quality.

10. How does Taguchi’s approach to measuring variation support the Deming philosophy?

TA(MA)GUCHI SUPPORTS DEMING:
Most closely explain/share the economic value of reducing variation. Design quality into the product; engineer the product right the first time. Attack quality problems early in design phase.

11. What does JUSE mean by, “companywide control”? How do the Deming Prize criteria relate to this concept?

(ORANGE) JUSE “COMPANY WIDE CONTROL”:

• System of activities to assure that quality products and services required by customers are economically designed, produced, and supplied while respecting principle of customer orientation and public well-being.

12. Summarize the purposes of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award.

Purposes of MBQA (BESIDES BOREDOM):

• Help to stimulate US companies to improve quality and productivity
• Recognize achievements of companies/provide examples to others
• Establish guidelines and criteria
• Provide specific guidance to companies (Fill in Deming’s gaps)

13. Explain the Baldridge Award framework and why each element is important in any quality system.

Criteria:

• Delivery of ever improving value to customers, contributing to success
• Improvement of overall organizational effectiveness
• Organizational and personal learning

14. Describe the key issues addressed in each of the seven categories of the criteria for performance excellence.

(Seven Categories)

1. Leadership: Focus on customers and stakeholders, empowerment, innovation, and learning.

2. Strategic Planning: Strategic objectives and plans frameworks/how to choose them and how to measure them.

3. Customer and Market Focus: How organisation builds relationships with customers and markets. How customer satisfaction is achieved.

4. Information and Analysis: How to analyse performance data and expansion.

5. Human Resources Focus: Motivation and organization of staff for performance excellence and positive working environment.

6. Process Management: Customer-focused design, product/service delivery, key business and support processes.

7. Business Results: Performance and improvement measurement in customer satisfaction, product, and service performance.

15. Describe the Baldridge Award scoring system. What do we mean by approach and deployment?

Percentage score from 0 to 100 in increments of 10 given to each item.

Approach: Methods used to achieve requirements

• Appropriateness
• Effectiveness
• Alignment with needs
• Evidence of innovation
  

Deployment: Extent to which approaches are applied to all requirements of item

• Use of approach in addressing item requirements
• Use of approach by all appropriate work units

16. How are the Baldridge Award Criteria commonly used by companies that do not apply for the award?

• Used for self-assessment or internal recognition programs, so even if no intention to apply for award it can be useful for companies.
• Accelerates improvement efforts
• Energizes employees· Learning from feedback
• Exchange of information/ask for help/feedback

17. How do the Baldridge criteria support Deming’s 14 Points?

1. Create a vision/demonstrate commitment: Leadership Category

2. Learn the new philosophy: Organisational Leadership item

3. Understand inspection: Process Management Category

4. Stop making decisions based on cost: Process Management category

5. Improve Constantly Forever: Continuous improvement core value of criteria

6. Institute Training: Item 5.2 Employee Education, training, and Development

7. Institute Leadership: Category One, Leadership

8. Drive Out Fear: Human Resource Focus

9. Optimize Team work: Teamwork in all criteria and Human Resource Focus

10. Eliminate exhortations/slogans: Moot point not directly addressed

11. Eliminate quotas: Organisational Leadership and Strategy Development items/ Information and Analysis and Process Management

12. Remove barriers to pride of workmanship: Leadership and Human Resource Focus/Customer Satisfaction and the Relationships items

13. Encourage education/self improvement: Employee Education and Training, Development and Employee Well-Being/Satisfaction

14. Take Action: Leadership Category

18. Explain the differences between the Baldridge, European, Canadian, and Australian Quality Awards.

OMIT (probably the question she will ask)

19. Briefly summarize the key elements of ISO 9000. Are they something that every company should be doing? Why or why not?

Key elements of ISO 9000

• Founded 1947-Swiss
• ISO means Equal
• Quality assurance equal to peers
• Recognized in 100 countries

FIVE OBJECTIVES

1. Achieve/maintain/seek to continuously improve product quality

2. Improve quality of operations to meet customer and stakeholder needs

3. Provide confidence to internal management and employees that quality programs are being fulfilled

4. Provide confidence to customers/stakeholders that quality requirements are achieved in products/service

5. Provide confidence that quality system of management and requirements are fulfilled.

Companies can benefit BUT:

• Not a comprehensive business performance framework.
• ISO 9000 provides a set of good basic guidelines and an excellent starting point for companies without formal quality assurance programs.
• Membership may be competitive advantage, particularly when benchmarking industrial or service categories and market positioning.
  

20. Explain the process of obtaining ISO 9000 registration. What is a registrar?

• Third party auditor type certification
• Process began in UK
• Registrar (Accreditation Agency) certifies company/accepted by all business contacts and suppliers
• Process: Document review- insure documented quality management policies
• Pre-assessment (identifies potential non-compliance in documentation/manuals)
• Assessment by visiting team of auditors
• Surveillance/re-audits to verify conformance
• Recertification every three years ($)
• Individual sites must be inspected/registered individually from corporate HQ
• All costs born by applicant
• Registration audit costs from $10,000-40,000
• Internal costs may exceed $100,000

(Cheaper than Deming applicants processes!)

21. List the reasons companies pursue ISO 9000 registration. What benefits can registration provide?

• ISO STANDARDS prescribe documentation for all processes affecting quality and compliance through auditing for continuous improvement.
• Intended to apply to all types of businesses
• In some foreign markets, companies will not buy products from suppliers without certification
• Often necessary for product certification
• Required for international competitiveness
  

22. Why has ISO 9000 been controversial? How has the 2000 revision addressed some of the controversial issues?

• Original standards and 1994 revisions allowed companies to be certified even if they produced poor quality products- as long as it was done consistently (working for Douglas and Fredendall? )
• FOCUS on “passing a test” rather than improving quality processes
• 2000 REVISIONS: incorporation of many Baldridge criteria
• But ISO 9000 still not a comprehensive business performance framework