Using quality to improve business performance

Topic: Usin" rel="nofollow">ing quality to improve busin" rel="nofollow">iness performance Order Description Please use valve manufacturer for oil and gas sector as a company example. Preferred references: Dr JM Juran - Juran’s Quality Handbook Professor Kaoru Ishikawa - An Introduction to Quality Control Professor Kaoru Ishikawa - What is Total Quality Control Assignment background Problem solvin" rel="nofollow">ing is at the heart of quality in" rel="nofollow">initiatives to improve busin" rel="nofollow">iness performance. The process of problem solvin" rel="nofollow">ing typically has four key components: 1. Defin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing the key problem and analysin" rel="nofollow">ing it in" rel="nofollow">in appropriate depth 2. Generatin" rel="nofollow">ing ideas which support reduction or elimin" rel="nofollow">ination of the problem 3. Selectin" rel="nofollow">ing a short list of the ideas which represent valid solutions, and evaluatin" rel="nofollow">ing these 4. Implementin" rel="nofollow">ing a workin" rel="nofollow">ing and sustain" rel="nofollow">inable solution. Many quality improvement frameworks have been put forward by ’Gurus‘, which contain" rel="nofollow">in problem solvin" rel="nofollow">ing at their core and then expand upon this approach. In the simplest form, the Demin" rel="nofollow">ing PDCA cycle is deliberately basic and easy to understand and can be tailored for a wide range of applications. Juran’s 6 poin" rel="nofollow">int improvement program offers a more structured approach phrased in" rel="nofollow">in organisational language. Crosby puts forward a 14 step in" rel="nofollow">in-depth program which recognises the importance of human motivation, team structure and management commitment, but at this level is movin" rel="nofollow">ing towards a company-wide philosophy rather than a practical problem solvin" rel="nofollow">ing framework. Other approaches have come directly from busin" rel="nofollow">iness, often from major automotive companies such as Toyota or Ford. An example of an approach which was origin" rel="nofollow">inally formalised by the latter company is known as 8D (or Eight Disciplin" rel="nofollow">ines). DMAIC is also a widespread approach from in" rel="nofollow">industry with emphasis on the use of statistical data. These frameworks have subsequently been applied widely both within" rel="nofollow">in manufacturin" rel="nofollow">ing and service in" rel="nofollow">industries. Assignment brief For the assignment – usin" rel="nofollow">ing quality to improve busin" rel="nofollow">iness performance – you should identify a small scale quality improvement project within" rel="nofollow">in your organisation to which a structured, stage based format can be applied. The project should use a team based approach and use of recognised tools and techniques of problem solvin" rel="nofollow">ing and ideas generation in" rel="nofollow">in order to down select the solution(s). You should manage the project and your in" rel="nofollow">involvement in" rel="nofollow">in each stage should be clear. The chosen framework may be a recognised, named approach such as those discussed in" rel="nofollow">in the assignment background/in" rel="nofollow">introduction or your own adaptation to suit your chosen improvement project. In either case the structure methodology should be clear and justified. As a general guide, the main" rel="nofollow">in body of the assignment structure should be as follows:- 1. Literature review – this section should review and discuss literature on staged based improvement project approaches in" rel="nofollow">in general, and how they may be used to improve busin" rel="nofollow">iness performance with particular emphasis on quality. A favoured option may be discussed at the end of this section as appropriate. 2. Problem identification – you should identify a problem area for improvement, givin" rel="nofollow">ing clear justification - fin" rel="nofollow">inancial or otherwise - of your choice. Methods you used to down select the problem should be clear, in" rel="nofollow">includin" rel="nofollow">ing any team based methodology. 3. Project organisation – you should discuss your approach to carryin" rel="nofollow">ing out the project. This should in" rel="nofollow">include framework (stages), plannin" rel="nofollow">ing, team selection, timescales, etc. 4. Project execution 1 - Carryin" rel="nofollow">ing out the project. This is a major section of the assignment. Within" rel="nofollow">in this section you should in" rel="nofollow">include what you have done. This will in" rel="nofollow">include such areas as problem mappin" rel="nofollow">ing, identification of root causes, and identification of solution. 5. Project execution 2 – Implementin" rel="nofollow">ing the solution. This is the second key practical stage of any quality improvement project. This section should in" rel="nofollow">include how the solution was trialled if appropriate. How the solution was formalised should also be discussed in" rel="nofollow">in this section. 6. Review and follow up – the fin" rel="nofollow">inal assignment stage should contain" rel="nofollow">in a conclusion givin" rel="nofollow">ing a reasoned review of the project. This should in" rel="nofollow">include discussion of the approach used and lessons learnt – what was successful and how could methodologies be improved? Fin" rel="nofollow">inally, recommendations for future work, in" rel="nofollow">in terms of the specific project and also the improvement process used in" rel="nofollow">in general, are to be discussed. The output should take the form of an assignment report explain" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing how you personally facilitated or arranged execution of each stage of the project. Use of recognised quality tools appropriate to each stage is important and should be evident within" rel="nofollow">in the report. Report format: The format for this assignment is a formal report; it should have a title page, a table of contents and an executive summary. (The executive summary is characteristically three short paragraphs: the first outlin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing the scope of the report, the second summarisin" rel="nofollow">ing the methodology used for the in" rel="nofollow">investigation and the third providin" rel="nofollow">ing conclusions and recommendations). The in" rel="nofollow">introduction will give in" rel="nofollow">information about the organisation that you are basin" rel="nofollow">ing this work upon. This organisation may be your place of work or another with which you are reasonably familiar and offers the scope to carry out the assignment. The rest of the report should use the assignment brief as the framework. All sources of in" rel="nofollow">information must be referenced usin" rel="nofollow">ing the Harvard referencin" rel="nofollow">ing system.