Roll No AB – 523702

Umair Ali

ASSIGNMENT NO – 1

QUALITY MANAGEMENT

COL MBA (AUTUMN 2010)

Q No -1 Mintzberg’s research indicates that there are three categories of roles of
leaders: these can be described in terms of 10 specific quality roles, explain each
of them?

Ans Mintzberg’s observation indicated that manager’s behavior can be classified into
three basic categories

1. Informational

2. Interpersonal

3. Decisional

Interpersonal roles – How a manager interacts with other people.

Description of actions Examples from managerial

practice requiring activation of
corresponding roles
1.Monitor Collecting various data Handling incoming
(receiver) relevant to adequate work correspondence, periodical
surveys, attending seminars and
exhibitions, research tours
2. Disseminator Transmitting information Dissemination of information letters
of information obtained from both external and digests, interviewing, informing
sources and employees to subordinates of the agreements
interested people inside the reached
organization
3. Spokesperson Transmitting information on Compiling and
the organization’s plan’s, disseminating information
current situation and letters and circulars,
achievements of the participation in meetings
divisions to outsiders

Informational roles – How a manger exchanges and processes information.

Symbolic leader of the Attending ribbon-cutting

1. Figurehead organization performing duties ceremonies, hosting receptions,
of social and legal character presentations and other activities
associated with the figurehead role
Motivating subordinates, Virtually all managerial
2. Leader interaction with them, selection operations involving
and training of employees subordinates
Establishing contacts with Business correspondence,
3. Liaison managers and specialists of participation in meetings
other divisions and with representatives of other
organizations, informing divisions (organizations
subordinates of these contacts

Decisional roles – How a manager uses information in decision making

Seeking opportunities to Participation in meetings

develop processes both involving debating and
1. Entrepreneur (initiator inside the organization and decision making on
of change) in the systems of interaction perspective issues, and
with other divisions and also in meetings dedicated
structures, initiates to implementation of
implementation of innovations
innovations to improve the
organization’s situation and
employee well-being
Taking care of the Debating and decision
organizations, correcting making on strategic current
2. Disturbance handler ongoing activities, issues concerning ways of
assuming responsibility overcoming crisis situations
when factors threatening
normal work of the
organization emerge
Deciding on expenditure of Drawing up and approving
3. Resource allocator the organization’s physical, schedules, plans, estimates
financial and human and budgets; controlling
resources their execution
Representing the Conducting negotiations,
4. Negotiator (mediator organization in establishing official links
all important negotiations between the organization
and other companies

Mintzberg's Ten Management Roles are a complete set of behaviours or roles within a
business environment. Each role is different, thus spanning the variety of all identified
management behaviours. When collected together as an integrated whole (gestalt), the
capabilities and competencies of a manager can be further evaluated in a role-specific
way.

The Ten Management Roles

The ten roles explored in this theory have extensive explanations which are briefly
developed here:

• Figurehead: All social, inspiration, legal and ceremonial obligations. In this light,
the manager is seen as a symbol of status and authority.
• Leader: Duties are at the heart of the manager-subordinate relationship and
include structuring and motivating subordinates, overseeing their progress,
promoting and encouraging their development, and balancing effectiveness.
• Liaison: Describes the information and communication obligations of a manager.
One must network and engage in information exchange to gain access to
knowledge bases.
• Monitor: Duties include assessing internal operations, a department's success
and the problems and opportunities which may arise. All the information gained
in this capacity must be stored and maintained.
• Disseminator: Highlights factual or value based external views into the
organisation and to subordinates. This requires both filtering and delegation
skills.
• Spokesman: Serves in a PR capacity by informing and lobbying others to keep
key stakeholders updated about the operations of the organisation.
• Entrepreneur: Roles encourage managers to create improvement projects and
work to delegate, empower and supervise teams in the development process.
• Disturbance handler: A generalist role that takes charge when an organisation
is unexpectedly upset or transformed and requires calming and support.
• Resource Allocator: Describes the responsibility of allocating and overseeing
financial, material and personnel resources.
• Negotiator: Is a specific task which is integral for the spokesman, figurehead
and resource allocator roles.

As a secondary filtering, Mintzberg distinguishes these roles by their responsibilities

towards information. Interpersonal roles, categorised as the figurehead, leader and
liason, provide information. Informational roles link all managerial work together by
processing information. These roles include the monitor, the disseminator and the
spokesperson. All the remaining roles are decisional, in that they use information and
make decisions on how information is delivered to secondary parties.

Generalist and specialist management

The core of Mitzberg's Ten Managerial Roles is that managers need to be both
organisational generalists and specialists. This is due to three reasons:
 • External frustrations including operational imperfections and environmental
pressures.
• Authority disputes which upset even basic routines.
• The expected fallibility of the individual and human, manager.

Mintzberg's summary statement may be that the role of a manager is quite varied and
contradictory in its demands, and that it is therefore not always the lack of managerial
prowess, but the complexity of individual situations demanding a variety of roles, which
troubles today's manager.

The ten roles, therefore, can be applied to any managerial situation where an
examination of the levels to which a manager uses each of the ten 'roles' at his or her
disposal is required

Q No 2. Explain the following terms

1. Action Plan
2. Delivery Time
3. 4-Pair Analysis
4. Responsiveness to change in market place
5. Shared Vision

1. Action Plan

A sequence of steps that must be taken, or activities that must be performed

well, for a strategy to succeed. An action plan has three major elements

(1) Specific tasks: what will be done and by whom.

(2) Time horizon: when will it be done.

(3) Resource allocation

What specific funds are available for specific activities. Also called action
program.action plan details A plan detailing the steps one must take to achieve a stated
goal. For example, if one wishes to have a larger office in two years, one may make an
action program detailing how to attain that goal. It is the final step in decision making
process. This specifies who will do what and during what time.

2. Delivery Time
 Delivery time is the length of time between the preparation of a product for
shipping and the delivery of the product to the end consumer. It is also sometimes
referred to as the delivery period. Companies keep track of their delivery times for the
purpose of being able to provide accurate estimates when orders are placed so that
consumers know when to expect a delivery. This tracking is also used internally to
monitor efficiency.

When customers place an order, they are usually provided with information about
the estimated delivery time. They may be told that a product “takes two to four weeks
for delivery,” for example, or that a product “can be delivered by Friday if you order in
the next 12 hours.” This is designed to create a frame of reference for the customer.

Customers usually prefer rapid delivery times and if they have a choice between
several companies with similar pricing, they are more likely to go with the company that
offers the quickest delivery time. In addition, consumers like to know when to expect
products. It may be necessary to make preparations or to be present to sign for a
delivery. In the case of things like product components, timing deliveries is crucial to
avoid work stoppages caused by not having enough materials.

Delivery time can include the time needed to fabricate a product, get a product
from a warehouse, package it, and then to ship it to the final destination. The shipping
method used has a significant effect on delivery time. Consumers can opt to pay a
priority for next day or two day delivery, for example, to guarantee arrival by a set date.
Other factors may not be so controllable. A company may not have an item in stock or
may have a backlog of orders; even though an order can be filled, it may be behind a
long line of orders that need to be processed first.

Internally, delivery time information is used by companies to help employees

enact improvements. Companies track their delivery times and compare them with
estimates to identify problems in the process of preparing items for delivery. A company
may use this data to streamline part of the process or to monitor packaging processes
in different departments. If estimates are consistently wrong, the company may adjust
the system used for estimates or do some investigation to see if it is possible to get
departments back on track and delivering products within the estimated delivery
window.

3. 4 Pair Analysis

The 4-pairs analysis is based on SWOT chart, at this point , the key strengths ,
weaknesses , threats and opportunities have been listed. The 4-pair matrix helps the
quality strategist to do exactly ehat its name suggests. Each strength is considered in
terms of each opportunity and each threat , each weakness is also considered in terms
of each opportunity and threat.

The 4-pairs matrix is developed in the following manner

1. First , all the enteries that have been identified are grouped in one of four cells
according to the following categories
a. Strengths and opportunities
b. Weakness and opportunities
c. Strength and cells
d. Weakness and threat
2. Each of the entries is paired with every elements in the each of the entries in the
same cell. For example if there were 3 entries in the strength cell and 2 entries in
opportunities cell these would be paired and strategic alternatives that could be
used to resolve the quality dilemma would be identified
3. After examining most possible strategic alternatives, the most feasible choice can
be made. Doing nothing is one course of action.

4. Responsiveness to Change in Market Place

Changes to system and program requirements in response to directed

changes by the procuring activity, or problem solutions identified shall be evaluated for
total program impact with respect to performance, cost, and schedules. With the
changing dimensions of quality management every day, organizations need to be in line
with latest trends and technology and must respond to such changes quickly , so that to
maintain the competitive advantage. Whenever the product of any company becomes
inferior or lags behind the competitors, user will automatically shift their focus to better
and good quality products, therefore it is imperative for every organization to keep the
standards as per the requirement.

5. Shared Vision

It is a vision of quality that is accepted by all the employee. In today’s

organizations it is very difficult to impose something on the employees , unless
employees are convinced and ready to accept the quality challenge, quality cannot be
ensured. Unsuccessful quality initiatives often are attributed to an organizational culture
that does not recognize the importance of the cooperative values that underlie “soft”
quality management practices, like customer focus and empowerment. Yet, the
literature remains unclear as to how quality management and cooperative values
interrelate by failing to incorporate the multilevel influences on this relationship in
organizations. This research analyzes a multilevel model based on sociotechnical
systems and quality management theories. Secondary data are used to test an
explanation of how organizational-level and workgroup-level quality management
practices relate to cooperative cultural values and workgroup performance. A single-
level model is also tested to demonstrate its inadequacies. Based upon the support for
a multilevel model, managerial insights are provided that aid in deciding where
resources should be allocated during a quality initiative.

Q No 2.(b) Briefly discuss the 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen R

Covey?

Ans. Being effective is learning to do 'that which produces the desired result'. If you
want to be extremely successful in business or very happy in life or achieve some large
goal, then being effective is consistently doing the things that will bring about the results
you are after.

Habit 1 - Be Proactive

It is perhaps a great compliment to Stephen Covey that today, the substance of this first
habit is deeply embedded into the management psyche. We are told, in business, that
we should be proactive; and broadly what is meant by that is to focus our efforts and
attention on the long-term and to think in terms of the long-term consequences of our
actions.

Covey contrasts being proactive or having a proactive mentality with being reactive.
Reactive people, he says, are those who are resigned to the truth that whatever they do
in the present can have no effect on their circumstances. And interestingly, for reactive
people, it really is a truth, for whatever we believe in our heart affects our thoughts,
words and actions. If we really believe that we can do nothing about our unreasonable
boss or the daily events in our lives, then we simply do not make the effort.

Habit 2 - Begin with the End in Mind

Many people in the west identify with the frustration of success. Being successful at
their chosen career and committed to its progress they come to realise that it does not,
in the final analysis, bring any sense of real satisfaction. The reason for this ultimate
dissatisfaction is that they did not begin with the end in mind. For many people, it is not
just that they did not begin with the end in mind; it goes a bit deeper - they did not ever
get around to defining the end itself and so they simply could not begin with the end in
mind. So what does all this mean? The end represents the purpose of your life. Until
you can say what that purpose is, with assurance, then you just cannot direct your life in
the manner that would bring you the greatest satisfaction.

Habit 3 - First Things First

 Consider the simple 2 x 2 matrix shown below. It plots the concepts of urgency
and importance against each other; and represents where you are spending your time.
To really understand and apply this habit, you need to have first done habit 2 - that is,
you should already have defined what is important to you. Without first doing this, habit
3 has no power because you simply cannot separate what is important from what is not
important.

This representation shows four categories of demand which may be made on

your time. Quadrant 1 consists of activities which are both urgent and important - in
other words, things to which you absolutely must attend. Why must you do these
things? Because they are important - meaning that they contribute to your mission; and
they are urgent - meaning that they have some sort of deadline associated with them.
Put habits 1,2 and 3 together and you have the ultimate success formula.

Habit 4 - Think Win Win

The next of the 7 Habits is - Think Win-Win. This habit is again an attitude of
mind. It concerns fostering an attitude that is committed to always finding solutions that
will truly benefit both sides of a dispute. Solutions do not, of course, exist in themselves;
they must be created. And, even if we cannot see the solution to a particular problem, it
does not mean that no such solution exists. The win-win idea is not based upon
compromise - that is where most disputes naturally end. But compromise is the result of
not properly perceiving the possible synergy of the situation.

The more you practice this habit, the more committed you will become as you
find solutions which truly do benefit both parties, where originally it looked as if no such
agreement might be reached. Covey has amended the wording of this habit slightly in
recent years to read: Think Win-Win or No Deal. This attitude works well because it
liberates the individuals concerned from the effort of trying to persuade the opposite
party to shift ground or compromise. The effort is instead spend on trying to understand,
which is where habit 5 comes in - you see, they are also sequential.

Habit 5 - Seek First to Understand

then be Understood

The fifth habit is - Seek First to Understand. What most people do, naturally, when
involved in some type of discussion, meeting or dialogue is exactly the reverse - they
seek first to be understood. And, as Stephen Covey says, when both parties are trying
to be understood, neither party is really listening; he calls such an interaction, 'the
dialogue of the deaf'. This habit is an important key to inter-personal relationships and it
seems to be almost magical in its ability to transform the course of discussions. Why?
Because by making the investment of time and effort required to understand the other
party, the dynamics of the interchange are subtly affected.

This habit is not just about letting the other person speak first; it concerns actually
making the effort to understand what is being said. It is about understanding that our
natural habit of mind is to misunderstand. When we are engaged in conversation, error
is always present. NLP tells us that we simply make our own meaning based on our
own experiences and understanding of life; and frequently we make the wrong meaning.
You might like to take a look at the answers given by school-children on history exams
which illustrates this principle - we are no different!

Habit 6 - Synergize (Synergise)

The sixth of the habits is - Synergize. This habit involves you putting your head together
with the other party or parties in order to creatively brainstorm a synergistic solution to a
problem i.e. to find a solution which contains win-win benefits. It can only be done
successfully if you have first practiced habits 4 and 5. The well-known definition of
Synergy is - When the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Finding a synergistic solution means finding a solution which is better than either
party might first propose. Such a solution can only be found if both parties truly
understand the other parties position - the fruit of habits 4 and 5. There have been many
books written on successful brainstorming techniques; my own favourite techniques are
those proposed by Edward DeBono - professor of thinking and perhaps most famous
for Lateral Thinking.Putting habit 4, 5 and 6 together, you have a perfect model for
human interaction.

Habit 7 - Sharpen the Saw

The last habit of the 7 Habits is - Sharpen the Saw. In this habit, you are the saw; and to
Sharpen the Saw is to become better, keener and more effective. Highly Effective
People always take time to Sharpen the Saw. What is meant by Sharpening the Saw is
to regularly engage in the exercise of the three dimensions which make up the human
condition: body, mind and spirit. Covey also adds a fourth dimension - the inter-
personal.

Q No 3 (a). How employees satisfaction is related to customer satisfaction?

Explain .

Ans. It is difficult to overestimate the impact of employee attitudes on the satisfaction

levels of customers. While positive employee attitudes and customer treatment may not
be enough to fully overcome problems with product or internal systems, it can reduce
the damage that product/systems' problems cause to customer satisfaction. If your
products and systems are performing to customer expectations, happy employees are
in a position to dazzle customers by treating them with respect, courtesy, and warmth.
Because of their monopoly, the Post Office can get away with mistreating customers.
Most businesses cannot.

The link between employee attitude and customer satisfaction can be seen both in
quantitative studies and in everyday life. Think back to the last sour experience you had
with a person who was servicing you. How did this make you feel? You have found
yourself making a mental note to not return to a place of business where you were
mistreated. At the very least, you probably will not recommend an organization whose
employees have mistreated you. On the other side of the coin, you probably can recall
positive, memorable experiences you have had as a customer that caused you to return
to a place of business and/or recommend it to a friend.In addition to improved customer
treatment, other benefits of measuring and improving employee satisfaction include
reduced turnover and associated reductions in training costs. Also, an improved
reputation of your company as a place to work may make it easier to attract quality
employees.

The empirical literature highlights the criticality of the relationship between employee
attitudes and customer satisfaction. How employees feel about their job has an impact
on their work experience, but also on tangible business outcomes such as customer
satisfaction, sales, and profit. Employees can strongly contribute to an organization’s
success by having a customer-centric approach in their work and in their work-related
interactions.
However, they are more likely to do so if they are satisfied with their job. The
question is then: “What should organizations do to ensure high job satisfaction among
their employees?” As found in the practices of Fortune 100 companies, employee
satisfaction is the result of a holistic approach that involves strategic steps.
There are few steps which a company must take to keep its employees satisfied.
1. Identify root causes of dissatisfaction among employees
2. Conduct benchmark studies of best practices in selected other companies
3. Develop employee satisfaction measurement systems that can be used
corporate wide and worldwide
4. Monitor employee satisfaction on a regular basis
5. View employees as the primary source of competitive advantage
6. Show concern for total employee well-being
7. Develop meaningful employee involvement and effective communication
channels
8. Introduce managerial accountability for people management
 Given the impact of customer satisfaction on organizational profit, it is critical for
organizations to understand what dimensions of service quality need to be monitored
and used to develop accountability, customer satisfaction awareness, and customer
oriented work behavior.
Regardless of the levers an organization chooses to operate, a basic step to
achieving customer satisfaction is to understand customer needs through research.
Only when customer needs are well understood, can adequate service standards be set
and the appropriate service culture developed and maintained. Finally, careful
consideration should be given to how to create a link between employee satisfaction
and customer satisfaction. The models presented in this report refer to some important
drivers of this relationship. Research on employee satisfaction, furthermore, points to
compensation as an essential organizational determinant of job satisfaction. Because
compensation is also a prominent means to generate accountability and thus influence
work behavior, by using customer satisfaction (CS) based compensation organizations
may achieve two
key goals:
1. They may increase job satisfaction (e.g., by using CS incentives that are
perceived as having a positive valence).
2. They may strengthen customer oriented work behavior (e.g., by using CS
incentives that are linked to specific behaviors).
In sum, CS based compensation should focus on performance dimensions that
employees can control, influence, and understand. Without such focus, not only will it be
unlikely to affect work behavior, but it will be likely to generate dissatisfaction.

Q No 3 (b). A recent research over a question that weather or not Voice of

Customer is killing off innovation because paying such close attention to the
VOC prevents the company from being more creative. Do you really think that
VOC is really killing off innovations?
Ans. Companies affix the “voice of the customer” label to nearly everything even
remotely tied to customer informa-tion and feedback. This includes technology support
and help-desk conversations, online customer suggestions,anecdotes from the sales
team, and comments passed through the company ombudsperson to senior
management. The familiar maxim, “The customer is always right,” is a guideline at many
businesses. Yet there is a danger in terming anything customers say as VOC. Defining
VOC at that level risks turning it into nothing more than a litany of complaints and
hearsay – hardly the stuff of innovation. Even in sophisticated new product development
organizations, VOC can be construed too broadly – as any type of market research that
elicits input from customers. Advertising testing, price analysis, brand imaging and
competitive intelligence are certainly valuable market research tools. But they do not
obtain the voice of the customer.
 So what is VOC? A 1993 article, “The Voice of the Customer” in Marketing
Science, defined it as market nearly everything even remotely tied to customer
information and feedback. This includes technology support and help-desk
conversations, online customer suggestions, anecdotes from the sales team, and
comments passed through the company ombudsperson to senior management. The
familiar maxim, “The customer is always right,” is a guideline at many businesses. Yet
there is a danger in terming anything customers say as VOC. Defining VOC at that level
risks turning it into nothing more than a litany of complaints and hearsay – hardly the
stuff of innovation. Even in sophisticated new product development organizations, VOC
can be construed too broadly – as any type of market research that elicits input from
customers. Advertising testing, price analysis, brand imaging and competitive
intelligence are certainly valuable market research tools. But they do not obtain the
voice of the customer.
So what is VOC? A 1993 article, “The Voice of the Customer” in Marketing
Science, defined it as market research that delivers a set of customer wants and needs
that is: 1) complete, 2) expressed in the customers’ own language, 3) organized into a
hierarchy, and 4) prioritized by customers based on importance and current satisfaction.
Other practitioners have developed somewhat looser definitions, but at its core, VOC
has always been about identifying, organizing and prioritizing customer needs. Refining
the definition to a specific market research activity at a specific point in new product
development positions companies to charter a formal VOC project with a known goal
(identifying customer needs) and dedicated resources (staff and budget). Those
companies do a better job of capturing customer needs and, as a result, are more
innovative.Poor performers, on the other hand, tend to cobble together insights from
miscellaneous market research and try to infer what the customer wants. That
scattershot approach can yield incomplete results laden with ambiguity and the
development team’s own biases. Companies adopting that approach would be better off
gathering in a conference room and guessing what they think customers want; it would
be just as ineffective and would cost much less.VOC is not killing the innovation at all , it
might make the process of innovation slow and very calculative but that is what is
required by market and customer.

Methodology

Voice of the Customer Innovation involves the core product development team and
cross-disciplinary representatives from areas such as Customer Insights and Marketing.
Successful Voice of the Customer Innovation initiatives include the following steps:

• Define business objectives and focus the topic;

• Develop measurements that will determine whether an idea is worth pursuing;
 • Determine appropriate combination of qualitative and quantitative research-
methodologies that will uncover and prioritize needs, both stated and latent;
• Develop sampling plan;
• Conduct qualitative research to develop list of needs and concepts;
• Conduct internal brainstorming sessions to refine list to practical suggestions;
• Conduct quantitative research to prioritize needs and/or concepts;
• Develop these ideas into products or services.

Common Uses

Voice of the Customer Innovation can help companies to:

• Increase the likelihood of developing products or services that meet existing

customer needs;
• Identify potential adjacencies;
• Determine the optimal marketing message to convey the benefits of the product
or service;
• Create a customer-focused culture;
• Serve as an innovation springboard.

Q No 4. Elaborate the three categories of tools and techniques for quality

management . what tools could be used for planning , data collection and
analysis , and for continuous improvement?

Ans. The tools and techniques for the management of quality is categorized in three
groups , these are tools for data collection and interpretation , tools for planning and
tools for continuous improvement. Now lets elaborate them.

Tools for Data Collection and Interpretation

Any systematic attempt to manage quality , be in a manufacturing or a service

activity , must rely upon data collection and interpretation measure progress , to guide
decision , and to enable deep understanding of customer needs. Jeff Israel , the
founding principle of Satisfaction Strategies a consulting firm specializing in satisfaction
measurement and customer – focused change , describes the data inputs in five useful
categories: customer records , complaints , surveys , benchmarking and transaction
data.

Customer Record
 The simple administration task of keeping records of your customers will pay
dividends in terms of your business’ success. Knowing who is buying from you, how
often, and having contact details allowing you to be able to keep in touch with them will
be invaluable in sales, marketing, customer service, even financial forecasting, and will
keep your business customer-focused.

This is especially true in a small business, where customer relationships are everything.
If you can keep on top of names and preferences and offer a friendly service as a result,
you’ll see a significant amount of repeat business. People like a personal touch, so you
can also keep personal details: names of family, preferred football team and so on.

These records might be as simple as a spreadsheet comprised of names, companies,

and contact details or you could install something much more sophisticated.

Data on Complaints

Complaints are a rich source of data and ideas for continuous improvement in
product or services. Some organizations have found very innovative ways to capture
complaints from customers while they are fresh and current. There are various useful
tips and method to handle the complaints.

How to Choose the Right Complaint Management Technology

Give your employees and partners the tools required to surpass customer expectations
and build a reputation for service. Modern workflow software makes it easy to
communicate customer issues across the organization and ensure nothing falls through
the cracks.

• Understand key system evaluation criteria

• Understand resources required to implement and support a system
• Learn to create customer centric processes
• Establish systemic root cause of customer dissatisfaction
• Implement corrective actions

Handling Customer Complaints to Increase Loyalty

Research shows that by properly handling customer complaints you can not only
recover from customer complaints but also improve loyalty. Of customers who register a
complaint, 54-70% will buy again if their complaint is resolved. It is clear proper handling
of customer complaints will give you the competitive edge.

• Convert occasional users to loyal customers

 • Understand why customers are leaving and how you can turn them around
• Your #1 marketing tool is your customer base. Learn how to increase referrals,
repeat business, and positive word of mouth.
• Improve product or service performance using accurate and unfiltered customer
feedback
• Identify and focus on the right customers
• Build a loyalty culture, not just a loyalty program

Data Collection Techniques to Increase the Value of Customer Feedback

Most customer feedback goes unused for a multitude of reasons. Learn data collection
techniques that will transform meaningless data into powerful customer feedback that
will have a positive financial impact on your business.

• Learn how to handle and categorize customer complaints, service requests and
other feedback for results
• Understanding the power of rules based data collection
• Understand how data collection techniques can maximize profit and allow
managers to focus in on the critical few
• Root Cause analysis focused on establishing meaningful bottom line financial
results

Survey Data

Surveys are used by many companies, especially when exploring new new
products and services or new features for existing products and services.

Surveys collect data from a targeted group of people about their opinions,
behavior or knowledge. Common types of surveys are written questionnaires, face-to-
face or telephone interviews, focus groups and electronic (e-mail or Web site) surveys.
Surveys are commonly used with key stakeholders, especially customers and
employees, to discover needs or assess satisfaction.

When to Use a Survey

• When identifying customer requirements or preferences.

• When assessing customer or employee satisfaction, such as identifying or
prioritizing problems to address.
• When evaluating proposed changes.
• When assessing whether a change was successful.
• Periodically, to monitor changes in customer or employee satisfaction over time.
Survey Considerations

• Conducting a survey creates expectations for change in those asked to answer it.
Do not survey if action will not or cannot be taken as a result.
• Satisfaction surveys should be compared to objective indicators of satisfaction,
such as buying patterns for customers or attendance for employees, and to
objective measures of performance, such as warranty data in manufacturing or
re-admission rates in hospitals. If survey results do not correlate with the other
measures, work to understand whether the survey is unreliable or whether
perceptions are being modified, for better or worse, by the organization’s actions.
• Surveys of customer and employee satisfaction should be ongoing processes
rather than one-time events.
• Get help from a research organization in preparing, administering and analyzing
major surveys, especially large ones or those whose results will determine
significant decisions or expenditures.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the process of comparing one's business processes and

performance metrics to industry bests and/or best practices from other industries.
Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost. Improvements from learning
mean doing things better, faster, and cheaper.

Benchmarking involves management identifying the best firms in their industry, or

any other industry where similar processes exist, and comparing the results and
processes of those studied (the "targets") to one's own results and processes to learn
how well the targets perform and, more importantly, how they do it.

The term benchmarking was first used by cobblers to measure people's feet for
shoes. They would place someone's foot on a "bench" and mark it out to make the
pattern for the shoes. Benchmarking is most used to measure performance using a
specific indicator (cost per unit of measure, productivity per unit of measure, cycle time
of x per unit of measure or defects per unit of measure) resulting in a metric of
performance that is then compared to others.

Also referred to as "best practice benchmarking" or "process benchmarking", it is

a process used in management and particularly strategic management, in which
organizations evaluate various aspects of their processes in relation to best practice
companies' processes, usually within a peer group defined for the purposes of
comparison. This then allows organizations to develop plans on how to make
improvements or adapt specific best practices, usually with the aim of increasing some
aspect of performance. Benchmarking may be a one-off event, but is often treated as a
continuous process in which organizations continually seek to improve their practices.

Transaction Data

Organizations have much data regarding transaction with their customers and
they need to be conscious of the improvement opportunities presented by these data.
Information about frequency and volumes of purchases by customer over time will
possibly signal charges in the customer’s satisfaction with products. Such patterns must
be tracked and monitored with the intervention taken when signal’s present themselves.

Tools for Planning

The collection of customer’s data is of course only the first step in QM. Once data
are collected, they must be translated into action, if they are to have an impact on
quality. Tools used in quality planning are

Quality Function Deployment

Quality Function deployment also known as The House of Quality, is one of the
best devices created to tie product and services design decision directly to customer’s
wants and needs. To design a product well, a design teams needs to know what it is
they are designing, and what the end-users will expect from it. Quality Function
Deployment is a systematic approach to design based on a close awareness of
customer desires, coupled with the integration of corporate functional groups. It consists
in translating customer desires (for example, the ease of writing for a pen) into design
characteristics (pen ink viscosity, pressure on ball-point) for each stage of the product
development (Rosenthal, 1992). Ultimately the goal of QFD is to translate often
subjective quality criteria into objective ones that can be quantified and measured and
which can then be used to design and manufacture the product. It is a complimentary
method for determining how and where priorities are to be assigned in product
development.
The intent is to employ objective procedures in increasing detail throughout the
development of the product. (Reilly, 1999) .Quality Function Deployment was developed
by Yoji Akao in Japan in 1966. By 1972 the power of the approach had been well
demonstrated at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard (Sullivan, 1986) and in
1978 the first book on the subject was published in Japanese and then later translated
into English in 1994 (Mizuno and Akao, 1994). In Akao’s words, QFD "is a method for
developing a design quality aimed at satisfying the consumer and then translating the
consumer's demand into design targets and major quality assurance points to be used
throughout the production phase. ... [QFD] is a way to assure the design quality while
the product is still in the design stage.

The 3 main goals in implementing QFD are:

1. Prioritize spoken and unspoken customer wants and needs.
2. Translate these needs into technical characteristics and specifications.
3. Build and deliver a quality product or service by focusing everybody
toward customer satisfaction.

Today , QFD continues to inspire strong interests around the world, generating
ever newer applications , practitioners and researcher each year. Countries that have
held national and international QFD Symposium to this day include US , Japan ,
Sweden , Germany , Australia , Brazil and Turkey.

Simultaneous (Concurrent) Engineering

It is a systematic approach to the integrated , concurrent design of products and
related processes including manufacturing and support.
Concurrent engineering is a business strategy which replaces the traditional
product development process with one in which tasks are done in parallel and there is
an early consideration for every aspect of a pr oduct's development process. This
strategy focuses on the optimization and distribution of a firm's resources in t he design
and development process to ensure effective and efficient product development
process.

Need for Concurrent Engineering

In today's business world, corporations must be able to react to the changing market
needs rapidly, effectively, and responsively. They must be able to reduce their time to
market and adapt to the changing environments. Decisions must be made quickly and
they must be done right the first time out. Corporations can no longer waits time
repeating tasks, thereby prolonging the time it takes to bring new products to market.
Therefore, concurrent engineering has emerged as way of bringing rapi d solutions to
product design and development process. Concurrent engineering is indisputably the
wave of the future for new product development for all companies regardless of their
size, sophistication, or product portfolio. In order to be compet itive, corporations must
alter their product and process development cycle to be able to complete div erse
tasks concurrently. This new process will benefit the company, although it will require
a large amount of refinement in its implementation. This is because, concurrent
engineering is a process th at must be reviewed and adjusted for continuous
improvements of engineering and business operations.
The Concurrent Engineering Approach
 Concurrent engineering is a business strategy which replaces the traditional product
developm ent process with one in which tasks are done in parallel and there is an
early consideration for ever y aspect of a product's development process. This
strategy focuses on the optimization and distribut ion of a firm's resources in the
design and development process to ensure an effective and efficient product
development process. It mandates major changes within the organizations and firms
that use i t, due to the people and process integration requirements. Collaboration is a
must for individuals, groups, departments, and separate organizations within the firm.
Therefore, it cannot be applied at leisure. A firm must be dedicated to the long term
implementation, appraisal, and continuous revisi on of a concurrent engineering
process.
Strategic Plan of Concurrent Engineering
Concurrent engineering is recognized as a strategic weapon that businesses must
use for effec tive and efficient product development. It is not a trivial task, but a
complex strategic plan that demands full corporate commitment, therefore strong
leadership and teamwork go hand and hand with suc cessful concurrent engineering
programs

Seven New Management Tools

A set of seven management and planning tools has come to be used widely in
the improvement of quality planning efforts. In 1976, the Union of Japanese Scientists
and Engineers (JUSE) saw the need for tools to promote innovation, communicate
information and successfully plan major projects. A team researched and developed the
seven new quality control tools, often called the seven management and planning (MP)
tools, or simply the seven management tools. Not all the tools were new, but their
collection and promotion were.

The seven MP tools, listed in an order that moves from abstract analysis to detailed
planning, are:

1. Affinity diagram: organizes a large number of ideas into their natural

relationships.
2. Relations diagram: shows cause-and-effect relationships and helps you analyze
the natural links between different aspects of a complex situation.
3. Tree diagram: breaks down broad categories into finer and finer levels of detail,
helping you move your thinking step by step from generalities to specifics.
4. Matrix diagram: shows the relationship between two, three or four groups of
information and can give information about the relationship, such as its strength,
the roles played by various individuals, or measurements.
 5. Matrix data analysis: a complex mathematical technique for analyzing matrices,
often replaced in this list by the similar prioritization matrix. One of the most
rigorous, careful and time-consuming of decision-making tools, a prioritization
matrix is an L-shaped matrix that uses pairwise comparisons of a list of options to
a set of criteria in order to choose the best option(s).
6. Arrow diagram: shows the required order of tasks in a project or process, the
best schedule for the entire project, and potential scheduling and resource
problems and their solutions.
7. Process decision program chart (PDPC): systematically identifies what might
go wrong in a plan under development.

Tools for Continuous Improvement

Quality is the responsibility of everyone, however at times it becomes little

difficult to involve everyone to participate. People need tools to help them identify quality
problems and plan corrective actions. We will now review seven tools that are helpful in
the quality management process.

Check Sheet

A check sheet is one of the seven basic quality tools. Data collection can often
become an unstructured and messy exercise. It is a simple form you can use to collect
data in an organized manner and easily convert it into readily useful information. Data
collection is important because it is the starting point for statistical analysis. The function
of a check sheet is to present information in an efficient, graphical format. A check sheet
is a table or a form used to systematically register data as it is collected. Check sheets
help organize data by category. They show how many times each particular value
occurs, and their information is increasingly helpful as more data are collected. Main
applications of a check sheet include registering how often different problems occur and
registering the frequency of incidents that are believed to cause problems.

Histogram
The histogram is a popular graphing tool. It is used to summarize discrete or
continuous data that are measured on an interval scale. It is often used to illustrate the
major features of the distribution of the data in a convenient form. A histogram divides
up the range of possible values in a data set into classes or groups. For each group, a
rectangle is constructed with a base length equal to the range of values in that specific
group, and an area proportional to the number of observations falling into that group.
This means that the rectangles will be drawn of non-uniform height. A histogram has an
appearance similar to a vertical bar graph, but when the variables are continuous, there
are no gaps between the bars. When the variables are discrete, however, gaps should
be left between the bars

Pareto Chart
A Pareto chart is a special type of bar chart where the values being plotted are
arranged in descending order. It is named after Vilfredo Pareto, and its use in quality
assurance was popularized by Joseph M. Juran and Kaoru Ishikawa. Typically on the
left vertical axis is frequency of occurrence, but it can alternatively represent cost or
other important unit of measure. The right vertical axis is the cumulative percentage of
the total number of occurrences, total cost, or total of the particular unit of measure. The
purpose is to highlight the most important among a (typically large) set of factors. In
quality control, the Pareto chart often represents the most common sources of defects,
the highest occurring type of defect, or the most frequent reasons for customer
complaints, etc. See this help file how to use our tool.

Cause and Effect Diagram

The Cause & Effect (CE) diagram, also sometimes called the ‘fishbone’ diagram,
is a tool for discovering all the possible causes for a particular effect. The effect being
examined is normally some troublesome aspect of product or service quality, such as 'a
machined part not to specification', 'delivery times varying too widely', 'excessive
number of bugs in software under development', and so on, but the effect may also
relate to internal processes such as 'high rate of team failures'.The major purpose of the
CE Diagram is to act as a first step in problem solving by generating a comprehensive
list of possible causes. It can lead to immediate identification of major causes and point
to the potential remedial actions or, failing this, it may indicate the best potential areas
for further exploration and analysis. At a minimum, preparing a CE Diagram will lead to
greater understanding of the problem

Scatter Diagram

A Scatter Diagram examines the relationships between data collected for two
different characteristics. Although the Scatter Diagram cannot determine the cause of
such a relationship, it can show whether or not such a relationship exists, and if so, just
how strong it is. The analysis produced by the Scatter Diagram is called Regression
Analysis. Use a Scatter Diagram to determine if there is correlation between two
characteristics. Correlation implies that as one variable changes, the other also
changes. Although this may indicate a cause and effect relationship, this is not always
the case, since there may be a third characteristic (or many more) that are actually the
cause, and both the characteristics of interest are the effect.
Control Chart

The control chart is a graph used to study how a process changes over time.
Data are plotted in time order. A control chart always has a central line for the average,
an upper line for the upper control limit and a lower line for the lower control limit. These
lines are determined from historical data. By comparing current data to these lines, you
can draw conclusions about whether the process variation is consistent (in control) or is
unpredictable (out of control, affected by special causes of variation). Control charts for
variable data are used in pairs. The top chart monitors the average, or the centering of
the distribution of data from the process. The bottom chart monitors the range, or the
width of the distribution. If your data were shots in target practice, the average is where
the shots are clustering, and the range is how tightly they are clustered. Control charts
for attribute data are used singly.

Flowchart

A flow chart is a graphical or symbolic representation of a process. Each step in

the process is represented by a different symbol and contains a short description of the
process step. The flow chart symbols are linked together with arrows showing the
process flow direction. The first cool thing about flow charts is that they let you see the
process flow at a glance, so my first alternate definition of "Flow Chart" is a Snap Shot
of your Business Processes. This is commonly called an As-Is Flowchart. You can tell a
lot about the complexity (and often over-complexity) of many business processes just by
looking at an as-is flow chart of them - without even reading the text in the symbols. You
can easily see the flow of information and materials, branches in the process,
opportunities for infinite loops, the number of process steps, inter-departmental
operations, and more.

Q No 5. Explain in detail the continuous process improvement cycle?

Ans One of the most common tools for improvement is the Deming (or Shewhart)
Cycle. This method is also known as Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) or Plan-Do-Study-Act
(PDSA) and it is well suited for many improvement projects. Originally known as PDCA,
it was revised to PDSA in the early 1990’s to reflect misunderstandings of the intent of
learning process.

Many quality practitioners believed that the check stage of the process meant to
simply measure the improvement and move forward to the Act stage. Deming was
stressing the importance of studying the data collected prior to acting upon it by
changing the name of the stage to study. Use of the Deming Cycle is so widespread
that ISO 9001 includes the methodology as a means of process improvement.
Plan

The above picture shows how the Deming Cycle operates. The Plan stage is
where it all begins. Prior to implementing a change you must understand both the
nature of your current problem and how your process failed to meet a customer
requirement. Once you have this plan, it’s time to move to the DO stage.

Do

The Do stage is the implementation of the change. Identify the people affected by
the change and inform them that you’re adapting their process due to customer
complaints, multiple failures, continual improvement opportunity, whatever the reason, it
is important to let them know about the change. You’ll need their buy-in to help ensure
the effectiveness of the change.

Then implement the change, including the measurements you’ll need in the
Study stage. Monitor the change after implementation to make sure no backsliding
occurs. You wouldn’t want people to return to the old methods of operation- those
methods were causing your company pain to begin with!

Study

Just as it implies, the Study stage is where you’ll perform analysis of the data you
collected during the Do stage. Considerations include:

• Did the process improve?

• By how much?

• Did we meet the objective for the improvement?

• Was the process more difficult to use with the new methods?

Act

The answers from the Study stage define your tasks for the Act stage. For
example, if the process didn’t improve, there’s no point in asking additional questions
during the Study stage. But action can be taken- action must be taken! The problem
hasn’t been solved. The action you’d take is to eliminate the change you implemented in
the Do stage and return to the Plan stage to consider new options to implement.

If the process did improve, you’d want to know if there was enough improvement.
More simply, if the improvement was to speed up the process, is the process now fast
enough to meet requirements? If not, consider additional methods to tweak the process
so that you do meet improvement objectives. Again, you’re back at the Plan stage of the
Deming Cycle.

Suppose you met the improvement objectives. Interview the process owner and
some process participants to determine their thoughts regarding the change you
implemented. They are your immediate customer. You want their feedback. If you didn’t
make the process harder (read more costly or time consuming) your action in this case
would be to standardize your improvement by changing any required documentation
and conduct training regarding the change. Keep in mind that sometimes you will make
the process more time consuming. But if the savings from the change more than offset
the additional cost, you’re likely to have implemented an appropriate change.

Revisiting the Improvement

That’s right… you’re not done yet. You want to Sustain the Gain. Know that the
change is still in place, and still effective. A review of the process and measure should
give you this information. Watch the process to view for yourself that the process
operators are performing the process using the improvements you’ve implemented.
Analyze the metrics to ensure effectiveness of your Deming Cycle improvements.

Six Sigma

In Six Sigma programs, the PDSA cycle is called "define, measure, analyze,
improve, control" (DMAIC). The iterative nature of the cycle must be explicitly added to
the DMAIC procedure.
 PDSA should be repeatedly implemented in spirals of increasing knowledge of
the system that converge on the ultimate goal, each cycle closer than the previous. One
can envision an open coil spring, with each loop being one cycle of the scientific method
- PDSA, and each complete cycle indicating an increase in our knowledge of the system
under study. This approach is based on the belief that our knowledge and skills are
limited, but improving. Especially at the start of a project, key information may not be
known; the PDSA—scientific method—provides feedback to justify our guesses
(hypotheses) and increase our knowledge. Rather than enter "analysis paralysis" to get
it perfect the first time, it is better to be approximately right than exactly wrong. With the
improved knowledge, we may choose to refine or alter the goal (ideal state). Certainly,
the PDSA approach can bring us closer to whatever goal we choose.[5]

Rate of change, that is, rate of improvement, is a key competitive factor in today's
world. PDSA allows for major 'jumps' in performance ('breakthroughs' often desired in a
Western approach), as well as Kaizen (frequent small improvements associated with an
Eastern approach). In the United States a PDSA approach is usually associated with a
sizable project involving numerous people's time, and thus managers want to see large
'breakthrough' improvements to justify the effort expended. However, the scientific
method and PDSA apply to all sorts of projects and improvement activities.[6]

The power of Deming's concept lies in its apparent simplicity. The concept of
feedback in the scientific method, in the abstract sense, is today firmly rooted in
education. While apparently easy to understand, it is often difficult to accomplish on an
on-going basis due to the intellectual difficulty of judging one's proposals (hypotheses)
on the basis of measured results. Many people have an emotional fear of being shown
"wrong", even by objective measurements. To avoid such comparisons, we may instead
cite complacency, distractions, loss of focus, lack of commitment, re-assigned priorities,
lack of resources, etc