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THE APPLICATION, UTILISATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY: A
CASE STUDY
By
THEMBA AMUKELANI BALOYI
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
MAGISTER PHILOSOPHIAE
In
ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
At the
Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment
Of the
University of Johannesburg
Supervisor: PROF JHC PRETORIOUS
MARCH 2013
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COPY RIGHT NOTICE
I, Themba Amukelani Baloyi, officially declare that this mini-dissertation is my own
work. It is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for Masters in Engineering
Management.
Signature: ..........................................
Date: ..................................................
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Abstract
This dissertation uncovers the importance of the application, utilisation and
implementation of total quality management in the South African organisations
specifically manufacturing industry. The study focuses on the application, utilisation
and implementation of TQM at ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD). This study need to
outline ways in which total quality management, implementation and quality
improvement is applied and utilized in within ASSA ABLOY (SA). The organisation
believes but does not have clear understanding and commitment to implementation of
total quality management and continuous improvement tools. This research seeks to
come up with methods that will eventually be used to train employees on total quality
management (TQM) related issues at ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) and in the South
African manufacturing industry as a whole.
The research design was both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The primary data
was collected by using a structured questionnaire, interviews, surveys and
observations with people within ASSA ABLOY (SA) Pty (Ltd). The secondary data was
collected from library searches and access to information gathered with the
organisation that supports this journey. The questions were coded up for ease of
analysis and the questions gave the respondent choice to respond on the 5 point-
linkert scale, where 1 -“Very dissatisfied”, 2-“Dissatisfied”, 3-“neutral or unsure”, 4-
“Satisfied” and 5-“Very satisfied”. A Linkert item is simply a statement which the
respondent is asked to evaluate according to any kind of subjective or objective
criteria; generally the level of agreement or disagreement is measured. It is considered
symmetric or "balanced" because there are equal amounts of positive and negative
positions.
Top management support on quality policy is a concern to the employees. Employees
seem not to be getting enough training on quality related matters and their training
needs are not fully addressed because they are not consulted enough when training is
planned. This will mean that the needs analysis is left with the managers or the
supervisors. Employees feel strongly that their level of education must be taken into
consideration when training is planned for them. Employees in the organisation would
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like to be mixed up in continuous improvement projects and training or quality
department could initiate these. They would also like to have more acquaintance of
how the quality department in general functions and to play a role in the
implementation of quality by good value of being trained on things that they can apply
instantaneously.
Top management is committed to quality management initiatives but they do not
involve their employees on quality decisions and efforts. Dynamic team working is
encouraged by the managers of the departments within the company. Quality training
is a concern to the employees, employees are also not aware of the quality
department that exists within the company.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank:
Professor Jan Harm Pretorius for the supervision and guide during the study.
Special thank you to Mr A. Wessel, for always reading my work hence giving
positive criticism
I would also like to thank Dr Thabo Nkambule for reading my first draft and
giving me a light on how to structure this dissertation.
To all participants from ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) that were involved in the
completion of questionnaires, thank you.
I believe this study will encourage and inspire my friends to keep on studying
and never stop learning.
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Quality management Principles [9] ............................................................... 18
Figure 2: Figure 2: Eight elements of Total Quality management [51] ........................ 35
Figure 3:Employees and Management Involvement ................................................... 56
Figure 4: Quality Department Role .............................................................................. 59
Figure 5: Quality (TQM) Culture .................................................................................. 61
Figure 6: Programme (TQM) Training ......................................................................... 63
Figure 7: Quality (TQM) Continuous Improvement ...................................................... 65
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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Top Ten Traits of Effective Leaders [64] ....................................................... 44
Table 2: Question 1 – 5: Employees and Management Involvement .......................... 55
Table 3: Question 6– 10: Quality Department Role ..................................................... 58
Table 4: Question 11– 15: Quality (TQM) Culture ....................................................... 60
Table 5: Question 16– 20: Programme (TQM) Training .............................................. 62
Table 6: Question 21– 25: Quality (TQM) Continuous Improvement ........................... 64
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LIST OF APPENDIX
APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRES MOTIVATION LETTER ....................................... 78
APPENDIX 2: RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRES ........................................................ 79
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GLOSSARY
Statistical Process Control (SPC): The use of statistics and data gathering to monitor
process output and quality.
Total Quality Management (TQM): The management of an entire organisation to
ensure that the organisation excels in all spheres of production and service important
to the customer. TQM stresses a commitment by management to a continuing
company-wide drive towards excellence in processes through incremental
improvements to satisfy the needs of customers.
ISO 9000: Guidelines for performance improvement.
Kaizen : Japanese for change for the better; the common English term is continuous
improvement.
Six Sigma :6σ, Six Sigma combines established methods such as statistical process
control, design of experiments and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) in an
overall framework.
PDCA : Plan, do, check, act cycle for quality control purposes (Six Sigma's DMAIC
method [define, measure, analyze, improve, control] may be viewed as a particular
implementation of this).
Quality circle: A (people-oriented) group approach to improvement.
Just In Time (JIT): A process where suppliers and components are pulled through the
system to arrive where they are needed, when they are needed. On time delivery
when you need it, with no inventory or as little as possible and to eliminate waste.
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ABBREVIATION
PTD - Pin Tumbler Department BPR - Business process reengineering TQM - Total Quality Management SPC - Statistical Process Control QMS - Quality Management Systems ISO - International Organisation of Standardization QLF - Quality Loss Function QITs - Quality improvement teams PSTs - Problem solving teams NWTs - Natural work teams HR - Human Resources EI - Employee Involvement
JIT - Just In Time
EE - Employee Empowerment
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TABLE OF CONTENT
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ................................................................................................................ 4
LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................. 5
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................................... 6
GLOSSARY .......................................................................................................................................... 8
ABBREVIATION ................................................................................................................................. 9
CHAPTER 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 13
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................ 13
1.1. BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ....................................................................................... 13
1.2 The Problem statement ......................................................................................................................... 14
1.3 Research Purpose .................................................................................................................................. 14
1.4 Research Objective ................................................................................................................................ 15
1.5 Research Questions .............................................................................................................................. 15
1.6 Significance of the study ...................................................................................................................... 15
1.7. Delimitations of the Study ................................................................................................................... 16
1.8. Key Assumptions .................................................................................................................................. 16
1.9. Dissertation Outline .............................................................................................................................. 16
CHAPTER 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 18
LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................................................. 18
2. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 18
2.1. What is Quality? .................................................................................................................................... 21
2.2. Understanding Total Quality Management (TQM) ........................................................................... 23
2.3. Introducing and Adopting TQM Business ........................................................................................ 25
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Adopting the TQM Philosophy Will: .......................................................................................................... 25
2.4. Outflow of Poor Quality in an Organisation ..................................................................................... 26
2.5. Total Quality Management and Competitive Advantage ................................................................ 27
2.6. Relationship between Quality Management and Total Quality Management ............................. 28
2.7. Overcome Barriers to Quality Improvement .................................................................................... 30
2.8. Quality Improvement and Implementation of Kaizen and TQM .................................................... 32
2.8.1. Quality Improvement ............................................................................................................................. 32
2.8.2. Implementation of Kaizen ..................................................................................................................... 33
2.8.3. Implementation of TQM ........................................................................................................................ 35
2.9. The Knowledge of TQM Tools ............................................................................................................. 39
2.10. Concepts for an Effective TQM Programme in an Organisation ................................................ 40
2.10.1. Employee Involvement and Empowerment ..................................................................................... 41
2.10.2. Leadership ............................................................................................................................................ 43
2.10.3. Benchmarking ...................................................................................................................................... 45
2.10.4. Just In Time (JIT) ................................................................................................................................ 45
2.10.5. Continuous Improvement ................................................................................................................... 46
2.11. Total Quality Management Benefits ................................................................................................. 46
2.12. Summary............................................................................................................................................... 49
CHAPTER 3 ........................................................................................................................................ 51
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ........................................................................ 51
3.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 51
3.2. The Questionnaire Design ................................................................................................................... 52
3.3. Data Collection ...................................................................................................................................... 53
3.4 Secondary Data ...................................................................................................................................... 53
3.5. Population .............................................................................................................................................. 53
3.6. Sampling Techniques ........................................................................................................................... 53
3.7. Administration of Questionnaires ...................................................................................................... 54
3.8. Data Analysis ......................................................................................................................................... 54
CHAPTER 4 ........................................................................................................................................ 55
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RESEARCH FINDINGS .................................................................................................................. 55
4.1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 55
4.2. Findings .................................................................................................................................................. 55
CHAPTER 5 ........................................................................................................................................ 67
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................... 67
5.1. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................. 67
5.2. Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 69
CHAPTER 7 ........................................................................................................................................ 71
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................................... 71
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background
The study focuses on the current practices in as far as training quality management
and quality application, utilisation, implementation and improvement are concerned.
Specific quality training programs were conducted in order to raise the employees’
awareness of quality practices and continuous improvement in relation to the general
quality culture, benchmarking and quality cost, as well as employee involvement in
quality teams. The aim of any organisation is to increase profit and productivity while
minimising operating costs and adding value to the business: this is because, in
Maravan’s terms, it has become extremely challenging in South Africa to increase
profit with the unstable Rand and the low cost of imports [1]. This study will benefit
ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) and other manufacturing companies in South Africa by
highlighting the most important aspects of Total Quality Management (TQM).
ASSA ABLOY is a manufacturing company of which the core business is to develop
door opening automated solutions. The company is dedicated to satisfying end-user
needs for security, safety and convenience. ASSA ABLOY is represented in all major
regions of the world, including Europe, North America, Australia and Africa. In the
rapidly growing electromechanical security sector, the Group is the leading company
in areas such as access control, identification technology, automatic doors and hotel
security. The head offices of ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) are located at number
176, Progress Road, Roodepoort. ASSAABLOY (SA) employs approximately 150-200
workers.
As a result, ensuring that their product are of the highest quality possible should be
the company management’s priority; especially because poor quality may negatively
affect productivity, profitability and plants performances [2].The total in TQM applies to
the whole organisation. Therefore, the ISO 9000 and application of six sigma initiative
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being prerequisites of the processes producing deliverable products, TQM should
apply to every activity in the organisation [3]. Also ISO 9000, TQM covers soft issues
such as ethics, attitude and culture.
Recently, organisations worldwide have been exploring ways of improving business
practices to gain competitive edge. In today’s competitive and economically liberalised
global environment, quality has become one of the most important factors for attaining
competitive advantage [4]. Good quality products or services would enable an
organisation to add and retain customers. Poor quality leads to customer loss, while
the high cost of poor quality would result in profit reduction and loss for future sales
[4]. Moreover, customers are becoming increasingly aware of rising standards, since
they have access to wide ranges of products and services to choose from. There is an
ever-increasing demand for quality products or services and this global revolution has
forced organisations to invest substantial resources into adopting and implementing
total quality management strategies [5].
1.2 The Problem statement
This study set out to identify ways of applying and utilising total quality management,
implementation and quality improvement in organisations. The necessity for
organisations to gain a clear understanding of and to commit to the implementation of
total quality management and continuous improvement could never be emphasised
enough. One of the objectives of this research was to generate principles that would
eventually be used to train employees on total quality management (TQM) related
issues in the South African manufacturing industry. The primary aim of this
dissertation was to establish whether this quality strategy (TQM) could lead to
increased productivity, employee development and quality improvement. Lastly,
another aim was to assess whether this specific TQM could create a competitive
advantage for organisations.
1.3 Research Purpose
The purpose of this study was to investigate the application, utilisation and
implementation of total quality management in South African manufacturing industry,
specifically at ASSA ABLOY (SA). This investigation could be useful to ASSA ABLOY
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(SA) management in identifying areas that require quality improvement, since one of
the directives of the ASSA ABLOY management is to deliver quality and better
services to meet customer satisfaction. The study will foreground problems that
employees and management encounter in the performance of their daily operations in
order to suggest integrated solutions.
1.4 Research Objective
The objectives of this study are to:
Confirm the role of top management in as far as quality (TQM) implementation
is concerned.
Ensure the level of employee involvement in quality (TQM) application,
utilisation and implementation.
Conduct a literature survey to assess the benefits of adopting a TQM strategy
Outline any new concepts that can be integrated into the strategy to ensure
continuous improvement.
Improve quality and productivity
Reduce quality cost and present elevated quality product outcomes.
1.5 Research Questions
Based on the aforementioned, the research sub-questions were thus formulated:
To what extent does the application and utilisation of total quality management
(TQM) in the manufacturing industry contribute to an increase in productivity,
quality and continuous improvement?
Does this branch of ASSA ABLOY have a quality department?
What would be needed to implement TQM in this branch?
How could the ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) management ensure that their
service satisfies customer’s needs?
1.6 Significance of the study
The significance of the study is to explore the total quality management fundamentals
and establish quality continuous improvement and implementing integrated TQM
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techniques which will be beneficial to South African organisations and to the
manufacturing industry. This study will correlate the roles of top, middle and lower
management in ensuring that the quality strategy and objectives are communicated to
the employees. This would then assist the organisation in implementing its quality
strategy and in achieving competitive advantage, while increasing productivity,
producing less waste, reducing quality cost and improving safety. The study will also
outline to the employees what the internal and external customers’ needs are.
1.7. Delimitations of the Study
This research was specifically conducted in ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD). One of the
objectives of study was to make employees of the organisation to be aware of the
importance of total quality management (TQM) in the manufacturing industry. Most
participants provided honest responses and relevant information which I felt was
factual and beneficial.
1.8. Key Assumptions
The researcher’s assumptions were that if employees understand the application and
utilisation and implementation of quality (TQM) in general, this would improve
productivity and reduce operating cost. Many South African manufacturing companies
focus on the operational performance and productivity overlooking the imperative to
monitor the quality of the finished goods (Finished Products).The quality management
system may assist in ensuring that the output is of high quality.
1.9. Dissertation Outline
This dissertation consists of seven chapters. The first chapter discusses the
background of the study. The second chapter explores the literature on the topic. The
third chapter explains the research design and methodology used for the study. The
fourth chapter describes the findings, while the fifth chapter discusses the conclusion
and recommendations.
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Chapter 1: Background
This Chapter covers the background, the problem statement, the research objectives,
the research purpose, the significance of the study, as well as the delimitations of the
research and key assumptions.
Chapter 2: Literature Review
The literature review will cover the theory on the total quality management
recommended by the quality proponents, the suggested techniques as well as their
application. It also discusses the value that the techniques can add to an organisation.
Chapter 3: Research Design and Methodology
The research design will be presented together with the related research methods
utilised to conduct the study. These methods include both quantitative and qualitative
techniques.
Chapter 4: Research Findings
The findings based on the gathered information are presented on this chapter. The
findings were utilised to enlarge a matrix of the total quality management techniques
used by some manufacturers in South Africa.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations
Conclusion and Recommendations were drawn and discussed in this chapter.
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CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2. Introduction
Total Quality Management is a philosophy of managing a set of business practices
that emphasise continuous improvement in all phases of the operation. It also calls for
100% accuracy in performing activities, empowerment of employees at all levels, team
based work design, benchmarking and satisfying customer expectations [6]. It was
first published by Deming, Juran, Ishikawa and Crosby. TQM is a total organisational
approach which assists in meeting customer needs and expectations and which
involves all managers and employees in using quantitative methods to continuously
improve the organisation’s processes, products and services [7].
Total quality management (TQM) has probably been the most significant approach to
managing operations improvement. Total quality management however has come to
mean more than avoiding errors. It is also seen as an approach to the way operations
and processes should be managed and more significantly improved [8]. This is
because quality management focuses on the very fundamental of operations and
process management, the ability to produce and deliver the products and services that
the market requires, both in the short and long term. A grasp of quality management
principles is the foundation of any improvement activity (see the figure 1).
Figure 1: Quality management Principles [9]
According to David Knights [10], total quality management was one of the earliest of
the current wave of management fashions. A holistic approach to the management of
quality that emphasises the role of all parts of an organisation and all people within an
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organisation to influence and improve quality [11]. It was heavily influenced by various
quality ‘gurus’ and it reached the peak of its popularity in the 1980s and 1990s [11].
The notion of total quality management was introduced by Feigenbaum in 1957 [10]. It
was then developed further by several so called quality gurus. Each guru stressed a
different set of issues, from which emerged the TQM approach to operations
improvement.
To understand the origin of TQM, it is worth briefly describing the contributions from
these quality pioneers: Feigenbaum defines TQM as an effective system for
integrating the quality development, quality maintenance and quality improvement
efforts of various groups in an organisation so as to enable production and service at
the most economical levels which allow for full customer satisfaction [5]. Despite his
early writing in America, it was the Japanese who first made the concept work on a
wide scale and subsequently popularised the approach and the term TQM [13].
W.E. Deming considered in Japan to be the father of quality control, asserted that
quality starts with top management and is a strategic activity. His basic philosophy is
that quality and productivity increase as process variability (the unpredictability of the
process) decreases [13]. His 14 points, which emphasises the need for statistical
control methods, participation, education, openness and purposeful improvement,
plays major role in quality improvement [13].
J.M. Juran tried to get organisations to move away from the traditional view of quality
as conformance to specification to a more user-based approach, for which he coined
the phrase ‘fitness for use’. He was concerned about management responsibility for
quality and also impact of individual workers and was involved in quality improvement
activities [13].
K. Ishikawa has been credited with originating quality circles and cause and effect
diagrams, as well as over emphasis on quality control. In reaction to this, several role-
players developed an aversion for the quality control concept and contended that
employee participation is the key to the successful implementation of TQM [13].
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P.B Crosby is best known for his work on the cost of quality, tried to highlight the
costs and benefits of implementing quality programs through his book quality is free in
which he provided a zero defects programme [13].
G. Taguchi, who was concerned with quality in engineering through the optimisation
of product design combined with statistical methods of quality control, encouraged
interactive team meetings between employees and managers to criticise and to
develop product design. Taguchi’s definition of quality uses the concept of the loss
which is imparted by the product or service to society from the time it is created. His
quality loss function (QLF) includes such factors as warranty costs, customer
complaints and loss of customer goodwill. These quality gurus highly and positively
impacted the concept of quality in general in organisations worldwide [13].
Although the quality gurus seem to be recommending different solutions to bringing
about improvement: there are several points of convergence in their approaches.
TQM is a philosophy of how to approach the organisation of quality improvement. It is
an approach that positions quality at the heart of everything that is achieved by an
operation including all activities within that operation [14]. Slack [15] explains TQM as
follows: “TQM is best thought of as a philosophy of how to approach quality
management”. This totality can be summarised by the way TQM attaches particular
emphasis to the following [15]:
Meeting the needs and expectations of customers,
Covering all parts of the organisation,
Including every person in the organisation,
Examining all costs which are related to quality, especially failure costs
Getting things “right the first time”,
Developing the systems and procedures which support quality and
improvement,
Lastly developing a continuous process of improvement.
An advantage of the TQM [15] is that expenditure on and effort to prevent defective
parts will result in a more than the equivalent reduction in other costs. The biggest
advantage is a more than satisfied customer. One of the measures to monitor the
TQM success is the number of customer’s complaints and claims.
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TQM is the way of managing for the future, and is far wider in its application than just
assuring product or service quality [15]. It is a way of managing people and business
processes to ensure complete customer satisfaction at every stage, internally and
externally. If combined with effective leadership, it will result in the organisation doing
the right things right, first time [10]. The core of TQM is the customer-supplier
interface, both internally and externally and at each interface reside a number of
processes. This core must be surrounded by commitment to quality, communication of
the quality message and recognition of the need to change the culture of the
organisation to create total quality. These are the foundations of TQM and they are
supported by the key management functions of people, processes and systems in the
organisation [16].
2.1. What is Quality?
Schroeder [17] states that quality is one of the four key objectives of operations, along
with cost, flexibility and delivery. While quality management is cross functional in
nature and involves the entire organisation, it has a special responsibility to produce a
quality product for customers. This requires cooperation of the entire organisation to
pay careful attention to management and control of quality. Quality is defined as
meeting or exceeding customer requirements now and in the future and also is
determined by the extent to which products or service successfully serves the purpose
of the user during usage (not just at point of sale) [18]. This means that the products
or services are fit for customer’s use. Fitness for use is related to the benefits received
by the customer and to customer satisfaction.
Quality is defined as customer satisfaction and loyalty [19]. Further explaining that
customers are made of external and internal customers, where the external customer
is the ultimate user, the intermediate processors and the retailers. For an organisation
to be sure that the quality of their product will eventually be satisfactory, they must
ensure that process owners understand that while a product is being manufactured,
the next person in the process is an internal customer. The product or the service
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provided to the internal customer will eventually determine the quality of the product
that reaches the external customer [19].
Total quality (TQ), total quality management (TQM), total quality control (TQC) and
quality assurance (QA) are some of the common names and acronyms used to
describe a focus assumed by many manufacturing and service industries [20]. TQ has
been an issue within manufacturing industries for some years and has become
prevalent within service industries over the last decade [21]. Quality is very important
because of its wide application. It improves the performance of income, sales growth
and cost control in an organisation [22].
Quality starts with market research to establish the true requirements for the product
or service and the true needs of the customers [23]. However for an organisation to be
really effective, quality must span all functions, all people, all departments and all
activities and be a common language for improvement [21]. The cooperation of
everyone at every interface is necessary to achieve a total quality organisation, in the
same way that the Japanese achieve this company-wide quality control.
According to Rebledo [23], quality is very important because of its wide application
and improvement of the performance of income, sales growth-rate and cost control in
an organisation. It can therefore be defined as a nature of doing business; it may be
applied and constitutes a vital element in different types of sectors .e.g. Education,
Manufacturing and Services. Use in:
Education: It is measured in terms of results and accountability because an
organisation that delivers and produces high-quality outcomes and employs
competent individuals has put efficient measures in place.
Manufacturing: when quality goods/products are produced, the quality is
related to good performance, reliability, durability, and the organisation’s
reputation. Many organisations prove the statement “Good quality=Good
productivity” true.
Services: It addresses issues such as responsiveness, assurance, reliability
and completeness, all of which are of importance to the customer because lack
of quality in any service would result in customer loss and failure of the
business eventually.
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It has thus become imperative for all organisations to have quality assurance or quality
management departments to ensure that there is proper maintenance of quality
standards. Quality has moved from being something about which firms have much
choice to something that helps organisations to have competitive advantage over their
peers [23].
There are several definitions of Quality or quality management. Most scholars agree
that it is an integration of all functions of a business to achieve high quality of products
through continuous improvement efforts by all employees. Quality revolves around the
concept of meeting or exceeding customer expectations applied to the product and
service. As achieving high quality is an ever changing or continuous process, quality
management emphasises the ideas of constantly working toward improved quality. It
involves every aspect of the company: processes, environment and people. The whole
workforce from the CEO to the line worker must be involved in a shared commitment
to improving quality [16].
Quality and total quality management (TQM) in particular can be defined as directing
(managing) the whole (total) production process to produce an excellent (quality)
product or service [24]. Quality is controlled by prevention, i.e., quality is built in at
every stage. Teams solve problems and everyone is responsible for the quality of the
product. Management’s role is to delegate, coach, facilitate and mentor. The major
quality management principles are: quality, teamwork and proactive management
philosophies for process improvement [25].
2.2. Understanding Total Quality Management (TQM)
TQM has many definitions. Gurus of the total quality management discipline such as
Deming, Juran, Crosby, Ishikawa and Feigenbaum defined the concept in different
ways, but the essence and spirit remained the same. According to Deming, quality is a
continuous quality improvement process towards predictable degrees of uniformity
and dependability [13]. Deming also identified 14 principles of quality management to
improve the productivity and the performance of the organisation [26]. Juran defined
quality as Fitness for use [13]. Juran further states that every person in the
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organisation must be involved in the effort to make products or services that are fit for
use. Crosby defines quality as conformance to requirements [13]. His focus has been
on zero defects and doing it right the first time.
Ishikawa also emphasised the importance of total quality control to improve
organisational performance. According to him quality does not only mean the quality of
the product, but also that of the after sales service, the quality of management, the
company itself and the human life [13]. Feigenbaum defined total quality as a
continuous work processes, starting with customer requirements and ending with
customer’s satisfaction [13]. All components of the organisation must be cooperatively
involved for TQM to succeed. Organisations implemented TQM in the hope that
improvement in the shop floor activities would solve all existing productivity and quality
problems only to find out that it is much more than that.
To be effectively implemented TQM requires the incorporation of leadership, top
management commitment, integrated team work, training and development,
employees’ involvement and empowerment as well as prospects of promotion and
rewards [27]. According to Wolfgang [27], TQM interventions must be guided by four
change principles namely work processes, variability, analysis and continuous
improvement. These TQM interventions bring major improvement to the processes
and product development when they are closely observed and analysed.
Conner [28] states that doing it right the first time plays a critical role in lean
manufacturing. He further states that it does not matter which quality system is used-
the ISO 9000, the six-sigma approach or any other quality systems as long as the
system meets the following principles: “the systems must be sound, the practices
defined and the processes capable”.
TQM is described as the “management of an entire organisation so that it excels in all
aspects of product and services that are important to the customer”. There are five
concepts for an effective TQM programme, namely: continuous improvement,
employee empowerment, benchmarking, just in time (JIT) and the knowledge of TQM
tools. The knowledge of TQM tools includes quality function deployment, tagunchi
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technique, Pareto charts, cause and effects diagrams and statistical process control
[29].
2.3. Introducing and Adopting TQM Business
A key point is that TQM has to be introduced and led by top management.
Commitment and personal involvement is required from top management in creating
and developing clear quality values and goals consistent with the objectives of the
company [30]. Their involvement is also needed in creating and deploying well defined
systems, methods and performance measures for achieving those goals [30].
Introduction of TQM in an organisation will assist supervisors and managers to make
sure that strategies, philosophies, values and goals are transmitted down throughout
the organisation to provide focus, clarity and direction.
Why should a company adopt TQM [30]
Adopting the TQM philosophy will:
Make an organisation more competitive,
Establish a new culture which will enable growth and longevity,
Provide a working environment in which everyone can succeed,
Reduce stress, waste and friction,
Build teams, partnerships and co-operation.
The application of Total Quality Management brings forth all-round benefits and makes
the organisation more competitive. In the new business environment characterised by
demolition of barriers and free flow of information and products, organisations retain
their competitive advantage by reducing prices, improving existing products and
innovating new products. TQM is a business strategy that allows organisations to
achieve all this and much more [31].
Total Quality Management demolishes the myth that increased quality results in
increased costs and decreased productivity. TQM proves that quality is actually the
key to decreased costs, and better productivity and positions quality as a critical
component of strategic business advantage [31].
26
2.4. Outflow of poor quality in an organisation
There are four costs of quality that are usually categorised as follows: prevention
costs, appraisal costs, internal failure costs and external failure costs. All costs are
associated with prevention failure and in the wider definition, improvement of quality
[32].
Prevention costs [32] are those costs incurred in trying to prevent problems, failures
and errors from occurring in the first place. There are various factors to consider when
dealing with this type of cost. They include the following:
Identifying potential problems and putting the process right before poor quality
occurs,
Designing and improving the design of products and services and processes to
reduce quality problems,
Training and development of personnel in the best way to perform their job,
Process control through SPC.
Appraisal costs [32] are those costs associated with controlling quality to check
whether problems or errors have occurred during and after the creation of the product
or service. For this type of costs, there are also factors to be noted:
The setting up of statistical acceptance sampling plans,
The time and effort required to inspect inputs, processes and outputs,
Obtaining processing inspection and test data,
Investigating quality problems and providing quality reports,
Conducting customer surveys and quality audits.
Internal failure costs [32] are failure costs associated with errors which are dealt with
inside the operation. The factors to be noted here include avoidable process losses
and inefficiencies that occur even when requirements and needs are met. These costs
would evaporate if no deficiencies existed. They include the following:
Cost of scrap,
Cost of rework,
Cost of stock held in anticipation of failure,
Damage to plant and equipment caused by processing defective materials.
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External failure costs [32] are those which are associated with an error going out of
the operation to a customer. Organisations need to effectively and carefully monitor
their operations in order to avoid this type of cost. Otherwise, this will result in high
poor quality cost. Also included in this type of cost are lost opportunity for sales
revenue. They include the following:
Cost of handling returns from customers,
Cost of processing complaints,
Cost of providing customer support,
Compensation payment,
Loss of goodwill, the most important.
Quality cost can be very high if the product quality is not good. This will lead to
increasing production costs and will eventually decrease the profits. Organisations
need to understand that neglecting the quality management and quality improvement
processes will affect their profits [32].
2.5. Total Quality Management and Competitive Advantage
TQM — total quality management is a management strategy aimed at embedding
awareness of quality in all organisational processes. First promoted in Japan with the
Deming prize which was adopted and adapted in USA as the Malcolm Baldrige
National Quality Award and in Europe as the European Foundation for Quality
Management award (each with their own variations) [33].
TQM is a way of thinking about goals, organisations, processes and people to ensure
that the right things are done right first time. This thought process can change
attitudes, behavior and hence results for the better [34].
Total Quality Management (TQM) refers to management methods used to enhance
quality and productivity in organisations, particularly businesses [35]. TQM is a
comprehensive system approach that works horizontally across an organisation,
involving all departments and employees and extending backward and forward to
include both suppliers and clients/customers [36].
TQM is only one of many acronyms used to label management systems that focus on
quality. Other acronyms that have been used to describe similar quality management
28
philosophies and programs include CQI (continuous quality improvement), SQC
(statistical quality control), QFD (quality function deployment), QIDW (quality in daily
work), TQC (total quality control), etc. Like many of these other systems, TQM
provides a framework for implementing effective quality and productivity initiatives that
can increase the profitability and competitiveness of organisations [36].
Competitive advantage: Allows a firm to gain an edge over rivals when competing.
Competitive advantage comes from a firm’s ability to perform activities more
distinctively or more effectively than rivals. The key to formulating and implementing
an effective strategy that builds competitive advantage depends on the firm’s attention
to a core set of the following six strategic ingredients: vision, value creation, planning
and administration, global awareness, managing stakeholders and leveraging
technology. The application of Total Quality Management brings forth all-round
benefits and makes the organisation more competitive. In the new business
environment marked by demolition of barriers and free flow of information and
products, organisations retain their competitive advantage by reducing prices,
improving existing products and innovating new products. TQM is a business strategy
that allows organisations to achieve all this and much more. Total Quality
Management demolishes the myth that increased quality results in increased costs
and decreased productivity. TQM proves that quality is actually the key to decreased
costs, and better productivity and positions quality as a critical component of strategic
business advantage [37].
2.6. Relationship between Quality management and Total Quality
Management
Quality management is an organisation-wide approach to understanding precisely
what customers need and consistently delivering accurate solutions within budget, on
time and with the minimum loss to society [38]. The act of overseeing all activities and
tasks needed to maintain a desired level of excellence. This includes creating and
implementing quality planning and assurance, as well as quality control and quality
improvement. It is also referred to as total quality management (TQM).
29
There are eight principles of quality management [38]:
Customer-focused organisation – since organisations depend on their
customers, they should understand current and future customer needs, meet
customer requirements and strive to exceed customer expectations.
Leadership - leaders establish unity of purpose, direction and the internal
environment of the organisation. They create the environment in which people
can become fully involved in achieving the organisation’s objectives.
Involvement of people - people at all levels is the essence of an organisation
and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organisation’s
benefit.
Process approach - a desired result is achieved more efficiently when related
resources and activities are managed as a process.
System approach to management - identifying, understanding and managing
a system of interrelated processes for a given objective contributes to the
effectiveness and efficiency of the organisation.
Continual improvement - continual improvement is a permanent objective of
an organisation.
Factual approach to decision making - effective decisions is based on the
logical and intuitive analysis of data and information.
Mutually beneficial supplier relationships - mutually beneficial relationships
between the organisation and its suppliers enhance the ability of both
organisations to create value.
The main principles that underlie TQM may be summarised as follows [39].
Prevention: It is better than cure. In the long run, it is cheaper to stop product defects
than trying to find them [39].
Zero Defects: The ultimate aim is have no (zero) defects- or exceptionally low
defect levels if a product or service is complicated.
Getting things right first time: Better not to produce at all than produce
something defective.
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Quality involves everyone: Quality is not just the concern of the production or
operation department. It involves everyone including marketing, finance and
human resources departments.
Continuous Improvement: Businesses should always be looking for ways to
improve processes to assist quality.
Employee Involvement: Those involved in production and operation have a
vital role to play in spotting improvement opportunities for quality and in
identifying quality problems.
The quality management is all about quality control to meet the specification of the
product or service and also involve quality planning which is about planning the
system in consideration to benchmark the standards and systems [39]. Lastly quality
improvement is obtained through taking corrective and preventive measures at regular
interval [39].
TQM is about management strategy planning at top management level with due
commitment to achieve systematic planning, organising, control, directing and
assurance. Total quality does not only cover the quality of products, but it also
concentrates on the needs and cost of quality of customers, employees, supplier,
owner, and partners, while also taking market trends and changes into consideration
through benchmarking [39].
2.7. Overcoming barriers to quality improvement
Barriers to quality may appear in various shapes and forms. In general, they involve
poor human resource department organisation and deployment [40]. So to implement
a quality approach, management must create ways for employees to buy into
corporate goals by genuinely having a part of the action. Some of the stages of
overcoming quality barriers are as follows:
Show what is expected: Every member of the organisation must understand
what is expected of them and what requirements must be met for success.
Many employees are insecure because of uncertainty about what is expected of
them. The mandate of management is to define these expectations and involve
employees.
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People Involvement: People involved in the decision making process take
more responsibility for finding and implementing solutions. A team process will
enable individuals to positively contribute to the long-term success of a
business and overcome these barriers.
Take a long-term approach: the organisation should have a five year plan for
implementing a quality improvement process (SPC or ISO 9000). In this way, it
will achieve excellent results and a magnificent growth-rate sooner than later.
Start small: In the beginning the quality improvement journey starts small.
Organisation should begin quality processes one department at a time and aim
for small improvements.
Focus on Teamwork: while it may be relatively easy to form a group, building
a team may be more tedious as teams need training on team work, functions,
dynamics and processes.
Train thoroughly: because training is an important and specific management
responsibility, the manager’s role is to identify training needs and provide
customised training solutions geared towards the desired results. Training can
then be said to be critical to the organisation’s survival.
Communicate: to function optimally within the organisation, employees,
customers and suppliers should be provided with the right information at the
right time. Improving communication is one of the most important ways to
overcome barriers.
Encourage employees: The manager’s role should be that of an encourager
instead of that of a nay-sayer. The manager’s role is to be involved with people
and encourage those actively involved in quality improvement.
Use problem-solving processes: It is possible to overcome barriers such as
treating symptoms and focusing on quick fix solutions by requiring teams to
work through a logical problem-solving process. Problem solving teams could
be very effective if they are properly trained and equipped in a specific method.
Tools such as Pareto analysis, cause–effect and flowcharts may help teams
focus attention on root causes instead of on treating symptoms.
Try different approaches: Organisations should try various quality
improvement approaches. When one approach fails, new ones should be tried.
The focus should be on following thr right procedures to overcome barriers.
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2.8. Quality Improvement and Implementation of Kaizen and TQM
2.8.1. Quality Improvement
There are many methods for quality improvement. These cover product improvement,
process improvement and people based improvement. The following are methods of
quality management and techniques that incorporate and drive quality improvement
[41]:
ISO 9000— guidelines for performance improvement.
Kaizen — Japanese for change for the better; the common English term is
continuous improvement.
Six Sigma — 6σ, Six Sigma combines established methods such as statistical
process control, design of experiments and failure mode and effects analysis
(FMEA) in an overall framework.
PDCA — plan, do, check, act cycle for quality control purposes. (Six Sigma's
DMAIC method (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) may be viewed as
a particular implementation of this.)
Quality circle — a group (people oriented) approach to improvement.
TQM — total quality management is a management strategy aimed at
embedding awareness of quality in all organisational processes. First promoted
in Japan with the Deming prize, it was adopted and adapted in USA as the
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and in Europe as the European
Foundation for Quality Management award (each with their own variations).
Deming 14 points plays important role in quality improvement.
BPR — business process reengineering, a management approach aiming at
'clean slate' improvements (That is, ignoring existing practices).
The implementation of a flourishing quality program all through an organisation is not a
straightforward activity [42]. Many organisations consider quality as the accountability
of one department. The only time they significantly get concerned in quality issues is
during the auditing process, particularly if it is an external audit conducted by the
certifying body [40]. The other difficulty might be caused by the requirement of a
clearly distinct quality strategy related to the whole organisation strategy. Procedures
33
and Policies should be clearly communicated and always available for employees.
Employees have to be involved in the implementation so that they can start striving to
achieve set objectives and goals. They will also do this knowing that their contribution
is highly appreciated.
Deming developed fourteen points [43] for management for quality improvement
which can be summarised as follows:
Create a plan; publish the aims and purposes of the organisation
Learn and adopt the new philosophy of quality
Understand the purpose of inspection, stop depending on inspection
Stop awarding business based on price alone
Improve the system constantly
Institute training
Teach and institute leadership
Drive out fear, create trust and create a climate for innovation
Break down barriers between departments
Eliminate slogans and exhortations
Eliminate work standards
Give people pride in their job
Institute education and a self-improvement programme
Put everyone to work to accomplish it
These Deming fourteen points eliminate his seven deadly diseases. His cycle (PDCA)
equally improves quality. Management and employees in the organization should be
committed to continuous quality improvement. Training is the heart of quality
improvement [43].
2.8.2. Implementation of Kaizen
Kaizen insists that quality improvement must be exercised by organisations that are
seriously committed to continuous improvement. It is very important and advisable for
process owners to be involved in the implementation of the kaizen strategy in the
organization organisation because this assists people in the organisation to contribute
fresh ideas in order to improve their processes. The involvement of process owners
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are imperative and their experience could never be substituted. The continuous cycle
of kaizen activity has seven phases [44], namely;
Identify an opportunity
Analyse the process
Develop an optimal solution
Implement the solution
Study the results
Standardise the solution
Plan for the future
Kaizen events assemble a group of process owners and managers to plan an existing
process and recognise improvements that are within the range of the participants.
Kaizen is concerned with the improvement of product and service quality, working
environment, with cutting down on delivery period, improving morale and training of
employees to perform better [44]. For the organisation to be able to implement Kaizen
to improve its operation, there must be clearly defined measures or instruments that
prescribe how the current performance is, what the shortcomings are and what can be
done to prevail over those shortcomings [44].
Choudhury [44] further explains that the implementation of Kaizen occurs in three
stages in any organisation:
Encourage Participation - Awareness training sessions for all employees are
necessary. To further encourage employees’ involvement, promote specific
Kaizen activities and consider distributing monetary or tangible benefits after
solutions from Kaizen activities are implemented.
Training and Education - Focused training of associates is required for
understanding what is and what is not: the essence of kaizen. The team leaders
and employees should be trained to understand Kaizen in an organisational
vision context, which needs to be followed thoroughly in order to achieve
desired business goals and objectives.
Quality Level Improvement - After the training stage is completed,
practitioners should continue to focus on long-term implication, widespread
application, alignment with organisational objectives and goals and planning
35
objectives. The management should structure a centre department to carry out
Kaizen evaluation and utilisation, and application and implementation.
2.8.3. Implementation of TQM
TQM has been coined to describe a philosophy that makes quality the driving force
behind leadership, design, planning and improvement initiatives [45]. To be successful
in implementing TQM, an organisations must concentrate on the following eight key
elements:
Figure 2: Eight Elements of Total Quality Management [51]
Ethics – Ethics is the discipline concerned with good and bad in a situation, as
is the case of organisational and individual ethics. Organisational ethics
establish a business code of ethics that outlines guidelines that all employees
should adhere to in the performance of their work while individual ethics
include personal rights or wrongs [51].
Integrity - It implies honesty, morals, values, fairness and adherence to the
facts and sincerity. Duplicity is often seen as the opposite of integrity : TQM will
not work in an atmosphere of duplicity [51].
Trust - It is a by-product of integrity and ethical conduct, without trust the
framework of TQM cannot be built. Trust is essential to ensure customer
satisfaction. It builds the cooperative environment essential for TQM. It allows
36
empowerment that encourages pride ownership and encourages commitment
and full participation of all members of the organisation [51].
Training - It is very important for employees to be highly productive. They
should be trained to become more effective employees for the company.
Supervisors are solely responsible for implementing TQM and teaching their
employees the philosophies of TQM within their departments. Training that
employees require are interpersonal skills, ability to function within teams,
problem solving, decision making, technical skills, business economics, job
management performance analysis and improvement [51].
Teamwork-The use of teams makes business successful. The business will
receive quicker and better integrated solutions to problems. Teams also provide
more permanent improvements in processes and operations. There are mainly
three types of teams that TQM organisations adopt [51]:
=>Quality improvement teams (QITs) - These are temporary teams with
the purpose of dealing with specific problems that often recur. These teams
are set up for period of three to twelve months.
=>Problem solving teams (PSTs) - These are temporary teams to solve
certain problems and identify and overcome causes of problems and
generally set up for a period of one week to three months.
=>Natural work teams (NWTs) - These teams consist of small groups of
skilled workers who share tasks and responsibilities and use concepts such
as employee involvement teams, self-managing teams and quality circles
and generally work for one to two hours a week.
Leadership – Leadership is possibly the most important element in TQM.
Leadership in TQM requires the manager to provide an inspiring vision, take
strategic directions that are understood by all and instil values that guide
subordinates. For TQM to be successful in the business, supervisors must be
committed to leading their employees, understanding the daily practices of
TQM and believing in it, while demonstrating their belief [51].
Communication - It binds everything together and means a common
understanding of ideas between the sender and the receiver. The success of
TQM demands communication with and among all the organisation members,
suppliers and customers [51].
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Recognition - Employees strive to receive recognition for themselves and their
teams. As people are recognised, there can be huge changes in self-esteem,
productivity, quality and the amount of effort exerted to the task at hand.
Detecting and recognising contributors is the most important job of a supervisor
[51].
These eight elements are key in ensuring the success of TQM in an organisation and
that the supervisor is a huge part in developing these elements in the work place,
without these elements the business entities cannot be successful TQM implementers
[51]. It is very clear from the above discussion that TQM without involving integrity,
ethics and trust would be a great remiss. Training is the key by which the organisation
creates a TQM environment [46].
Leadership and teamwork go hand in hand. Lack of communication between
departments, supervisors and employees create a burden on the whole TQM process.
Recognition should be given to people who contribute to the overall completed task.
Organisations should train employees to provide a quality product. They should create
an environment where there is no fear to share knowledge and give credit where credit
is due: this is the motto of a successful TQM organisation [46].
Although various authorititative voices in total quality management emphasise
divergent techniques and use different terminology, all share three common principles:
quality, teamwork and process improvement. In implementing TQM, Joseph Jablonski
identified three characteristics: participative management, continuous process
improvement and utilisations of teams.
Participative management is the opposite of the hierarchical management style of the
early twentieth century businesses [47]. It involves all employees in the management
process and decision making by having managers set policies and make key
decisions based upon advice and ideas of subordinates. Continuous process
improvement is one of Deming’s major ideas and involves small steps toward the
ultimate goal. Teamwork refers to workers in cross-functional teams that share in
problem solving [47].
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Joseph Jablonski [46] went on to list six attributes necessary for success: customer
focus, process focus, prevention verses inspection, employee empowerment and
compensation, fact-based decision making and receptiveness to feedback. TQM
emphasises a decentralised structure to encourage leadership and creativity. In the
1980s many U.S companies implemented total quality management systems in order
to be competitive in the global market place. Success leads them to be interested in
hiring managers and engineers with some TQM training [46].
There are factors that appear to influence the eventual success of performance
improvement programmes, including TQM. These are as follows [52];
A quality strategy: It necessary to provide the goals and guidelines which help
to keep TQM programme heading in a direction which is appropriate for the
organisation’s other strategic aims.
Top management support: If in organisations, senior managers do not
understand and do not show commitment to the programme, it is only
understandable that others will ask why they should do so.
A steering group: Its task is to plan the implementation of the programme. The
group is responsible for monitoring the programme and making sure that all the
learning and experience, accumulated as the programme progresses, is not
lost.
Group-based improvement: No one can really know a process quite like the
people who operate it. The staffs who work in the operation are often the ones
who know best how things really work. They have unlimited access to all
information networks.
Success is recognised: Any TQM implementation needs to consider how it
should respond to the efforts of the improvement teams. Recognising success
formally stresses the importance of the quality improvement process as well as
rewarding effort and initiative.
Training is the heart of quality improvement: It is no coincidence that so
many successful programmes have a training manager as one of their prime
movers. The purpose of the techniques is solely to work towards the basic
objective - the elimination of errors.
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2.9. The Knowledge of TQM Tools
This knowledge of TQM tools also positively contributes to the effectiveness of the
TQM program in an organisation. To put these tools in perspective, they are used to
improve quality in projects, products and processes of different organisations. Some
quality management tools may help identify problems or processes and provide a way
of analyzing negativity or ineffectiveness [48]. Others are utilised to prioritise, while
some other ones simply list causes and effects of specific elements in a project or
process that may affect outcomes.
The TQM techniques, tools and systems that impact organisations positively are as
follows:
SPC: as the first TQM tool, it is a statistical method through which managers
can control the production or the service delivery process, in order to make
shifts in an attempt to improve it [49]. Its basic objective is to reduce variation,
which is inherent in many processes.
ISO 9000 Series: Perhaps the most popular quality improvement system, it is
an international set of documents widely known as standards written by a
worldwide organisation known as ISO/Technical Committee 176 [49]. This set
of standards ensures that a company has a specific quality improvement policy,
which makes it more competitive in the market.
Pareto Analysis: It is a tool through which the management team can eliminate
problems that occur in the operation processes [50]. According to Dale [51], it
is an extremely useful tool for considering a large volume of data in a
manageable form.
The fourth technique is the Matrix Diagram. This is a tool that allows
managers to identify, analyse and rate the relationship between two or more
variables [52]. It creates a platform for them to think in terms of relationships,
their strengths and patterns [52].
40
Histograms: These are also useful TQM tools. They graphically demonstrate
the relative number of occurrences of a wide range of events [50]. The most
important causes are shown on the diagram and corrective actions are
undertaken.
Tree Decision Diagram: Known as the systematic diagram method, it is a tool
through which someone can arrange targets, problems or customer’s needs in
a specific order [50].
Critical Path Analysis: Associated with managing projects, this tool is related
to TQM because project management is critical to the implementation of quality
programs within an organisation. It seeks to establish, through the use of a
network of arrows or nodes, a logical order of activities in terms of time and
importance for the completion of a project [50].
Fishbone or Ishakawa Diagram: Considered as one of the classic TQM tools,
this final technique is used to identify the causes of a problem without using
statistical methods and serves as an excellent reminder for the things that have
to be done [49].
Managers should be familiar with and be able to use TQM tools and techniques as this
will eventually contribute to the success of organisations.
2.10. Concepts for an Effective TQM Programme in an Organisation
When an organisation truly wants to create a positive work environment that is based
on high-trust, exceptional customer service, collaborative teamwork, operational
excellence and creative problem solving, then the leadership team must begin with
understanding, investing in and being responsive to the needs of the group that
represents the organisations’ most valuable assets, one of its most important
customers, the employees [53]. The return on such nominal investment will come in
the form of higher levels of employee motivation, creativity, productivity, and
commitment that will move the organisation forward with greater probability [53]. A
fundamental TQM precept is that employees must be involved and empowered. The
41
following concepts positively contribute to the effectiveness of TQM programme in an
organisation [53]:
2.10.1. Employee Involvement and Empowerment
Employee Involvement (EI) is a process for empowering employees to participate in
managerial decision making and improvement activities appropriate to their levels in
the organisation. It also means that every employee is regarded as a unique human
being, not just a cog in a machine, and that each employee is involved in helping the
organisations meet its goals. Each employee’s input is solicited and valued by his/her
management. Management and employees agree that each employee has a role to
play in running the business. EI in general is a set of techno-structural interventions
such as total quality management, quality circles, and high involvement organisations.
The four elements including power, information, knowledge and skills and rewards,
contribute directly to EI success. The aim and objectives of EI in any organisation are:
To enhance participation in workplace decision,
To improve productivity of the organisation,
To improve workplace communication and coordination among employees and
departments in the organisation,
To increase employee motivation,
To help increase member’s flexibility, commitment and satisfaction,
To results in productive employees,
To help retain talented and knowledgeable workers, and
To improve quality of work life.
Employee Empowerment (EE) means that all employees feel that they have
responsibility and authority to participate in decision making and problem solving in
their appropriate operating levels. It is evident that a whole company of skilled and
capable problem solvers will have a distinct competitive advantage over an
organisation with only a few key contributors and an army of drones [54]. It also
means that the authority given by management to act independently to meet
expectations and develop a human connection with the decision making process
sustains improvements through the TQM program [54].
42
Organisations that employ empowerment also applaud successful and unsuccessful
risk taking behaviours of employees. Some firms consider that failure is a learning
experience and more is learnt by failing than by doing nothing. In empowered
organisations employees are urged to find ways to boost productivity [55]. There are
managers who ask employees to question ridiculous rules and find new ways of doing
things and then allow them to implement the new ways [56]. The reasons why
empowerment has become so important are:
Globalisation means increased competition, which in turn requires more
innovation.
Increased competition has forced businesses to become more productive than
ever before [57]
Jack Stack [58] C.E.O of Springfield Remanufacturing Corporation has used this
concept of empowerment. He found that when people are put in charge of achieving a
goal, they generally reached it. He decided to tell the lowest level employees
everything about the business. He explained the organisation goals and how he
wanted to achieve them to all employees. Then he asked his employees not to tell
anyone. In other words, he trusted them. This trust paid off handsomely with an
increase in the level of productivity. Stack believes that providing the information was
the key to this increase in productivity as information is the key to empowering
employees [58]. This case study presents a strong point for any company to explore
the route as a means of competitive advantage or in some cases to ensure survival.
Employee involvement and empowerment is a worldwide applicable technique, a long
term commitment, a new way of doing business and a fundamental change in culture.
Employees who have been trained, empowered and recognised for their
achievements see their jobs and their companies from a different perspective. In order
to implement employee involvement and empowerment to an enterprise the following
key actions need to take place:
Giving employees the responsibility,
Training employee to accept responsibility,
Communicating and giving feedback,
Giving rewards and recognition.
43
Employee involvement and empowerment approaches aim at enhancing
responsibility, increasing authority and making jobs challenging and interesting to
employees, based on their abilities and on the needs of the organisation. The return
on such nominal investments will come in the form of higher levels of employee
motivation, creativity, productivity and commitment. Companies are choosing to
empower people because it makes good business sense. Employees on self-directed
work teams perform all tasks formerly done by managers. Across the world
organisations are looking for the best approach to the demands for higher quality, the
pressure of increasing global competition, the necessity to be more efficient and
productive and the effects of rapid change.
2.10.2. Leadership
According Randall [60] leaders are individuals who establish direction for a working
group of individuals, who gain commitment from these group members to this
direction, and who then motivate these members to achieve the direction‘s outcomes.
Robert [61] describes leadership as the process of inspiring others to work hard to
accomplish important tasks.
The function of the leader is to achieve the task set for him with the assistance of his
group. The leader and his group are therefore interdependent. The leader has three
main roles he/she has to fulfil [62] namely:
Task needs: The group exists to achieve a common purpose. The leaders’ role
is to ensure that common purpose is fulfilled; so as not to lose the essence of
confidence of the group which would result in frustration, disenchantment,
criticism and possibly in the ultimate disintegration of the group
Group maintenance needs: To achieve its objectives and goals the group
needs to be held together. The leaders’ mandate is to promote and maintain
team spirit and morale.
Individual needs: Individuals have their own needs, which they expect to be
satisfied at work. The leaders’ task is to be aware of these needs so that where
44
necessary he can take steps to harmonise them with the needs of the task at
hand and those of the group.
Analysing the qualities of leadership in terms of intelligence, initiative, self-assurance
and so on have limited value. The qualities required are different approach under
different situations. It is more useful to adopt a contingency approach and take
account of the variables to be dealt with [63]
In an extract from a survey [64] carried out on 15000 managers world-wide
investigating what these people consider the most important traits of leaders. The top
ten traits are outlined below in table 1:
Table 1: Top Ten Traits of Effective Leaders [64]
Traits % Relevance
Honest 87
Forward Looking 71
Inspiring 68
Competent 58
Fair minded 49
Supportive 46
Broad minded 41
Intelligent 38
Straight forward 34
This is in line with observations made by Decker [64] that men are emotional
creatures and allow themselves to be governed by these emotions. From this, it is
quite clear that, for an organisation to change, the leader has to foster this change
using his people. He needs to have a vision of where they want to be and focus on
using the people’s trust and communication in order to get there. Leadership plays an
important part in any process of the organisation improvement.
45
2.10.3. Benchmarking
Applied to an organisation, benchmarking is a powerful management technique that
can help improve an organisation’s environmental performance on a number of
dimensions. It is not a cookbook solution but a systematic process of searching for the
organisation that is the best at a given process (best-in-class), innovative ideas and
continually adopting or adapting new processes to accelerate improvement. As a
continual process including planning, analysis, integration, action and maturity phases,
benchmarking should be integrated into the planning stage of the management
system. Once processes are strategically identified, they can be improved within the
company’s Total Quality Management program. Many benefits such as teamwork and
job satisfaction accompany benchmarking, but the greatest companywide advantage
is its competitiveness.
While focusing on quality improvement, an organisation should always try to improve
so that it can be the best in their business. One of the tools that are used to ensure
that one is on top of their game is benchmarking. Zairi [65] Explains the term
benchmarking as originally used by early land surveyors, who used the term to identify
a fixed point from which all other measurements are made.
It is important to use benchmarking as a toll to improve the standard of quality in an
organisation, as it brings with it numerous advantages such as [66]:
It brings out the newness and innovative ways of managing operations,
It is an effective team building tool,
It has increased general awareness of costs and performance of products and
services in relation to those of competitor organisations,
It brings together all the divisions and helps to develop a common front for
facing competition,
It highlights the importance of employee involvement and, as such, encourages
recognition of individual/team efforts.
2.10.4. Just In Time (JIT)
46
This concept is simple and involves only producing and delivering goods just in time to
be sold. The JIT ideal is for all material to be in active use as elements of work in
process, never at rest and therefore adding cost to the final product as stock [67]. This
concept is known as micro JIT as the focus of macro JIT is the customer, through the
employee’s efforts for continuous improvement.
JIT is defined as follows “JIT aims to meet demand instantaneously, with perfect
quality and no waste” or “JIT is a disciplined approach to improving overall productivity
and eliminate waste [68]. It provides for the cost-effective production and delivery of
the necessary quantity of parts at the right quality, at the right time and place, while
using the minimum facilities, equipment, materials and human resources”. The main
advantage of JIT is the reduction of inventory and waste.
2.10.5. Continuous Improvement
One of the requirements of business survival is the continuous quality improvement of
both their products and service. The seven quality tools can help organisations to
improve their businesses. Failure to continually improve their processes, service and
product quality will at some point result in the demise of their livelihood [66]. There are
always organisations out there trying to compete with other organisations by being
cheaper, quicker, better or more reliable. Sooner or later they will take over their
competitors’ businesses if these do not improve their processes. This is why
continuous quality improvement is so important to businesses.
It is necessary for any organisation to re-energise and refocus on continuous
improvement. To be and remain competitive, continuous improvement has to be
entrenched in the philosophy of the organisation. Management, supervisors, and
employees should be encouraged to measure and improve quality [69].
2.11. Total Quality Management benefits
it is important to stress that any business would derive benefit from improving its
quality. The key benefits of improved quality are [70]:
47
Improved image and reputation, which should result in
Higher demand, which may in turn mean
Greater production volumes (possibly providing better economies of scale)
Lower unit costs because of less waste and rejected output
Fewer customer complaints (and more satisfied customers)
Potentially higher selling prices (less need to discount)
The major thrust of TQM is to achieve productivity and process efficiency by
identifying and eliminating problems in work process systems. It also addresses key
problems such as mistakes in work processes, redundant processes, unnecessary
tasks and duplicate efforts [70]. TQM interventions also help with predicting and pre-
empting such mistakes and unproductive activities. Improving process efficiency
brings about many benefits to the organisations in terms of costs and time [71].
TQM and Customer Satisfaction
A major long-term benefit of TQM is related to customer satisfaction [70]. TQM aims at
improving quality and identifying the best measures of quality corresponding to
customer expectations in terms of service, product and experience. Some examples of
the application of TQM to improve customer satisfaction include:
Reduction of waiting time by changing the method of appointment scheduling or
client handling,
Making changes to the delivery process so that the product reaches the
customer faster,
Better quality products requiring no repairs improving customer loyalty.
TQM and Organisational Development
One of the major benefits of TQM is the improvement in organisational development.
TQM heralds a change in the work culture by educating all employees on quality and
making quality the concern of everybody, not just the quality control department [72].
The focus on quality leads to a proactive work culture aimed at preventing mistakes
rather than correcting mistakes. TQM’s focus on teamwork leads to the formation of
48
cross-departmental teams and cross-functional knowledge sharing groups. Such
interventions lead to many benefits such as [70]:
Improvement in the communication skills of individual employees and in the
overall organisational communication,
Knowledge sharing, resulting in deepening and broadening of knowledge and
skill-set of teams members and the making of a learning organisation,
Flexibility of the organisation in deploying personnel, contributing to ‘rightsizing’
and ensuring cost competitiveness.
TQM and Human Resources
Another benefit of TQM is that TQM promotes the concept of internal
customer/supplier satisfaction. For instance, the HR department considers employees
as internal customers and processes their queries or requests within the specified time
limit. Application of TQM in an organisation brings about the following benefits to the
HR of an organisation [70]:
TQM extends the ownership of the business process to each employee
involved in the process by empowering them to rectify mistakes on the spot
without supervisory review or action.
TQM’s thrust of eliminating mistakes and improving productivity contributes to
the attainment of targets faster. The resultant free time allows employees to
enhance their knowledge and apply their creativity to improve existing products
and develop new products.
TQM’s thrust of quality leads to identifying skill-deficiencies in employees and
providing training and other interventions to bridge such deficiencies. Cross-
functional and cross-departmental teams allow employees to share their
experience and solve issues jointly, leading to benefits such as broadening
skill-sets and improvement of existing skills.
TQM’s focus on eliminating mistakes and bringing about process efficiency
heralds a direct approach such as counselling and other remedial actions to
solve issues such as absenteeism
49
The enhanced productivity emerging from TQM translates into better profits for
the organisation and consequently better wages.
2.12. Summary
TQM can be seen as being an extension of the traditional approach to quality-
inspection based quality control to be replaced by the concept of quality assurance
which in turn has been superseded by TQM. TQM puts customers at the forefront of
quality decision making. Customer’s needs and expectations are always considered
first in measuring achieved quality. It takes an organisation-wide perspective and it
holds that all parts of the organisations have the potential to make a positive
contribution to quality. Central to this idea is the concepts of the internal customer-
supplier chain. TQM places emphasis on the role and responsibilities of every member
of staff within an organisation to influence quality. It encourages the idea of
empowering individuals to improve their own part of the operation.
As for the role of ISO 9000 in TQM, ISO 9000 and its associated family of standards
are concerned with the processes and procedures that support quality. These are
intended to assure purchasers of the product and services that they have been
produced in a way which meets customers’ expectations. It was adapted in 2000 to
answer the criticism of being over bureaucratic and inflexible. It is found that
implementing ISO 9000 alone does not contribute much to quality improvement, while
the combination of TQM and ISO 9000 contributes the most.
Regarding the main implementation issues in TQM initiatives, a number of factors
appear to be influential in ensuring the success of TQM, including the existence of a
fully developed quality strategy, top management’s support, a steering group to guide
the initiative and group-based improvements.
Quality awards and models contribute towards TQM by providing a focused structure
for organisations to assess their own quality management and improvement efforts. A
number of organisations have attempted to encourage TQM by awarding of prizes and
certificates. The best known of these is probably the EFQM (Business) Excellence
50
Model. This is based on a nine-point model which distinguishes between the enablers
of quality and the results of quality. It is often now used as a self-certification model.
This chapter was a literature review focusing on total quality management. The next
chapter discusses the research methodology for the dissertation.
51
CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction
The research design is both qualitative and quantitative in nature. The primary data
was collected by means of a structured questionnaire, interviews, surveys and
observations with people within ASSA ABLOY (SA) Pty (Ltd). The secondary data was
collected from library sources and information provided by organisation. The
questionnaires were emailed and faxed to the participants in the research after
telephonically confirming with them. The questionnaires were divided into three areas:
firstly the information about the respondent, secondly the information about the
manufacturer and thirdly the different quality techniques and technique frequency of
usage and technique value adding to the manufacturering business. This method of
research looks with intense accuracy at the phenomena of the moment and then
describes precisely what the researcher sees.
The sampling frame used included all staff exposed to TQM(s) at PTD. Sampling
techniques were used to ensure that the sample was representative and could be
utilised to make generalisations about the entire population [73]. As Leedy [74] so
aptly put it “No matter how good the gathering of information is, the survey cannot be
accurate if the people in the sample are improperly selected.
The interviews were conducted either face to face or telephonically with staff involved
in Total Quality Management (TQM) within ASSA ABLOY. In order to ensure a high
response rate, a covering letters was sent to each respondent explaining why the
research was carried out and emphasising the fact that they could remain anonymous.
The questions asked were also kept very simple and the participants would be offered
access to the survey results should they so wish.
52
3.2. The Questionnaire Design
Questionnaires were used as the instrument for this study. Questionnaires seemed to
be easy option as a way of collecting information from employees. This research took
great care to ensure that the questions were properly structured, focused and asked in
a manner that makes them easy to understand. . This study utilised closed ended
questions in order to facilitate the management of the data and encourage
participation in the research. The questions required participants to simply tick the
relevant boxes. The questions, which were also coded for ease of analysis, provided
the respondent with a choice to make a selection on the 5 point-linkert scale, where 1 -
“Very dissatisfied”, 2-“Dissatisfied”, 3-“neutral or unsure”, 4-“Satisfied” and 5-“Very
satisfied”.
A questionnaire was sent out to sixty employees utilising a stratified random sampling
technique. The sampling frame consisted of all employees at PTD who had been
exposed to this journey. Some respondents completed the questionnaires between 20
to 24 minutes. According to Owen [50] a response rate of 80% can be achieved, if the
respondents’ co-operation is secured, if the idea can be put over that the survey is of
great importance to him personally, and if the questionnaire is short and simple. In
light of the above, the actual response received exceeded expectations.
The questionnaire was engineered to address issues on the following topics related to
Total Quality Management (TQM):
Management and Employee Involvement
Quality department’s role
TQM culture
Programme(TQM) training
Quality continuous improvement
these issues were selected in order to verify the contribution of TQM from the
employees’ point view.
53
3.3. Data Collection
The data was collected through the questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on
the twenty-five questions divided into five, with each group of questions addressing a
specific topic. The questionnaires were emailed and faxed to the participants after
telephonically confirming with them. The significance of the survey and its purpose
were explained to them to get their co-operation. The aim of this survey was to obtain
the respondents’ opinions and responses in order to compile an effective report and
to understand their situation.
The questions asked revolved around the process that ASSA ABLOY (SA) had
followed in putting together the TQM programme.
3.4 Secondary Data
Secondary data was collected from within the organisation. The two main sources
were the ASSA ABLOY (SA) library facilities and the ASSA ABLOY (SA) files and
records. This data was needed to compare the journey from the TPD to the techniques
that have been identified in the literature review.
3.5. Population
The population used included the ASSA ABLOY (SA) workforce. There are close to a
hundred and fifty employees but the questionnaires were distributed to one hundred
employees at different parts of the plant.
3.6. Sampling techniques
Wenger [75] describes sampling as the method to select a representative observation
from population. There are two basic methods of sampling, namely non-probability and
probability sampling. Convenient sampling was utilised to gather responses from a
possible fifty responses. The respondents were sometimes difficult to track down and
have them return the completed questionnaire. This was due to the fact that they work
in shifts and and the fact that the researcher is not based in one branch.
54
The main motive for utilising convenient sampling was that most of the lower level
employees were a bit wary to answer the questionnaire because they seemed not to
be sure as to where their responses would end up, despite the assurances of
confidentiality.
3.7. Administration of questionnaires
One hundred questionnaires were distributed to the employees at different parts of the
plant. The employee position ranged from junior management downwards. Out of the
questions issued, ninety five were returned and five of them were not utilised due to
them having less than five answered questions out the ninety on the questionnaire.
3.8. Data Analysis
Data analysis aims to identify any emerging patterns or trends that can be isolated to
establish themes in the data. The interpretation focuses on drawing conclusions and
formulating recommendations. The study utilised the histogram statistical tool to
analyse the data presented and the results of the survey were coded in excel and
analysed. The questions were analysed per cluster, resulting in five groups with each
group having five questions.
This chapter has explained the methods used to obtain the results. The next chapter
presents the findings of the research
55
CHAPTER 4
RESEARCH FINDINGS
4.1. Introduction
This Chapter presents a descriptive analysis of the survey questionnaires data
obtained from the respondents. The gathered responses are indicated in the bar chart
below for ease of reference. The questionnaires are utilised as a main tool of
quantitative and qualitative data collection. This analysis was based on ninety
questionnaires which were completed by the employees and plant managers of
different plants. There was only one problem during the collection of the
questionnaires: some of the employees did not return the questionnaires on the date
indicated on the questionnaire cover letter. The questionnaires explore the level of
satisfaction of employees in relation to their quality involvement, training, quality
culture, quality department role and commitment towards quality continuous
improvement.
4.2. Findings
The first 5 questions of the questionnaires as listed in table 2 were designed to gather
information on employee and management involvement in quality management.
Table 2: Question 1 – 5: Employees and Management Involvement
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
1). Employees’ knowledge and understanding of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the organisation.
3 5 7 48 27
2). Top management is committed to Total Quality Management (TQM). 4 9 3 54 20
3. Management quality objectives are disseminated to all employees. 16 38 12 14 16
4). Employees and management are involved 22 37 3 20 8
56
in quality decisions and efforts.
5). Managers encourage dynamic team working. 11 8 11 44 16
The respondents are required to rank the level of satisfaction when answering the
statements on a five-point summated scale (1 for very dissatisfied, 2 for dissatisfied, 3
for unsure, 4 for satisfied and 5 for very satisfied).
Figure 3: Employees and Management Involvement
The Table 2 above is a summary of the five questions categorized to investigate the
level on satisfaction for employee and management involvement.
3 5
7 48
27
4 9
3
54 20
16
38
12
14 16
22
37
3 20
8
11
8
11 44
16
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
1 2 3 4 5
5). Managers encourage dynamic team working.
4). Employees and management are involved in quality decisions and efforts.
3. Management quality objectives are disseminated to all employees.
2). Top management are committed to Total Quality Management (TQM).
1). Employees’ knowledge and understanding of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the organization.
57
From figure 3 above, 3% are very dissatisfied and nearly 6% are dissatisfied with
employees and management involvement. 8% of respondents were unsure, 53% of
respondents were satisfied while 30% were very satisfied. An overall 83% of the
respondents indicated that employees have knowledge and understanding of total
quality management, and only 9% indicated that they were not satisfied with the
knowledge and understanding of total quality management.
60% of the respondents were satisfied while approximately 22% of respondents were
very satisfied with the commitment of top management to TQM. It is only 4% of
respondents who were very dissatisfied, and only 10% of respondents were
dissatisfied with the commitment of top management. An insignificant 3% were not
sure whether top management was committed to TQM.
An overall of 60% of the respondents are not happy with the distribution of quality
objectives within the organisation, and only 28% of the respondents are happy with
the distribution of quality objectives. Disturbingly 12% of respondents were unsure
whether the information was shared within the organisation.
Approximately 66% of employees stated that management does not involve
employees in quality decisions making and initiatives, while 31 % said employees are
involved. Only 3% are not sure if employees are involved in quality decisions.
49 % of respondents stated that management encouraged dynamic team work, while
12% are very dissatisfied, 9 %dissatisfied, and 18% very satisfied with the way
dynamic team work is encouraged.
The overall picture of the category is that 12% are very dissatisfied, 22% are
dissatisfied, 8% are not sure, 40% are satisfied, and 19% are very satisfied with
employees and management involvement.
The questions listed in Table 3, undertaken as part of this survey for this dissertation,
highlighted the role of quality department.
58
Table 3: Question 6– 10: Quality Department Role
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
6). Top management accepts responsibility for quality and is evaluated based on quality performance by Quality department. 2 1 3 48 36
7). Employees know what the quality department wants to attain in the current year. 7 12 3 45 22
8). Employees are evaluated based on their quality performance and their contributions to quality are recognized and rewarded. 22 19 11 28 10
9). Total quality management will assist the company’s survival in the future. 3 2 7 40 38
10). Set goals and production targets are discussed with employees after they have been decided upon. 2 8 0 50 30
When looking at the quality department, 40% of respondents were satisfied and
strongly satisfied respectively with the manner in which management accept the
responsibility of quality within the company. Approximately 3% of the respondents
were not sure if management accepts responsibility of quality or not. Significantly 2%
of respondents were not happy about management responsibility in matters pertaining
to quality.
59
Figure 4: Quality Department Role
From figure 4, 2% of respondents were very dissatisfied with the knowledge of what
the quality department wants to achieve on the current year while only 3% of
respondents were not sure what the quality department wanted to achieve.
Furthermore, 74% of respondents were happy and they attested their knowledge of
what the quality department wants to achieve in the current year. The literature
supports the statement that employees do not check the quality goals of the company.
45% of respondents said they are not evaluated based on their quality contribution
while only 42% of respondents said they were happy being evaluated based on their
quality performance.
13% of respondents were not sure. Although 3% of respondents cited “strongly
dissatisfied,” 2% “dissatisfied” and 8% cited “unsure” if total quality management will
2 1 3
48 36 7 12 3
45 22
22 19 11 28
10
3
2 7
40 38
2 8
0
50 30
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
1 2 3 4 5
10). Set goals and production targets are discussed with employees after they have been decidedupon.
9). Total quality management will assist the company’s survival in the future.
8). Employees are evaluated based on their quality performance and their contributions toquality are recognized and rewarded.
7). Employees know what the quality department wants to attain in the current year.
6). Top management accepts responsibility for quality and is evaluated based on qualityperformance by Quality department.
60
assist the company’s survival in the future. 44% cited “satisfied” and 42% cited
“strongly satisfied” in terms of TQM assisting the company to survive in the future.
Furthermore, 11% of respondents indicated that set goals and production targets are
not discussed with them, while 89% indicated that set goals and production targets are
discussed with them after they have been decided upon.
Table 4: Question 11– 15: Quality (TQM) Culture
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
11). There is an effort to collect quality data and is available for employees and managers. 11 9 8 42 20
12). Employees understand the impact of poor quality on the profit margins of the organisation. 8 8 12 55 7
13). Employees understand the reason why audits are conducted and also understand the quality policy of the organisation. 1 2 0 60 27
14). Employees know who their internal and external customer are and understand the impact of supplying bad quality to their customers. 7 4 4 44 31
15). High quality products and customer service are top priority in the organisation and this is well communicated to all the employees. 14 13 3 40 20
The questions listed in table 4 above highlight the role of quality culture. Conclusively,
approximately 9% of employees on the survey cited “strongly disagree’ with the quality
culture within the organisation. While only 8% cited “disagree” with the quality culture.
However, 6% cited “unsure” meaning they were not familiar with the quality culture of
the organisation.
61
Furthermore, 54% of respondents cited “satisfied” with the quality culture of the
organisation. Impressively, 23% of the respondents cited “strongly” satisfied with the
quality culture of the organisation.
Figure 5: Quality (TQM) Culture
11 9 8
42 20
8 8
12
55
7
1 2
0
60
27
7 4
4
44
31
14 13
3 40 20
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
1 2 3 4 5
15). High quality products and customer service are top priority in the organization and this is wellcommunicated to all the employees.
14). Employees know who their internal and external customer are and understand the impact ofsupplying bad quality to their customers.
13). Employees understand the reason why audits are conducted and also understand the qualitypolicy of the organization.
12). Employees understand the impact of poor quality on the profit margins of the organization.
11). There is an effort to collect quality data and is available for employees and managers.
62
Table 5: Question 16– 20: Programme (TQM) Training
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
16). There is training on quality management for managers and employees. 22 25 2 21 20
17). The organisation provides suppliers training and technical assistance. 23 24 4 23 16
18). The training that is offered assists employees in improving on their job performance and gaining quality awareness. 10 15 15 20 30
19). TQM is now seen to introduce an important competitive edge through organisational transformation. 5 15 10 38 22
20). Without an effective training and education strategy, TQM will almost inevitably fail. 10 11 3 50 26
The questions listed in table 5 were undertaken as part of the survey to assess the
programme (TQM) training within the organisation.
63
Figure 6: Programme (TQM) Training
From figure 6 above, 24% of respondents cited “very dissatisfied” while 27% cited
“dissatisfied” on training for TQM. This implies that 52% of respondents were not
happy with the TQM training.
Furthermore, 23% were satisfied with the TQM training; 22% were very happy about
the TQM training, while 52% of the respondents were not satisfied with the TQM
training which the organisation was providing to the suppliers. 5% cited “strongly
disagree” that TQM was important for competitive edge. 42% cited “agree” that TQM
was important for competitive edge.
22 25
2 21 20
23
24
4
23 16
10
15
15 20
30
5 15
10
38
22
10 11 3
50 26
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
1 2 3 4 5
20). Without an effective training and education strategy, TQM will almost inevitably fail.
19). TQM is now seen to introduce an important competitive edge through organizationaltransformation.
18). The training that is offered assists employees in improving on their job performance and gainingquality awareness.
17). The organization provides suppliers training and technical assistance.
16). There is training on quality management for managers and employees.
64
27% of respondents said the training they get does not assist in improving quality.
55% said the training is helpful in improving the job performance.
Without an effective training and education strategy, TQM will fail. 11% cited
“disagree,” 3% cited “unsure,” 55% cited satisfied and 29% cited “strongly disagree.”
Table 6: Question 21– 25: Quality (TQM) Continuous Improvement
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
21). It is significant for employees and customers to be involved in quality continuous improvement projects. 14 11 6 38 21
22). Quality continuous improvement can only be achieved through the training and development of the people within the organisation. 4 5 1 58 22
23). Quality data are utilized for improvement. 1 18 11 22 38
24). Employees level of education should be known by the training department so that training planned should be relevant to the level of education. 2 3 1 66 18
25). Continuous improvement tool will help an organisation to enhance their training. 1 1 0 70 18
16% and 12% did not agree that it was significant for employees and customers to be
involved in continuous quality improvement culture. 7% were not sure whether to
involve themselves in quality improvement or not would make a difference.
65
Figure 7: Quality (TQM) Continuous Improvement
42% and 23%, or 65% of respondents in total believe that it is significant for
employees and customers to be involved in quality continuous improvement. 89% of
respondents believe that quality continuous improvement can only be achieved
through training and development of people within the organisation.
21% of respondents said the quality data was not utilised for improvements while 12%
were not sure if the data was used for improvement.
67% of respondents said the quality data were utilised for improvements. 93% of
respondents said employee level of education should be taken into consideration
when designing training.
14
11 6
38 21
4
5 1
58 22
1
18 11
22
38
2 3
1
66
18
1 1 0
70 18
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Very dissatisfied Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
1 2 3 4 525). Continuous improvement tool will help an organization to enhance their training.
24). Employees level of education should be known by the training department so that trainingplanned should be relevant to the level of education.
23). Quality data are utilized for improvement.
22). Quality continuous improvement can only be achieved through the training anddevelopment of the people within the organization.
21). It is significant for employees and customers to be involved in quality continuousimprovement projects.
66
Only a collective 2% did not agree that continuous improvement tools would help an
organisation to enhance training while 98% said continuous improvement tools would
help enhance their training.
67
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1. Conclusion
The Total Quality Management (TQM) journey that ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) was
undertaken proved to be successful as can be seen from the results obtained. A number of
interesting quality development processes or initiatives were adopted and integrated in the
course of this journey and no bolt on or single stroke solutions were permitted. This eliminates
confusion and aligns all initiatives into a single focused quality strategy.
There is no doubt that the journey was made difficult due to cultural diversity, low levels of
education and skills. The socio economic environment at ASSA ABLOY (SA) PTY (LTD) was
conducive to this endeavor and as each new initiative was adopted, continuous learning
occurred resulting in the refinement and integration of that initiative.
It was found that the organisation fails to communicate accurately what they are trying to
complete and how this process would benefit each employee. They assume that employees
already know, whereas, in many cases the labour force does not know or understand the long-
term goals and benefits, fundamentals that need to be shared with everyone early in the
training process. Once these goals are fully explained, then the tangible training can start.
training should aim to address issues related to the employees’ needs of training and skills
development. For example, all health, safety training and quality training should be based on
Quality Management System. This will positively contribute to the employees’ understanding of
the Quality Management System (QMS). Besides ensuring that employees understand the
concept of QMS, training should be well structured in such a manner that it addresses the
following:
Training to gain quality awareness: This is training aimed at defining quality and the
process of quality improvement, the quality history, customer satisfaction, the costs and
benefits, to name but a few.
68
Training to support quality improvement skills: This includes training in communication
skills, leadership, team building, conducting effective meetings and time management,
and others.
Training to acquire quality improvement skills: This is directed towards teaching
employees and managers the tools utilised in improving processes. This includes
training in how to utilise the seven statistical quality tools, i.e. Flow-chart, Pareto charts,
cause and effect diagrams, histograms, scatter diagrams, run charts and check sheets.
All employees should be trained so that they can properly operate the machinery and
equipment. After the training stage is completed, practitioners should continue to focus on long-
term implication, widespread application, alignment with organisational objectives and planning
objectives. Management should form a core department to carry out Kaizen evaluations and
implementation. The application, utilisation and implementation of TQM improves productivity
and increases profit margins, while building an effective competitive edge and playing important
part in poor quality cost reduction for an organisation.
Training is the key through which the organisation creates a TQM environment. The lack of
communication between departments, supervisors and employees creates a burden on the
whole TQM process. Recognition should be given to people who contributed to the overall
completed task. Hence, management should lead by example, train employees to provide a
quality product, create an environment where there is no fear to share knowledge, and give
credit where credit is due. TQM in its broadest sense is about empowering people to take
control of the quality of the goods and services they produce.
The manufacturing industry in SA has a long way to go, but at least ASSA ABLOY (SA) has
embarked on this journey with what seems like a workable solution incorporating an on-going
continuous learning, improvement and integration.
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5.2. Recommendations
There are a number of relevant recommendations required to make this journey. These
recommendations have been gleaned from the literature, from being an active participant in this
journey from inception to the survey undertaken at ASSA ABLOY (SA). These
recommendations are outlined below:
There is a need for strong visible action from the top management. The leader needs to
create the awareness to change, provide the vision and the means and then drive the
process.
Audits should be done to continuously monitor and measure the progress.
Quality department should outline their quality goals and objectives to employees.
Management should involve employees in their decisions and indicates what is expected
of them.
A learning organisation culture has to be encouraged where people experience freedom
to learn.
Procedures and policies must be aligned with the TQM process.
Management and employees must commit to continuous improvement.
The application, utilisation of TQM will improve productivity and increases profit and
reduce the cost of poor quality.
The implementation of TQM should be approached by way of continuous improvement
cycle.
Plant and process analysis sessions make a huge impact in improving
availability(uptime), process control(quality) and performance measurement(elimination
of waste and contaminated products).To get this process to work properly management
must commit the resources to enable weeklong sessions.
Management and quality department should conduct quality training programmes more
often and also teach their employees more about customer satisfaction.
Employees must be recognised and rewarded.
The effective use of TQM will assist companies in obtaining maximum return on
investment.
70
The utilisation of seven quality tools helps organisations to improve quality in projects,
products, and processes. Some quality management tools help identify problems or
processes and provide a way to analyse negativity or ineffectiveness.
The establishment of an effective quality department with a quality manager who will be
responsible for the planning and implementation of TQM. A further extension of the
quality department should be the formation of quality circles where groups of workers
doing similar work meet on regular basis.
The roles and responsibilities of employees must be aligned with the organisation and its
processes.
The quality management principles are preliminary point for company’s management
striving for continuous efficiency improvement in long term and customer satisfaction.
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CHAPTER 7
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78
APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRES MOTIVATION LETTER
Flat 304
45-Oriellystreet
Berea 2198
13 August 2012
Dear Respondent
I am Baloyi Themba Amukelani and I am currently doing Masters in engineering management
at the University of Johannesburg. I am undertaking a research project to find out how total
quality management is applied, utilised and implemented in South African manufacturing
industry in order to increase profitability without compromising quality in general.
The ultimate aim of the research is to assist ASSA ABLOY (SA) management to identify the
areas that require improvements and provision of quality, as it is important for ASSA ABLOY
(SA) management to deliver quality and better services in order to meet customer satisfaction. I
kindly request your participation and honesty with completing the following short questionnaires
regarding total quality management practices in your company. Your response is of the utmost
important to the success of this study and involvement is highly appreciated. Please be advised
that the information that you provide is confidential and will not be disclosed to anyone by the
researcher at any stage.
Kindly return the completed questionnaire to your Manager on or before 30 September
2012.Summary results of this research will be available and should you require them, contact
me. Any queries or comments regarding this survey, you are welcome to contact me
telephonically at 079 740 7980/ 011 559 6987 or e-mail me at [email protected]
Yours sincerely
Baloyi Themba Amukelani
079 740 7980/ 011 5596987
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APPENDIX 2: RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRES
Please select the number that is suitable for your own opinion concerning any question or
statement below:
Section A: Management and Employee Involvement
This section consists of five questions with each question addressing the level of management
and employee involvement in quality related matters. Utilizing the scale provided, please
indicate your level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction for each attribute by ticking or marking the
appropriate block with (X) or (√).
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
1). Employees’ knowledge and understanding of Total Quality Management (TQM) in the organisation.
2). Top management is committed to Total Quality Management (TQM).
3. Management quality objectives are disseminated to all employees.
4). Employees and management are involved in quality decisions and efforts.
5). Managers encourage dynamic team working.
Section B: Quality (TQM) Department’s Role
This section consists of five questions with each question addressing the function played by the
quality department. Utilizing the scale provided, please indicate your level of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction for each attribute by ticking or marking the appropriate block with (X) or (√).
80
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
6). Top management accepts responsibility for quality and is evaluated based on quality performance by Quality department.
7). Employees know what the quality department wants to attain in the current year.
8). Employees are evaluated based on their quality performance and their contributions to quality are recognized and rewarded.
9). Total quality management will assist the company’s survival in the future.
10). Set goals and production targets are discussed with employees after they have been decided upon.
Section C: Quality (TQM) Culture
This section consists of five questions with each question addressing the level of quality culture
in the organisation. Utilizing the scale provided, please indicate your level of satisfaction or
dissatisfaction for each attribute by ticking or marking the appropriate block with (X) or (√).
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
11). There is an effort to collect quality data
81
and is available for employees and managers.
12). Employees understand the impact of poor quality on the profit margins of the organisation.
13). Employees understand the reason why audits are conducted and also understand the quality policy of the organisation.
14). Employees know who their internal and external customer are and understand the impact of supplying bad quality to their customers.
15). High quality products and customer service are top priority in the organisation and this is well communicated to all the employees.
Section D: Programme (TQM) Training
This section consists of five questions with each question addressing the level of training on
quality (TQM) at present. Utilizing the scale provided, please indicate your level of satisfaction
or dissatisfaction for each attribute by ticking or marking the appropriate block with (X) or (√).
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied
Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
16). There is training on quality management for
82
managers and employees.
17). The organisation provides suppliers training and technical assistance.
18). The training that is offered assists employees in improving on their job performance and gaining quality awareness.
19). TQM is now seen to introduce an important competitive edge through organisational transformation.
20). Without an effective training and education strategy, TQM will almost inevitably fail.
Section E: Quality Continuous Improvement
This section consists of five questions with each question addressing the level of commitment
of management towards quality continuous improvement. Utilizing the scale provided, please
indicate your level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction for each attribute by ticking or marking the
appropriate block with (X) or (√).
Extent to which you are satisfied
How satisfied or dissatisfied are you with:
1 2 3 4 5
Very dissatisfied
Dissatisfied Unsure Satisfied Very satisfied
21). It is significant for employees and customers to be
83
involved in quality continuous improvement projects.
22). Quality continuous improvement can only be achieved through the training and development of the people within the organisation.
23). Quality data are utilized for improvement.
24). Employees level of education should be known by the training department so that training planned should be relevant to the level of education.
25). Continuous improvement tool will help an organisation to enhance their training.