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    11 views8 pages

    Reading 1.1-1.2

    Uploaded by

    Ali Arnaouti
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    © All Rights Reserved
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    READING 1.1 A Revolution Awaited by Suresh Lulla from Business Today, January 7-21, 1995 parreenl Pd SNe We sMel UT) A REVOLUTION AWAITED "AN has striven for quality since the dawn of history. Early societies were deper- ent on the quality of food and the ‘environment. In response to these needs, two basic strategies or managing for quality emerged: human sensing—judging quality by ‘ight, smell, or feel—and lessons Jeamt—using past experience as a quality guide. Primitive nomads eventually set: tled into the sociological stricture of ‘towns and villages. With this arrange ‘ment came the division of labour individuals being responsible for specific tasks within the community. ‘There evolved craftsmanship, where the customer relied on the skill and the reputation of experienced crafts ‘men, With the growth of early techy nology, additional strategies were adopted for quali: specilyingneeds by providing a sample; contol of ually through inspection; war- ‘antesthat products were fit for use. Inlargetowns,thecrattsmen orga- nised themselves into monopolistic which were strict in their ‘enforcement of product quay. Their strategies included: mandated speci- {ications for raw materials, processes followed, and finished goods, audits ‘of guild members performance; and export controls on finished goods. ‘TheIndustrial Revolution created the factory stem. Power was har nessed and machines did the jobs ‘once performed by craftsmen. Small ‘raftshops became obsolete, crats- ‘men became factory workers, mas- tersbecame factory foremen. Quality was managed as before through the skis of the workers, supplemented by departmental inspection, or supervisory audits. It also brought additional strategies for quay: wit- ten specifications for materials, processes ished goods, and tess, measurement and test laboratories; ‘and standardisation in many forms, Late in the 16th Century, the US adopted Taylors sytem of Scientific Management. Cental to the Taylor sjstem was the separation of plan- ‘ning from execution. This made pos- siblea ris in produetiviy, but dealt crippling bow to cratsmanship and had a negative effect on quality. To ‘compensate, factory managers setup central inspection departments head- ‘edby chief inspectors Sil the prior- ‘y given to quality dectined and the leadership of the quality function became vague. Following World War 1, the Japanese embarked on a course of reachingnational goalsbytraderather than by miltary means. Prior to the War, the export of poor quality goods had eamed Japan a national eputa- ion for shoddy products. To solve these qualy problems, the Japanese devised unprecedented strategiesfor creating a revolution in quality. Upper ‘managers personally took ‘charge of leading the revolution. All levels and all functions underwent training in managing for quality. Quality improvement was under. taken as a continuing, revolutionary pace. Through qualily circles, the workforce was enlisted in quality improvement. As a result, the Jap- ‘nese became the world's quality leaders. Worldwide, industry after industry has had to strugle with the onslaught of high-quality but reasonablypriced products from, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, ‘and now, China. On the other hand, Indian companies are consumed in implementing $0200 quality assurance gstems. ‘Aswenear the 21st Century, India needs a Quality Revolution, Already, therearesomesignsthata movement ‘may be gathering force, but we need to hasten the process manifold. The Quality Revolution will be charac- terised by astronger focusonthe cur tomer to the point of beinga passion. Quality wil become integral 10 strategic business plans. Quality goals and objectives willbeset at the corporate level and deployed throughout the organisation. Companies will develop and Implement new means of identifying ‘customer needs and expectations, ‘and for translating these into high- ‘quality goods and services. Companies will develop better ‘methods for identifying poor quality and eliminating the associated costs ‘of poor qualily. In fact, companies ‘will more than double their profits ‘without capital investment. Cycle: time reduction willbe an obsession. Companies will benchmark their qualiy performances against those ‘of their competitors and leading ‘organisations in other industries. ‘The desire tobe the bestin-class wil be paramount. Inthe Quality Revolution, manag- ‘ng for quality will become a way of life in every function and at every level. Consequently, performance appraisal systems will focus on ually management. Ownership of ‘rostunctional business processes will lortly ownership of functions. Organisations will invest heavily in educating their most valuable resource. Thiswillbecometheircom. petitive edge. Selfdirectng teams of ‘employees, professionals and man agers wil continuously improve their ‘own performance and drive cross functional quality improvement throughout the organisation. Companies will use training as strategic weapon. They will rain all their people inthe basic concepts of ‘quality management, tied closely to job functions and individual needs. By 2000, many finns will have achieved levels of efficiency and quality unimagined now. Others wll bescrambling forsurvval. India’s National Quality Award will drive quality in the Afro-Asian region. The Prime Minister's Office will bave a Quality Council. And the Quality Revolution will never end. READING1.2 What Future for Quality, What Role for Ethics? by George Muir and Csamah Shaheen, Quality Word, March 1999 technical paper @ Does the philosophical study of moral values and the guiding principles of human conduct play a role in the competitive global economy? George Muir, director of the Quality Centre at the University of Paisley, and Osamah Shaheen, consultant, consider the relationship between quality and ethics ‘study to assess how far ethics contributes to ‘maintaining 2 quality strategy in small service- oriented organisations progressed when I. became evident that ethics was a constituent of When quality i applied tothe ‘management ofan organisation it contributes towards the ‘maintenance of that organisation's consclence, whether under the guise ofa quality code or customer care. Balancing commerc ‘and customer demands The role of quality is not as clear as it frst seems BS {6143:1990 part two ‘Guide to the economics of quality’ Includes the following extract: ‘Aaditioal resources are usualy allocated for quaity-related activities if can be clearly demonstrated that by doing 0 prof- itability will be increased. Effecive quality management can provide significant contribution to profit, and evidence shows that allocating resources to identify reduce and contol failure costs gives a benefit in terms of improved quality, increased ‘profitability and enhanced competiiveness "However it cannot be expected that unlimited resources willbe svailble and thre should be supporting financial information, to demonstrate that action to improve quality i justified and to direct attention to the most urgent (ie cor effective) improve: ments” ‘There are two main implications in these paragraphs. The Brst “describes the allocation of resources for quality-rlaed purpos- and justifies expenditure by affirming that evidence has shown that such efforts usualy reslt in improved quality and 36 Quattywortd Yigal 19199 profiabity. The second paragraph discourages possible rushes Towards overspending. I states tha the cos of improved quall- ty has to be moderated inthe light of these reuns Endless ‘unqualified expenditure should not be the order ofthe day (Over the past 30 to 40 years quality has come tothe fore, 25 the world economy becomes increasingly driven by income at all costs. Qualyy’s significance has sen only 25 fast asthe edine of accountabiliry. This has become the norm in industry and commerce. Ethics gets personal ‘The isue of ethics is Fondamenaly @ personal matter. Ethical ‘rnciples themselves are built ino the enlightened conscience ‘of human beings, refined through generations of experienc, and put into context by philosophy and religion. We regard them as fundamental and essential, But human experience changes and develops and the question of how to apply eternal principles to new phenomena needs working on. Wheres engi- ‘neering and commerce are founded on facts, etic is subject to ‘ucuations based on differences in upbringing, background and morals Therefore, the reinstatement of accountability and conformity to undertaking would be best served by implement- ing standardised set of regulations which are noo-culare oF non-background specific. thas been suggested tha the quality standard is fundamental- ly an atempt by enginers to introduce ethic into industry and ‘commerce. But this is due to the fact chat quality 2s i known today, comes fom the engineers dive for refinement, consis tency and perfection. As Charles Jones ssid: “The more you lear the more you realise what you did not know and all of sudden you get the feeling that you are traveling backwards? oneal poe Farmer on ow ub "pape soe cont nota ane rte ono (ualty redresses the balance berween commercial undertaking and consumer eights. Asi the case with ethics, quality has t2 be judged not so much on its own merits but on its results Ethics fr ethics’ sake would be pointless. In the same way, qual- it for the sake of quality would not only be poindess but azo cverprescriptive and burdensome to industry. Define quality Even the definition of quality seems to vary. For example, qual- ity as outlined by 1SO 9000 means grin things right fist- time, nota drive for anything beyond the nom. eis an attempt to comply with the implied offer of product or service. Differences in perceptions of quality rest fom the variety of definitions and these ae the primary cause ofthe differences in ‘sandards. Consider the following defisitions ind descriptions commonly asocated with quality; ‘the totality of features and characersics of 2 product or service that bear on its abil to satisfy stated or implied ‘needs (DW Deming) 4+ whatever makes you faster, more efficient, and more flexible ‘is what you do le Weber J) + value for money + fitness for purpose - customer’ perspective sherence (0 defined requirements - manufacturer's pesspective conformance to customer requirements conformance to customer expectations doing things right-frstime

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