total quality management 42

THERE IS NO WORD COUNT FOR EITHER QUESTIONS OR RESPONSES. There is a total of 2 Discussions, with a total of 4 responses. (2 response questions with each discussion question). Please do not combine all the references on one page. Please place them with proper paragraph/response

Wk4 Discussion 1:

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, read Chapter 4, Chapter 5 Process Control and Process Improvement, Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and the lecture for Week 4.

Recommend how to determine which processes to improve to ensure you have the most impact on company excellence.

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your fellow students’ posts in a substantive manner, and provide recommendations to extend their thinking. Support your position by using information from the week’s readings or examples from current events and/or other scholarly or credible resources. Properly cite any references

Respond to #1:

As we’ve learned in previous weeks, the COPIS chain is what helps a company identify and monitor success measured by metrics which we see through a balanced scorecard. For last week and this week we’ve been focusing on the process, inputs and suppliers, the PIS in the above mentioned chain. Focus this week shifts into how an organization can improve the performance of their processes, inputs and suppliers. The first important step is for executives and managers to understand short and long term goals and objectives that may impact their place in the market or customer experience and satisfaction. The text states that “In many organizations, strategy development is nothing more than a group of managers sitting around in a room proposing ideas” (Evans & Lindsay, 11.1, 2017). Having been involved in many of these, this approach is not the most effective one nor does it generate the best ideas.

During the budget planning process of 2018, I proposed to my leadership that we bring our entire team together for a summit to talk through process improvement. While this was going to cost us a considerable amount of money, we all felt it was more than worth it. We were able to involve all team members in the discussion that really shaped where our department was headed for the year. We created breakout groups and gave ownership of the progress to our employees. As it states in our lecture, and something we had identified as well, is that having the workers involved in the process tends to show an increase in adoption and acceptance. Who better to help choose which processes you improve, and how you improve them, than those who are actually doing the work?

References:

Evans, J. R., & Lindsay, W. M. (2017). Managing for quality and performance excellence(10^th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage.

Respond to #2:

The processes conducted in a company is vital to measure its success. The organizational leaders and their workers must shape the processes. As we learned about COPIS, the customer must put on the priority, and actions have to be made to process the inputs and generates a quality output. The strategic approach makes a difference. “Effective strategy development requires a systematic process that involves participation by all necessary stakeholders, ensures that relevant and important data and information are captured and analyzed, addresses both short- and long-term time horizons,addresses key strategic challenges, and leads to innovation and sustainability” (Evans & Lindsay, 2017). Brain-storming ideas and making a constructive process would improve the company standing in the way it is conducting its business. A company must have an effective process in order to meet their goal. However, processes alone would not only be a factor. Human Resource Management (HRM) function is vital in the company. Putting the right people on the right job with continuous analysis and innovation of the processes would make a difference. Nowadays, it is not only manning requirements HRM covers, but they also manage the development of skills and training of their workforce.

In our organization, the HRM is responsible for putting the skilled employee to its position. Having the right person in the position would make a difference. We also have an organizational conference in which ideas and processes innovation are made to improve the workforce development and the organizational strategy in conducting business. We use the DMAIC in a consistent basis and improve the process even before we are close to our quality threshold. We update our standard operating procedures when and if significant issues evolved, and new or improved processes generated. Through this action, we improve our workforce and produce high-performance work and quality output for our customers.

Reference:

Evans, J. R., & Lindsay, W. M. (2017). Managing for quality and performance excellence (10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage.

Wk4 Discussion 2[CS1] :

Prior to beginning work on this discussion, review Chapter 4, Chapter 5 Process Control and Process Improvement, Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and the lecture for Week 4.

Compare and contrast the different approaches to improving processes. What are the relative strengths and weaknesses of each?

Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your fellow students’ posts in a substantive manner, and provide recommendations to extend their thinking. Support your position by using information from the week’s readings or examples from current events and/or other scholarly or credible resources. Properly cite any references

Respond to #1:

For this week’s discussion I will focus on Kaizen and Benchmarking as two different approaches to process improvement.

Taking a Kaizen approach refers to taking a gradual and disciplined continuous stance towards improvement. “In this philosophy, improvement in all areas of business – cost, meeting delivery schedules, employee safety and skill development, supplier relations, new product development, or productivity – serve to enhance the quality of the firm” (Evans & Lindsay, 5.5, 2017). One of biggest strengths of the Kaizen approach is that it improves teamwork. This is because the improvements are not targeted at a select few, it is meant to improve the work of all. An organization will also see improvements in cross collaboration as they are bringing skilled employees together that would never likely be paired up to work together. In addition, this philosophy builds leadership skills and improves efficiency. A disadvantage of Kaizen is producing major change can be slow. While the team aspect can be a strength, it can also prove to be a weakness of this approach. Team members can be resistant to change and may have friction with one another.

“Benchmarking is defined as ‘measuring your performance against that of best-in-class companies, determining how the best-in-class achieve those performance levels, and using the information as a basis for your own company’s targets, strategies, and implementation’” (Evans & Lindsay, 5.5, 2017). This is a concept and approach that has been around for a very long time, since the early 1800s. The company I currently work for utilizes Gartner, a research and advisory firm. They provide a lot of good data specific to our industry that gives leadership a very good sense of what would help us be more competitive in the market. One of the strengths of benchmarking is that it can often be done without costing much. It’s also often relatively easy. One disadvantage of benchmarking is that an organization may become complacent. If the research comes back that your company is best-in-class leadership may lose focus on continued innovation.

There are many other approaches for process improvement that provide advantages and disadvantages that companies may choose to examine.

References:

Evans, J. R., & Lindsay, W. M. (2017). Managing for quality and performance excellence(10th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage.

Respond to #2:

Good afternoon class,

The two process improvement approaches I will compare is the Deming cycle and the kaizen event. According to the text, “The Deming cycle is a simple adaptation of the scientific method for process improvement. A kaizen event is an intense and rapid improvement process in which a team or a department throws all its resources into an improvement project over a short time period, as opposed to traditional kaizen applications, which are performed on a part-time basis”(Evans, 2017). When it comes to the strengths, they both focus on different aspects with and end goal on improving the company. For the Deming cycle, the hypothesis stage of is key since whatever new process is being implemented, the trial run will either show why it’s a good or bad choice to use this method. For the kaizen event, their strength is rectifying the problem the quickest way possible by using all means of the company. The weakness I can see for the Deming cycle would be the time delay before executing an improvement to the operations of the company due to the three stage cycle. Even though it may lead to the best decision for the company, a result would take longer than usual. For the kaizen event, utilizing all means to stop a problem may cause financial problem towards growth of the company. Unless there is money set aside for situations that arise, it will always hinder their profit depending on the magnitude of the problem.

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