Leadership and

commitment
 THE TOTAL QUALITY
MANAGEMENT APPROACH
What is quality management? Quality is too important to leave to the so called
quality professionals; it cannot be achieved on a company or organization-wide basis if it
is left to the so-called experts
The organization that believes that the traditional quality control techniques and the way
they have always been used will resolve their quality problems may be misguided.
Employing more inspectors, tightening up standards, developing correction, repair and
rework teams do not improve quality.
Traditionally, quality has been regarded as the responsibility of a quality (assurance or
control) department, and still it has not yet been recognized in some organizations that
many quality problems originate in the commercial, engineering, service or administrative
areas.

It requires a comprehensive approach that must rst be recognized and then implemented

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 THE TOTAL QUALITY
MANAGEMENT APPROACH
TQM is a comprehensive approach to improving competitiveness, effectiveness and
exibility through planning, organizing and understanding each activity, and involving
each individual at each level. It is useful in all types of organization.
The impact of TQM on an organization is rst TQM ensures that management adopts a
strategic overview of quality and focuses on prevention, not detection, of problems.
but it is easy to underestimate the effort that is required to change attitudes and approaches.
Many people will need to undergo a complete change of mindset to unscramble their
intuition
It often requires a mindset change to break down existing barriers. Managements
that doubt the applicability of TQM should ask questions about the operations costs,
errors, wastes, standards, systems, training and job instructions.
Wrong the detection/ inspection mode to solve quality problems We have a quality
problem, we had better double check every single item whether it is in electronics, plastics,
heavy engineering or aerospace
quality or process performance improvement teamsA better mindset may be achieved by
looking at the sort of barriers that exist in key areas. Staff may need to be trained and shown
how to reallocate their time and energy to studying their processes in teams, searching for
causes of problems and correcting the causes, not the symptoms, once and for all.
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 THE TOTAL QUALITY
MANAGEMENT APPROACH
Small size firms (slim) asking the following questions:
1. Is any attempt made to assess the costs arising from errors, defects, waste, customer
complaints, lost sales, etc.? If so, are these costs minimal or insignicant?
2. Is the standard of management adequate and are attempts being made to ensure that
quality is given proper consideration at the design stage?
3. Are the organizations quality management systems documentation, processes,
operations, etc. in good order?
4. Have people been trained in how to prevent errors and problems? Do they anticipate
and correct potential causes of problems, or do they nd and reject?

32 The foundations of TQM

1.
Are subcontract suppliers being selected on the basis of the quality of their people
and services as well as price?
2. Do job instructions contain the necessary quality elements, are they kept up to date
and are employers doing their work in accordance with them?
3. What is being done to motivate and train employees to do work right rst time?
How many errors and defects, and how much wastage occurred last year? Is this more or less
than the previous year

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 Commitment and policy
To be successful in promoting business effectiveness and efciency, TQM
must be truly organization-wide, it must include the supply chain and it must
start at the top with the chief executive or equivalent (all demonstrate that
they are serious about quality)
TQM starts at the top, where serious obsession and commitment to quality
and leadership must be demonstrated. Middle management also has a key
role to play in communicating the message.(TQM spread effectively
throughout the organization.)

Every chief executive must accept the responsibility for commitment to a

quality policy that deals with the organization for quality, the customer
needs, the ability of the organization, supplied materials and services,
education and training, and review of the management systems for never-
ending improvement.
Senior management commitment should be an obsession, not lip service
One of the major challenges in project work, including consultancy, is the need to
inuence the values and behaviours of the entire delivery team

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 Commitment and policy
The quality policy
A sound quality policy, together with the organization and facilities to put it into
effect, is a fundamental requirement, if an organization is to fully implement TQM
Management should be dedicated to the regular improvement of quality, not
simply a one-step improvement to an acceptable plateau. These ideas can
be set out in a quality policy that requires top management to:
1. Identify the end customers needs (including perception).
2. Assess the ability of the organization to meet these needs economically.
3. Ensure that any bought-in materials meet the required standards of
performance and efciency.
4. Ensure that subcontractors or suppliers share your values and process
goals.
5. Concentrate on the prevention rather than detection philosophy.
6. Educate and train for quality improvement and ensure that your
subcontractors do so as well.
7. Measure customer satisfaction at all levels, the end customer as well as
customer satisfaction between the links of the supply chain.
8. Review the quality management systems to maintain progress.
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 Quality policy example 1 (a process industry company
supplying the automotive sector
The company will concentrate on its customers and suppliers, both external and internal.
The performance of our competitors will be communicated to all relevant units.
Important suppliers and partners will be closely involved in our quality policy this relates to
both external and internal suppliers of goods, resources and services.
Quality management systems will be designed, implemented, audited and reviewed to drive
continuous improvement they will be integrated into other management systems.
Quality improvement is primarily the responsibility of management and will be tackled and
followed up in a systematic and planned manner this applies to every part of our organization.
In order to involve everyone in the organization of quality improvement, management will
enable all employees to participate in the preparation, implementation and evaluation of
improvement activities.
Quality improvement will be a continuous process and widespread attention will be given to
education, training and skills development activities, which will be assessed with regard to their
contribution to the quality policy.
Publicity will be given to the quality policy in every part of the organization so that everyone
may understand it all available methods and media will be used for its internal and external
promotion and communication.
Reporting on the progress of the implementation of the policy will

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 Creating or changing the culture

Culture in any business may be dened then as how business is

conducted and how employees behave and are treated
The culture within an organization is formed by a number of components:
1. Behaviors based on people interactions.
2. Norms resulting from working groups.
3. Dominant values adopted by the organization.
4. Rules of the game for getting on.
5. The climate in the organization.

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 Figure 3.1
Quality policy example 2

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 Creating or changing the culture
The effectiveness of an organization depends on the extent to which people
perform their roles and move towards the common goals and objectives.

The guiding philosophy drives the organization and is shaped by the leaders
through their thoughts and actions

The core values and beliefs represent the organizations basic principles about what
is important in business, its conduct, its social responsibility and its response to
changes in the environment.
TQM is concerned with moving the focus of control from the outside to
the inside of individuals, so that everyone is accountable for his/her own
performance.
Figure 3.2
Vision framework
for an organization

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 Creating or changing the culture
The mission will translate the abstractness of philosophy into tangible goals that will move the
organization forward and make it perform to its optimum
Two examples of how leaders of organizations one in the private sector and one in
the public sector develop their vision, mission and values and are role models of a
culture of total quality excellence are given in Figure 3.3.
Public Sector

The purpose and direction of the organisation the Mission is developed by a Task
Team. Senior, middle and junior managers review and update the Mission, Vision and
Values annually to ensure it supports Policy and Strategy.

Leaders invite input from stakeholders via the Employee Involvement initiative,
Monthly Update Meetings and Customer Service Seminars. The Values have been
placed on help-cards for every employee and are continually
re-emphasized at Monthly Update Meetings.

Leaders act as role models and have a list of Role Model Standards to follow, which
they are measured against in their Performance Management System. All managers
include TQM objectives in their Performance Agreements and Personal Development
Plan, which are reviewed through

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 Creating or changing the culture
Private Sector

To enable the company to set direction and achieve its Vision, the senior
management team address priorities for improvement. These are driven by a
business improvement process, which consists of: articulate a Vision, determine the
actions to realize the Vision, define measures and set targets, then implement a
rigorous review mechanism.

Each member of the team takes responsibility for one of the Excellence Model
criteria. They develop improvement plans and personally ensure that these are
properly resourced and implemented, and that progress is monitored.
Improvements identified at local level are prioritized and resourced by local
management against the organisations annual business plan

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 Control
The effectiveness of an organization and its people depends on the extent to which each person
and function/department perform their role and move towards the common goals and
objectives.
Control is the process by which information or feedback is provided so as to keep all functions on
track. It is the sum total of the activities that increase the probability of the planned results being
achieved.
Control mechanisms fall into three categories, depending upon their position in the managerial
process (see Table 3.1). Three stages of control mechanisms
Before the fact Operational After the fact

Strategic plan Observation Annual reports

Action plans Inspection and correction Variance reports

Budgets Progress review Audits

Job descriptions Staff meetings Surveys

Individual performance objectives Internal information and data systems Performance review

Training and development Training programmes Evaluation of training

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 Control
Attempting to control performance through systems, procedures or techniques external to the individual is
not an effective approach, since it relies on controlling others; individuals should be responsible for their
own actions
An externally based control system can result in a high degree of concentrated effort in a specic
area if the system is overly structured, but it can also cause negative consequences to surface:
1. Since all rewards are based on external measures, which are imposed, the team members often
focus all their effort on the measure itself, e.g. to have it set lower (or higher) than possible, to
manipulate the information which serves to monitor it, or to dismiss it as someone elses goal not
theirs. In the budgeting process, for example, distorted gures are often submitted by those who
have learned that their honest projections will be automatically altered anyway.
2. When the rewards are dependent on only one or two limited targets, all efforts are directed at
those, even at the expense of others. If short-term protability is the sole criterion for bonus
distribution or promotion, it is likely that investment for longer-term growth areas will be
substantially reduced. Similarly, strong emphasis and reward for output or production may result in
lowered quality.
3. The fear of not being rewarded, or even being criticized, for performance that is less than
desirable may cause some to withhold information that is unfavourable but nevertheless should be
owing into the system.
4. When reward and punishment are used to motivate performance, the degree of risk-taking may
lessen and be replaced by a more cautious and conservative approach. In essence, the fear of
failure replaces the desire to achieve.
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 Control
The following problem situations have been observed by the author and his colleagues within
companies that have taken part in research and consultancy:
1. The goals imposed are seen or known to be unrealistic. If the goals perceived by the subordinate
are in fact accomplished, then the subordinate has proved himself wrong. This clearly has a
negative effect on the effort expended, since few people are motivated to prove themselves wrong!
2. Where individuals are stimulated to commit themselves to a goal and where their personal pride and
self-esteem are at stake, then the level of motivation is at a peak. For most people the toughest
critic and the hardest taskmaster they confront is not their immediate boss but themselves.
3. Directors and managers are often afraid of allowing subordinates to set the goals for fear of them
being set too low, or loss of control over subordinate behaviour. It is also true that many do not wish
to set their own targets, but prefer to be told what is to be accomplished.
4. Where external project managers are recruited to run projects and a reward is negotiated on the
basis of a bonus package reecting time and cost performance, all too often the company is left with
the legacy of quality defects long after the project manager has nished his assignment and
pocketed his/her bonuses.
5. Some public sector client organizations, in moving towards the delivery of infrastructure projects
through alliances, have developed very complex performance frameworks to attempt to drive project
outcomes in non-cost areas such as safety, quality, community and legacy. The complexity of these
can be such that the performance measures become an end in themselves and get in the way of
management initiative.

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 Control
1. TQM is concerned with moving the focus of control from outside the individual to
within, the objective being to make everyone accountable for their own
performance
2. Total Quality Management is user-driven it cannot be imposed from outside the
organization, as perhaps can a quality management system standard

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 Effective leadership
Some management teams have broken away from the traditional style of management;
they have made a managerial breakthrough. Their approach puts their organization
head and shoulders above others in the ght for sales, prots, resources, funding and
jobs.
Effective leadership starts with the chief executives 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.

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 The ve requirements for effective leadership are the
following

1. Developing and publishing clear documented corporate beliefs

and purpose a vision
Executives should express values and beliefs through a clear vision of what they want their
company to be and its purpose
The beliefs and objectives should address:
1. The denition of the business, e.g. the needs that are satised or the benets
provided.
2. A commitment to effective leadership and quality.
3. Target sectors and relationships with customers, and market or service
position.
4. The role or contribution of the company, organization or unit, e.g. prot-
generator, service department, opportunity-seeker.
5. The distinctive competence a brief statement which applies only to that
organization, company or unit.
6. Indications for future direction a brief statement of the principal plans
which would be considered.
7. Commitment to monitoring performance against customers needs and
expectations, and continuous improvement. 18
 2.Develop clear and effective strategies and supporting plans for
achieving the vision

3.Identify the critical success factors and critical processes (Figure

3.4) Mission into action through strategies, CSFs and core processes

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 4.Review the management structure
5. Empowerment encouraging effective employee participation

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 Attitudes

The key attitude for managing any winning company or organization may be
expressed as follows: I will personally understand who my customers are
and what are their needs and expectations and I will take whatever action is
necessary to satisfy them fully. I will also understand and communicate my
requirements to my suppliers, inform them of changes and provide feedback
on their performance. This attitude should start at the top with the
chairman or chief executive. It must then percolate down, to be adopted by
each and every employee. That will happen only if managers lead by
example. Words are cheap and will be meaningless if employees see from
managers actions that they do not actually believe or intend what they say.

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 Abilities

Every employee should be able to do what is needed and expected of him

or her, but it is rst necessary to decide what is really needed and expected.
If it is not clear what the employees or subcontractors are required to do
and what standards of performance are expected, how can managers
expect them to do it? A good example of such confusion has been created
on construction projects over the past few decades. Management has
repeatedly said that they want the job done quickly, but rarely have they
stressed that it should be correct the rst time. This has resulted in a culture
of we can x it later, lets just get on with the job and numerous defects
have been incorporated into buildings; defects that are more expensive to
rectify later.
Train, train, train and train again. Training is very important, but it can be
expensive if the money is not spent wisely. The training should be related to
needs, expectations and process improvement. It must be planned and
always its effectiveness reviewed.

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 Participation

If all employees are to participate in making the company or organization

successful (directors and managers included), then they must also be
trained in the basics of disciplined management.
They must be trained to:
E Evaluate the situation and dene their objectives
P Plan to achieve those objectives fully.
D Do implement the plans.
C Check that the objectives are being achieved.
A Amend take corrective action if they are not
The word disciplined applied to people at all levels means that they will do what
they say they will do
This basic approach needs to be backed up with good management, planning
techniques and problem-solving methods, which can be taught to anyone in a
relatively short period of time
The operations management has a very important and difcult leadership
challenge to create a cohesive team and galvanize it towards a set of shared goals.
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Quality in the 21st century

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 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.
The vehicle for achieving excellence in leadership is Total Quality Management. We
have seen that its framework covers the entire organization, all the people and all the
functions, including external organization and suppliers. Several requirements of
TQM are becoming clear:
Recognizing customers and discovering their needs (this refers to immediate and end
user customers equally).
Setting standards that are consistent with internal and end user customer
requirements.
Controlling processes, including systems, and improving their capability.
Managements responsibility for setting the guiding philosophy, vision, quality policy,
etc., and providing motivation through leadership and equipping people to achieve
quality.
Selecting the right employees and supply chain partners and empowering people at
all levels in the organization and across the supply chain to act for quality
improvement.

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 Excellence in leadership
All prizes orgnizations gurus each set down a number of points or absolutes
words of wisdom in management and leadership and many organizations have
used these to establish a policy based on quality.

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