Quality management for personal and organisational growth

By Gamini T. Pandikorala

Quality management systems developed in the world are not for artificial situations, but to find solutions for actual problems experienced by human beings. Its success story has become an eye opener especially for the countries having severe economic and social crises. Losses incurred by not deviating from traditional systems are tremendous. Many such losses go undetected as they are not felt immediately and not identifiable in the absence of proper knowledge. But the good news is that a trend is setting now to turn towards quality to find solutions for problems.

Some researchers record the developments in this field under the title 'The Rise of Quality'. The earliest recorded event was on January 22, 1901 when the Council of the Institute of Civil Engineers was persuaded to form a committee headed by Sir John Wolfe Barry (the man who designed London Tower bridge) in the field of engineering.

The state sector setting an example can have good results towards attaining prosperity for the country

A series of significant events took place throughout the 20th century such as the introduction of the 'Pareto Principles' as a means of narrowing on the vital few development of the 'Cause and Effect Diagram' by Karou Ishikawa in 1943, formation of first Quality Control Circles and introduction of the 'Concept of Kaizan in 1960, publishing the book 'Quality is Free 'by Phillip Crosby, offering of a theory of management by Dr Edward Deming based on his famous 14 points.

Disastrous

Issuing ISO 9000 versions the latest in 2008. (ISO9001; 2008). Under 'The Fall of Quality' 10 disastrous incidents in the world have been listed. Among them are 'Titanic' the ship which sank in frigid water in 1912, Bhopal Gas Tragedy in 1984, destruction of the space shuttle 'Challenger' and Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and the largest marine oil spill tragedy in the history of Petroleum Industry in 2010.

Russia is preparing for the 36th ISO General Assembly to be held in September 2013 in St Petersburg. On this event they say they have trust in ISO 'to ensure a flourishing human society, preserve the world's natural treasures and look after the environment'.

The subject of Quality Management was proposed to the banking sector in Sri Lanka almost two decades ago (please refer the article titled 'ISO Quality System and future of Banks in Sri Lanka' published in The Professional Banker (# volume..p18-22, 1997), but I was not surprised for not having any response to this article then.

They say 'Better late than never'. I hope the bank will grab this opportunity to make their entire work force quality conscious, as it amounts to winning half the battle.

A giant player in the industry (state sector) setting an example can have good results towards attaining prosperity for the country.

I am confident that what is needed first is creating a genuine "Quality" atmosphere or culture. By becoming quality conscious one begins the quality journey instantaneously. Due to my observations and researches in this area I was able to find a solution in a strategic plan called 'Pre-ISO Quality Management System' which I introduced in my last article titled Quality Synergy and Planet Earth which appeared in the Sunday Observer of June 2.

Present problems

1. Misconceptions: A synonym for quality is excellence therefore people think this is an unattainable goal in today's context. The quality as per text book writers is the degree of excellence a thing possesses. Its main target is customer satisfaction and the aim should be to achieve this through integrity of function composition i.e. total quality.

2. Mentality of people to reject anything new.

3. Difficulty to convince workers of all levels to use quality tools developed in various countries with good results. A tool is something one usually employs directly to get something done. A quality writer says 'Our real tools are our individual strengths.'

4. It appears that only wood cutters and alike suffer when the tools they use are not sharpened constantly. Being thorough with the operating manuals and undergoing various trainings to improve competence are equivalent to sharpening the tools. The weakness in this area gravely affects the efficiency of both traditional and quality management systems alike.

5 Not understanding the philosophy behind the quality management systems.

As the present article deals only with the subject of quality especially the implementation and benefits of 'Pre-ISO management System Program' I give below a brief out line which is adequate for the readers to understand its basics and learn how to begin a quality journey at their work places or any individual for personal growth enthusiastically. This can help any organisation, including universities and all professionals employee at any level.

The first step will be to learn about oneself by looking inward constantly. So far the quality of development achieved in the world, as observed by this columnist, has been severely hampered by the level of quality of the mind of the people involved.

This exercise of looking inward to the very depth of the mind observing the thinking process with words and images is purely an individual effort. We only can show the importance and request one to begin by inquiring who you are, and to find out whether there is a state to understand beyond the words? Psychologists say that the every word represents an image created by oneself, that itself is a barrier to see things as they are at the time of decision making etc.

When these two journeys are properly maintained (we can teach them the logistics of the external journey) but matching it with the internal journey is purely a personal to the individuals concerned. This is a 'process of constant re-examination of the self''. This expression borrowed from the Vignettes column appeared in Sunday Observer of July 14 as proof that the topic (the current trend) is so deep, even though it looks simple. Therefore, so many have neglected it. This is the point where the self is created and destroyed, but no human rights activist can interfere! One has to carry on this research continually observing this state responding to your environment creatively and learning the skills efficiently in a quality environment.

At the second stage after clearing the first hurdle one should attempt to understand the quality philosophy and principles from that state of mind. In the quality environment a suitable definition of philosophy is: 'A body of truths and firm beliefs. Organisationally, it is the basis for the development of vision, mission, goals, objectives, organisation, expected action plans and controls.'

Freedom

By covering the first stage successfully if you are the leader of your organisation you are able to lead your team with total freedom. Your first most important strategic decision as the leader will be fixing your vision and drawing up your mission statement accordingly. A brief note about those two statements will be appropriate here.

The "Vision" statement is not about what the company is doing but what the company is going to be in the future which will inspire the hearts of the people working there.

The "Mission" statement is what the company does to achieve its objectives. Without a vision the company cannot have a clear and constant focus on where the company is moving.

The third stage is to concentrate on how a quality system deviates from the traditional management systems. It is pertinent here to know what five basic principles of quality besides the complete system such as ISO9000 on which structure quality can develop. Those are right first time, zero defects, customer satisfaction, continuous improvement and finally fit for purpose.

Any management system should be about planning, control and decision-making. If the quality principles are used as a basis for planning and control then it is called 'lean' it means that it eradicates waste from all operations and systems.

In later stages one can expand the horizons of quality by reading the books written by quality gurus such as Ishikawa, Deming and Crosby and visiting relevant websites to gain benefits while sharing their latest experiences. There are wonderful techniques used by world class companies to enhance productivity and therefore profits.

We are fortunate as they make their experiences available at their websites.