Introduction
Total Quality management, as well as organizational development of a team are regarded as the key engines of managerial and organizational process. If TQM principles are implemented, this means that all the hindrances and barriers associated with the company’s regress should be removed. The aim of this paper is to assess the TQM implementation at the Davis plant, and define the aims and aspects of the performance improvement.
Total Quality Program
The most significant factors of the TQM implementation at the Davis Plant are associated with the company’s culture and relations within the employee groups. Considering the fact that the relations among employees are regulated by the strong cultural rules and traditions, it should be emphasized that the actual importance of the cultural regulations should be based on the objectives of the working performance. (Adams, Gupta et.al. 2003; Jablonski 2007; Keller 2001) The autocratic management style originated the militant relations with the trade union, while the latter have become the opposition to official management, while it should be the supporting instance for workers. Management and union should cooperate with each other, while the latter defends the employees’ interests. Both factors provide the opposite development vectors, while both should take care of the effective development and effective performance of the workers. (Tennant 2001; Townsend and Gebhardt 2004; Yerkes, Decker et.al 2003)
Organizational Development Program
The key aims of the OD program is the achievement of the more effective industrial performance by changing the cultural relations within the team, as well as providing the required qualification improvement trainings. The coaching techniques are closely associated with the necessity to set up the teams’ goals, procedures required for the proper resource allocation strategy, as well as the reliable communication process. (Crosby, 2005) Considering the fact that the previous culture prevented free informational flow, the innovative approaches of organizational design will be aimed at problem solving and decision-making oriented communication that is aimed at resolving possible problems and conflicts between trade union, management and within the teams. (Hahn and Hill 2007)
As for the aspects of total quality program, it should be clarified that the key importance of TQM presupposes the opportunity of constant effectiveness improvement. This is closely associated with the matters of communication and cooperation among teams, management and trade union. Hence, the plant will be able to improve the standards of its manufacturing. (Jacowski 2007)
Actions Required
The first set of actions that should be performed by the plant management is the adoption of the new policy with clear statement of the aims and purposes of the organization, defining the principle of relations within the teams. (Pyzdek and Keller 2009; Taylor 2008) Then the priority of the tasks and assignments should be defined, as well as the necessity of the continuous improvement of the working performance, by arranging training courses, performing market studies and arranging effective training practices for the effective communication development. (Todd 2006)
Considering the fact that team identity is the forgotten concept within the organization, and the teams are divided by the traditional and ineffective sub culture, it should be stated that the management needs to pay particular attention to improving relations among teams. Moreover, the instance of militant relations of management and trade union discourages workers, and they feel themselves abandoned. Hence, the high priority task is the change of the relations character between official and unofficial leadership teams.
Conclusion
In fact, TQM and OD strategies are considered rather effective, however, relations within the organization should correspond with the aims and purposes of the improvements required.
Reference List
Adams, C. W., Gupta, P., Charles E. W. 2003. ‘Six Sigma Deployment‘. Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.
Crosby, P., 2005 ‘Quality Is Still Free: Making Quality Certain In Uncertain Times’ McGraw-Hill Companies
Hahn, G. J., Hill, W. J. 2007 ‘The Impact of Six Sigma Improvement-A Glimpse into the Future of Statistics’, The American Statistician, Vol. 53, No. 3, pp. 208–215.
Jablonski, J. R. 2007 ‘Implementing TQM’. 2nd ed. Technical Management Consortium, Inc.
Jacowski, T. 2007 ‘Six Sigma vs. Total Quality Management’ The.project.management.hut. Web.
Keller, P. A., 2001. ‘Six Sigma Deployment: A Guide for Implementing Six Sigma in Your Organization’. Tucson, AZ: Quality Publishing.
Pyzdek, T., Keller, P. 2009. ‘The Six Sigma Handbook’, Third Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
Taylor, G. 2008. ‘Learn Six Sigma Service Excellence: A Guide to Green Belt Certification and Bottom Line Improvement‘. New York, NY: J. Ross Publishing.
Tennant, G. 2001. ‘Six Sigma: SPC and TQM in Manufacturing and Services’. Aldershot, UK: Gower Publishing, Ltd.
Todd, J. 2006 ‘On Track to Quality‘ Lighthouse Point Press
Townsend, P., Gebhardt, J. 2004 ‘Quality is Everybody’s Business‘ CRC Press
Yerkes, L., Decker, C., Nelson, B. 2003 ‘Beans: Four Principles for Running a Business in Good Times or Bad‘ Jossey-Bass publishing