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Creating Business Excellence

Before we look at excellence models, let us see why sometime these initiatives fail.

There are many reasons for Quality Programs failures, including the following:

• The efforts were too narrowly focused, as with statistical applications on the shop floor.
• The efforts were mis-focused, limited to improving only “quality of work life” issues for employees rather than also addressing issues of strategic concern.
• The managers relied on traditional methods and assumptions, ad were not equipped with the right tools, techniques, and theory to improve quality.
• The managers were too focused on tools and techniques, and did not understand how to transform themselves, their employees, and the organization.
• The managers were too impatient, with a short-term focus, and unwilling to stay the course, overcome initial barriers, and wait for long-term gains.
• The managers never care for the culture change in organization.

Read more: MGT510 - Total Quality Management - Lecture Handout 30

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE MODELS

Excellence starts with ‘Marketing’

The ‘marketing’ function of an organization must take the lead in establishing the true requirements for the product or service. Having determined the need, marketing should define the market sector and demand. This will determine product or service features such as the grade, price, quality, timings, etc. For example, a major hotel chain, before opening a new hotel or refurbishing an old one, will need to consider its location and accessibility, before deciding whether it will be predominantly a budget, first class, business or family hotel.

Marketing will also need to establish customer requirements by reviewing the market needs, particularly in terms of unclear or unstated expectations or preconceived ideas held by customers. Marketing is responsible for determining the key characteristics which determine the suitability of the product or service in the eyes of the customer. This may, of course, involve the use of market research techniques, data gathering, and analysis of customer complaints.

Excellent communication between customers and suppliers is the key to total organizational excellence. This will eradicate the ‘demanding nuisance/idiot’ view of customers, which pervades some organizations. Poor communications often occur in the supply chain between organizations, when neither party realizes how poor they are. Feedback from both customers and suppliers needs to be improved, where dissatisfied customers and suppliers do not communicate their problems. In such cases non-conformance of purchased products or services is often due to the customer’s inability to communicate their requirements clearly. If these ideas are also used within an organization, then the internal supplier/customer interfaces will operate much more smoothly.

Read more: MGT510 - Total Quality Management - Lecture Handout 20