Antonietta Jackson

09/24/2017
IE673-851
Homework Assignment 1

1. What is quality?
Quality can be defined with four characteristics that encompasses all of the meaning. Quality is
the performance to meet or exceed expectation, the performance of meeting the customers
needs, the consistency of meeting the customer needs and expectations and, satisfying the
customer today and getting better tomorrow. Quality applies to products, services, people,
processes and environment which are critical elements to any business. It shows the point that
quality applies not just to the products and services provided, but also to the people and
processes that provide and the environments in which they are provided. Given the fact that
products and services are changing constantly therefore so does quality. Quality is an ever
changing state; what is considered quality today may not be good enough to be considered
quality tomorrow.
2. What is TQM?
Total quality is an approach to doing business that attempts to maximize the competitiveness of
an organization through the continual improvement of the quality of its products, services,
people, processes and environments. Some characteristics that set TQM are strategic focus,
obsession with quality, scientific approach to decision making and problem solving, long term
commitment, teamwork, education and training and, continual improvement. The underlying
concept that drives TQM is competitiveness. In globally competitive business environment
businesses cannot survive unless they outperform the competition in proving superior value. A
main element to this competitiveness is stragty based the plan of a total quality organization is
designed to give it a sustainable competitiveness advantage in the mark place.
3. How can we achieve organizational excellence with quality?
We can achieve organizational excellence by focusing on long term profits and continual
improvement of cost, quality, and services. If an organization invests in the long term capacity of
these attributes the company will have an advantage over their competitors in their marketplace
by having superior value to its customers. Organizations that apply the total management
quality systems are most likely to achieve organizational excellence.
4. What is the Deming cycle?
The Deming cycle was developed to link the production of a product with consumer needs and
focus the resources of all departments in a cooperative effort to meet those needs The Deming
cycle is as follows:
 1. Conduct consumer research and use it in planning the product.
2. Produce the product.
3. Check the product to make sure it was produced in accordance with the plan.
4. Market the product.
5. Analyze how the product is received in the marketplace in terms of quality, cost and
other criteria

5. What are the most common errors when starting quality initiatives?
The most common errors when starting quality initiatives are as followed:
1. Senior management delegation and poor leadership: Organizations attempt to start a
quality initiative by delegating responsibility to a hired expert rather than applying the leadership
necessary to get everyone involved.
2. Team Mania: Supervisors must learn how to be effective coaches, and employees must
learn how to be team players.
3. Deployment process: Organizations develop quality initiatives without concurrently
developing plans for integrating them into all elements of the organization.
4. Taking a narrow, dogmatic approach: None of the approaches advocated by these and
other leading quality experts is truly one size fits all proposition.
5. Confusion about the differences among education, awareness, inspiration, and skill
building: For people to do their part in making the total quality approach work effectively, they
must have the skills to apply the fundamental tools of quality.
6. Explain the cost of poor quality.
Main companies think that when in times of crises the first thing that should go is quality tools
because it is seen as a negative downstream however, it is quite the opposite. When an
organization does what is necessary to improve its performance by reducing deficiencies in key
areas, it can reduce overall costs without eliminating essential services, functions, product
features, and personnel. The following rules can measure the costs of poor quality:
1. Identify all activities that exist only or primarily because of poor quality.
2. Decide how to estimate the costs of these activities.
3. Collect data on these activities and make the cost estimates.
4. Analyze the results and take necessary corrective actions in the proper order of
priority.
7. What are the quality characteristics of world class organizations?
The characteristics of a world class organization is as followed:
1. Customer service
2. Quality control and assurance
3. Research and development/ new product development
4. Acquiring new technologies
5. Innovation
6. Team-based approach
7. Best practices
8. Manpower planning
9. Environmentally sound practices
10. Business partnerships and alliances
11. Reengineering of processes
12. Mergers and acquisitions
13. Outsourcing and contracting
14. Reliance on consulting services
15. Political lobbying
8. Responsibility and total quality.
In a society that has become more likely to pass the blame it is very hard to incorporate a
company with responsibility and total quality. One way that a company can do this is to create a
ethical environment for all who work there. The way to create and ethical environment is to
establish practices and policies that ensure that all employees are treated ethically and then by
enforcing those policies. Also to have a specific guideline for putting the companys philosophy
into operation.
9. Discuss some models for ethical quality decisions.
The models for ethical quality decisions are as followed:
1. Categorical imperative model: the black and white model; with this model right is
right and wrong is wrong.
2. Full disclosure model: has the advantage of applying the values of stakeholders in
deciding what is ethical.
 3. Doctrine of the mean model: the practical application, any situation; a moderate
middle ground is the best option.
4. Golden rule model: takes the view points of the stakeholders into account in
deciding ethical decisions.
5. Market ethic model: based on the belief that any legal action that promotes
profitability is ethical.
6. Organizational ethic model: based on loyalty to the organization, the most ethical
decision is the one that is best for the company.
7. Equal freedom model: Principal of this model is that organizations have the
freedom to behave as they wish unless their actions infringe on the rights of the
stakeholders.
8. Proportionality ethic model: based on the assumption that the world is so complex
that decisions are seldom clearly right or wrong.
9. Professional ethic model: based on the principal of peer review.
10. What is the engineering managers role in quality ethics?
The roles of the engineering manager is as followed:
1. Customer service: produce products keeping in mind the customer needs and the
requirements because they are the backbone for the success of the company.
2. Leadership: They should be good leaders to enhance good communication
between employees and the management.
3. Process approach: they should perform continuous trail test before releasing any
product and there will be continuous checks and time to time service on the
equipment and manufacturing machines.
4. Factual approach when decision making: they should take decisions based on
actual facts and data.
11. Sustainable Green Focus
Video Links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DLIQcB-YWg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O8Yv5U7_PY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh3k3CiV3tk&t=7s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9BDj7BK6qk&t=176s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U544Mo-us18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6O1F9pN-Qk
Dear Board of Directors and Stakeholders,
First of all, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read the letter and watch the
videos I have presented. Now after watching the videos linked too above I we can all agree that
the world we live in is a beautiful place with full of wonder and curiosities. These are the places
that people dream of going one day; one of them maybe even one of you but if we want to
preserve this beauty it needs to be protected. How to protect these places is entirely up to us, the
decision is ours. By promoting sustainable green focuses throughout the company we can do our
fair share of preserving the wonders of the world.
As we are all aware of, toxins and waste is bad for the ocean and the species that dwell in
it. Not only with these toxins affect the water and species but it will affect us as well. If a species
were to die out from pollution, it would affect the entire ecosystem and since we eat species in
that ecosystem we would be affected as well. The wellbeing of the ocean itself is at risk due to
the declining habitat of coral reefs. Coral reefs are homes for some species, provide food for
some species and also naturally balances the pH of the water.
I would also like to point out that promoting initiatives to help the environment would
also have a great effect on the companys profits. Companies that have sustainable green focus
have a competitive advantage over their competitors by satisfying the needs of the customers.
The decision would be in the companys best interest and in the best interest of the earth.

Very Respectfully,
Antonietta Jackson

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