What makes Total Quality Management work A study of obstacles and outcomes

What makes Total Quality Management work A study of obstacles and outcomes

WHAT MAKES TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT WORK:

A STUDY OF OBSTACLES AND OUTCOMES

by Deborah A Hill

JEAN GORDON, Ph.D., Faculty Mentor and Chair JOHN KLOCINSKI, Ph.D., Committee Member

WARREN MCDONALD, Ph.D., Committee Member

Kurt Linberg, Ph.D., Dean, School of Business & Technology

A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment

Of the Requirements for the Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Capella University April 2008

UMI Number: 3303697

3303697 2008

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Abstract Data was gathered from a section survey of ASQ members to determine the obstacles associated with managing a successful quality transformation The five most significant barriers to TQM were: (a) management’s compensation was not tied to achieving quality goals, (b) employees are not trained in quality improvement skills, (c) there are not adequate resources to effectively employ total quality management, (d) employees are resistant to change, and (e) employees are not trained in problem identification and problem solving techniques Factor analysis on the ratings of the twenty-one barriers to TQM revealed three underlying constructs: (a) lack of planning for quality, (b) lack of training on quality, and (c) lack of leadership for quality These obstacles were found to

be significantly related to specific potential outcomes that can be used to measure TQM success (or failure) The potential outcomes include frequent turnover of employees, frequent turnover of management, the cost/benefit ratio of implementing TQM, and quality improvement results rarely meet expectations This provides a useful way to evaluate the significance of obstacles to TQM success, and therefore, provides guidance and direction for developing strategies for an effective quality transformation

Table of Contents

Nature of the Study, or Theoretical/Conceptual Framework 6

REFERENCES 117

List of Tables Table 1 Eigenvalues and the Total and Cumulative Variance for Each Extracted Factor97Table 2 Results From the Regression Analyses 100

List of Figures

Figure 1 Size of Organization 67

Figure 2 Type of Organization 67

Figure 3 Quality Defined as Innate Excellence 68

Figure 4 Quality Defined as a Measured Characteristic 69

Figure 5 Quality Defined by Intended Use 70

Figure 6 Quality Defined as Conformance to Standards 70

Figure 7 Quality Defined as Performance at an Acceptable Price 71

Figure 8 Product Quality Dimension-Aesthetics 72

Figure 9 Product Quality Dimension-Conformance 73

Figure 10 Product Quality Dimension-Durability 73

Figure 11 Product Quality Dimension-Features 74

Figure 12 Product Quality Dimension-Perceived Quality 74

Figure 13 Product Quality Dimension-Performance 75

Figure 14 Product Quality Dimension-Reliability 75

Figure 15 Product Quality Dimension-Serviceability 76

Figure 16 Service Quality Dimension-Reliability 77

Figure 17 Service Quality Dimension-Responsiveness 78

Figure 18 Service Quality Dimension-Competence 78

Figure 19 Service Quality Dimension-Access 79

Figure 20 Service Quality Dimension-Courtesy 79

Figure 21 Service Quality Dimension-Communication 80

Figure 22 Service Quality Dimension-Credibility 80

Figure 23 Service Quality Dimension-Security 81

Figure 24 Service Quality Dimension-Knowing the Customer 81

Figure 25 Service Quality Dimension-Tangibles 82

Figure 26 Statement 1-Strategic Plans do not Include Quality Goals 84

Figure 27 Statement 2-The Best Practices and/or Products of Other Companies are NOT Benchmarked 85

Figure 28 Statement 3-There are Excess Layers of Management 85

Figure 29 Statement 4-Quality is Treated as a Separate Initiative 86

Figure 30 Statement 5-Quality is not Everyone’s Responsibility 86

Figure 31 Statement 6-Employees are NOT Trained in Problem Identification and Problem Solving Techniques 87

Figure 32 Statement 7-There is no Joint Planning with Suppliers 87

Figure 33 Statement 8-Quality is not Effectively Measured 88

Figure 34 Statement 9-Quality is NOT Defined by the Customer 88

Figure 35 Statement 10-Employees are not Trained in Group Discussion and Communication Techniques 89

Figure 36 Statement 11-Quality Action Plans are Often Vague 89

Figure 37 Statement 12-The Strategic Plan is NOT Customer Driven 90

Figure 38 Statement 13-Employees are NOT Empowered to Implement Quality Improvement Efforts 90

Figure 39 Statement 14-There are Inadequate Resources to Effectively Employ Total Quality Management 91

Figure 40 Statement 15-Cross-Functional Teams are not Employed 91

Figure 41 Statement 16-Employees and/or Teams are NOT Recognized for Achievements in Quality Improvement 92

Figure 42 Statement 17-Employees are NOT Trained in Quality Improvement 92

Figure 43 Statement 18-Top Management is NOT Visibly and Explicitly Committed to Quality 93Figure 44 Statement 19-Quality Improvement Efforts Rarely Meet Expectations in Terms of desired results 93Figure 45 Statement 20-Management’s Compensation is NOT Linked to Achieving Quality Goals 94Figure 46 Statement 21-There is Frequent Turnover of Employees 94

Figure 47 Statement 22-Time Constraints Prohibit Effective Total Quality Management Implementation 95Figure 48 Statement 23-Employees are Resistant to Change 95Figure 49 Statement 24-The High Costs of Implementing Total Quality Management Outweigh the Benefits 96Figure 50 Statement 25-There is Frequent Turnover of Management 96Figure 51 Scree Plot for the Principal Components Analysis 98

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Introduction to the Problem Various forms of TQM are being implemented and used today by all types of organizations However, as stated by Taylor and Wright (2003a, p 548), “Many

organizations adopt new managerial innovations such as TQM, yet a smaller number are able to sustain the success of the innovation.” Also, stated in another article (“Proposing a Framework for Your TQM Program,” 2002, p 58), “For the last two decades, TQM has been seen as a source of competitive advantage…however, the credibility of TQM has been undermined by the failure of a large proportion of those programs.” There are many reasons for these failures; however, the top five given in a 2003 study concerning

obstacles to continuous improvement programs were (a) inadequate human resources development and management, (b) lack of planning for quality, (c) lack of leadership for quality, (d) inadequate resources for improvement programs, and (e) lack of customer focus (Sebastianelli & Tamimi, 2003, p 45) The returns on these programs have been far below expectations

Background of the Study There are many obstacles to continuous improvement programs and there have been many studies that pursued this topic; however, few have evaluated the relationship

of the obstacles to components of success and failure (Sebastianelli & Tamimi, 2003) Since so many of these programs have not provided expected returns, it is worthwhile to find out exactly what the obstacles are, as that will assist companies in the

implementation and the sustaining of continuous improvement initiatives One study by

Hendricks and Singhal (2001, p 360) stated that, “Firms that implement TQM effectively must have patience, as the benefits will be realized in the long run The evidence suggests that even after effective implementation, it still takes a couple of years before financial performance starts to improve.”

Statement of the Problem The problem is that many companies are implementing and using various types of continuous improvement initiatives, but either the results are far below expectations or companies are unable to sustain quality management This study determined the obstacles

to TQM and then established a link between particular measures of perceived TQM success to show how the quality transformation process can be more efficiently managed

in manufacturing and service organizations

Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study was to determine what obstacles are associated with managing a successful quality transformation and compare them to specific outcomes that measure TQM success Twenty five factors were extracted from a study by Sila and Ebrahimpour (2002) concerning the most commonly extracted TQM factors based on survey-based research The factors can be categorized into 21 potential barriers to TQM and 4 potential outcomes that measure TQM success or failure

The first objective of the study was to determine, utilizing quantitative analysis, obstacles to managing the TQM transformation The second objective was to examine the relationship between obstacles and different measures of the perceived success (or

failure) of TQM (Sebastianelli & Tamimi, 2003) Members of ASQ (American Society for Quality) in the Raleigh, North Carolina, section were surveyed using a 25-item scale that lists statements representing 21 potential barriers to TQM and 4 statements

representing potential undesirable outcomes from failed TQM

These 25 factors were determined by Sila and Ebrahimpour (2002) to be the most commonly extracted TQM factors from research of 347 survey-based quality

management research articles Items include employee empowerment, resistance to change, employee training, resources, strategic planning, and customer focus Other items

on the scale include benchmarking, joint planning with suppliers, and management

compensation Also, four items which can be considered potential outcomes of failed TQM are included: employee turnover, the high cost/benefit ratio of implementing TQM, management turnover, and perceptions of whether quality improvement results meet expectations Factor analysis on the scale items is used to empirically derive obstacles to TQM These results and links between obstacles and measures of perceived TQM will help to provide insight on how to better manage TQM implementations (Sebastianelli & Tamimi, 2003)

Research Questions The research questions this study addressed are

1 What obstacles associated with managing the quality transformation are

perceived as real barriers to TQM success for organizations among members of the Raleigh, North Carolina, section of ASQ?

2 How do these obstacles relate to specific outcomes that measure the

perceived success (or failure) of TQM efforts for organizations among members of the Raleigh, North Carolina, section of ASQ?

Significance of the Study This study is important because companies that are undertaking various forms of TQM need to know effective implementation measures and how to sustain the necessary and appropriate level of quality management Therefore, the return on the investment of time and labor must be benchmarked for continuous improvement With TQM failure rates high, companies need to see the links between obstacles and potential successful outcomes This study can build on existing knowledge to provide more recent

information to assist in implementation and maintenance of TQM and can show

companies how to maximize the benefits derived from TQM Benefits of TQM are also explained and illustrated to encourage companies to continue to improve implementation processes

Definition of Terms

ASQ The American Society for Quality is a professional organization that

advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide ASQ also

administers the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award

Continuous Improvement. This is the process by which an organization constantly monitors its processes for areas of improvement It is a never-ending effort to discover and eliminate the root causes of problems

Effective This means to have an intended or expected effect

Efficient. Efficient means to enhance productivity, that is, less rework, fewer errors, and optimal use of resources To improve efficiency, the productivity ratio must

be improved (the input to output ratio must be decreased)

ISO 9000 Series. This denotes a set of international standards for quality

management and quality assurance The standards were developed to help companies effectively document the elements necessary to maintain an efficient quality system These standards are not specific to any single industry

Failure Failure is an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose

Lean sigma. This process focuses on eliminating non-value-added activities from the company's processes, including defects It includes determining root cause and

understanding and determining the effect of variation on the process and product quality

Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). This award is administered

by ASQ and is presented annually to organizations that demonstrate quality and

performance excellence Three awards may be given each year in each of the following five categories: manufacturing, service, small business, education, and health care

Obstacles. These are obstructions that stand in the way of TQM and must be removed, surmounted, or circumvented

TQM (Total Quality Management). This is a description of the culture, attitude, and organization of a company that strives to provide customers with products and

services that satisfy their needs The culture requires quality in all aspects of the

company's operations, with processes being done right the first time and defects and waste eradicated from operations

Six Sigma. Six Sigma isa customer-focused methodology that incorporates a formal process and a variety of tools, including statistical analysis, to reduce the variation

that causes defects

Success. This is an event that accomplishes its intended purpose

Assumptions and Limitations The first assumption is that most TQM programs are not successful Another assumption is that ASQ members can speak only to their particular company’s TQM process and factors It was assumed that responses will be honest and forthright without fear of casting the company in question in a poor light The limitations are that

perceptions are from members of the Raleigh section of ASQ only and may not be

generalizable to other parts of the country or world

Nature of the Study, or Theoretical/Conceptual Framework This study used quantitative methodology to analyze the results According to Robson (2002), with quantitative or fixed designs, links from research to theory are straightforward and theory driven Robson believes that the phenomenon under study is already thoroughly and conceptually understood before the study is undertaken

Quantitative data includes all values and measurements of variables and provides validity based on the accuracy of results (Robson, 2002) Therefore, since this study determined obstacles and how they relate, the study is solidly fixed and the components have already been determined Additionally, the quantitative approach is the best way to determine

how reliable and valid the results are and the best way to answer and measure the

research questions

Organization of the Remainder of the Study Chapter 2 reviews the history of TQM and discusses what the current literature states concerning benefits and obstacles to TQM Chapter 3 details the methodology and conceptual framework of this study Chapter 4 discusses the results of the survey and chapter 5 addresses the findings and interpretation of the results, as well as

recommendations and opportunities for further research

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

TQM Defined TQM has been defined in many different ways The definition of TQM according

to the International Standard ISO 8402, Quality Management and Quality Terminology, is as follows (Ljungstrom & Klefsjo, 2002, p 622): “Management

Assurance-approach of an organization, centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction, and benefits to all members of the organization and to society.” Another definition states, “TQM seeks continuous improvement in the quality of all processes, people, products, and services of

an organization” (Temtime & Solomon, 2002, p 181) TQM is also “a systems approach

to management that aims to enhance value to customers by designing and continually improving organizational processes and systems” (Kartha, 2004, p 331) The emphasis is

on employee involvement and empowerment along with customers and customer

satisfaction as the focal point The tenets of TQM are continuous improvement, top management leadership commitment to the goal of customer satisfaction, employee empowerment, and customer focus (Ugboro & Obeng, 2000, p 248)

Even though many think that TQM is old news, many of the new continuous improvement initiatives are based on TQM philosophies TQM encompasses a number of different initiatives For example, Six Sigma, which is popular today, is a methodology within TQM, not an alternative to it (Klefsjo, Wiklund, & Edgeman, 2001) Lean Sigma

is another methodology that is widely used today that is included within TQM TQM also

includes initiatives such as ISO 9000 and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA)

TQM is often thought of as either a terrific quality marvel or tragic quality

malpractice It depends on several factors, such as to what type of organization the TQM concepts are applied and what definition of TQM is used (Bergquist, Fredriksson, & Svensson, 2005, p 318) Unfortunately, international research holds several different descriptions and unclear definitions of TQM, which is why ISO 9000 and MBNQA were developed: to set standards and procedures for quality However, because of its well developed set of principles and key elements, many of which are replicated in other approaches, TQM can be considered the foundation upon which other improvement approaches are based (Wiele, Iwaarden, Dale, & Williams, 2006, p 368)

History of TQM TQM was introduced in the United States in the early to mid-1980s, primarily as a result of severe competition from Japanese companies (Prajogo, 2005) At that time, American business faltered and productivity decreased, quality of products and services deteriorated, and the trade deficit began to rise (Reis & Pena, 2001) Although research has different opinions on exactly who started TQM, seven seminal quality authors surface repeatedly: Philip B Crosby, W Edwards Deming, Armand V Feigenbaum, Kaoru Ishikawa, Joseph M Juran, Walter A Shewhart, and Genichi Taguchi Each expert devised his own unique plan of action for success; however, Deming and Juran are

credited with starting quality initiatives in the United States after returning from Japan in the late 1950s Deming and Juran assisted in reconstructing Japanese industry after WWII

(Goldman, 2005) Their techniques improved the quality of Japanese-made products to a level that was better than similar products produced in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s (Goldman, 2005) The TQM movement took root in the United States with the airing of a NBC televised program in 1980 entitled "If Japan Can, Why Can't We?" which revealed Deming's key role in the development of Japanese quality (Reis & Pena, 2001, p 669) Since then, TQM concepts have been implemented in many

companies in the United States and abroad However, TQM began by utilizing the works

of the seven seminal authors, and it has now led to quality programs in the United States such as the Malcolm Baldrige Award Program, ISO 9000, Six Sigma, and Lean Sigma Listed below, in alphabetical order, are the philosophies of the seven seminal quality authors from which TQM evolved

Crosby

Crosby (1926-2001) is well-known for his "Quality is free" concept and his

zero-defects concepts In his book, Quality is Free, Crosby stated (1979, p.1), "Quality is free

It's not a gift, but is free What costs money are the unquality things—all the actions that involve not doing jobs right the first time." Crosby’s philosophy can be described best by his four absolutes of quality management (1989, p 50):

1 Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not goodness

2 Quality is achieved through prevention, not appraisal

3 The quality performance standard is zero defects, not acceptable quality

levels

4 Quality is measured by the price of nonconformance, not indexes

These absolutes of quality are encompassed in Crosby's 14-step guidelines for implementing quality (1979, pp 132-139; 1989, pp 106-107):

1 Management commitment: the willingness to give away something you

cherish, something very personal, in order to improve the quality of other people's lives

2 Quality improvement team: the "health care" group that is charged with

supervising and coordinating the surgery, recovery, and wellness process

in an organization

3 Quality measurement: determining if the various "life support systems and

procedures" are operating to the required results

4 Cost of quality evaluation: reveals the expense and inconvenience of doing

things wrong

5 Quality awareness: communicating continually in order to let everyone

know they are on the same track

6 Corrective action: identifying, curing, and then preventing the diseases

that impair the enjoyment of life, be it personal or business

7 Establish an ad hoc committee for the zero defects program-arranging for

the day-commencement day, when management will stand up in front of everyone and declare that they have been converted

8 Supervisor training: employee education involves building a base for

comprehension and implementation through a common language and the application of special skills

9 Zero defects day: the day when everyone gets together and celebrates their

13 Quality councils: meetings of those responsible for an organization's

wellness

14 Do it over again: to quote Albert Schweitzer, "Example is not the main

thing in influencing others, it is the only thing."

Crosby (1984, pp 53-54) also wrote about five characteristics of companies that

do not improve much, even though they seem determined:

1 The effort is called a program rather than a process This makes people

think that it is short-term and will be replaced by something else

2 All effort is aimed at the lower level of the organization

3 The quality control people are cynical and believe that there will always

be defects and it is not possible to do things right the first time

4 Training material is created by the training function The concepts of

quality improvement and actions required to cause it are very subtle and require comprehension that come from experience, not from teaching ideas that caused the problem in the first place

5 Management is impatient for results As soon as management hears about

the cost of quality, they want an immediate reduction, which results in short-range actions

Crosby (2000) developed a reliable organization grid to help organizations

determine where they stand with respect to quality Included are the four essential

components that make an organization reliable: policy, education, requirements, and insistence Policy is what management requires: work done correctly, that is, zero defects Education is used to give everyone a common language and tools for quality

Requirements are ways in which the needs of the customers are defined Insistence is requiring integrity in everything Crosby (2000, p 720) believed that using this grid can help create an organization that is both reliable in its products or services, and useful by

providing a product or service with which customers are happy and willing to pay to receive

According to Crosby (1979, p 139), the typical quality initiative takes 12 to 18 months to fully implement By that time, turnover and changing business situations will have wiped out much of the education effort Therefore, the program is never over; repetition makes the program perpetual Quality must become engrained in the

organization or it will never happen (Crosby, 1979, p 139) According to Crosby, there are three phases of change (1989, p 15): (a) developing conviction, (b) commitment, and (c) conversion Once converted, there is no temptation to take shortcuts or go back to destructive ways; the converted stay converted (1989, p 16) Therefore, if top

management is not committed and converted to the idea of quality, quality improvement initiatives fail

Deming

Deming (1900-1993) was well recognized for his work with Japan His

background is as a statistician He is well-known for his 14 points of management and the Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) Cycle that is still used today In 1950, Deming helped to transform Japan before the United States was willing to change A chain reaction to improve quality was developed that was on the blackboard of every meeting with top management in Japan from July 1950 onward (Deming, 1986, p 3) This quality chain reaction had the following impacts (1986, p 3):

1 Costs decrease because of less rework, fewer mistakes, fewer delays, snags; better use of machine-time and materials

2 Productivity improves

3 Capture the market with better quality and lower price

4 Stay in business

5 Provide jobs and more jobs

According to Deming, once management in Japan adopted the chain reaction, everyone there from 1950 onward had one common aim; namely, quality (1986, p 3)

Also, in 1950, Deming created the chart, Production Viewed as a System (1986, p 4)

This chart showed that improvement of quality envelopes the entire production line, from incoming materials to the consumer, as well as redesign of product and service for the future Deming believed that the consumer is the most important part of the production line and that quality should be aimed at the needs of the consumer, present and future (1986, p 5)

After these were used in Japan, then Deming developed his 14 Points for

Management, which according to Deming "are a signal that management intend to stay in business and aim to protect investors and jobs" (1986, p 23) Listed below are Deming’s

14 Points for Management (1986, p 23):

1 Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service,

with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business and to provide jobs

2 Adopt the new philosophy We are in a new economic age Western

management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change

3 Cease dependence on inspection to achieve quality Eliminate the need for

inspection on a mass basis by building quality into the product in the first place

4 End the practice of awarding business on the basis of price tag Instead,

minimize total cost Move toward a single supplier for any one item, on a long-term relationship of loyalty and trust

5 Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service, to

improve quality and productivity, and thus constantly decrease costs

6 Institute training on the job

7 Institute leadership The aim of supervision should be to help people and

machines and gadgets do a better job Supervision of management is in need of overhaul, as well as supervision of production workers

8 Drive out fear, so that everyone may work effectively for the company

9 Break down barriers between departments People in research, design,

sales, and production must work as a team to foresee problems of

production and in use that may be encountered with the product or service

10 Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the work force asking for

zero defects and new levels of productivity Such exhortations only create adversarial relationships, as the bulk of the causes of low quality and low productivity belong to the system and thus lie beyond the power of the work force

11 a Eliminate work standards (quotas) on the factory floor Substitute

leadership

b Eliminate management by objective Eliminate management by

numbers, numerical goals Substitute leadership

12 a Remove barriers that rob the hourly worker of his right to pride of

workmanship The responsibility of supervisors must be changed from sheer numbers to quality

b Remove barriers that rob people in management and in engineering of their right to pride of workmanship This means abolishment of the annual of merit rating and or management by objective

13 Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement

14 Put everyone in the company to work to accomplish the transformation

The transformation is everybody's job

Unfortunately, according to Deming, deadly diseases stand in the way of

transformation Deming has stated the following seven deadly diseases that must be eliminated, but afflict most companies in the Western world (1986, pp 97-98):

1 Lack of constancy of purpose to plan product and service that will have a

market and keep the company in business and provide jobs Much of American industry is run on the quarterly dividend It is better to protect investment by working continually toward improvement of processes and

of product and service that will bring the customer back again

2 Emphasis on short-term profits: short-term thinking (just the opposite

from constancy of purpose to stay in business), fed by fear of unfriendly takeover, and by push from bankers and owners for dividends Pursuit of the quarterly dividend and short-term profit defeat constancy of purpose

A publicly held company whose stock falls for any reason—even for range planning—may be in fear of takeover, and one that does too well is

long-in the same danger Fear of unfriendly takeover may be the slong-ingle most important obstacle to constancy of purpose

3 Evaluation of performance, merit rating, or annual review Performance

appraisals or merit ratings focus on the end product, at the end of the stream, not on leadership to help people This is a way to avoid the problems of people A manager becomes, in effect, manager of defects A merit rating is meaningless as a predictor of performance, except for someone who falls outside the limits of differences attributable to the system in which the people work People who are measured by counting are deprived of pride in workmanship Evaluation of performance also stifles teamwork

4 Mobility of management; job hopping A company whose top

management are committed to quality and productivity, with roots, does not suffer from uncertainty and bewilderment Mobility from one company to another creates prima donnas for quick results Mobility annihilates teamwork, so vital for continued existence Absenteeism and mobility are largely creations of poor supervision and poor management

5 Management by use only of visible figures, with little or no consideration

of figures that are unknown or unknowable One cannot be successful on visible figures alone A company may appear to be doing well on the basis

of visible figures, yet going down the tube for failure of the management

to take heed of figures unknown and unknowable, such as customer satisfaction as an effect on sales increases, improvement of quality and

productivity from continual improvement of processes and teamwork, and loss from inhibitors to pride of workmanship of employees

6 Excessive medical costs These costs are embedded in costs of products

7 Excessive costs of liability, swelled by lawyers who work on contingency

fees

Other obstacles to transformation include the following: (a) hope for instant pudding, the supposition that solving problems, automation, gadgets, and new machinery will transform industry, (b) search for examples and cookbook procedures to improve quality, (c) the impression that "our problems are different", (d) obsolescence in schools, (e) poor teaching of statistical methods in industry, (f) thinking that quality departments take care of all the problems in quality, (g) thinking that there would be no problems in production or in service if only the workers would do their jobs in the way they were taught, and (h) false-starts Understanding of variation, special causes, and common causes, and the necessity to reduce constantly the variation from common causes is vital (Deming, 1986, pp 126-135)

Deming believes that everyone must understand the 14 points, the deadly

diseases, and the obstacles Top management, along with all employees, must be

dissatisfied with past performance, and must have the courage to change (1985, p.11) According to Deming (1988, p 1), quality is improved in three ways: through innovation

in design of a product or service, through innovation in processes, and through

improvement of existing processes Stated by Deming (1988, p 1):

Hard work will not ensure quality Best efforts will not ensure quality, and neither will gadgets, computers, or investment in machinery A necessary ingredient for improvement of quality is the application of profound

knowledge There is no substitute for knowledge Knowledge we have in abundance We must learn to use it

Deming strongly believed that the increased use of statistical techniques

contributes vitally toward the maintenance of private enterprise, which must depend more and more on the continual improvement of the efficiency of production and distribution, and on the continual improvement of the design of product, in respect to both quality and uniformity, to meet the changing needs and demands of the consumer, wherever he may

be (Deming, 1952, p 429) Also, Deming realized that consumers, or customers, are more important than raw materials It is easier to replace a supplier of raw material than

to find a new customer (1952, p 430) Deming also believed that consumer research is a continuous process in which the product is improved continually and modified to meet the changing abilities of the manufacturer and the changing requirement of the consumer (1952, p 432)

Deming’s philosophy of planning includes what he called the “Shewhart Cycle” and then was later called the “Deming Cycle” and now is called the PDCA (plan, do, check, act; also known as study, act) cycle in which the four components are set up in a clockwise fashion These steps are intended to learn and improve a process Many

organizations continue to use this cycle today as part of their continuous quality

improvement programs Listed below are the steps in the PDCA cycle and what occurs at each step (Deming, 1986, p 135):

1 Plan: a change or a test, aimed at improvement

2 Do: carry out the change or the test (preferably on a small scale)

3 Check: study the results What did we learn? What went wrong?

4 Act: adopt the change, or abandon it, or run through the cycle again

Other similar cycles have been developed from the PDCA cycle For example, the PDKA (plan-do-knowledge-act) expanded the PDCA cycle to include knowledge and to combat some of the obstacles of the PDCA cycle According to Matthews (2001, p 295),

“The problem is most businesses have neither the discipline nor the method necessary to implement their improvement opportunities.” Matthews believed that businesses need to combine the information they gather with theory in order to create knowledge PDKA converts all identified opportunities into knowledge, prioritizes the knowledge before proceeding to develop action plans, and then acts to deploy the solutions to these

opportunities into the business (Matthews, 2001) Using this approach will allow

organizations to select only the most important areas of opportunities for the next year According to Matthews (p 298), “It is critical that companies learn to complete the cycle and implement solutions to problems, because it moves the company toward World Class, which equates to improving customer satisfaction and improving the bottom line.”

While Deming never used the term “total quality management,” his work forms the foundation for the quality management movement Overall, the Deming approach represents one philosophy that is either used in its entirety or not at all, and that requires a long-term commitment by top management Deming advocated an entire transformation and believed that top management must lead in quality efforts He stated,

Until and unless top management establish constancy of purpose and make it possible for everyone in the company to work without fear for the company and not just to please someone, efforts of other people in the company, however brilliant be the first that they start, can only be transitory (1981, p 22)

Deming believed that dramatic change had to occur for organizations to survive, which is necessary to provide customers what they want, desire, expect, and need Deming also believed it is the job of a leader to accomplish transformation of the

organization He advocated that quality cannot be delegated and is determined by top management (Deming, 1994) The leader must do the following three things to

accomplish transformation: first, understand why the transformation would bring gains; second, feel compelled to accomplish the transformation; and third, have a plan, step by step (1994, p 4) Deming also held that transformation of management is accomplished

by learning and applying profound knowledge, which provides a lens through which to understand and optimize organizations (Deming, 1993) Profound knowledge is

composed of four interrelated parts (1994, p 4):

1 Appreciation for a system: network of interdependent components that

work together to accomplish the aim of the system

2 Knowledge of variation: interaction of forces and about the effect of the

system on the performance of people

3 Theory of knowledge: management is prediction, and a statement, if it

conveys knowledge, predicts future outcomes, with risk of being wrong, and it fits without failure observations of the past

4 Psychology: help to understand people, interaction between people and

circumstances, interaction between customer and supplier, interaction between a manager and his people, and any system of management

Feigenbaum

Feigenbaum (1919- ) is known as the originator of total quality control, a concept

he introduced in the 1950s In 1951, he published Quality Control, a textbook that dealt

with concepts such as management of quality, the system for total quality, statistical

technology, and the application of total quality in the enterprise ( “TQM: A Snapshot of the Experts,” 2002, pp 55-56) When interviewed, he stated that, "When I originated total quality control, the fundamental theme was that improvements in quality lead to

improvements in everything else in the organization; hence, quality is a way of

managing" (Powell, 2001, p 45) Feigenbaum is known for emphasizing the cost of quality and the cost of achieving quality plus the cost of absence of quality He believed that quality is a fundamental way of managing, not a department, technique, or

philosophy Also, he stated that "without quality, your customers, whether industrial or consumer, are simply not going to buy from you" (Powell, 2001, p 45) He advocated that companies must focus on the customer in both good times and bad in order to

increase their profitability Many managers do not take an interest in quality cost until there is a business downturn According to Feigenbaum (Powell, 2001, p 48),

Leadership must create this overarching theme of what I call "management

capital" and the total quality management that supports it This leadership job is quite different from that in the past It brings together the "old economy" strength

of financial responsibility and physical asset emphasis with "new economy" opportunistic growth focus and intellectual "soft assets" strength Its defining characteristic is the powerhouse value of the speed of successful results

Customers are demanding more and more quality than ever before Pacesetter companies are actively engaged in building management capital through quality These companies have developed metrics to regularly assess the economics of quality and quality-value These metrics help each person in the organization to think, learn, act, and make decisions about how to help provide superior value to all stakeholders (Feigenbaum

& Feigenbaum, 2005, p 96)

Overall, Feigenbaum contributed two new aspects to the discussion of quality (Kruger, 2001, p 151; “TQM: A Snapshot,” 2002, p 56):

1 Quality is the responsibility of everybody in the company, ranging from

top management to the unskilled worker Quality is produced not only by the production department, but also by marketing, research and

development, finance, purchasing, and any other department TQM generates a positive effect that builds up employee responsibility for product quality Long-term business success requires total participation of all employees and total integration of the company's technical and human resources

2 Costs of non-quality have to be categorized if they are to be managed

Costs of control and costs of failure of control have to be minimized by a quality improvement program Costs of control should be measured in two areas: prevention costs (training) and appraisal costs (audits) Costs of failure of control should also be measured in two areas: internal failure costs (scrap, rework) and external failure costs (customer complaints) In order to reduce failure costs, expenditures should be increased for

To create a fishbone diagram (Wikimedia Foundation, 2006):

1 Draw a circle and label it with the desired effect

2 Draw a horizontal line out from the left edge of the circle (if you read

left-to-right) This is the "spine" of the fish

3 Brainstorm about the key categories of things that could cause the desired

effect For example, think of the processes, procedures, factors, steps, and

so on that are involved in the situation (This is often the hardest part, in

my experience) Generally you should have 4-7 of these; if you have much more or much less, refactor until you get a manageable number Draw these as "bones," or diagonal lines starting from the "spine" and moving outward; alternate above and below the "spine."

4 For each category, draw a horizontal line from the "bone" to the right (if

you read left-to-right) for each cause in the category, and list the cause on this line

5 For each cause, if you can identify something more fundamental (a "cause

of the cause"), draw it on an additional diagonal line toward the head

Ishikawa based his ideas on the works of Deming and Juran and influenced the Japanese understanding of quality He is known also for his work on four aspects of TQM: quality circles, the question of continuous training, the Ishikawa fishbone diagram, and the quality chain (TQM: A Snapshot,” 2002, p 56) He, too, believed that without the support and leadership from top level management, quality initiatives fail There must be commitment to quality throughout the entire organization Ishikawa emphasized quality throughout a product's life cycle, not just during production (SkyMark Corporation, 2006) He also believed strongly in setting standards, but that they, like continuous

quality improvement programs, should be constantly evaluated and changed (SkyMark Corporation, 2006) Ishikawa advanced that all decisions should stem from customer satisfaction and needs Quality control is used to manufacture products with the quality that satisfies the requirements of customers Meeting standards and specifications is

insufficient (Ishikawa, 1985) He stated that price is an important part of quality, and quality cannot be defined without considering price If a product is overpriced, the quality does not matter because it cannot gain customer satisfaction (Hoyer & Hoyer, 2001, p 57)

Juran

Juran (1904-2008) had a background similar to that of Deming Both lectured in the 1950s in Japan and both had strong statistical backgrounds Additionally, Deming and Juran were influenced by Shewhart However, Juran delivered lectures in Japan about managing for quality, whereas Deming taught statistical methods to Japanese engineers and top management Juran prescribed how to manage quality functions and his thinking tended to appeal to the practical-minded, whereas Deming appealed more to the

theoretical-minded Juran was the first to broaden the understanding of quality control, emphasizing the importance of the managerial aspect (Kruger, 2001, p 150) He believed that quality control must be conducted as an integral part of the management function (Kruger, 2001)

Juran is considered by many to be the “father of quality management” and is recognized for adding the human element to quality and expanding it from its statistical origins (Destefani, 2005) He posited that the root cause of many of the human relation problems was resistance to change; in particular, cultural resistance to change (Phillips-Donaldson, 2004)

Juran is most well-known for his Quality Trilogy, which was developed by Juran

in the 1950s and is used at the Juran Institute It consists of the following three

components: (a) quality planning, (b) quality control, and (c) quality improvement

These three universal processes are interrelated The starting point is quality planning, which is the process for designing or creating products, services, and processes that will meet established goals under operating conditions (Juran Institute, 2005)

Quality control ensures that the process is run at optimal effectiveness and that any level

of chronic waste does not get worse Chronic waste, which is a cost of poor quality that can exist in any process, may exist due to various factors, including deficiencies in the original planning To achieve quality improvement, breakthroughs are created for

unprecedented levels of performance (Juran Institute, 2005)

Juran thought of quality in the following two ways: (a) quality consists of those product features which meet the needs of the customers and thereby provide product satisfaction, and (b) quality consists of freedom from deficiencies (Hoyer & Hoyer, 2001) According to Phillips-Donaldson, 2004, p 25, Juran “participated vigorously in and contributed extensively to the growth of industry, society and—perhaps most

importantly to us—quality.” Juran is also known for the following contributions to the quality field (Phillips-Donaldson, 2004, p 28):

1 The Pareto principle, or 80-20 rule, which means that 80% of problems

come from 20% of the causes; and management should concentrate on that 20% vital amount

2 The Juran trilogy, which outlines the three key components of managing

for quality: planning, control, and improvement

Juran suggested that statistics was overdone; it was important, but not the end-all

He held that the best advice for quality professionals was to become bilingual, which means learning how to communicate with senior managers by changing quality data into the language of business and finance (Phillips-Donaldson, 2004) He advanced that

quality committees should be at the top of each company, along with finance He also believed that the United States needed to “get off the dime… We’re not as bad as the Japanese were before and just after World War II, but we’re just adequate” (Phillips-Donaldson, 2004, p 30)

Juran declared that leadership in quality is attainable, but it takes years to attain leadership Juran (2002, p 5) found that the most frequent strategies used by quality leaders were the following:

1 The chief executive personally led the quality initiative

2 They trained the entire management hierarchy in managing for quality

3 They enlarged the business plan to include strategic quality goals

4 The goals included improving quality at a revolutionary rate, year after

year

5 They set up means to measure progress against the quality goals

6 The senior managers reviewed progress regularly

7 They provided participation by the workforce

8 They enlarged the system of recognition for superior performance in

quality

Juran (2002, pp 5-6) also proposed the following concerning the quality

improvement process: (a) Annual quality improvement is one of the essential success factors; without it there can be no quality leadership, (b) It is a big advantage for

companies to have available a field-tested, proven managerial process as an aid to annual quality improvement, (c) Training is needed to enable company personnel to attain

mastery of the quality improvement process, and (d) The training should include

participating in actual improvement projects

Juran did not believe that Six Sigma is the answer to quality issues He thought that the problem is that there is too much hype and focus on the different colors of belts because they are not accompanied by any certification As Juran said, “Six Sigma is just a new name for old quality…it will go the way of other fads, like reengineering” (Phillips-Donaldson, 2004, p 30) He advanced that another big issue with Six Sigma is that it does not have enough proven research that it works

Shewhart

Shewhart (1891-1967) is known as the grandfather of TQM Original concepts of TQM and continuous improvement trace back to Shewhart One of Deming’s teachers, he preached the importance of adapting management processes to create profitable situations for both businesses and consumers, promoting the use of his own creation, the SPC (Statistical Process Control) control chart (SkyMark Corporation, 2006) Shewhart also developed the Shewhart learning and improvement cycle, which combined creative management thinking with statistical analysis (SkyMark Corporation, 2006) This cycle includes the four steps of plan, do, study, and act Shewhart proposed that these steps lead

to total quality improvement (SkyMark Corporation, 2006) This cycle is built on the idea that constant evaluation of management practices and the willingness of management to adopt and disregard unsupported ideas are keys to the evolution of a successful enterprise (SkyMark Corporation, 2006) Deming later changed Shewhart’s cycle to remove the

study and replace it with check, as mentioned previously

Shewhart stated that there are two sides to quality: subjective and objective Subjective is closely tied with the utility or value of the objective physical properties of the item itself (Hoyer & Hoyer, 2001, p 60) Objective characteristics of quality are constant and measurable When looking at quality from a subjective viewpoint, there are various aspects of the concept of value that can be differentiated as: (a) use, (b) cost, (c) esteem, and (d) exchange Shewhart believed that the first step of the engineer is to try to satisfy human wants by translating wants into physical characteristics of the product manufactured to satisfy these wants (Shewhart, 1931, p 54) Intuition and judgment play important roles, as well as the knowledge of the human element included in the wants of individuals (Shewhart, 1931, p 54) The second step of the engineer is to set up ways and means of obtaining a product that differs from standards set for these quality

characteristics by no more than may be left to chance (Shewhart, 1931, p 54) Shewhart believed that in order to talk intellectually about quality, there needs to be a clear picture

of what is meant by quality

Taguchi

Taguchi (1924- ) is a Japanese engineer and quality consultant who promoted the use of statistical design of experiments for improving process and product quality at minimal costs (Antony, Somasundarum, Fergusson, & Blecharz, 2004) Statistical design

of experiments plays a major role in many organizations by improving process efficiency, product quality, and process capability while reducing process variability, and costs of poor quality such as scrap, rework and other failure costs (Antony, Somasundarum, et al., 2004) Taguchi's techniques and vocabulary are heavily based on his engineering

background and thus differ in some ways from the statistical techniques and vocabulary

that are used in traditional quality improvement (de Mast, 2004) Taguchi invented and endorsed various new concepts such as quadratic loss function, which shows how

variation plays a dominant role in quality (de Mast, 2004) Taguchi's loss function theory illustrates how there is often a relationship between cost and quality, and at some

particular point, investing in quality does not pay back (Daigleish, 2006) This is similar

to developing a required rate of return or payback for quality initiatives

Taguchi also introduced an alternation experimentation methodology using

orthogonal arrays, which is debated among many statisticians (de Mast, 2004) Taguchi emphasized the importance of variation reduction in quality improvement Based on the results of an experiment, settings for the control variables are chosen such that the

process is made robust against variation in the nuisance variables Then the process mean

is brought on target by manipulation of control variables that affect the mean, but not the variation Finally, a tolerance design is exploited if needed to accomplish a further

reduction in variation Projects following Taguchi's principles focus on the loss of poor quality, rather than on a quality characteristic (de Mast, 2004) Taguchi's main points include the following (Hoyer & Hoyer, 2001, p 61):

1 Quality is a loss to society Instead of experiencing a decrease in quality as

the supplier's product or service position moves away from the societal preferred point, society experiences an increase in loss when that occurs

2 Loss caused by the intrinsic function of the product or service does not

count toward the loss to society The larger the distance between what society actually gets and the location of its preferred point, the less quality society will experience

Therefore, Taguchi thought that by minimizing loss to society, quality is

maximized His loss function also looks at both process variation and the shift in mean

performance from its expected or target value (Antony, Foutris, Banuelas, & Thomas, 2004) A study by Neureuther and Kenyon (2004) took Taguchi's loss function even further by developing a cost savings model as a decision-making tool for firms with product life-cycle and budgetary constraints The tool determined a level of quality for a particular quality characteristic that balanced both internal costs and costs of

improvements Results showed that it could easily be implemented by managers, and the results supplied management with exact targets for the objectives of their quality

improvement programs Another study developed a mathematical model to optimize the return from quality investment by utilizing yield management and Taguchi's perspective

of the cost of poor quality (Chen & Tsou, 2003) According to Antony, Foutris, et al (2004, p 11), "Customers value reliable, consistent and predictable processes that deliver world-class levels of product quality or service performance."

Overall, Maghsoodloo, Ozdemir, Jordan, and Huang (2004, p 123) summarized Taguchi’s contributions as the quantification of quality through Gauss' quality loss function, orthogonal arrays to simplify the use of design of experiments, robust designs (parameter and tolerance designs) to identify optimum settings to reduce process variability and to get the mean on target, and definition and use of the signal-to-noise ratio, which combines the mean and standard deviation into one measure

"Taguchi has been very successful in integrating statistical methods into the powerful engineering processes for achieving greater process stability, capability, and yield" (Antony, Somasundarum, et al., 2004, p 447) Taguchi emphasized the importance

of designing quality into products and processes at the product planning, design, and