MNO3703/201/1/2021

Tutorial letter 201/1/2021

June/July
Total Quality Management
MNO3703

Semester 1

Department of Operations Management

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:
This tutorial letter contains important information
about your module.

CONTENTS

Open Rubric
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Page

1. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................. 3
2. FEEDBACK TO Assignment 01 (Semester 1) ................................................................ 4
3. FEEDBACK to Assignment 02 (Semester 1) .............................................................. 10
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1. INTRODUCTION
Dear Student
We trust you are still enjoying the programme and by the time you receive this tutorial letter,
most of you will probably be busy with the last self-assessment (Assignments 03).

The primary purpose of this tutorial letter is to give feedback and core guidelines on the first
two assignments (Assignment 01 and 02).

We encourage students to assess themselves on their performance in this assignment against

the feedback provided in this tutorial letter. Please note that Assignment 01 & 02 are
compulsory and will contribute to your year mark, as per the details provided in your Tutorial
Letter 101.

The completion of all three of the MNO3703 assignments is very important for examination
preparation purposes. Please note that assignments which you must evaluate yourself should
not be submitted.
The study material is an integrated package. Do not merely study the prescribed book. Your
study guide can be regarded as your “lecturer” – please follow the guide (with additional
activities and examples) as it guides you through the module’s study units with very specific
learning outcomes.
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2. FEEDBACK TO Assignment 01 (Semester 1)

SEMESTER 1 June-July

ASSIGNMENT 01 (Compulsory)

Due date: 15 May 2021

Unique number: 846115

867599

Assignment 01 for MNO3703 consists of 20 multiple-choice questions, which cover topic 1

(study units 1 to 3), topic 2 (study units 4 to 6) and topic 3 (study units 7 to 9).

Answer all of the following questions. Please select only one of the options 1, 2, 3, 4
or 5. Each correct answer is allocated one mark. No negative marking is applied.

1) The pace of technological change has quickened to lightning speed. How has this
impacted on customers and competition? (Chapter 1) pg 3

1. Customers are more tolerant, and competition are more diligent.

2. Customers have become more demanding and competition has become
more intense and sophisticated.
3. Customers are more vulnerable, and competition has become more relaxed.
4. Customers prefer more standard products with more loyalty than supporting the
competition.
5. Customers are more focused on costs while the competition prefer higher quality
for survival.

2) Which one of the following statements is a reference to conformance to design?

(Chapter 1) pg 11
1. Facilitates communication and shares best-practice information.
2. Conformance to design Is a process of transformation and a set of inputs into
outputs to satisfy customers needs and expectations.
3. Provides adequate communication and information for decision-making.
4. What the customer receives should conform to the design.
5. Ensures all specifications are adhered to when the product is produced.
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3) What is the key to a total quality performance in eradicating the demanding

nuisance/ idiot view of customers? (Chapter unit 1) pg 14

1. Better design and development processes

2. Customer focus and quality planning.
3. Better implementation and control processes internally.
4. Excellent communication between customers and suppliers.
5. Improved supplier interaction with research and development.

4) Which one of the following relate to the major features of the total quality
management model? (Chapter 1) pg 22

1. Teams, systems, tools, communication, culture, commitment, process

customer and supplier.
2. Facilitate communication and sharing of best-practice information.
3. Understanding, managing performance, guiding, planning, policies and
procedures
4. Help improve employee motivation.
5. Develop new knowledge and skill in an organisation.

5) What is the main driver of the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Framework in
guiding the pursuit of quality performance and objectives? (Chapter 2) pg 25

1. Senior executive leadership creates values, goals and systems and guides
the sustained pursuit of quality and performance objectives.
2. Operations focus challenges current practices and processes.
3. Customer focus it improves the competitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of a
whole organisation.
4. Results it creates improved goals and practices for the organisation.
5. Work force focus it compares business practices with those of world-class
organisations.

6) Senior management must demonstrate they serious about quality and middle
management must grasp the principles of TQM. What must middle management
do to ensure their own commitment? (Chapter 3) pg 33

1. Identify the customer needs.

2. Assess the ability of the organisation to meet all the needs economically.
3. Review the quality management systems to maintain progress.
4. Explain to the people for whom they are responsible and ensure their own
commitment is communicated.
5. Concentrate on the “prevention rather than detection” of quality problems.
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7) What is the process of control? (Chapter 3) pg 37

1 It is the translation of the organisations philosophy.
2 It is the responsiveness of suppliers and operators
3 It is information or feedback provided to keep all functions on track
4 It is credibility given to operators
5 It has to do with customer courtesy

8) If effective leadership starts with the chief executive and his top team’s vision.
What will the organisation capatilise on? (Chapter 3) pg 40

1. Shareholders and foreign direct investment

2. Market or service opportunities which continues through a strategy that will
give the organisation a competitive advantage.
3. Strategies of purpose where the supply chain is focussed on better quality
products.
4. Generic strategies capatilising on production efficiency.
5. Manufacturing performance increasing customer focus throughout the
organisation.

9) If strategic planning is the continuous process by which any organisation describes

its destination and assess the barriers standing in the way of reaching that
destination. Who are the real contributors to a successful strategic plan? (Chapter
4) pg 67

1. Middle management
2. leadership
3. Shareholders
4. Customers
5. Participants

10) Which one of the following statements best describes strategic planning? (Chapter
4). Pg 67

1. Strategic planning ensure that appropriate resources are made available to map,
investigate and improve the process.
2. It projects customer needs to ensure customer satisfaction.
3. Strategic planning assists in selecting the process improvement team leader and
team members.
4. Strategic planning is the continuous process by which any organisation
describes its destination.
5. Strategic planning is a report progress to the senior management team.
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11) To support the effective operation of its processes. How should organisations plan
and manage their external partnerships? (Chapter 5) pg 72

1. Must incorporate a profound organisational culture.

2. Does include the mindset of all employees within the organisation.
3. Must be in line with its overall policies and strategies.
4. Guided by policy unity and strength.
5. Inherent communication of quality standards.

12) Some materials or services are usually purchased from outside organisations.
What is the primary objective of a purchasing or procurement function? (Chapter
5) pg 77

1. To provide flexibility, variation, appearance of material, and reasonable prices.

2. To obtain the correct equipment, materials and services in the right quantity,
from the right origin, at the right time and cost.
3. To employ people with the correct skills to operate equipment, understand
customer needs, be cost conscious and to be productive.
4. To enhance performsnce through trust, quality, innovation and to develop success
in product or service performance.
5. To communicate customer requirements effectively by developing products,
processes, and performance initiatives.

13) Kanban in Japan means visible record. What does it mean in the West? (Chapter
5) pg 81

1. Value added to products.

2. Materials accumulated to ensure buffering for unexpected demands.
3. Process flexibility to ensue customer orders are completed according to the
design.
4. A card that signals the need to deliver or produce more parts or
components.
5. Value-added to items with less effort.

14) If quality of design is far more than product or service design and its ability to
meet customer requirements? What is quality of design also about? (Chapter 6)
pg 93.

1. Identifying the need (including need for change)

2. Designing the control of the various stages
3. Developing that which satisfies the need
4. The activities of design and development
5. Ensuring the design satisfies the need
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15) To ensure good relationships and communication between various groups and
functional areas within the organisation and across the supply chain, how can
quality be built throughout the design process? (Chapter 6) pg 89

1. Participation between the designer and the supplier.

2. Commitment from the most senior management.
3. Applying tests at the suppliers’ outlet to ensure the design is applicable.
4. Ensuring the design parameters are in line with the product specification.
5. Re-calibrating the equipment to implement the design correctly.

16) As the human component is clearly of major importance. When key tests are used
what must they be? (Chapter 7) pg 122

1. Goal oriented, meet customer requirements, consistent and in control.

2. Process controlled, correct materials, correct specification and exceptional.
3. Innovative, process managed, quality specifified, customer expectancy.
4. Transparent, non-controversial, internally consistent, objective and
motivational.
5. Process relevant, customer informed, personal development and continuosly
reviewed.

17) Which of the following are four elements of a performance measurement

framework (PMF)? (Chapter 7) pg 137

1. Policy development, design, supplier performance and results.

2. Policy design, policy implementation, culture deployment and measurement.
3. Strategy development/ goal deployment, process management, individual
performance management and review.
4. Customer service development, risks definition, improvement and results.
5. Policy, procedures, analysis and review.

18) Which one of the following is the enabler criteria of the EFQM Excellence Model?
(Chapter 8) pg 157

1. Leadership, suppliers, customers, human resources, process applications, and

market reviews.
2. Leadership criteria, management feedback, customer service, impact reviews and
measurement.
3. Leadership, strategy, people, resources and partnerships and processes,
products and services.
4. Product application support, referrals, improvement plans, analysis and reviews.
5. Evironmental application, health and safety, quality reviews and improvement.
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19) What are the five stakeholders that should be embraced by the values of any
organisation? (Chapter 8) pg 165

1. Inbound logistics, operations, suppliers, quality control and outbound logistics.

2. Marketing, sales, human resources, shareholders and employees.
3. Revenue services, customers, storeman, foreman and suppliers.
4. Customers, employees, suppliers, stakeholders and community.
5. Suppliers, designers, shareholders, employers and customers.

20) What are the five stages of benchmarking? (Chapter 9) pg 183

1. Identify, collect, process improve and review

2. Plan, do, check, act and correct
3. Process, check, correct, act and review
4. Plan, collect, analyse, adapt and review
5. Process, correct, change, analyse and review
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3. FEEDBACK to Assignment 02 (Semester 1)

SEMESTER 1
ASSIGNMENT 02 (COMPULSORY)
DUE DATE: 30 June 2021
UNIQUE NUMBER: 843014
893161
Assignment 01 for MNO3703 consists of 20 multiple-choice questions, which
covers topic 4 (study units 10 to 15) and topic 5 (study units 16 to 17).

Answer all of the following questions. Please select only one of the options 1, 2, 3, 4
or 5. Each correct answer is allocated one mark. No negative marking is applied.

1) At a fundamental level performance improvement is about changing the way

organisations organisations create and deliver value to their customers. How is
this recocognised in the EFQM Excellence Model where processes are the central
criterion? (Chapter 10) pg 199

1. It is a host of different approaches used to improve performance.

2. It creates an environment of uncertainty.
3. It substantiates the interaction of people and technology.
4. It is a continuous process involving setup changes in production.
5. It links the enablers and the results together.

2) In the introduction of process management how is it driven directly or connected to

an initiative? (Chapter 10) pg 223

1. This strategic initative creates better market demand for standard products.
2. This strategic initiative builds better structures within the organisations processes.
3. It enables procurements to purchase materials more effectively.
4. This is a strategic initiative driven through Lean to increase customer
satisfaction and reduce working capital.
5. It creates an environment where people are motivated.

3) What are the main movements that influences process redesign? (Chapter 11) pg
226

1. New market demand and cost structures.

2. New product development and new projects.
3. Introducing new products and designs.
4. Lean production and process re-engineering.
5. New process implementation and new systems.
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4) Which of the following are two important requirements that a good quality
management system should meet? (Chapter 12) pg 245

1. Customer requirements and organisation requirements

2. Documentation and implementation
3. Process and control
4. Analysis and results
5. Management responsibility and product realisation

5) Organisations concerns are to achieve sound environmental performance by

undertaking environmental audits to review and assess their performance. How
can a structured management system be conducted to be effective for
environmental performance? (Chapter 12) pg 262

1. It is a process used to increase the flexibility and transparency of the organisations

environmental performance.
2. It increases the organisations customers, increase costs and reduce inventory due
to environmental concerns.
3. It is integrated with the overall management activities dealing with all the
aspects of environmental performance.
4. The design of the environmental structures increases work output and reduces
employee stress levels.
5. This is an influence over suppliers and customers and management affairs
through environmental performance.

6) Which one of the following are two approaches of a combination are desIgned to
achieve a solution to continuous improvement? (Chapter 13) pg 266

1. Process control management to improve processes and inventory control to

increase inventory.
2. Operations control to improve operations and floor management structures to
organise the shopfloor.
3. Lean approaches to eliminate non-value added time and Six Sigma
approaches are designed to reduce variation.

4. Design process control to to design systems and management control to manage

systems.

5. Remove all non-value activities to ensure higher productivity levels at lower costs.
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7) What process do organisations recognise at an early stage when making progress

implementing continuous improvement for the whole organisation? (Chapter 13)
pg 286

1. Process control charts

2. Process organisation design
3. Operational Process control
4. Process quality control
5. Statistical process control

8) The emphasis placed on lean was understanding the ’core value added
processes’ and stripping out all the non-value adding activities from those
processes. To ensure the processes run smoothly the supply and support
processes need to be designed to deliver continuous flow. How will this activity be
executed effectively (Chapter 15) pg 309

1. The activity is worked through a push system where inventory is set at levels for
customer demand levels of available stock levels, faster delivery and
replenishment processes that are efficient.
2. The activity is pulled through the system by customer demand, things get
done when required, so eliminating waste activity, unnecessary inventory
and time delays.
3. The activity links suppliers, inventory to operations and customer demand to
ensure all activities run smoothly.
4. The activity is a set of processes used to ensure cutomer demand is met without
compromising downtimes along the material flow lines.
5. The activity is used to develop new processes to ensure customer process control,
and management responsibility.

9) Kaizen blitz is not about planning, but about doing and keeping things simple.
Which one the following typically describes Kaizen Blitz? (Chapter 15) pg 319

1. Is a cross functional team used to identify additional resources and invest in more
equipment.
2. Is a cross functional team setout to maximise and increase the efficiency of
resources over a long term.
3. Is a cross functional team setout to to reduce the potential of competition.
4. Is a cross functional, multi level team of 6-12 members brought together to
focus on solving a specific problem in 3-5 days.
5. Is a cross functional team set out to reduce reject factors and increase productivity.
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10) Which one of the following best describes the key elements of the HR strategy
which is first identified by the HR director? (Chapter 16) pg 332

1. Skills, knowledge, competency, track record, experience, motivation, comittment

and techniques.
2. Discipline, knowledge and skills, communication, trade union involvement,
motivation and culture.
3. Skills alignment, communication, employee activation, knowledge profile and
capabilities and role play activities.
4. Skills, recruitment and selection, health and safety, appraisal, employee
benefits, remuneration and training.
5. Skills profile, cross-functionality, team work efforts, safety profile and
environmental care.

11) Which one of the following are three common initiatives successful organisations
place great store by? (Chapter 16) pg 339

1. Corporate employee suggestion schemes, company wide culture change

programmes and measurement of performance indicator’s KPI’s
2. Build communication among employees, create a common culture and promote
training and motivation.
3. Identify projects that need to be worked on, motivate people to work better and
establish new standards.
4. Mentor people, promote people, provide incentives
5. Create an environment of team work, build an organisational culture and increase
training and support.

12) Kaizen Teian is a Japanese system for generating and implementing employee
ideas. How is Kaizen Teian improvements best described? (Chapter 16) pg 348

1. As an end-to-end operating system.

2. Structures and teams used to document information systems.
3. Six Sigma used for system flexibility.
4. Are small-scale quick solutions in the workers own area which are easy and
quick to implement.
5. It is solutions provided to improve costs through management strategies.
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13) The unique feature about quality circles or Kaizen teams is that people are asked
to join and not told to do so. Which of the following are four elements in a circle
organisation? (Chapter 16) pg 349

1. Members, leaders, facilitators or co-ordinators and management.

2. Leaders, operators, assistants, cleaners and managers.
3. Process engineers, secretaries, senior management and operators.
4. Organisers, facilitators, administrators and general workers.
5. Office personnel, storeman, foreman and middle management.

14) Teamwork to support process management and improvement has several

components. It is driven by a strategy, needs a structure and must be implemented
thoughtfully and effectively. What does the strategy that drives the improvement
comprise of? (Chapter 17) pg 358

1. Values, processes and improvements

2. Vision and mission of the organisation, critical success factors, core process
framework
3. Leadership, resources and organisational results
4. Culture, organisational direction, and the core values that improve employee
performance.
5. Mission and vision, core values, objectives and future long-term plans

15) With regards to teamwork the preference types and their interpretation are
extremely powerful. Which of the following best describes the extrovert and the
introvert? (Chapter 17) pg 372

1. The extrovert communicates a lot and prefers to explore while the introvert is
comfortable being secluded.
2. The extrovert is outgoing, while the introvert remains stagnant.
3. The extrovert is adventurous, and the introvert is meticulous.
4. The extrovert communicates all the time, while the introvert is silent and engrossed
in work internally.
5. The extrovert prefers action and the outer world, and the introvert prefers
ideas and the inner world.
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16) If total qualty management significantly changes the way many organisations
operate and do business. What changes will be required? (Chapter 18) pg 386

1. This change requires the planning, organising and implementation of strategies

developed by top management.
2. This change requires direct and clear communication from top management
to all staff and employees.
3. This change requires top management to develop effective strategies to take the
organisation forward.
4. This change requires a cultural change within the organisation to promote
successful results.
5. This change will require the reduction of conflict amongst top management and
employees.

17) Total quality training material and support will be of real value only if employees
are motivated to respond positively to them. Which of the following are two mutually
supporting aspects to base the implementation strategy on? (Chapter 18) pg 389

1. Marketing any communication initiatives and avoiding resistance to change in a

conflict environment.
2. Marketing any form of product innovation and implementing new promotional ideas
to enhance business initiatives.
3. Marketing new ideas with new formulations and increasing the ideas of cultural
freedom in the organisation.
4. Marketing any TQM initiatives and a positive logical process of
communication designed to motivate.
5. Marketing any product that creates value and allows for customer interest.

18) When knowledge is made explicit by putting it into words, diagrams or other
representations, it can be typed, copied, stored and communicated electronically.
What does all of this become? (Chapter 18) pg 399

1. Knowledge
2. Information
3. Intepretation
4. Speculation
5. Exception
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19) Total quality management may be integrated into the strategy of any organisation
by understanding the core business processes and involvement of people. What
would be a recommended framework for total quality management? (Chapter 19)
pg 412

1. It starts with a vision, a plan and all the organisational resources that make up the
business results.
2. It starts with an idea, a philosophy, a vision and the organisations top management
structures who plan and create an environment of certainty.
3. It starts with the vision, goals, strategies and mission which should be fully
thought through, agreed and shared in the business.
4. It starts with a financial plan than converted into an organisational plan with top
management’s brainstorming and ideas.
5. It starts with ideas carried out by designs and than implemented by acquiring
resources.

20) The concept of total quality management is basic and simple. Each part of the
organisation has customers. The need is to identify what the customer
requirements are and set about meeting them to form the core total quality
approach. What are the three hard management necessities that requires good
performance? (Chapter 19) pg 424

1. policies, procedures and resources

2. systems, perceptions and information.
3. people, knowledge and change
4. planning, processes and people
5. specialist skills, practical solutions and new life into the business.
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4. ASSIGNMENT 3 SELF ASSESSMENT

SEMESTER 1 & 2

ASSIGNMENT 03 (SELF-ASSESSMENT) (Do not submit)

Assignment 03 for MNO3703 consists of essay and short questions. You can expect
these types of
questions in the exam.

Self Assessment Questions Assignment 03

The following questions refer to study units 1, 2 and 3 of your prescribed text
book.

Question 1

Explain the difference between quality and reliability; and between quality of
design and quality of conformance. [4]

The following experts have defined quality as:

Quality: is often used to signify ‘excellence’ of a product or service.

Reliability: is the ability to perform the service dependably and accurately.

Quality of design: is a measure of how well the product or service is designed to

achieve the agreed requirements.

Quality of conformance: This is the extent to which the product or service achieves
the quality of design.

Question 2

Present a ‘model’ for total quality management, justifying the various elements
of the model. [9]

See study unit 2, p 22 as well the model below presents the 4P’s and 3 C’s.
• Planning, people and processes are the keys to delivering quality products and
services to customers and generally improving overall performance.
• These four Ps form a structure of ‘hard management necessities’ for a simple TQM
and Operational Excellence (OpEx) model
• The three Cs of culture, communication, and commitment provide the glue or ‘soft
outcomes’ of the model which will take organisations successfully into the twenty-
first century.
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Commitment

Source Oakland J.S, (2014)

Question 3

What features of leadership are key to a successful total quality approach?

Explain how you would go about helping a senior management team in a
hospital gain the commitment of the medical, nursing and administration staff
to deliver quality health services to the local community. [15]

See study unit 3 (pp. 47 and 48)

The Total Quality Management approach

• TQM is a comprehensive approach to improving competitiveness, effectiveness
and flexibility through planning, organizing and understanding each activity, and
involving each individual at each level. It is useful in all types of organisation.
• TQM ensures that management adopts a strategic overview of quality and focuses
on prevention, not detection, of problems.
• It often requires a mind-set change to break down existing barriers. Managements
that doubt the applicability of TQM should ask questions about the operation’s
costs, errors, wastes, standards, systems, training and job instructions.
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Commitment and policy

• TQM starts at the top, where serious obsession and commitment to quality and
leadership must be demonstrated. Middle management also has a key role to play
in communicating the message.

• Every chief executive must accept the responsibility for commitment to a quality
policy that deals with the organisation for quality, the customer needs, the ability of
the organisation, supplied materials and services, education and training, and
review of the management systems for never-ending improvement.

Creating or changing the culture

• The culture of an organisation is formed by the beliefs, behaviours, norms,
dominant values, rules and climate in the organisation.
• Any organisation needs a vision framework, comprising its guiding philosophy, core
values and beliefs and purpose.
• The effectiveness of an organisation depends on the extent to which people
perform their roles and move towards the common goals and objectives.
• TQM is concerned with moving the focus of control from the outside to the inside
of individuals, so that everyone is accountable for his/her own performance.

Effective leadership
• Effective leadership starts with the chief executive’s vision and develops into a
strategy for implementation.
• Top management should develop the following for effective leadership: clear
beliefs and objectives in the form of a vision; clear and effective strategies and
supporting plans; the critical success factors and core processes; the appropriate
management structure; employee participation through empowerment and the
EPDCA helix; the challenge is to achieve shared goals and common action across
the supply chain -‘Quality in the 21st Century’.

Excellence in leadership
• The vehicle for achieving excellence in leadership is TQM. Using the construct of
the Oakland TQM Model, the four Ps and four Cs provide a framework for this:
Planning, Performance, Processes, People, Customers, Commitment, Culture and
Communications

Using the above key components, you can relate the short case study. Therefore,
in summary, the following can be augmented to ensure commitment by staff.

TQM is an approach to improving the competitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility

of a whole organisation. It is essentially a way of planning, organising and
understanding each activity, and depends on each individual at each level. For an
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organisation to be truly effective, each part of it must work properly together

towards the same goals, recognising that each person and each activity affects
and in turn is affected by others. The TQM approach strongly emphasise
measurement, some insist sensibly on the use of cost of quality. The value of a
structured discipline using a points system has been well established in quality and
safety assurance systems (for example, ISO 9000 and vendor auditing).

Even so, it may find that the introduction of TQM causes it to reappraise activities
throughout. If answers to the above questions indicate problem areas, it will be
beneficial to review the top management’s attitude to quality. Time and money
spent on quality-related activities are not limitations of profitability; they make
significant contributions towards greater efficiency and enhanced profits.

The following questions refer to study units 4, 5 and 6 of your prescribed text
book.

Question 4

You are the manager of a busy insurance office. Last year’s abnormal winter led
to an exceptionally high level of insurance claims for house damage caused by
strong winds, and you had considerable problems in coping with the greatly
increased work load. The result was excessively long delays in both
acknowledging and settling customers’ claims. Your area manager has asked
you to outline a plan for dealing with such a situation should it arise again. The
plan should justify what actions you would take to deal with the work, and what,
if anything, should be done now to enable you to take those actions should the
need arise. Explain what proposals you would make, and why? [12]

See study unit 3 (ps 32 and 33)

TQM is an approach to improving the competitiveness, effectiveness and flexibility of

a whole organisation. It is essentially a way of planning, organising and understanding
each activity, and depends on each individual at each level.

• For an organisation to be truly effective, each part of it must work properly together
towards the same goals, recognising that each person and each activity affects
and in turn is affected by others.
• The TQM approach strongly emphasise measurement, some insist sensibly on
the use of cost of quality.
• The value of a structured discipline using a points system has been well
established in quality and safety assurance systems (for example, ISO 9000 and
vendor auditing).
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• Even so, it may find that the introduction of TQM causes it to reappraise activities
throughout. If answers to the above questions indicate problem areas, it will be
beneficial to review the top management’s attitude to quality.

Time and money spent on quality-related activities are not limitations of profitability;
they make significant contributions towards greater efficiency and enhanced profits.

Question 5

Identify and explain the key stages of integrating total quality into the strategy
of an organisation of your choice. [10]

Source: Oakland J.S., (2014)

• Senior management may begin the task of alignment through six steps as
illustrated in the figure above:

o develop a shared vision and mission

o develop the critical success actors
o define the key performance indicators (balanced scorecard)
o understand the core process and gain ownership
o break down the core processes into sub-processes, activities and tasks
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o ensure process and people alignment through a policy deployment or goal

translation process.
• The deliverables after one planning cycle will include: an agreed policy/goal
deployment framework; agreed mission statements; agreed CSFs and owners;
agreed KPIs and targets; agreed core processes and sponsors; whats/hows
deployment matrices; focussed business improvement plans.

Question 6

Justify the preparations required for the negotiation of a one-year contract with
a major material supplier and explain the major factors to consider in partnering
with key suppliers. [7]

Answer:
See study units 3 and 5 (pages 31, 77 and 78)

Total quality management is far more than shifting the responsibility of detection of
problems from the customer to the producer. It requires a comprehensive approach
that must first be recognised and then implemented if the rewards are to be realised.
Today’s business environment is such that managers must plan strategically to
maintain a hold on market share, let alone increase it. In many companies quality
problems have been found to seriously erode margins due to the cost of rectifying
defective work both during the contract period and afterwards.

Purchasing/procurement should bring value to their organisations by improved

contract management and fostering supplier compliance across the entire lifecycle of
contracts resulting in continued overall cost reduction. Nevertheless, according to the
UK Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), much work remains to be
done in understanding how to capture the breadth and depth of the role of supplier
management in achieving cost reductions and other benefits – the traditional
measures of cost saving are no longer appropriate. Clearly, the link between
procurement strategy and business performance and the resulting shareholder value
need to be considered.

Procurement needs to expand its remit into managing risk and vulnerability within the
supply chain, particularly in the context of geographically dispersed and distant
suppliers. Additional complexity also arises as a direct consequence of the volatility of
commodities, currencies and interest rates. Senior management should demand that
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

procurement be able to avoid or reduce the vulnerability of supply chains to

disruptions, and increase their resilience should problems occur. Risk-related issues
include managing exposure to commercial and reputational risks, as well as providing
improved supply market intelligence, such as forecasting future shortages.
Collaborative relationships are a prerequisite for tapping into innovations available
from suppliers globally and suppliers are becoming increasingly integrated into new
product development efforts. In some organisations this requires the development of
new remuneration and risk sharing models to share the benefits of technological
development with suppliers. Most large organisations and governments worldwide are
increasingly focusing on the issue of sustainability, both from the societal and the
environmental perspectives. This has the potential to be the single most significant
influence on organisational strategy, with procurement playing an important role in this
effort.

These are important considerations in a contract and should be taken into account
when negotiating contracts.

The following questions refer to study units 7, 8 and 9 of your prescribed text
book.

Question 7

Identify the main categories of the US Baldrige Performance Excellence Model

and explain how the criteria may be used as basis for a self-assessment
process. [12]

Many organisations are turning to total quality models to measure and improve
performance. The frameworks include the Japanese Deming Prize, the US Baldrige
Award and in Europe the EFQM Excellence Model.

These are embodied in a framework below of seven categories which are used to
assess organisations:
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Source: Oakland (2014)

Methodologies for assessment

• Self-assessment against the Excellence Model may be performed using RADAR:

results, approach, deployment, assessment and review.
• There are a number of approaches for self-assessment, including
groups/workshops, surveys, pro-formas, matrices, award simulations,
activity/process audits or hybrid approaches.
The Baldridge framework includes feedback loops of learning, innovation and
creativity and proposed weightings for assessment.

1. Leadership
• organisational leadership
• public responsibility and citizenship
2. Strategic planning
• strategy development
• strategy deployment
3. Customer focus
• customer and market knowledge

• customer relationships and satisfaction

4. Measurement, analysis and knowledge management
• measurement and analysis of organisational performance
• information management
5. Work force focus
• work systems
• employee education training and development
• employee well-being and satisfaction
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6. Operations focus
• product and service processes
• business processes
• support processes
7. Results
• customer focused results
• financial and market results
• human resource results

Question 8

Benchmarking is an important component of many companies’ improvement

strategies.

a) Explain what you understand by benchmarking. (5)

Benchmarking measures an organisation’s operations, products and services against

those of its competitors in a ruthless fashion. It is a means by which targets, priorities
and operations that will lead to competitive advantage can be established.

b) Distinguish between benchmarking and performance measurement. (5)

Benchmarking: is the continuous process of identifying, understanding and
adapting best practice and processes that will lead to superior performance.
Performance measurement: is the process of collecting, analysing and/or
reporting information regarding the performance of an individual, group,
organisation, system or component. Therefore, Benchmarking is a process of
continuous improvement whilst Performance measurement involves people or
system results.

c) Suggest a strategy for integrating benchmarking into a TQM approach. (5)

Policy and strategy is concerned with how the organisation implements its vision
and mission in a clear stakeholder-focused strategy supported by relevant
policies, plans, objectives, targets and processes. Benchmarking is an important
strategic tool of total quality management (TQM). Benchmarking enhances
transparency and performance after entering the public domain. A possible
strategy can be as referenced through the following model which incorporates the
change aspects including the organisation and the strategy of implementing the
TQM model.
The framework, which is in the shape of a figure of 8, identifies two main constructs
of change management in the form of two interacting cycles, readiness for change
(strategic) and implementing change (operational).
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Source: Oakland (2014).

Question 9

A major South African construction company is concerned about its record of

completing projects on time. Considerable penalty costs are incurred if the
company fails to meet the agreed contractual completion date.

a) Explain how you would investigate this problem. (6)

Measures are used in process control, e.g. control charts (see Chapter 13), and in
performance improvement, e.g. improvement teams (see Chapters 14 and 15), so they
should give information about how well processes and people are doing and motivate
them to perform better in the future.

There are many examples of so-called performance measurement systems that

frustrated improvement efforts. Various problems include systems that:
• Produce irrelevant or misleading information.
• Track performance in single, isolated dimensions.
• Generate financial measures too late, e.g. quarterly, for mid-course corrections or
remedial action.
• Do not take account of the customer perspective, both internal and external.
• Distort management’s understanding of how effective the organisation has been in
implementing its strategy.
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• Promote behaviour that undermines the achievement of the strategic objectives.

Typical potentially harmful summary measures of local performance are purchase

price, machine or plant efficiencies, direct labour costs and ratios of direct to indirect
labour. In many sectors primary measures used are cost against budget and actual
time taken against scheduled time. These can be incompatible with quality and
productivity improvement measures because they tend not to provide feedback that
will motivate improvement. Measures such as process and throughput times, supply

chain performance, inventory reductions and increases in flexibility, which are first and
foremost non-financial, can do that. Financial summaries provide valuable information,
of course, but they should not necessarily be used for control. Effective decision-
making requires direct measures for operational feedback and improvement.
One example of a ‘measure’ with these shortcomings is return on investment (ROI).
ROI can be computed only after profits have been totalled for a given period. It was
designed therefore as a single-period, long-term measure, but it is often used as a
short-term one. Perhaps this is because most executive bonus ‘packages’ in the West
are based on short-term measures. ROI tells us what happened, not what is happening
or what will happen, and, for complex and detailed projects, ROI is often inaccurate
and irrelevant.

Many managers have a poor or incomplete understanding of their processes and

products or services and, looking for an alternative stimulus, become interested in
financial indicators. The use of ROI, for example, for evaluating strategic requirements
and performance can lead to a discriminatory allocation of resources. In many ways
the financial indicators used in many organisations have remained static while the
environment in which they operate has changed dramatically.
Traditionally, the measures used have not been linked to the processes where the
value-adding activities take place. What has been missing is a performance
measurement framework that provides feedback to people in all areas of business
operations. Of course, TQM stresses the need to start with the process for fulfilling
customer needs.
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b) Justify the methodology you would adopt in addressing the problem. (6)

• The critical elements of a good performance measurement framework (PMF) are:

• Leadership and commitment.
• Full employee involvement.
• Good planning.
• Sound implementation strategy.
• Measurement and evaluation.
• Control and improvement.
• Achieving and maintaining standards of excellence.
• An example can be the Deming cycle of continuous improvement – Plan, Do,
Check, Act – clearly requires measurement to drive it, and yet it is a useful design
aid for the measurement system itself:
• PLAN: establish performance objective and standards.
• DO: measure actual performance.
• CHECK: compare actual performance with the objectives and standards –
determine the gap.
• ACT: take the necessary actions to close the gap and make the necessary
improvements.

There are many other methodologies that can be used and the Deming cycle is one
of the more recognised and arguably easiest to implement.

The following questions refer to study units 10-18 of your prescribed textbook
starting with Question 10 in your Tutorial letter 101.
Question 10

See study unit 10 or chapter 10; p. 205 and 206 of the prescribed book

Using an appropriate process modelling technique, show the core processes

for a company manufacturing and selling fast moving consumer goods.

a) Identify the key inputs and outputs for each of the processes. (10)

The inputs are materials supplied externally or internally. In a fast moving consumer
goods company manufacturing canned foods. The inputs are the vegetables, fruit,
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which will include products such as baked beans, butter beans, peas, potatoes,
carrots, peaches, apricots, pineapples, pears, apples etc. these items will be the inputs
per product and also become the outputs of canned products.

The fruits and vegetables are picked and saperated some for exports, others for local
customers soled to fresh produce markets while others are used to make canned
vegetables, canned fruit and canned jam. Other vegetables are bagged in 1 kilogram
packs, and 500 gram packs sold in supermarkets.

Vegetable inputs are beans cooked, mixed with sauces and filled in cans which are
sealed, labelled and packed in boxes for distribution. All the vegetable products and
canned fruit products and jam are processed in this manner.

Vegetables sold in bags are pre-cooked, sliced and packed in 1kilogram and 500gram
bags and refrigerated.

This simple explanation process may be represented as the flow of SIPOC

(Supplier Inputs Process Outputs Customer)

b) Explain how you would engage senior management of the organisation in

developing the process framework for the business. (10)

The best manner would be to work from customer requirements to ensure the products
maintain high quality, long shelf life span. The advice to management would be to link
the customer’s inventory management system with the organisation’s inventory
system. This would mean that the customers sales will prompt an order when a certain
amount of boxes per product are sold.

Since the production line is continuous, sales is continuous the input, process and
output will be continuous. Sales to supermakets will be through a promptted process
to relenish stock of items according to demand by means of truck loads. In this way
the truck is utilised fully for one customer. This is cost effective and all products are
consumed and replenished within the time-frame of the product lifespan.

Products are packed. sealed, labelled, bar coded and boxed. All the vegetable
products in the fast-moving consumable goods line will be processed on seaparate
lines, canned, labelled and boxed. Thereafter the product will be distributed to the
customer according to their demand and per truck

load. The supply chain will focus on big cutomers. Smaller customers will work off
distribution centres and wholesalers. [20]
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

Question 11
Explain the basic philosophy behind quality management systems that are
specified in the ISO 9000 series. [10]

See study unit 12 or chapter 12; p. 245 and 246 of the prescribed book
A quality management system is a strategic decision used to influence the
organisation’s objectives, structure, size, processes, products, and services offered by
the organisation. The quality management system integrates four areas: management
responsibility, resource management, product realisation and measurement, analysis
and improvement.

ISO 9000 deals with the fundamentals of quality management systems, including the
eight principles on which the family standards are based.

• Customer focus
• Leadership
• Involvement of people
• Process approach
• System approach to management
• Continual improvement
• Factual approach to decision making
• Mutually beneficial supplier relationships

Fundamentally ISO 9001 requires:

A quality policy a formal statement from management linked to the business, the
marketing plan and customer needs. The quality policy is followed and understood
by all employees at all levels to work towards measureable objectives.
Business decisions are based on recorded data which are regularly audited and
evaluated for conformance and effectiveness. The records show how materials and
products are processed to trace products and problems to the source.
Customer requirements are determined and systems are created to communicate to
customers’ product information, inquiries, contracts, orders, feedback and
complaints. On developing new products, the stages of development and testing at
each stage are documented to ensure the product meets the design, regulatory
requirements and user needs.
Performance reviews are conducted by having internal audit meetings to determine
whether the quality system is working and what improvements can be made using
the documented procedure for internal audits. Past and present problems are dealt
with by keeping records of the activities and decisions to monitor the effectiveness of
the decisions made.
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

Documented procedures are kept to deal with non conformances involving suppliers,
customers, or internal problems. Finally, the business ensures that no one uses a
poor quality product, it determines what to do with a poor quality product, how to deal
with root cause problems and keep records to improve the system.
a) How can an effective quality management system contribute to continuous
improvement in a manufacturing organisation or a service organisation? [10]

See study unit 12 or chapter 12; p. 261 of the prescribed book

When establishing a process to eliminate the causes of non-conformance and to

prevent a non-conformance from recurring records of non-conformances, customer
complaints and other reports are useful for corrective action processes.
Responsibilities for corrective action procedures should be established.
Corrective action procedures begin with identifying non-conformities of products,
services, processes, customer complaints and the quality management system. The
causes of non-conformities and the results of investigations need to be recorded to
determine the corrective action needed to eliminate the cause of the non-conformity.
A corrective action procedure has to be implemented and followed up to ensure the
corrective action is effective and recorded. This procedure includes products and
services already delivered which are subsequently found to be non-conforming and
where possible the customer has to be notified.
To eliminate and prevent the causes of non-conformities from occurring, a process
recording the results from the analysis of data should be used as inputs and
responsibilities for preventative action should to be established.
The process should:

• identify product, service and process non-conformities

• investigate the causes of products, service, process, quality management system
and recording non-conformities
• determine preventative action to eliminate the causes of non-conformities
• implement preventative action needed
• ensure preventative action is effective, record and submit for management review

Effective continuous improvement of the quality management system can be

established if it includes suitable methods and measures for products and services.
Question 12
‘Lean thinking and systems are used widely in organisations to bring about
performance improvement. Prepare a presentation on ‘lean’ for the senior
management team of your organisation showing them the concept of the
organisation’s building blocks. Recommend a suitable system systematic
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

approach and toolkit to senior management. Propose how they should go about
implementing ‘lean’ throughout the organisation? [20]
See study unit 15 or chapter 15; p. 317-319 of the prescribed book

Some of the tools and techniques such as Just in Time, Kanban, Total Productive
Maintenance (TPM), Cellular Production and Flow etc. are specific to the workplace.
5S’s is a system that creates a disciplined, clean and well ordered work environment.
It ensures that work areas are free from clutter, clean and laid out in such a way that
tools are not lost, time is not wasted on non- value adding activities to do general
housekeeping.
The 5S’s are:
a. Sort- get rid of everything not required to do the work
b. Set in order- organise and ensure that things are set in place so that no time is
lost looking for things that are misplaced
c. Shine- keep everything clean and keep things in good order
d. Standardise-The above 3 steps are to standardise so they become a routine of
day to day work.
e. Sustain-Involve people at all levels starting from leadership by having 5S audits,
5S goals and by providing feedback on performance.

The CANDO approach works as follows:

C=clean up- sort out necessary items from unnecessary items for the area that
requires the flow of product or service.
A=arranging-assess the ergonomics of the work area by arranging and storing tools
or materials for easy access to work and for safe practices.
N=neatness-start with a large scale clean up and establish standards to organise
products and regularly maintain each area daily or by each shift.
D=discipline-maintenance of CAN requires the team of each area to comply with the
agreed standard. This is supported by an auditing process to sustain and improve
workplace performance.
O=ongoing improvement-continue to make improvements to assist in operating in
the most efficient manner with high levels of safety.
5S’s engages every individual in the organisation to take responsibility for their own
work area to sustain and maintain once they have complied with the first 4 S’s.
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

The building blocks of Lean

Kaizen
The word Kaizen comes from Japanese where Kai is (change or action) and Zen (good
or better). It is associated with continuous improvement and with rapid, short term
improvement the kaizen “blitz”.

Kaizen blitz is a cross functional approach using a multi level team of 6 to 12 members
to solve a specific work problem over a 3-5 day time period to achieve a rapid
breakthrough developing, testing and refining solutions for a new process in place by
keeping things simple and few. This is done with low budgets but the savings are
substantial and achieved quickly. A process owner providing leadership or core team
members who do the actual work in the area can take responsibility for the new
process.

Kaizen Blitz principles are:

• To be open minded
• To maintain a positive attitude
• Reject excuses and find solutions
• Keep asking questions
• Take action and implement with the resources at hand
• Use the knowledge of the team
• Disregard ranking everyone is equal

A 10 step service Kaizen methodology is used as follows:

a) Define the problem
b) Define the goal
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

c) Define the baseline

d) Define the process
e) Explore possible sources of variation
f) Identify corrective actions to eliminate waste
g) Develop an action plan to take action

h) Review results
i) Replicate and make additional improvements
j) Celebrate

Question 13
You are a management consultant and invited to make a presentation on total
quality management (TQM) to the board of directors of an organisation
manufacturing injection moulded polypropylene components for the
automotive and electronic industries. The South African Ford Motor Company
approached management to supply a new product line to achieve their supplier
registration status. The board asked you to stress the role of quality systems
and statistical process control (SPC) in TQM. Prepare a presentation with
references to appropriate models for management. [20]
See study unit 12 or chapter 12; p. 257 of the prescribed book

The role of quality management systems for supplier registration status in TQM
When procuring or purchasing a product the first step is to evaluate and select the
supplier on their ability to supply the product or service according to Ford South
Africa’s purchase requirements in relation to their quality management system. Ford
South Africa will request for supplier evaluations, supplier audit records and evidence
of the organisations demonstrated ability to determine the type of supervision
applicable for the new product line to be purchased.

The purchase documentation from Ford South Africa should contain information that
clearly describes the product and services. This documentation should include the
requirements for approval of the qualification of the new product such as the
procedures, processes, equipment, personnel and any quality management system
requirements.

A review and approval of purchasing documents to confirm the specification of the

requirements prior to the release is necessary. Any products need some form of
verification where the organisation will specify arrangements to supplier documents
showing that each batch supplied to the customer meets the required specification.

See study unit 13 or chapter 13; p. 283-286 of the prescribed book

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The role of statistical process control (SPC) for supplier registration status in
TQM
The responsibility of any transformation process must lie with the operators and people
must be provided with the necessary tools to know whether the process is capable of
meeting Ford South Africa’s requirements at any point in time and to make the correct
adjustments to the process when it does not meet the requirements.

The techniques of statistical process control begin with monitoring and analysing the
process starting with identifying what the process is and what the inputs and outputs
are. SPC is not only a toolkit, it is a strategy for reducing variability, the cause of most
quality problems: variation in products, in times of deliveries, in ways of doing things,
in materials, in people’s attitudes, in equipment and its use, in maintenance practices,
in everything. Control by itself is not sufficient. Total quality management requires that
the processes should be improved continually by reducing variability.

SPC techniques may be used to measure and control the degree of variation of any
purchased materials, services, processes and products, and to compare this, if
required, to previously agreed specifications. SPC techniques select a representative,
simple, random sample from the population, which can be an input to or an output
from a process.

Organisations that embrace TQM should recognise the value of SPC techniques in
sales, purchasing, invoicing, finance, distribution, training and service. A Pareto
analysis, a histogram, a flowchart or a control chart is a vehicle for communication.
Data are data and whether the numbers represent defects or invoice errors, weights
or delivery times, or the information relates to machine settings, process variables,
prices, quantities, discounts, sales or supply points, is irrelevant- the techniques can
always be used.

• Pareto analyse errors on invoices to customers and industry injury data.

• Brainstorm and cause and effect analyse reasons for late payment and poor
purchase invoice matching.
• Histogram defects in invoice matching and arrival of trucks at certain times during
the day.
• Controls chart the weekly demand of a product.

Question 14
Explain the key stages in integrating total quality management into the strategy
of an organisation of your choice? Justify your answer by applying the
appropriate total quality management strategy. [20]
See study unit 18 or chapter 19; p. 411-412 of the prescribed book
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Initially understanding and commitment are the first steps that form the whole TQM
structure. An intellectual understanding of quality provides a basis for TQM. The
understanding must be translated into commitment, policies, plans and actions for
TQM to germinate. This requires commitment and competence in leadership and
making changes. If there is no effort to implement TQM through process management
capability and control this effort will lead to frustration.

Implementation begins with drawing up a quality statement, establishing an

organisational structure for managing and encouraging involvement in quality through
teamwork. Collecting information on how the organisation operates, including the
costs of quality, helps to identify the prime areas in which improvements have the
largest impact on performance. Improvement plans involve all managers at an early
crucial stage by putting quality management systems in place to drive the
improvement process to ensure problems are solved forever using structured
corrective action procedures.

Once the plans and systems are put in place, education, training and communication
is important. Therefore organisations need to change the culture, operate systems,
procedures or control methods with effective two-way communication. A good quality
management system with top management commitment, a quality policy, and an
organisational structure is the beginning of the planning stage. On implementation
priorities must be identified. Current performance review in all areas should always be
part of normal operations to ensure continuous improvement.

Major steps may be used as an overall planning aid for the introduction of TQM which
should appear on a planning or Gantt chart. Major projects should be time phased.
Customers may request statistical process control (SPC) to operate a quality system.
Sometimes the main projects may need to split into smaller projects through the
introduction of SPC, Six Sigma, Lean and improvement teams. Education

and training will be continuous and draw together the requirements of all the steps.
Training inputs and advisory work should be co-ordinated and reviewed in terms of
their effectiveness on a regular basis. During implementation, checks need to be
established. A quality management system, improvement teams and SPC are the
three components that will result in quality improvement through increased capability.
This should turn to consistently satisfied customers and, where appropriate, increase
preservation of market share.
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

Question 15
Explain the critical elements of integrating total quality management or
business improvement into the strategy of an organisation you are familiar with.
Illustrate your approach with the organisation. [20]

See study unit 18 or chapter 19; p. 412 of the prescribed book

Total quality management may be integrated into the strategy of any organisation by
understanding the core processes and the involvement of people. The recommended
framework starts with the vision, goals, strategies and mission which should be
thought through, agreed and shared in the business.

Factor’s critical to success, CSF’s - the building blocks of the mission are identified.
The key performance indicators (KPI’s), the measures associated with CSF’s indicate
whether we are moving towards or away from the mission or just standing still. Once
the CSF’s and KPI’s are identified the core processes become known. Without
knowing the core processes makes it difficult to implement the framework. When the
processes are known, process analysis, mapping and flow charting can be carried out
to understand business and identify opportunities for improvement.

Self assessment to (EFQM) European Excellence Model or Baldridge model and

benchmarking will identify further improvement opportunities. This could create a very
long list of things to attend to which require people development, training and
education. Prioritisation is needed next to identify the processes that run pretty well
such as advertising/ promoting the business recruitment/ selection processes for
continuous improvement regime. Poorly carried out processes, marketing, forecasting,
training even financial management may be subject to re-visioning and redesign
activity or revision of the business.

Performance based management systems of all processes and people development

activities is necessary to determine progress and feedback to the benchmarking and
strategic planning activities so that the vision, goals, mission and critical success
factors may be examined and reconstituted to meet new requirements for the
organisation and its customers both internal and external.

World class organisations that implemented their version of the framework are
achieving world class performance and results. This requires world class leadership
and commitment. TQM is not a narrow set of tools and techniques associated with
failed ‘programmes’. It is part of a broad based approach used by world class
companies to achieve organisational excellence, based on customer results, the
highest weighted category of all quality and excellence awards. TQM embraces all
these areas and if fully integrated into the business any organisation can deliver its
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

goals, strategy and targets. This is because it is about people identifying,

understanding, managing and improving processes well to achieve its objectives.

Question 16
You have been appointed as the new Quality Director of an electrical component
manufacturing assembly and service organisation. Some senior management
members had some brief exposure to six sigma and lean. You have been
appointed to consider plans for implementation. Summarise and justify your
plans to include any training needs, outside help and additional appointments
required to meet the timescales of the implementation process. [20]

See study unit 17 or chapter 18; p. 386,387, 389 and study unit 15 or chapter 15:
p. 308 and 311 of the prescribed book

The first step to accomplish is to communicate the TQM strategy stating top
management’s commitment to quality by outlining the roles of everyone in the
organisation. This communication can be done in the form of the policy where a
statement with the intention to integrate quality into business operations is committed
to.

A statement from the Board of Directors commitment believing that total quality
management is critical to achieving and maintaining the business goals of leadership
in quality, delivery, and price competitiveness. The directive is prepared by the quality
director and signed by all business units, divisions, process owners and process
leaders and distributed to everyone in the organisation.

The implementation of six sigma and lean should include messages for need for
improvement, concept for total quality, the importance for understanding business
processes, the approach that will be taken, people’s roles, individual and process
group responsibilities and principles of process measurement. A role out of seminars,
departmental meetings, posters, newsletters, intranet etc. which has to be reviewed
by first line managers with all staff who will brainstorm and set suitable questions and
answers during the planning phases.

Resistance to change is expected and first line managers should be trained to help
people deal with change. This requires an understanding of the dynamics of change
and the necessary support to create appropriate communication systems.

All people in organisations fall into one of four audience groups with attitudes towards
TQM i.e. senior managers, middle managers, supervisors and other employees.
Senior management need to ensure that TQM is beneficial for each group by providing
training and support to all employees whether the training is internal or external
consultants are used to motivate employees to respond positively.
 MNO3703/201/1/2021

Lean addresses waste and six sigma address process variation. This holistic approach
provides a broader set of improvement tools and techniques. Lean reduces time and
six-sigma reduces variation in processes and product and the result is performance
improvement which reduces cost.

Figure 15.1 Lean Six sigma

Training on the three critical success factors of lean: leadership, process

understanding and process thinking and understanding both lean consumption and
lean provision are seen as transformational in this approach. Lean identifies the value
stream and removes all wasted steps and puts the remaining steps into a continuous
flow allowing the consumer to pull value from the system while pursuing perfection.
Six-sigma is geared towards achieving significant cost savings by measuring the
impact on the bottom line. Lean focuses on customer value and elimination of waste
rather than return on investment. Training has to take place starting with four 3 hour
weekly sessions in one month. Once all teams are trained the weekly sessions should
continue with one monthly session from management to provide reports of failures and
successes on continuous feedback and six-sigma and lean improvement approaches.

Question 17
Read case study 3:
Lloyd’s Register improvement programme-group business assurance then
answer the following questions:
[20]
a) Discuss the approach KPI’s used in Lloyd’s Register and prepare a
presentation for a bank on the why, what and how of such a system. (10)

Lloyd’s Register Group developed from a centralised to a decentralised approach.

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• Driving strategy using closed loop management: The use of Kaplan and Norton’s
closed loop model (Balanced Scorecard) shows where the gaps exist and identifies
projects to close the gaps.
• Large scale visible projects driven by an effective PMO: The leadership team
positively influences large scale central projects that are visible in the business.
• Decentralised, locally owned, improvement: Decentralised training is used to carry
out a large variety of smaller scale six sigma, lean and consultancy style
interventions, using light training but heavy duty coaching.
• Using key input process variables effectively: LRG believe an effective programme
is determined by the number of KPI’s identified and worked on each element to
ensure it is in place, effective, and appropriate to the business.

Results maps link everyday KPI’s to Strategic Objectives.

The open onion forms the heart of the crucial process which decides which KPI’s are
important to the business.
KPI’s and metrics: are designed and based on strategic objectives which are detailed
on the strategy map, tested and approved by the leaders in the organisation. In order
to achieve the strategy improvement work is targeted by improving previous measured
performances and setting new standards.
Each KPI is clearly documented to show calculations; known identified issues,
information sources, production and information owners (RACI for each). Each KPI
has its own definitions sheet, is logged and maintained in the KPI Index database.
Prepare a presentation for a bank on the why, what and how of such a system.

In a bank scenario when the KPI is linked to the strategic objectives of the bank each corporate
division will have specific measureable targets. It is now possible to identify the areas where
performance is weak and improvement is required.

In banks there are operational structures, sales, marketing, corporate banking, foreign
exchange divisions, housing loans divisions, credit card divisions, motor vehicle and asset
finance divisions etc. Each division should have a KPI linked to it. Each person in the division
should have a KPI with a performance agreement. The KPI of each individual should have a
set of targets that he/she should be committed to achieve. The performance must be
measured daily, weekly, monthly and yearly. Since the strategic objectives have measures in
place so should the performance target levels be set. The results of the entire organisation
will achieve the expected targets aligned to the strategic objectives of the bank. Strategic
objectives are usually related to customer service percentage level and business or financial
growth year on year.

b) What role could benchmarking play in the development of the OMP methods used?
(10)

The power Steering software used manages the processes of identifying, selecting,
and running, controlling, closing and reporting all the activities that are fully
documented within the management system. Developing this document was a
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milestone whereby they were able to examine their own practices and ensure the best
approach available.

The role of benchmarking is lifecycle stage gates used to manage a range of activities
from large scale Black Belt projects through to minor interventions. The PMO manages
a pipeline of 100 opportunities with a current activity of 15 centrally driven projects and
over 40 small scale local activities all of these successful activities could be
benchmarked and documented. The failures could be documented and used to
prevent failures from happening in other areas of development.
Important to benchmarking is the change engine at LRG ensures the recruitment of
talented people from within the business and the training of only those who are
interested. Six-Sigma and the blending of Lean thinking into the offices through an
alliance net work across the business. Lean thinking and Six-Sigma and the P30
framework for governance ensures clear documentation, well recorded outcomes to
ensure lean as we go and that knowledge is retained.
Question 19
Read case study 6:
Process management and improvement at the heart of Fujitsu UK & Ireland BMS
and then answer the following questions: [20]
a) Compare the links between the process frameworks developed in Fujitsu and
the BMS deployment. (10)

The Fujitsu Process Management Cycle is represented by Key Process Management

and has four phases, Design-Deploy-Review-Improve. Once a process is designed
and deployed, the review and improvement phases form a continuous cycle until there
is a need to fundamentally redesign the process.

The BMS fulfils two roles: firstly to make all information readily available. This
information includes the business purpose, objectives, structure policies, standards,
acquired knowledge and key performance indicators to direct employees. It therefore
constitutes the company’s Quality Manual in compliance with the requirements for a
Quality Management System (BS EN 9001) and the requirements for a Service
Management System (ISO/IEC 20000-1), an Information Security Management
System (ISO27001), an Environmental System (ISO 14001) and an Occupational
Health and Safety Management System (OHSAS 18000).
The second role is to support standardisation and best practice in the delivery of all
operations and functions in order to deliver the business objectives. The first could be
seen as ‘Fit for Audit’ and the second ‘Fit for purpose.’
Therefore, the BMS is a fully integrated Management System whereas the Fujitsu
Process Management Cycle is based on Key Process Management phases.
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b) Explain the role of bench marking in the development of the BMS in Fujitsu?
(10)

The key benchmarking principles of the Fujitsu process model are as follows:

• It is aligned to the Operating Model and dependent on the organisational structure

• There are single process owners for each Key Business Process
• Key Business Processes span the whole business by supporting regional
governance and by implementing master policies
• Key Business Processes are managed by using Key Process Management (KPM)
• Align to all standards, models and codes of practice applicable to the scope of the
business Management System (e.g. ISO 9001, ISO 20000, ISO 27001, ISO 14001,
CMMI, IiP, UK.gov, ITCOBP)
• Minimal number of Key Business Processes which are formally managed,
measured, reviewed and improved
• Units may use Local Processes if there is no published Key Business Process
covering the requirement; such processes must conform to the requirements and
have been approved by the relevant Key Business Process owner(s)
• Has to be accessible via a single BMS portal.

To achieve desired results Fujitsu in business processes, Fujitsu has to be actively

owned, managed, measured, communicated to clearly and supported to continually
improve key business processes to give the company competitive advantage. Through
such continual process improvement Fujitsu will fulfil the requirements of external
standards to demonstrate continual improvement.
Question 20
Read case study 10:
Establishing a capability for continuous quality improvement in the NHS and
then answer the following questions:
[20]
a) Review the measures of the CDDCHS used to evaluate their programme. Why
is it important to have both activity and outcome measures for such a
programme? (10)

A dashboard was developed to enable the team to monitor progress and take action
quickly to recover from any aspect of the programme which fell behind from the agreed
timelines. The dashboard featured activity measures and outcome measures for each
element of the programme which was reviewed regularly by the project team.
Executive Engagement – are activity measures which comprise the availability of the
executive training and vision workshops within agreed timescales. These are based
on the proportion of the executive team that attended. The quality of the training
perceived by the participants and these are outcome measures concerned with the
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extent that executives become actively engaged as sponsors on key quality

improvement projects and the extent to which they provide active support to the
programme.
Quality Improvement Training – this activity measure includes the timely
development of courses, the number of participants on courses, and the distribution
of participants across the directorates and quality of courses perceived by participants.
Outcome measures were focussed on the proportion of trained employees involved in
and also in completing improvement projects and proportions by directorate.
Breakthrough wins in service – this activity measures the number of breakthroughs,
the value of the improvement perceived by the leadership team and satisfaction with
the support provided by Oakland Consulting on the breakthrough. Outcome measures
were concerned with the benefits realised by the breakthrough in terms of efficiency
gains and patient experience.
Quality Infrastructure- measures on the culture assessment related to timeliness and
response rates and measures on the communications programme related to coverage
and quality of the communications.
b) Discuss how the approach CQI might need to vary between a service-based
organisation such as CDDCHS and a manufacturing organisation. (10)

The CQI programme was developed starting with Executive Engagement to develop
a clear vision for quality. It created executives buy in through interviews and
workshops and also developed guidelines to clarify the role of leadership in driving the
programme. The executive team received training in concepts and methodologies
associated with the improvement programme. This training is for service and
manufacturing industries.

Quality Improvement Training applies to both service and manufacturing

organisations where representatives from the directorates are trained as improvement
leaders to provide them with indepth knowledge on DRIVER improvement
methodology. Part of the training involves mentoring participants to tackle key projects
in their directorate to learn from their experiences and coach others. Training has to
be provided for second and third level managers across all functional areas to provide
them with quality techniques and a robust approach to implement continuous
improvement projects.
Breakthrough Wins in Service is a criterion developed to process and select priority
areas that needs to be reengineered, designed and standardised with guidelines to
ensure a consistent approach to process improvement across the organisation’s
policies and frameworks. Breakthroughs win service and manufacturing systems to
improve the organisations performance.
Quality Infrastructure is deployed to assess and evaluate culture to which extent the
organisation supports continuous improvement orientation, development and
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deployment by establishing monitoring and measuring systems to continuously

identify and implement improvements in manufacturing and service organisations.

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