MNO3703 Memo
MNO3703 Memo
Semester 1
IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
This tutorial letter contains important information
about your module.
CONTENTS
Open Rubric
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Page
1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 3
2. FEEDBACK TO Assignment 01 (Semester 1) ................................................................ 4
3. FEEDBACK to Assignment 02 (Semester 1) .............................................................. 10
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1. INTRODUCTION
Dear Student
We trust you are still enjoying the programme and by the time you receive this tutorial letter,
most of you will probably be busy with the last self-assessment (Assignments 03).
The primary purpose of this tutorial letter is to give feedback and core guidelines on the first
two assignments (Assignment 01 and 02).
The completion of all three of the MNO3703 assignments is very important for examination
preparation purposes. Please note that assignments which you must evaluate yourself should
not be submitted.
The study material is an integrated package. Do not merely study the prescribed book. Your
study guide can be regarded as your “lecturer” – please follow the guide (with additional
activities and examples) as it guides you through the module’s study units with very specific
learning outcomes.
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ASSIGNMENT 01 (Compulsory)
Answer all of the following questions. Please select only one of the options 1, 2, 3, 4
or 5. Each correct answer is allocated one mark. No negative marking is applied.
1) The pace of technological change has quickened to lightning speed. How has this
impacted on customers and competition? (Chapter 1) pg 3
4) Which one of the following relate to the major features of the total quality
management model? (Chapter 1) pg 22
5) What is the main driver of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Framework in
guiding the pursuit of quality performance and objectives? (Chapter 2) pg 25
1. Senior executive leadership creates values, goals and systems and guides
the sustained pursuit of quality and performance objectives.
2. Operations focus challenges current practices and processes.
3. Customer focus it improves the competitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of a
whole organisation.
4. Results it creates improved goals and practices for the organisation.
5. Work force focus it compares business practices with those of world-class
organisations.
6) Senior management must demonstrate they serious about quality and middle
management must grasp the principles of TQM. What must middle management
do to ensure their own commitment? (Chapter 3) pg 33
8) If effective leadership starts with the chief executive and his top team’s vision.
What will the organisation capatilise on? (Chapter 3) pg 40
1. Middle management
2. leadership
3. Shareholders
4. Customers
5. Participants
10) Which one of the following statements best describes strategic planning? (Chapter
4). Pg 67
1. Strategic planning ensure that appropriate resources are made available to map,
investigate and improve the process.
2. It projects customer needs to ensure customer satisfaction.
3. Strategic planning assists in selecting the process improvement team leader and
team members.
4. Strategic planning is the continuous process by which any organisation
describes its destination.
5. Strategic planning is a report progress to the senior management team.
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11) To support the effective operation of its processes. How should organisations plan
and manage their external partnerships? (Chapter 5) pg 72
12) Some materials or services are usually purchased from outside organisations.
What is the primary objective of a purchasing or procurement function? (Chapter
5) pg 77
13) Kanban in Japan means visible record. What does it mean in the West? (Chapter
5) pg 81
14) If quality of design is far more than product or service design and its ability to
meet customer requirements? What is quality of design also about? (Chapter 6)
pg 93.
15) To ensure good relationships and communication between various groups and
functional areas within the organisation and across the supply chain, how can
quality be built throughout the design process? (Chapter 6) pg 89
16) As the human component is clearly of major importance. When key tests are used
what must they be? (Chapter 7) pg 122
18) Which one of the following is the enabler criteria of the EFQM Excellence Model?
(Chapter 8) pg 157
19) What are the five stakeholders that should be embraced by the values of any
organisation? (Chapter 8) pg 165
Answer all of the following questions. Please select only one of the options 1, 2, 3, 4
or 5. Each correct answer is allocated one mark. No negative marking is applied.
1. This strategic initative creates better market demand for standard products.
2. This strategic initiative builds better structures within the organisations processes.
3. It enables procurements to purchase materials more effectively.
4. This is a strategic initiative driven through Lean to increase customer
satisfaction and reduce working capital.
5. It creates an environment where people are motivated.
3) What are the main movements that influences process redesign? (Chapter 11) pg
226
4) Which of the following are two important requirements that a good quality
management system should meet? (Chapter 12) pg 245
6) Which one of the following are two approaches of a combination are desIgned to
achieve a solution to continuous improvement? (Chapter 13) pg 266
5. Remove all non-value activities to ensure higher productivity levels at lower costs.
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8) The emphasis placed on lean was understanding the ’core value added
processes’ and stripping out all the non-value adding activities from those
processes. To ensure the processes run smoothly the supply and support
processes need to be designed to deliver continuous flow. How will this activity be
executed effectively (Chapter 15) pg 309
1. The activity is worked through a push system where inventory is set at levels for
customer demand levels of available stock levels, faster delivery and
replenishment processes that are efficient.
2. The activity is pulled through the system by customer demand, things get
done when required, so eliminating waste activity, unnecessary inventory
and time delays.
3. The activity links suppliers, inventory to operations and customer demand to
ensure all activities run smoothly.
4. The activity is a set of processes used to ensure cutomer demand is met without
compromising downtimes along the material flow lines.
5. The activity is used to develop new processes to ensure customer process control,
and management responsibility.
9) Kaizen blitz is not about planning, but about doing and keeping things simple.
Which one the following typically describes Kaizen Blitz? (Chapter 15) pg 319
1. Is a cross functional team used to identify additional resources and invest in more
equipment.
2. Is a cross functional team setout to maximise and increase the efficiency of
resources over a long term.
3. Is a cross functional team setout to to reduce the potential of competition.
4. Is a cross functional, multi level team of 6-12 members brought together to
focus on solving a specific problem in 3-5 days.
5. Is a cross functional team set out to reduce reject factors and increase productivity.
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10) Which one of the following best describes the key elements of the HR strategy
which is first identified by the HR director? (Chapter 16) pg 332
11) Which one of the following are three common initiatives successful organisations
place great store by? (Chapter 16) pg 339
12) Kaizen Teian is a Japanese system for generating and implementing employee
ideas. How is Kaizen Teian improvements best described? (Chapter 16) pg 348
13) The unique feature about quality circles or Kaizen teams is that people are asked
to join and not told to do so. Which of the following are four elements in a circle
organisation? (Chapter 16) pg 349
15) With regards to teamwork the preference types and their interpretation are
extremely powerful. Which of the following best describes the extrovert and the
introvert? (Chapter 17) pg 372
1. The extrovert communicates a lot and prefers to explore while the introvert is
comfortable being secluded.
2. The extrovert is outgoing, while the introvert remains stagnant.
3. The extrovert is adventurous, and the introvert is meticulous.
4. The extrovert communicates all the time, while the introvert is silent and engrossed
in work internally.
5. The extrovert prefers action and the outer world, and the introvert prefers
ideas and the inner world.
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16) If total qualty management significantly changes the way many organisations
operate and do business. What changes will be required? (Chapter 18) pg 386
17) Total quality training material and support will be of real value only if employees
are motivated to respond positively to them. Which of the following are two mutually
supporting aspects to base the implementation strategy on? (Chapter 18) pg 389
18) When knowledge is made explicit by putting it into words, diagrams or other
representations, it can be typed, copied, stored and communicated electronically.
What does all of this become? (Chapter 18) pg 399
1. Knowledge
2. Information
3. Intepretation
4. Speculation
5. Exception
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19) Total quality management may be integrated into the strategy of any organisation
by understanding the core business processes and involvement of people. What
would be a recommended framework for total quality management? (Chapter 19)
pg 412
1. It starts with a vision, a plan and all the organisational resources that make up the
business results.
2. It starts with an idea, a philosophy, a vision and the organisations top management
structures who plan and create an environment of certainty.
3. It starts with the vision, goals, strategies and mission which should be fully
thought through, agreed and shared in the business.
4. It starts with a financial plan than converted into an organisational plan with top
management’s brainstorming and ideas.
5. It starts with ideas carried out by designs and than implemented by acquiring
resources.
20) The concept of total quality management is basic and simple. Each part of the
organisation has customers. The need is to identify what the customer
requirements are and set about meeting them to form the core total quality
approach. What are the three hard management necessities that requires good
performance? (Chapter 19) pg 424
SEMESTER 1 & 2
Question 1
Explain the difference between quality and reliability; and between quality of
design and quality of conformance. [4]
Quality of conformance: This is the extent to which the product or service achieves
the quality of design.
Question 2
Present a ‘model’ for total quality management, justifying the various elements
of the model. [9]
See study unit 2, p 22 as well the model below presents the 4P’s and 3 C’s.
• Planning, people and processes are the keys to delivering quality products and
services to customers and generally improving overall performance.
• These four Ps form a structure of ‘hard management necessities’ for a simple TQM
and Operational Excellence (OpEx) model
• The three Cs of culture, communication, and commitment provide the glue or ‘soft
outcomes’ of the model which will take organisations successfully into the twenty-
first century.
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Commitment
Question 3
• Every chief executive must accept the responsibility for commitment to a quality
policy that deals with the organisation for quality, the customer needs, the ability of
the organisation, supplied materials and services, education and training, and
review of the management systems for never-ending improvement.
Effective leadership
• Effective leadership starts with the chief executive’s vision and develops into a
strategy for implementation.
• Top management should develop the following for effective leadership: clear
beliefs and objectives in the form of a vision; clear and effective strategies and
supporting plans; the critical success factors and core processes; the appropriate
management structure; employee participation through empowerment and the
EPDCA helix; the challenge is to achieve shared goals and common action across
the supply chain -‘Quality in the 21st Century’.
Excellence in leadership
• The vehicle for achieving excellence in leadership is TQM. Using the construct of
the Oakland TQM Model, the four Ps and four Cs provide a framework for this:
Planning, Performance, Processes, People, Customers, Commitment, Culture and
Communications
Using the above key components, you can relate the short case study. Therefore,
in summary, the following can be augmented to ensure commitment by staff.
Even so, it may find that the introduction of TQM causes it to reappraise activities
throughout. If answers to the above questions indicate problem areas, it will be
beneficial to review the top management’s attitude to quality. Time and money
spent on quality-related activities are not limitations of profitability; they make
significant contributions towards greater efficiency and enhanced profits.
The following questions refer to study units 4, 5 and 6 of your prescribed text
book.
Question 4
You are the manager of a busy insurance office. Last year’s abnormal winter led
to an exceptionally high level of insurance claims for house damage caused by
strong winds, and you had considerable problems in coping with the greatly
increased work load. The result was excessively long delays in both
acknowledging and settling customers’ claims. Your area manager has asked
you to outline a plan for dealing with such a situation should it arise again. The
plan should justify what actions you would take to deal with the work, and what,
if anything, should be done now to enable you to take those actions should the
need arise. Explain what proposals you would make, and why? [12]
• For an organisation to be truly effective, each part of it must work properly together
towards the same goals, recognising that each person and each activity affects
and in turn is affected by others.
• The TQM approach strongly emphasise measurement, some insist sensibly on
the use of cost of quality.
• The value of a structured discipline using a points system has been well
established in quality and safety assurance systems (for example, ISO 9000 and
vendor auditing).
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• Even so, it may find that the introduction of TQM causes it to reappraise activities
throughout. If answers to the above questions indicate problem areas, it will be
beneficial to review the top management’s attitude to quality.
Time and money spent on quality-related activities are not limitations of profitability;
they make significant contributions towards greater efficiency and enhanced profits.
Question 5
Identify and explain the key stages of integrating total quality into the strategy
of an organisation of your choice. [10]
• Senior management may begin the task of alignment through six steps as
illustrated in the figure above:
Question 6
Justify the preparations required for the negotiation of a one-year contract with
a major material supplier and explain the major factors to consider in partnering
with key suppliers. [7]
Answer:
See study units 3 and 5 (pages 31, 77 and 78)
Total quality management is far more than shifting the responsibility of detection of
problems from the customer to the producer. It requires a comprehensive approach
that must first be recognised and then implemented if the rewards are to be realised.
Today’s business environment is such that managers must plan strategically to
maintain a hold on market share, let alone increase it. In many companies quality
problems have been found to seriously erode margins due to the cost of rectifying
defective work both during the contract period and afterwards.
Procurement needs to expand its remit into managing risk and vulnerability within the
supply chain, particularly in the context of geographically dispersed and distant
suppliers. Additional complexity also arises as a direct consequence of the volatility of
commodities, currencies and interest rates. Senior management should demand that
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These are important considerations in a contract and should be taken into account
when negotiating contracts.
The following questions refer to study units 7, 8 and 9 of your prescribed text
book.
Question 7
Many organisations are turning to total quality models to measure and improve
performance. The frameworks include the Japanese Deming Prize, the US Baldrige
Award and in Europe the EFQM Excellence Model.
These are embodied in a framework below of seven categories which are used to
assess organisations:
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1. Leadership
• organisational leadership
• public responsibility and citizenship
2. Strategic planning
• strategy development
• strategy deployment
3. Customer focus
• customer and market knowledge
6. Operations focus
• product and service processes
• business processes
• support processes
7. Results
• customer focused results
• financial and market results
• human resource results
Question 8
Question 9
Measures are used in process control, e.g. control charts (see Chapter 13), and in
performance improvement, e.g. improvement teams (see Chapters 14 and 15), so they
should give information about how well processes and people are doing and motivate
them to perform better in the future.
chain performance, inventory reductions and increases in flexibility, which are first and
foremost non-financial, can do that. Financial summaries provide valuable information,
of course, but they should not necessarily be used for control. Effective decision-
making requires direct measures for operational feedback and improvement.
One example of a ‘measure’ with these shortcomings is return on investment (ROI).
ROI can be computed only after profits have been totalled for a given period. It was
designed therefore as a single-period, long-term measure, but it is often used as a
short-term one. Perhaps this is because most executive bonus ‘packages’ in the West
are based on short-term measures. ROI tells us what happened, not what is happening
or what will happen, and, for complex and detailed projects, ROI is often inaccurate
and irrelevant.
b) Justify the methodology you would adopt in addressing the problem. (6)
There are many other methodologies that can be used and the Deming cycle is one
of the more recognised and arguably easiest to implement.
The following questions refer to study units 10-18 of your prescribed textbook
starting with Question 10 in your Tutorial letter 101.
Question 10
See study unit 10 or chapter 10; p. 205 and 206 of the prescribed book
a) Identify the key inputs and outputs for each of the processes. (10)
The inputs are materials supplied externally or internally. In a fast moving consumer
goods company manufacturing canned foods. The inputs are the vegetables, fruit,
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which will include products such as baked beans, butter beans, peas, potatoes,
carrots, peaches, apricots, pineapples, pears, apples etc. these items will be the inputs
per product and also become the outputs of canned products.
The fruits and vegetables are picked and saperated some for exports, others for local
customers soled to fresh produce markets while others are used to make canned
vegetables, canned fruit and canned jam. Other vegetables are bagged in 1 kilogram
packs, and 500 gram packs sold in supermarkets.
Vegetable inputs are beans cooked, mixed with sauces and filled in cans which are
sealed, labelled and packed in boxes for distribution. All the vegetable products and
canned fruit products and jam are processed in this manner.
Vegetables sold in bags are pre-cooked, sliced and packed in 1kilogram and 500gram
bags and refrigerated.
The best manner would be to work from customer requirements to ensure the products
maintain high quality, long shelf life span. The advice to management would be to link
the customer’s inventory management system with the organisation’s inventory
system. This would mean that the customers sales will prompt an order when a certain
amount of boxes per product are sold.
Since the production line is continuous, sales is continuous the input, process and
output will be continuous. Sales to supermakets will be through a promptted process
to relenish stock of items according to demand by means of truck loads. In this way
the truck is utilised fully for one customer. This is cost effective and all products are
consumed and replenished within the time-frame of the product lifespan.
Products are packed. sealed, labelled, bar coded and boxed. All the vegetable
products in the fast-moving consumable goods line will be processed on seaparate
lines, canned, labelled and boxed. Thereafter the product will be distributed to the
customer according to their demand and per truck
load. The supply chain will focus on big cutomers. Smaller customers will work off
distribution centres and wholesalers. [20]
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Question 11
Explain the basic philosophy behind quality management systems that are
specified in the ISO 9000 series. [10]
See study unit 12 or chapter 12; p. 245 and 246 of the prescribed book
A quality management system is a strategic decision used to influence the
organisation’s objectives, structure, size, processes, products, and services offered by
the organisation. The quality management system integrates four areas: management
responsibility, resource management, product realisation and measurement, analysis
and improvement.
ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of quality management systems, including the
eight principles on which the family standards are based.
• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Involvement of people
• Process approach
• System approach to management
• Continual improvement
• Factual approach to decision making
• Mutually beneficial supplier relationships
Documented procedures are kept to deal with non conformances involving suppliers,
customers, or internal problems. Finally, the business ensures that no one uses a
poor quality product, it determines what to do with a poor quality product, how to deal
with root cause problems and keep records to improve the system.
a) How can an effective quality management system contribute to continuous
improvement in a manufacturing organisation or a service organisation? [10]
approach and toolkit to senior management. Propose how they should go about
implementing ‘lean’ throughout the organisation? [20]
See study unit 15 or chapter 15; p. 317-319 of the prescribed book
Some of the tools and techniques such as Just in Time, Kanban, Total Productive
Maintenance (TPM), Cellular Production and Flow etc. are specific to the workplace.
5S’s is a system that creates a disciplined, clean and well ordered work environment.
It ensures that work areas are free from clutter, clean and laid out in such a way that
tools are not lost, time is not wasted on non- value adding activities to do general
housekeeping.
The 5S’s are:
a. Sort- get rid of everything not required to do the work
b. Set in order- organise and ensure that things are set in place so that no time is
lost looking for things that are misplaced
c. Shine- keep everything clean and keep things in good order
d. Standardise-The above 3 steps are to standardise so they become a routine of
day to day work.
e. Sustain-Involve people at all levels starting from leadership by having 5S audits,
5S goals and by providing feedback on performance.
Kaizen
The word Kaizen comes from Japanese where Kai is (change or action) and Zen (good
or better). It is associated with continuous improvement and with rapid, short term
improvement the kaizen “blitz”.
Kaizen blitz is a cross functional approach using a multi level team of 6 to 12 members
to solve a specific work problem over a 3-5 day time period to achieve a rapid
breakthrough developing, testing and refining solutions for a new process in place by
keeping things simple and few. This is done with low budgets but the savings are
substantial and achieved quickly. A process owner providing leadership or core team
members who do the actual work in the area can take responsibility for the new
process.
h) Review results
i) Replicate and make additional improvements
j) Celebrate
Question 13
You are a management consultant and invited to make a presentation on total
quality management (TQM) to the board of directors of an organisation
manufacturing injection moulded polypropylene components for the
automotive and electronic industries. The South African Ford Motor Company
approached management to supply a new product line to achieve their supplier
registration status. The board asked you to stress the role of quality systems
and statistical process control (SPC) in TQM. Prepare a presentation with
references to appropriate models for management. [20]
See study unit 12 or chapter 12; p. 257 of the prescribed book
The role of quality management systems for supplier registration status in TQM
When procuring or purchasing a product the first step is to evaluate and select the
supplier on their ability to supply the product or service according to Ford South
Africa’s purchase requirements in relation to their quality management system. Ford
South Africa will request for supplier evaluations, supplier audit records and evidence
of the organisations demonstrated ability to determine the type of supervision
applicable for the new product line to be purchased.
The purchase documentation from Ford South Africa should contain information that
clearly describes the product and services. This documentation should include the
requirements for approval of the qualification of the new product such as the
procedures, processes, equipment, personnel and any quality management system
requirements.
The role of statistical process control (SPC) for supplier registration status in
TQM
The responsibility of any transformation process must lie with the operators and people
must be provided with the necessary tools to know whether the process is capable of
meeting Ford South Africa’s requirements at any point in time and to make the correct
adjustments to the process when it does not meet the requirements.
The techniques of statistical process control begin with monitoring and analysing the
process starting with identifying what the process is and what the inputs and outputs
are. SPC is not only a toolkit, it is a strategy for reducing variability, the cause of most
quality problems: variation in products, in times of deliveries, in ways of doing things,
in materials, in people’s attitudes, in equipment and its use, in maintenance practices,
in everything. Control by itself is not sufficient. Total quality management requires that
the processes should be improved continually by reducing variability.
SPC techniques may be used to measure and control the degree of variation of any
purchased materials, services, processes and products, and to compare this, if
required, to previously agreed specifications. SPC techniques select a representative,
simple, random sample from the population, which can be an input to or an output
from a process.
Organisations that embrace TQM should recognise the value of SPC techniques in
sales, purchasing, invoicing, finance, distribution, training and service. A Pareto
analysis, a histogram, a flowchart or a control chart is a vehicle for communication.
Data are data and whether the numbers represent defects or invoice errors, weights
or delivery times, or the information relates to machine settings, process variables,
prices, quantities, discounts, sales or supply points, is irrelevant- the techniques can
always be used.
Question 14
Explain the key stages in integrating total quality management into the strategy
of an organisation of your choice? Justify your answer by applying the
appropriate total quality management strategy. [20]
See study unit 18 or chapter 19; p. 411-412 of the prescribed book
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Initially understanding and commitment are the first steps that form the whole TQM
structure. An intellectual understanding of quality provides a basis for TQM. The
understanding must be translated into commitment, policies, plans and actions for
TQM to germinate. This requires commitment and competence in leadership and
making changes. If there is no effort to implement TQM through process management
capability and control this effort will lead to frustration.
Once the plans and systems are put in place, education, training and communication
is important. Therefore organisations need to change the culture, operate systems,
procedures or control methods with effective two-way communication. A good quality
management system with top management commitment, a quality policy, and an
organisational structure is the beginning of the planning stage. On implementation
priorities must be identified. Current performance review in all areas should always be
part of normal operations to ensure continuous improvement.
Major steps may be used as an overall planning aid for the introduction of TQM which
should appear on a planning or Gantt chart. Major projects should be time phased.
Customers may request statistical process control (SPC) to operate a quality system.
Sometimes the main projects may need to split into smaller projects through the
introduction of SPC, Six Sigma, Lean and improvement teams. Education
and training will be continuous and draw together the requirements of all the steps.
Training inputs and advisory work should be co-ordinated and reviewed in terms of
their effectiveness on a regular basis. During implementation, checks need to be
established. A quality management system, improvement teams and SPC are the
three components that will result in quality improvement through increased capability.
This should turn to consistently satisfied customers and, where appropriate, increase
preservation of market share.
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Question 15
Explain the critical elements of integrating total quality management or
business improvement into the strategy of an organisation you are familiar with.
Illustrate your approach with the organisation. [20]
Total quality management may be integrated into the strategy of any organisation by
understanding the core processes and the involvement of people. The recommended
framework starts with the vision, goals, strategies and mission which should be
thought through, agreed and shared in the business.
Factor’s critical to success, CSF’s - the building blocks of the mission are identified.
The key performance indicators (KPI’s), the measures associated with CSF’s indicate
whether we are moving towards or away from the mission or just standing still. Once
the CSF’s and KPI’s are identified the core processes become known. Without
knowing the core processes makes it difficult to implement the framework. When the
processes are known, process analysis, mapping and flow charting can be carried out
to understand business and identify opportunities for improvement.
World class organisations that implemented their version of the framework are
achieving world class performance and results. This requires world class leadership
and commitment. TQM is not a narrow set of tools and techniques associated with
failed ‘programmes’. It is part of a broad based approach used by world class
companies to achieve organisational excellence, based on customer results, the
highest weighted category of all quality and excellence awards. TQM embraces all
these areas and if fully integrated into the business any organisation can deliver its
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Question 16
You have been appointed as the new Quality Director of an electrical component
manufacturing assembly and service organisation. Some senior management
members had some brief exposure to six sigma and lean. You have been
appointed to consider plans for implementation. Summarise and justify your
plans to include any training needs, outside help and additional appointments
required to meet the timescales of the implementation process. [20]
See study unit 17 or chapter 18; p. 386,387, 389 and study unit 15 or chapter 15:
p. 308 and 311 of the prescribed book
The first step to accomplish is to communicate the TQM strategy stating top
management’s commitment to quality by outlining the roles of everyone in the
organisation. This communication can be done in the form of the policy where a
statement with the intention to integrate quality into business operations is committed
to.
A statement from the Board of Directors commitment believing that total quality
management is critical to achieving and maintaining the business goals of leadership
in quality, delivery, and price competitiveness. The directive is prepared by the quality
director and signed by all business units, divisions, process owners and process
leaders and distributed to everyone in the organisation.
The implementation of six sigma and lean should include messages for need for
improvement, concept for total quality, the importance for understanding business
processes, the approach that will be taken, people’s roles, individual and process
group responsibilities and principles of process measurement. A role out of seminars,
departmental meetings, posters, newsletters, intranet etc. which has to be reviewed
by first line managers with all staff who will brainstorm and set suitable questions and
answers during the planning phases.
Resistance to change is expected and first line managers should be trained to help
people deal with change. This requires an understanding of the dynamics of change
and the necessary support to create appropriate communication systems.
All people in organisations fall into one of four audience groups with attitudes towards
TQM i.e. senior managers, middle managers, supervisors and other employees.
Senior management need to ensure that TQM is beneficial for each group by providing
training and support to all employees whether the training is internal or external
consultants are used to motivate employees to respond positively.
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Lean addresses waste and six sigma address process variation. This holistic approach
provides a broader set of improvement tools and techniques. Lean reduces time and
six-sigma reduces variation in processes and product and the result is performance
improvement which reduces cost.
Question 17
Read case study 3:
Lloyd’s Register improvement programme-group business assurance then
answer the following questions:
[20]
a) Discuss the approach KPI’s used in Lloyd’s Register and prepare a
presentation for a bank on the why, what and how of such a system. (10)
• Driving strategy using closed loop management: The use of Kaplan and Norton’s
closed loop model (Balanced Scorecard) shows where the gaps exist and identifies
projects to close the gaps.
• Large scale visible projects driven by an effective PMO: The leadership team
positively influences large scale central projects that are visible in the business.
• Decentralised, locally owned, improvement: Decentralised training is used to carry
out a large variety of smaller scale six sigma, lean and consultancy style
interventions, using light training but heavy duty coaching.
• Using key input process variables effectively: LRG believe an effective programme
is determined by the number of KPI’s identified and worked on each element to
ensure it is in place, effective, and appropriate to the business.
In a bank scenario when the KPI is linked to the strategic objectives of the bank each corporate
division will have specific measureable targets. It is now possible to identify the areas where
performance is weak and improvement is required.
In banks there are operational structures, sales, marketing, corporate banking, foreign
exchange divisions, housing loans divisions, credit card divisions, motor vehicle and asset
finance divisions etc. Each division should have a KPI linked to it. Each person in the division
should have a KPI with a performance agreement. The KPI of each individual should have a
set of targets that he/she should be committed to achieve. The performance must be
measured daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Since the strategic objectives have measures in
place so should the performance target levels be set. The results of the entire organisation
will achieve the expected targets aligned to the strategic objectives of the bank. Strategic
objectives are usually related to customer service percentage level and business or financial
growth year on year.
b) What role could benchmarking play in the development of the OMP methods used?
(10)
The power Steering software used manages the processes of identifying, selecting,
and running, controlling, closing and reporting all the activities that are fully
documented within the management system. Developing this document was a
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milestone whereby they were able to examine their own practices and ensure the best
approach available.
The role of benchmarking is lifecycle stage gates used to manage a range of activities
from large scale Black Belt projects through to minor interventions. The PMO manages
a pipeline of 100 opportunities with a current activity of 15 centrally driven projects and
over 40 small scale local activities all of these successful activities could be
benchmarked and documented. The failures could be documented and used to
prevent failures from happening in other areas of development.
Important to benchmarking is the change engine at LRG ensures the recruitment of
talented people from within the business and the training of only those who are
interested. Six-Sigma and the blending of Lean thinking into the offices through an
alliance net work across the business. Lean thinking and Six-Sigma and the P30
framework for governance ensures clear documentation, well recorded outcomes to
ensure lean as we go and that knowledge is retained.
Question 19
Read case study 6:
Process management and improvement at the heart of Fujitsu UK & Ireland BMS
and then answer the following questions: [20]
a) Compare the links between the process frameworks developed in Fujitsu and
the BMS deployment. (10)
The BMS fulfils two roles: firstly to make all information readily available. This
information includes the business purpose, objectives, structure policies, standards,
acquired knowledge and key performance indicators to direct employees. It therefore
constitutes the company’s Quality Manual in compliance with the requirements for a
Quality Management System (BS EN 9001) and the requirements for a Service
Management System (ISO/IEC 20000-1), an Information Security Management
System (ISO27001), an Environmental System (ISO 14001) and an Occupational
Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS 18000).
The second role is to support standardisation and best practice in the delivery of all
operations and functions in order to deliver the business objectives. The first could be
seen as ‘Fit for Audit’ and the second ‘Fit for purpose.’
Therefore, the BMS is a fully integrated Management System whereas the Fujitsu
Process Management Cycle is based on Key Process Management phases.
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b) Explain the role of bench marking in the development of the BMS in Fujitsu?
(10)
The key benchmarking principles of the Fujitsu process model are as follows:
A dashboard was developed to enable the team to monitor progress and take action
quickly to recover from any aspect of the programme which fell behind from the agreed
timelines. The dashboard featured activity measures and outcome measures for each
element of the programme which was reviewed regularly by the project team.
Executive Engagement – are activity measures which comprise the availability of the
executive training and vision workshops within agreed timescales. These are based
on the proportion of the executive team that attended. The quality of the training
perceived by the participants and these are outcome measures concerned with the
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The CQI programme was developed starting with Executive Engagement to develop
a clear vision for quality. It created executives buy in through interviews and
workshops and also developed guidelines to clarify the role of leadership in driving the
programme. The executive team received training in concepts and methodologies
associated with the improvement programme. This training is for service and
manufacturing industries.
©
UNISA
2021