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Amity Center for eLearning

J-Block, Amity Campus
Sec-44, NOIDA (UP)
India 201303

ASSIGNMENTS

ADL-16 : TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Subject Name & Code : Total Quality Management
Study Centre :
Permanent Enrollment Number (PEN) :
Student Name :


INSTRUCTIONS

a) Students are required to submit three assignments

ASSIGNMENT DETAILS MARKS
Assignment A Five Subjective Questions 15
Assignment B Three Subjective Questions + Case Study 15
Assignment C 40 Objective Questions 10

b) Total weightage given to these assignments is 40%.
c) All assignments are to be completed in your own hand writing/typed.
d) All questions are required to be attempted.
e) All the three assignments are to be completed by due dates (specified from time to time)
and mailed/given by hand for evaluation at the ACeL office Noida/your Study Centre.
f) The evaluated assignments can be collected from your study centre/ACeL office after six
weeks. Thereafter, these will be destroyed at the end of each semester.


Signature : _________________________
Date : _________________________


( ) Tick mark in front of the assignments submitted

Assignment 'A' Assignment 'B' Assignment 'C'






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ADL-16: Total Quality Management

Assignment 'A'


Notes: Marks : 15

Q1. What role top management plays in implementation of TQM?
Q2. If TQM is cross-cultural and holistic why are tools function specific?
Q3. Explain any five tools of quality with reference to service industry.
Q4. Differentiate managerial tools from operational tools in the context of Manufacturing industry.
Q5. Relate soft tools to statistically designed experiments with particular focus on design of new
products.


ADL-16: Total Quality Management

Assignment 'B'


Notes: Marks : 15

Q1. Explain the various approaches companies use in their effort at implementing total quality
management.
Q2. Do you think a structured approach to Quality helps in effective implementation of TQM.
Q3. What role Quality Improvement Teams play in operationalising the concept of Quality .

Case Study

TQM IN THE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ENVIRONMENT - A BALANCED APPROACH
BETWEEN 'HARD' AND 'SOFT' OUALITY: ESSO RESEARCH CENTRE.

BACKGROUND:

The Esso Research Centre is part of Exxon Corporation, the petrochemical company. The two
largest Exxon Businesses are petroleum and Chemicals. Both of which are represented at the Esso
Research Centre. Research at Exxon is carried out in a number of laboratories specializing in
different business aspects, ranging from crude oil production to the quality of the finished
petroleum and chemicals used by the consumers. The Research Centre, just south of Oxford, UK ,
has two separate functions, the Petroleum Product Quality Research and Developmem ( R&D)
activity, and the Performance Chemicals Technology activity.

The Petroleum R &D is aimed at development of petroleum fuels and lubricants products principally
for European use, although some products are developed for worldwide applications. The
Performance Chemicals Technology Centre focuses on the development of specialty chemicals
manufactured worldwide for inclusion in fuels and lubricants. In addition to new product
development both the organisations provide technical services to assist product manufacturing and
marketing. A third function of the cite is to provide service facilities and resources which support
both of the petroleum and chemicals research groups. These range from a common restaurant to
the evaluation of- the performance of fuels and lubricants, physical and chemical techniques for
analysis of products produced, and other operational functions which both groups need in order to
operate.

The TQM beginnings

The petroleum research function's history in the total quality process goes back to the mid 1980s,
when a mixture of external and internal factors began to affect the site. Externally, the business
importance of being certified to the BS5750 (ISO9000) and Ford Q101 standards was increasing in


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the UK, and needed to be reflected in the technical service role. The chemicals businesses were
also beginning to recognize the value of TQM in their operations, and were interested in
encouraging the use of quality concepts by their suppliers within the Research Centre. Also at this
time, a decision was taken by the Analytical Section to apply for certification to the National
Measurement Accreditation Service (NAMAS), in response to some of their customers' interests and
an internally driven process called Changing Gear, aimed at increasing employee motivation and
self-esteem. Probably the most influential factor at this stage, however, was the appointment of a
management team, which was convinced of the need to develop and encourage the people on the
site to be more responsive, effective and efficient, in the eyes of the Exxon business groups which
fund the petroleum research function. The team believed that the application of some form of TQM
was the correct approach to the achievement of this end, so the issue was not whether to, but how
to, apply the TQM philosophies.

In the exploratory phase of the site's experience in TQM, virtually. no published methodology was
available for a research organization to select the right approach. Indeed, some of the language
used by some of the quality 'gurus', e.g. 'get it right first time' and 'zero defects', was definitely
off- putting to people involved in research. In the latter case, the end-result is not always as
predictable as in a manufacturing operation, where much of the available TQM experience had been
gained.

Searching for some relevant expertise, the management group selected a management consultant,
an occupational psychologist, who introduced a model of quality (Figure 3.1), which consisted of
two dimensions: the operational and expressive dimensions of quality, both of which must be at a
high level for total customer satisfaction to be generated. It emphasized an important feature
which needed to be recognized in a research function, that cooperative relationships between
individuals and teams of people (e.g. R&D, and business groups) are as important as the actual
research carried out by R&D groups.

The model was introduced to the whole petroleum site management group, which was then
encouraged to develop it. This resulted in several new initiatives with on- and off-site groups,
including attempts to measure customer satisfaction in both the operational and expressive
dimensions. This model had a significant influence on the future development of the site's quality
process, because it emphasized the importance of the 'people'



dimension of quality. However, it lacked an important feature, the 'how to' dimension which is
needed to achieve good operational and expressive results.

As this exploratory phase progressed, further external developments were occurring. The use of
the 1S09002 standard was spreading throughout Europe, including Exxon's lubricant plants and
business lines, and the concepts of TQM were becoming more widespread in application in Exxon,
particularly in the chemical and petroleum business lines serving the automotive industries.



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Consolidating and managing the process

At this stage, the site management group decided to consolidate the site's quality process and
appointed a full-time quality manager. Further examination of approaches offered by consultants
were made, and one was selected. Although the approach adopted was originally developed by a
manufacturing industry leader in quality (Rank Xerox), it was felt to be adaptable to the research
process. There were several elements in the approach, including the 'process' dimension - the 'how
to' which was lacking in the earlier experimental phase. The two-dimensional model (Figure 3.1)
was, therefore, modified to the three-dimensional model shown in Figure 3.2, the three dimensions
being product or service (equivalent to the operational dimension in the earlier model), people
(equivalent to the expressive dimension) and process (how the product and relationships were
produced). The training also




included a nine-step quality delivery process which covered work group missions, outputs,
customers and processes, and a six-step problem-solving process. Tools such as flow-charting,
fishbone diagrams, team work and brainstorming were also included.

This training package was given to the whole site over a period of about 12 months and resulted in
many quality improvement projects, encompassing how new products were developed, new
facilities were installed and scheduled, hazardous waste disposed of, contractor support planned,
suppliers paid, and so on.

Although it was also recommended that the site adopt a formal cost of quality measurement
system, this recommendation was not adopted. It was felt that it would be difficult to apply the
concepts in detail to an R&D operation, where 'failure' can be turned into an important learning
point, or

where the `lost opportunities of a project not taken up at the time of its completion may turn into a
positive benefit in later years, when the results and information used in the project may be used in
further research work. The principle of a prevention-based approach to maximize research
effectiveness was adopted, however.




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Benefits derived - so soon?

This phase of the development of the Research Centre quality process resulted in many benefits:

Many of the improvement projects were aimed at site problems which had hindered site
effectiveness.
The importance of the internal customer and quality chain concepts were recognized.
The process management model (Figure 3.3) was shown to be useful in identifying the
process flow, and measurement opportunities.




An improved image with business groups resulted, which later was seen as vital in obtaining their
agreement to future development of the site role.
The value was demonstrated of the flow-charting and brainstorming quality tools to aid process
definition and problem-solving.

Integrating TQM into the strategy

The next development in the process stemmed from a desire to improve tile connection between
business priorities and some of the improvements generated by staff. In some parts of the site,
quality was seen as a separate activity to the normal job, quality behaviour being exhibited during
quality improvements projects, which were not translated into equivalent behaviour on the normal,
day-to-day job. The measurement of process effectiveness and efficiency also needed building. It
was felt that the quality process development so far had been focused more on '"the here-and-
now', rather than on 'the future'. Fortunately, through contacts that the management group
developed with other Exxon groups, and expertise available through the Exxon Chemical chair in
TQM at Bradford, an extension to the approach was developed based on an IBM methodology
which focused more on the future direction of the site, and led to prioritization of the improvement
effort through definition of longer-tern1 goals, critical success factors and key processes. This
methodology was supplemented by two other tools, one a method for development of strategic
goals, and the other a model of organizational effectiveness which couples work objectives/tasks
with values and behaviours. A summary of the final model the site now uses as a framework is
shown in Figure 3.4.

The site now discusses its quality process as a mixture of `hard quality - business goals, driving
process control and improvement -and `soft quality -values, driving people's behaviour. Both `hard
and `soft quality have to be addressed in a balanced approach. The `hard quality track relates to
the original operational dimension, the `soft quality track to the expressive dimension, in the
original two-dimensional model of quality introduced in the




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early phase. Management workshops have been held on leadership and management style, and
values and preferred behaviours defined. Having emphasized that both 'hard' and 'soft' quality
tracks need working, it has to be said that the site feels more comfortable dealing with 'hard'
quality issues than 'soft' quality issues, as one might expect in the scientific and engineering
culture of a research organization.

Further extension of the use of the ISO9000 standards has been made on the site, to support the
increased use of this standard by the Exxon business groups customers. This use of quality
assurance standards is also seen as a method of providing control for processes such as product
development, where control through the conventional use of data and statistical process control
(SPC) techniques is slow or inapplicable. Effectively, 80% of the site activity is now included in
some form of external quality assurance. This produces the following benefits:

improved clarity of roles and responsibilities;
definition of best practices, and written procedures to follow, built on these practices;
improved communications with business colleagues;
better documentation of research processes.

The key learning points

So what are the learning points from this expcrience? The site believes:
The quality process can be applied to an R&D environment, and can produce useful business
benefits.
The concept of the internal customer and the customer-supplier chain has now become well-
ingrained in the site culture, with all of the resulting benefits.
The ISO9000 and NAMAS standards, applied carefully in a 'minimum bureaucracy' style, has
added value to key processes, such as product development.
The process takes much longer than expected to become embedded in the culture of the
organization - patience is needed.
Constancy of purpose is needed to maintain momentum; it is sometimes difficult to concentrate
on quality principles when there are pressing and changing business priorities.
Measurement of the value of the quality process in a research environment is a continuing
challenge.
Achieving the right balance between process discipline, and creativity, which was a concern with
adoption of the ISO standards, has not materialized to any great extent; perhaps this is due to
the predominance of development versus pure scientific research at the Research Centre and the
'minimize bureaucracy' used in writing the quality system.
There is no `off-the-shelf methodology which immediately can be applied to the R & D
Environment, and one had to be developed in-house. Although this may have slowed down the
process, it is believed that a home-grown methodology is more likely to gain ownership and be
sustainable at the Esso Research Centre. This is an important conclusion, judging from other


Copyright 2004. Amity.

experiences with TQM, in which package approaches have been shown to fail in a research
environment.
The integration of new management group members with different backgrounds has increased in
difficulty as quality has increasingly been integrated into the Research Centre culture, rather
than being seen as a separate entity.

In the future, the site anticipate continued application of the balanced 'hard' and 'soft' quality
approaches using the framework described in Figure 3.4. Continued attention will be given to the
collection of data, and use of standards such as ISO 9000 and NAMAS series to support process
control and improvement, and the development of cooperative partnerships between the on-site
divisions and external business groups.

Questions

Q1. What role do models play in implementing quality. Discuss the different models used in the
case based on your understanding.

Q2. What do you perceive is the reason behind quality being exhibited more on special occasions
rather than on day today functions.


ADL-16: Total Quality Management

Assignment 'C'


Notes: Marks : 10

1. Define Quality as per ISO 8402.
2. What is TQM?
3. What are grades in quality?
4. How does Deming define quality?
5. How is TQM different from quality?
6. What is repair?
7. What is rework?
8. The first company in the world to use SPC ____________
9. What is SPC?
1O. Schewart is known for ____________
11. Who is Juran?
12. "Quality is Free" Who said this?
13. What is ISO?
14. Name two people who changed the face of quality in Japan.
15. What is fishbone?
16. Relate Pareto to ____________
17. What role Income tax plays on quality?
18. Concepts are to philosophies like ____________ are to models.
19. What is "Golden Peacock Award?
20. Name any two Japanese Gurus.
21. What is cost of Quality?
22. What are control limits?


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23. Quality cost is
24. What is CMM?
25. Is Quality synonymous with worth?
26. What is "5S?
27. Do Japanese tool apply worldwide?
28. What is BPR?
29. Expand PDCA.
30. What is Value Engineering?
31. Why do we use Poka -Yoke?
32. What are Taguchi's Methods?
33. Explain soft quality.
34. Define 6 Sigma.
35. What is UCL?
36. Who got the first ISO certification in India? 37. What is ISO 8402?
38. What is reengineering?
39. Why did reengineering fail?
40. What is Champy's contribution to Quality?