Final Exam in MEM 307

Dinah Fe T. Olitan

1. DEFINE WHAT IS QUALITY? WHY IS IT IMPORTANT AND HOW IS IT IMPLEMENTED?

Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfill a need or expectation that
is stated, general implied or obligatory. It is important so that the products, services and
processes we produce fulfill their function based on the need, desire and wants of the
customers so that it can be saleable to them. In short, it helps guarantee customer’s
satisfaction.

Quality is being implemented by applying the quality management principles to management

systems and processes. One of the most widely accepted way to implement quality is the use of
sets of standards like the ISO 9000.

2. IN AN ORGANIZATION HAVING QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, IS THE SYSTEM THOUGHT

OF AS A SET OF DOCUMENTS OR AS A SET OF INTERCONNECTED PROCESSES THAT DELIVER
THE ORGANIZATION’S OBJECTIVE?

It actually depends on the organization and how well the management related their idea to the
whole organization. In my first job, quality management system was thought of as a set of
interconnected processes that deliver the organization’s objective but part of the
interconnected processes is the preparation of a set of documents.

3. DIFFERENTIATE RESPONSIBILITY AND AUTHORITY, AND DISCUSS WHY IT IS NECESSARY IN

MAINTAINING THE QUALITY AND THE QUALITY SYSTEM?

Responsibility is in simple terms an area in which one is entitled to act on one’s own accord
while Authority is, in simple terms, the right to take actions and make decisions. Responsibility
is very necessary because every member of an organization needs to know the scope of their
work, their deliverables, etc in order to avoid overlapping of jobs or conflict between members
resulting to confusion and chaos. Authority on the other hand is also important because for
every area of responsibility, someone needs to lead in decision making, in making sure goals are
met on schedule, etc.

4. DESIRED RESULT WILL NOT BE ACHIEVED BY CHANCE, THEIR ACHIEVEMENT NEEDS TO BE

MANAGED AND AS THE PROCESSES ARE THE MEANS BY WHICH THE RESULTS ARE ACHIEVED.
ENUMERATE AND DISCUSS THE DIFFERENT THINGS NEEDED TO BE MANAGED IN ORDER TO
ACHIEVE THE DESIRED OUTPUT.

Managing the inputs

This is making sure the process is capable of producing the required outputs of the required
quality, on time, with the human physical and financial resources available and that the
processes providing the required inputs are capable of supplying them on time, in the right
quantity and quality and if not, adjusting the process to accommodate known variations.

Managing the work

This means that the activities have to be planned, organized and controlled in a way that will
deliver the desired outputs. To do this one has to:
- Determine the process objectives and establish performance measures of success.
- Determine the activities required to achieve the objectives and design the process
so that the sequence and interaction of the activities and use of resources will
achieve the process objectives.
- Determine the stages in the process where checks need to be made to verify work
and detect variance.
- Organize the assignment of responsibility and delegation of authority for the actions
and decisions required.
- Install communication mechanisms for feeding the process with changes in the
inputs and for obtaining information on the behaviour of the process.
- Install sensors to detect variance in process capability.
- Etc.

Managing the physical resources

This means that the physical resources needed by the process are planned, organized and
controlled in a way that enables the process to deliver the desired results. To do this one has
to:
- Determine the physical resources required and establish objectives for their
acquisition, utilization and productivity;
- Establish performance measures for physical resource acquisition, utilization and
productivity;
- Develop or acquire physical resources of the right type, quantity and quality at the
right time;
- Deploy these resources to the stage in the process where they are required, when
they are required;
- Maintain the physical resources necessary for efficient and effective performance;
- Install sensors for measuring physical resource acquisition, utilization and
productivity;
- Monitor and measure the acquisition, utilization and productivity of physical
resources against the established objectives;
- Etc.

Managing the financial resources

This means that the financial resources needed by the processes are planned, organized and
controlled in a way that the other resources are acquired on time, of the right quality and in the
right quantity to feed the process with the means to deliver the desired performance. To do
this one has to:
- Develop a financial budget for setting up the process as designed. This may require
investment capital the source of which needs to be secured;
- Develop a financial budget for operating and maintaining the process that projects
spend over time. The cost of raw materials, consumables and labour, of out-sourced
services such as laboratories, cleaning, maintenance etc.;
- Set up cost control mechanisms that regulate expenditure on capital, materials,
labour and expenses that are commensurate with process objectives;
- Set up revenue collection mechanisms including sales invoicing, receipts and debt
collection;
- Set up cost accounting mechanisms that identify all elements of expenditure
including capital costs, running costs, maintenance costs and quality costs (costs of
prevention, detection, correction and failure);
- Monitor and measure the acquisition and utilization of financial resources against
the budgets;
- Etc.

Managing the human resources

This means that the human resources needed by the process are planned, organized and
controlled in a way that enables the process to deliver the desired results. To do this one has
to:
- Determine the human resources required and establish objectives for their
acquisition, utilization, capability, competency and productivity;
- Establish performance measures for human resource acquisition, utilization,
capability and productivity;
- Develop or acquire human resources of the right competency so as to be available
at the right time;
- Assign responsibilities and delegate authority to the human resources
commensurate with their abilities;
- Create conditions in which the human resources will be motivated to deliver the
desired performance;
- Etc.

Managing the constraints

Process constraints are forces that prevent, restrict, limit or regulate a process. There are two
types of constraints on a process; one is controllable and the other isn’t because of a legal
requirement or corporate policy you cannot change. Each constraint has to be managed
differently. The legal and policy constraints have to be satisfied otherwise the process will be in
breach of the law or policy and will be shut down unless compliance is restored. The
controllable constraint is an inherent characteristic of the process that can be changed
provided that the effects can be measured. The force constraining the process can be identified
 and either removed, reduced or controlled. These forces may be of a technical, political,
physical or behavioral nature and therefore the measures taken will differ in each case.

Managing the outputs

The most common form of management is output management. Financial management is often
output management – all the focus is on the bottom line without regard to the processes that
deliver it. All the kicking, whipping and instruction does little to improve the output because the
focus is in the wrong place. People complain they cannot deliver more because of a lack of
capable resources, problems with the inputs or the constraints imposed by management. If the
inputs, activities, resources and constraints have been managed effectively, the outputs should
be predictable and should satisfy customers and therefore the outputs are being managed
indirectly.

5. ENUMERATE AND DISCUSS THE THREE PARAMETERS OF QUALITY.

Quality of design is the extent to which the design reflects a product or service that satisfies
customer needs and expectations. All the necessary characteristics should be designed into the
product or service at the outset.
Quality of conformance is the extent to which the product or service conforms to the design
standard. The design has to be faithfully reproduced in the product or service.

Quality of use is the extent by which the user is able to secure continuity of use from the
product or service. Products need to have a low cost of ownership, be safe and reliable,
maintainable in use and easy to use.

6. THE STANDARD REQUIRES THE ORGANIZATION TO CONTINUALLY IMPROVE THE

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM. OUTLINE THE REQUIREMENTS TO
ENSURE CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT OF THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM.

There are several improvement actions we can take to improve quality management system:
a. Raise the standard e.g. if the norm for the sales ratio of orders won to all orders bid is 60%,
an improvement program could be developed for raising the standard to 75% or higher.
b. Increase efficiency e.g. if the time to process an order is within limits, identify and eliminate
wasted resources.
c. Increase effectiveness e.g. if you bid against all customer requests, by only bidding for those
you know you can win you improve your hit rate.

7. WHEN PREPARING PLANS FOR PRODUCT REALIZATION, HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU HAVE
TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT ALL THE FACTORS THAT WILL AFFECT SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION?

I would know that I have taken into account all factors that will affect successful
implementation by following through in detail the planning process flow charts designed by
each company like the one in #8 and by making use of tools like Gantt Charts and PERT CPM.
8. HOW DO YOU PLAN AND DEVELOP THE PROCESSES REQUIRED PRODUCT REALIZATION?

A common method of planning projects is to prepare a Project Plan that includes the following:
a. Project objectives
b. System requirements
c. Project strategy
d. Critical success factors and success criteria
e. Project milestones
f. Project timeline
g. Project organization (chart and team responsibilities and authority)
h. Work breakdown structure (Major tasks, work packages, deliverables)
i. Resource provision in terms of space, development tools, equipment
j. Supplier control plan
k. Information system (Strategy, tools and their development)
l. Communication plan (Strategy, methods and tasks)
m. Personnel development plan (Strategy, education and training for those engaged on the
project)
n. Evaluation plan (Audits, design reviews and assessments)
o. Project reviews (Strategy, project reviews and team reviews)
p. Contract management

Another is to make use of a process flow chart.

 In process development planning, it includes identifying:
a. The process objectives
b. The process specification (parameters, targets and success criteria)
c. The process development stages
d. The responsibilities for the actions and decisions in developing the process
e. The procedures, instructions needed to execute the process development tasks
f. The stages where verification and validation of process and product take place, the
acceptance criteria and methods of measurement
g. The conditions that have to be satisfied for the process to be deemed operational (who
make the decision and on what basis)
h. The timescales required for each task in each stage

The processes referred to are not only the making and moving processes. New
processes may be needed for:
i. Communicating with overseas customers
ii. Processing military orders
iii. Managing a multinational project
iv. Configuration management
v. Managing a centralized procurement programme
vi. System design involving new technologies
vii. Installing a new IT system
viii. Managing major subcontractors
ix. Setting-up a remote servicing unit.

9. IF ISO 9000 IS PERCEIVE RIGHTLY OR WRONGLY, AS A BADGE ON THE WALL, A SYSTEM, A

LABEL, A GOAL OR A SET OF DOCUMENTS, IS THAT WHAT IT IS? EXPLAIN

Yes, that is what it is. It is because all organizations have a way of doing things. For some it rests
in the mind of the leaders, for others it is translated onto paper and for most it is a mixture of
the two. What’s important is that it raises the bar enough to enable more organizations to
satisfy more customers and do less harm to society.

10. IN ESTABLISHING A QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, IS IT TO ENSURE THAT THEY MET THE
CUSTOMER’S REQUIREMENTS OR IS IT TO ENSURE THAT THE ORGANIZATION MET IT OWN
REQUIREMENTS?

Quality management system exists to ensure that they meet both the customer’s and
organization’s requirements. It is because Quality is a strategic objective that is established to
fulfill the needs and expectations of all interested parties and therefore equates with the
corporate objectives – no benefits are gained from ranking quality equally with other
objectives.