Implementation of Quality Circles
Concept in Addressing Quality of Goods and Services Concerns
1.
Quality
Circles Concept Implementation Approach
Quality
is one of the fundamental expectations of customer’s aspects in invariably all
products and services. Having a unique and high quality is a means to win
customers as well as making them to remain loyal for long periods of time. Defining and assessing the quality of
tangible products, such as manufactured goods, relies on characteristics such
as conformance, reliability, performance, reliability, durability, and
serviceability. On the other hand, the quality definition of intangible
products, such as services, is attributed to promptness, friendliness,
consistency, as well as courtesy (Aized, 2012). Quality control circles, or
simply quality circles, are instrumental tools for organizations particularly
in modern times when there are strong competitions. Quality circles are not
only aimed at the quality aspects of the business but also the involvement of
all members of the organizations in a bid to attain continuous improvements
through customer satisfaction through the anticipation of needs as well as
expectations (Faridi et al, 2014). Quality circles offer the best approach of
incorporating the employees in seeking to find the best solutions to the
problems in the organization.
Quality
Circle is a significant tool for increasing the productive as well as the
participative problem solving interaction among the various groups of employees
of an organization. It is made up of a small group of employees drawn from all
levels of the organizational hierarchical structure. While the Quality Circle
can consist of 3 to 15 internal members, studies have indicated that the
Circles are invariably made up of eight members. The members of the Circle
voluntarily are involved in identification, analysis, and formulation of
solutions to various technical problems in the daily operation of the
organization (Faridi et al, 2014). Quality Circles are aimed at stimulating
everyone to attain greater satisfaction in the work setting base subject to
corporation and mutual trust.
While
Quality Circle may seem simple, the successful implementation in the
organization will be subject to a number of principles which include voluntary
principle, treatment of members as responsible individuals, living in the real
world, Win-win principle and enjoying. It is pertinent to note that Quality
Circles are voluntary across the organization. His implies that the leader
involved as well as members of the Circle will be volunteers. While some
managers and departmental heads may be cynical about the concept at the onset,
they will be obliged to create an opportunity prior to the commencement of
Quality Circles in their area of mandate. Such need to adhere to obligation
invariably serves to enhance the confidence of the group members due to an
assurance that their work will not be ignored. Subsequently, the commitment of
top level management is instrumental and their experiences accentuate the fact
that the commitment to the implementation of Quality Circles is warranted. It
is imperative to note that the voluntary principle will call for the Circle’s
operations from week to week (Faridi et al, 2014). Consequently, no member is
tied to the group, at the onset and any member will be entitled to stop
attending the meeting at their preference and time. However, if a majority of
the members ceases to attend the weekly meetings, the Circle will be compelled
to discontinue its function.
The
overriding principle of voluntariness highlights that those involved in Quality
Circle are capable and responsible of reaching a sensible decision for
themselves on whether they ought to join the Circle or not (Aized, 2012). The
principle of treating members as responsible individuals assumes that persons
can be trusted that they will conduct themselves as responsible adults.
2.
Quality
Circles Concept Working in the UAE’s Culture
The
Quality Circle concept is evidently applicable in the Dubai setting since
majority of organizations in UAE endeavor and seeks to enhance the quality of
products, services as well as customers’ satisfaction levels. Such widely
accepted undertakings accentuate the influence of quality of service and
customers’ satisfaction in the sales increase, which should be taken into
consideration in the company sales strategy (Vetter & Boecker. 2012). UAE
Companies’ competencies in terms of quality are unique in that they are highly
customer and product focused as well as being profits focused. It should be
noted that once clients become loyal to the company due to its high quality
services, they are bound to keep on purchasing the products and services from
the company. Happy clients usually refer
their friends or family members to products that they felt offered them the
service that they needed (Aldaweesh et al., 2012).
Companies in the UAE in implementing the Quality Circles concept
have developed and enhanced the quality of products and services besides
invariably ensuring qualification of the staffs in a bid to improve their
negotiation skills. Consequently, such skills are instrumental in supporting
Quality Circles implementation as it pertains to analyzing one or more areas of
improvement for a better quality strategy, which is developing and training on
quality which is considered as an important factor in the improvement of
sales. The companies in
the UAE have proven to embrace the fact that training is a large part of
quality. Most companies have several training and quality officers spread
throughout the branches, whom are instrumental in supporting the Quality
Circles on various levels which include product refreshers, implementation of
quality Circles concepts as well as new joiners, interdepartmental trainings
with compliance and product and services quality management (Aldaweesh et al.,
2012). The UAE companies have demonstrated their attempts to enhance their high
quality service delivery over the next few years to come (Aized, 2012).
The
rationale for Quality Circles gaining such prominence with most UAE
organizations is that the enterprises have gained a comprehension of the high
cost of poor quality. Quality affects all aspects of an organization and it has
dramatic cost implications (Aldaweesh et al., 2012). Clear consequences take
place when poor quality leads to dissatisfaction of customers and eventually
resulting in loss of business. It is evident that most UAE organizations invest
heavily in prevention and appraisal costs in a bid to prevent internal and
external failure costs. They seek to detect and correct defects during the
policy design of any product and or service thus ensuring that the products and
services are less expensive. In detecting and solving quality problems, Quality
Circles make use of Total Quality Management techniques in the operating areas
of the organization.
3.
Alternative
Approaches that Enhance Employee Involvement in the Organization Besides
Quality Circles
Quality
improvement can be considered to be a systematic, information-oriented
activities formulated to effect immediate enhancement in the delivery of
quality products and services in a given setting. Any intervention aimed at
bridging the quality gap for population of customers encountered in daily
operations of an enterprise is considered to be the quality improvement
strategy. One of quality improvement strategy is the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA).
The PDSA model is basically used for quality improvement projects that are
aimed at effecting positive changes in business and organizational processes in
a bid to reach favorable outcomes (Tabrizi et al., 2011). The model has a
cyclical nature of impacting as well as assessing change, most sufficiently
achieved by way of small and frequent PDSAs as opposed to huge one and slow
PDSAs. The primary purpose of the model is to determine a causal or functional
relationship between changes in business and organizational processes as well as
outcomes. The PDSA model revolves around three issues; the project’s goal, how
it will be determined if the goal was attained, and what will be done to attain
the goal. The model is be instrumental in product and services quality
improvement by first determining the scope and the nature of the problem, what
changes need to be made, planning for a specific change, who should be
involved, and how the impact of the change will be measure and understood.
Change is then implemented and results collected which are then evaluated and
interpreted. Action is taken by either implementing the change or starting the
PDSA process again (Tabrizi et al., 2011).
Although
originally formulated as a business strategy, Six Sigma is another model that
is employed in improving quality of products and services. Six Sigma involves
improvement, design, and monitoring processes in a bid to eliminate of minimize
waste while enhancing satisfaction and optimizing financial stability. One
module of Six Sigma makes use of a five-phased process with attributes of
discipline, structure and rigor. The component is known as define, measure,
analyze, improve, and control (DMAIC) approach (Bandyopadhyay & Coppens,
2005). Originally designed for the manufacturing industry, there is a challenge
for other sectors and industries to gain from the employment of Six Sigma
approach. It is vital to note that satisfaction of customers is at times
dependent on human element as opposed to machine elements, thus variability is
subtle and challenging to quantify. There is need therefore to find means to
leverage data from Six Sigma to encapsulate human behavior. There are four
indicators that can be utilized individually or in combination to highlight the
degree of quality performance of business enterprises and organizations. These
indicators are service level, customer satisfaction, service cost, and
organizational excellence (Tabrizi et al., 2011).
References
Aized, T (2012), Total Quality Management and Six Sigma,
InTech, ISBN 978-953-51-0688-3
Aldaweesh,
M; Al-Karaghouli, W & Gallear, D (2012), The Relationship Between Total Quality Management Implementation and
Leadership in the Saudi Higher Education: A Review and Conceptual Framework,
European, Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems,
June 7-8, 2012.
Bandyopadhyay,
J. K & Coppens, K (2005), The Use of
Six Sigma in Health Care, International Journal of Quality &
Productivity Management, vol. 5, No. 1
Faridi,
M. R; Al Kahtani, N.S; Alam T. & Malki, S (2014), An Introduction to Student Quality Circle at College of Business
Administration, Salman bin Abdulaziz University, Al Kharj, Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia—An Empirical Study, International Education Studies; Vol. 7, No. 9;
2014 ISSN 1913-9020 E-ISSN 1913-9039
Tabrizi,
J. S; Gharibi, F. & Wilson, A. J (2011), Advantages and Disadvantages of Health Care Accreditation Models,
Health Promotion Perspectives, vol. 1, No. 1, 2011; pp 1-31.
Vetter,
P., & Boecker, K. (2012) “Benefits of
a Single Payment System: Case Study of Abu Dhabi Health System Reforms”. Health
Policy, 108 (2-3), pp. 105-114. Ebschost
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