A Process Approach

in
Quality Management
 Quality Management

• Quality management is the act of overseeing

all activities and tasks needed to maintain a
desired level of excellence.
• This includes the determination of a quality
policy, creating and implementing quality
planning and assurance, and quality control
and quality improvement.
The Quality Management Principles
 Process Approach - Statement

Consistent and predictable results are achieved

more effectively and efficiently when activities
are understood and managed as interrelated
processes that function as a coherent system.
(iso.org)
 The Process Approach

• All work is a process.

• The application of a system of processes within an
organization, together with the identification and
interactions of these processes, and their management to
produce the desired outcome, can be referred to as the
‘process approach’. (Ref. ISO 9001:2008).
Relationship Between Processes and Quality (1)

• Variables of work as a process:

A series of actions, tools and equipment that we use, energy and
materials we consume, information we need, decisions we make
from the beginning to the end.
• The progression of work until completion is a process: it has a
beginning and an end.
• A process begins with an event or when we receive the command
or reach a date and ends when we are satisfied with the resultant
output (product or service).
• The product or service will possess certain features or
characteristics, some of them needed, some of them not needed.
• The process we use determines these features or characteristics.
Relationship Between Processes and Quality (2)

• If one manages processes effectively they will consistently

and continually produce outputs of the desired quality.
• Quality does not happen by chance, it has to be designed
into a product or service and any amount of inspection will
not change its quality.
• It is therefore within the process from conception to final
delivery that holds the most potential for creating products
or services of the utmost quality.
Relationship Between Processes and Quality (3)

• When we have control over all the variables that influence

the quality of the output, we can guarantee the quality of
the product or service.
• Some of the variables have a greater influence on output
quality than others and although we may not be able to
control all the variables all the time, we should aim to
control those variables which have greatest impact so that
customer satisfaction is assured.
• In some industries these variables are called Critical to
Quality characteristics (CTQs).
 Function Approach vs. Process Approach (1)

• Most organizations are structured into functions that are

collections of specialists performing tasks.
• Each function competes for scarce resources and completes
a part of what is needed to deliver products to customers.
• This approach to work came out of the industrial revolution
influenced firstly by Adam Smith and later by Frederick
Winslow Taylor, Henry Fayol and others.
 Function Approach vs. Process Approach (2)

• Drucker defined a function as a collection of activities that

make a common and unique contribution to the purpose
and mission of the business.
• In some cases the function is carried out by a single
department and in other cases it is split among several
departments.
• The organization chart may in fact not define functions at all
but a collection of departments that provide a mixture of
contributions.
• The combined expertise of all these departments is needed
to fulfill a customer’s requirement.
 Function Approach vs. Process Approach (3)

• The functional structure has proved to be very successful

primarily because it develops core competences and hence
attracts individuals who want to have a career in a particular
discipline.
• But because work is always executed as a process it passes
through a variety of functions before the desired results are
achieved.
• This causes bottlenecks, conflicts and sub-optimization.
• A functional approach tends to create gaps between
functions and does not optimize overall performance.
 Function Approach vs. Process Approach (4)

• Business outputs are generated by the combined efforts of

all departments so processes tend to be cross-functional.
• There will be transactions that flow back and forth between
departments.
• The organization structure shows that functional outputs are
indeed different from process outputs and obviously make
an important contribution.
• But it is the output from business processes that is
important to the business.
 Function Approach vs. Process Approach (5)

• By positioning the Business Process at the top level

we are changing the way work is managed, instead
of managing results by the contributions made by
separate functions and departments, we manage
the process which delivers the results regardless of
which function or departments does the work.
• The functions/departments still have a role in the
organization of work.
 Function Approach vs. Process Approach (6)

• Work can be organized in three ways: by stages in a

process; by moving work to where the skill or tool is
located; or assembling a multi skilled team and
moving it to where the work is.
• In all of these cases we can still manage the work as
a process or as a function.
• It comes down to what we declare as the
objectives, how these were derived and how we
intend to measure performance.
 The Nature of Processes (1)

• Juran’s definition of a process:

A systematic series of actions directed to the
achievement of a goal.
• Hammer’s definition of a process:
A collection of activities that takes one or more kinds
of inputs and creates an output that is of value to the
customer.
• Davenport’s definition of a process:
A structured measured set of activities designed to
produce a specified output for a particular customer
or market.
 The Nature of Processes (2)

Processes versus procedures:

• The procedural approach is about doing a task,
conforming to the rules, doing what we are told
to do.
• The process approach is about, understanding
needs, finding the best way of fulfilling these
needs, checking whether the needs are being
satisfied and in the best way and checking
whether our understanding of these needs
remains valid.
 The Nature of Processes (3)
Procedures
Procedures are driven by completion of the task
Procedures are implemented
Procedures steps are completed by different people
in different departments with different objectives
Procedures are discontinuous
Procedures focus on satisfying the rules
Procedures define the sequence of steps to execute a
task
Procedures are used by people to carry out a task
Procedures exist, they are static
Procedures only cause people to take actions and
decisions
Procedures prescribe actions to be taken
Procedures identify the tasks to be carried out
Processes
Processes are driven by achievement of a desired
outcome
Processes are operated
Process stages are completed by different people
with the same objectives – departments do not
matter
Processes flow to conclusion
Processes focus on satisfying the customer
Processes generate results through use of resources
Processes use people to achieve an objective
Processes behave, they are dynamic
Processes make things to happen, regardless of
people following procedures
Processes function through the actions and decisions
that are taken
Processes select the procedures to be followed
 The Nature of Processes (4)
Business Processes:
• Processes are producing outputs as evidence that stakeholders’ needs
are being met.
• Processes that are processing these outputs are called macro-processes.
• Processes are multi-functional in nature consisting of numerous micro-
processes.
• Macro-processes deliver business outputs and are commonly referred to
as Business Processes.
• For processes to be classed as business processes they need to be in a
chain of processes having the same stakeholder at each end of the chain.
• The input is an input to business and the output is an output from the
business.
 The Nature of Processes (5)

What affects our ability to deliver the business process

outputs?
• Critical activities which are micro-processes that deliver
outputs upon which delivery of the business output
depends.
• These micro-processes deliver departmental outputs and are
task oriented. These are referred to as Work Processes.
• A management system is not just a collection of work
processes, but also the interaction of business processes.
 The Nature of Processes (6)
Relationship of Business Process to Work Processes
Scope Business process Work process

Relationship to organization Unrelated Closely related

hierarchy
Ownership of process No natural owner Departmental head or supervisor

Level of attention Executive level Supervisory or operator level

Relationship to business goals Directly related Indirectly related and sometimes

Responsibility Multi-functional
Customers Generally external or other
business processes
Suppliers Generally external or other
business processes
Measures Quality, cost delivery
(incorrectly) unrelated
Invariably single function (but not
exclusively)
Other departments or personnel
in same department
Other departments or personnel
in same department
Errors, quantities, response time

Units of measure Customer satisfaction, % Defective, % Sales cancelled,

shareholder value, cycle time % Throughput
 The Nature of Processes (7)

Business Process Stakeholders

Business process Input stakeholder (inputs) Output stakeholder (outputs)

Mission management Investors, owners (vision) Investors, owners (mission
accomplished)
Demand creation Customer (need) Customers (demand)
Demand fulfillment Customer (demand) Customer (demand satisfied)
Resource management Resource user (resource need) Resource user (resource satisfies
need)
 The Nature of Processes (8)

Process Models:

Inputs Outputs
PROCESS

Simple process model

Material Non-conforming product

PROCESS

Unwanted process outputs

The Nature of Processes (9)

Controls

Inputs Outputs
PROCESS

Resources

BS 7850 process model

 ISO 9000 process model
Input
Requirements Specified
(Including resources)

Monitoring and Interrelated or interacting

Measuring activities and control methods

Output
Requirements Satisfied
(Result of a process)

EFFECTIVENESS EFFICIENCY OF
OF PROCESS = PROCESS =
Ability to achieve Results achieved
desired results vs resources used
 Process Management Principles

• Consistency of purpose
• Clarity of purpose
• Connectivity with objectives
• Competence and capability
• Certainty of results
• Conformity to best practice
• Clear line of sight
• Using the principles
 Process Characteristics (1)

Process name:
Processes can be named using the verb-focused convention or the
noun –focused convention.

Purpose:
Every process needs a purpose for it to add value. The purpose
provides a reason for its existence. Process analysis begins by
defining the results to be achieved.
The purpose statement should be expressed in terms of what the
process does and in doing so identify what if anything is to be
converted or transformed.
 Process Characteristics (2)
Outputs
The outputs of a process are considered to be the direct effects produced by a
process. They are tangible and intangible results.
The principal process outputs will be the same as the process objectives. The
output is not simply product but conforming product thus indicating its quality.
The outputs from business processes should be the same as the business
outputs.

Outcomes
Outcomes are the indirect effects of a process upon a stakeholder. Satisfaction
of either customers or employees is an outcome not an output.
However, processes are designed to deliver outputs because the outputs are
measured before they emerge from the process, whereas, outcomes arise long
after the process has delivered its outputs and therefore cannot be used to
control process performance.
Outcomes are controlled by process designed.
 Process Characteristics (3)

Objectives:
As the objective of any process is to deliver the required results, it follows
that we can discover the process objectives from an analysis of its required
outputs.

Measures (1):
Measures are the characteristics used to judge performance. They are the
characteristics that need to be controlled in order that an objective will be
achieved. Juran refers to these as the control subjects.
There are two types of measures: stakeholder measures and process
measures.
 Process Characteristics (4)

Measures (2):
Stakeholder measures respond to the question: “What measures will the
stakeholders use to reveal whether their needs and expectations have been
met?”. Some call these key performance indicators.

Process measures respond to the question: “What measures will reveal

whether the process objectives have been met?

There are also output driven measures and input driven measures.
Measures defined in verbs are more likely to be input driven. Those defined
by nouns are more likely to be output driven.

The word ‘measures’ does have different meanings. It can also refer to
activities being undertaken to implement a policy or objective.
Process measures need to be derived from stakeholder measures.
 Process Characteristics (5)

Targets:
• A target value is needed to judge whether a measurement data is good or
bad.
• The target needs to be related to what is being measured which is why
the targets are set only after determining the measurement method.
• Setting targets without any idea of the capability of the process is futile.
• A realistic method for setting targets is to monitor what the process
currently achieves, observe the variation, then set a target that lies
outside the upper and lower limits of variation.
• There is clearly no point in setting a target well above current
performance unless we are prepared to redesign the whole process.
• However, performance measurement should be iterative.
 Process Characteristics (6)

Inputs:
• There are different types of process inputs.
• Demand is an input into the planning stage of the process whereas
materials that need to be transformed would be an input into the doing
stage of the process.

Activators:
• Processes need to be activated in order to produce results. The activator
or trigger can be event based, time based, or input based.
• The concept of process activators enables us to see more clearly how
processes operate and better understand the realities of process
management.
 Process Characteristics (7)

Hierarchy:
There is a hierarchy of processes from the business processes to individual
operations .
 Process Characteristics (8)

Activities:
Process activities are the actions and decisions that collectively
deliver the process outputs.
They include all the activities in the PDCA cycle.

Process flow:
• Sequential flow
• Parallel flow
• Feedback loops
 Process Characteristics (9)

Preventive measures:
• The potential for failure of one sort or another is always present
due to variation and uncertainty.
• In order that a process delivers conforming output every time, it is
necessary to build protection into the process.
• A process has to be examined to establish what provisions are
currently in place to prevent, control or reduce the risk of failure.
• When performing a risk assessment, the failure modes should be
realistic. They should be based on experience of what has
happened.
 Process Characteristics (10)

Resources:
The resources in a process are the supplies that can be drawn on when
needed by the process.
Resources are classified into human, physical and financial resources. We
can also include information and knowledge as a resource.
Time is also a resource that can be planned, acquired and used but it is
being used continually whether the process runs or not unlike other
resources.
The resources for a process will be those needed to achieve the process
objectives and therefore must include not only the physical resources and
number of people but also the capability of the physical resources and the
competence of the people including their behaviors.
 Process Characteristics (11)
Responsibilities:
• The number of competence of the people engaged in a process are
human resource matters. Where these resources are located and who is
responsible for developing and providing them are organizational
matters.
• The questions of who undertakes which activity and who makes which
decision are important ones in making things happen. Unless
responsibilities for the actions have been assigned and authority for
decisions delegated nothing will happen.

Constraints:
The constraints on a process are the things that limits its freedom.
Legislation, policies, procedures, codes of practices etc. all constrain how
activities are carried out.
 Process Characteristics (12)

Results:
• Results comprise outcomes and outputs and impact on
stakeholders either directly or indirectly.
• The results of a process arise out of measuring performance using
the planned methods for the defined measures, at the planned
frequency and against the planned targets.
• One would expect the results to be presented as graphs, charts,
and figures. These might show performance to be improving,
declining or remaining unchanged relative to a particular process
parameter.
 Process Characteristics (13)

Reviews:
There are three dimensions of process performance that can be
expressed by three questions:
• How are we doing against the plan?
• Are we doing it in the best way?
• How do we know it’s the right thing to do?

Process capability:
A process is capable of producing rubbish as it is of producing the
required outputs. It is all a matter of how well it is designed and
managed.
 Process Effectiveness

• The ISO 9000 process model defines Process Effectiveness as

an ability to achieve desired results.
• Process effectiveness is not simply delivering required
outputs but that the outputs delivered the desired outcomes.
• Employees are but one of the stakeholders and customers are
the most important but although an output may be of good
quality to its producers, it may not be a product that satisfies
customers.
• There is only one measure of process effectiveness – that the
process outcomes satisfy all stakeholders.