DRIVE

PROGRAM
SEMESTER
SUBJECT NAME
SUBJECT CODE
STUDENT NAME
ROLL NO.

ASSIGNMENT
WINTER 2015
MBA
FOURTH
OM0016
QUALITY MANAGEMENT
CHETAN ANAND
1405003452

Q1. Explain the elements of ISO 9000.

Answer:
Elements of ISO 9000
The elements of ISO 9000 along with their requirements can be explained
as follows:
1. Management responsibility
In management responsibility, we have management, which is
responsible for the following:
o Creation of a policy on quality, which simply defines the attitude of the
organisation towards quality. It also ensures that the policy is shared across the
organisation and everyone associated with it, understands it.
o Appropriate allocation of resources and a well-trained workforce for efficiency in
work.
o Selection of a management representative responsible for monitoring the quality
system.
o Review of the quality system to ensure its proper functioning.
2. Quality system
The quality system needs to:
o Be documented and must cover the scope of ISO 9000
o Fulfil all the requirements and specifications of customers
o Be set according to the organisations requirements
o Explain the process by which the organisation is going to meet the requirements
of the customers.
o Ensure that the planning is in line with the customers requirements.
3. Contract review
The purpose of a contract review is to ensure the following:
o All orders and contracts of customers are reviewed regularly
o If any changes are made in these documents, they are checked and confirmed by
the customers.
4. Design control
Only trained personnel are assigned the authority to control the phases of a product
or service design. (This pertains to ISO-9001 only.)
5. Document and data control
Document and data control takes care of the following aspects:
o Proper management and authorisation of the documents or data being used
o Use of only updated documents/data and must be in reach of all the employees
throughout the facility. Obsolete documents must be removed from circulation.
6. Purchasing
While purchasing goods from suppliers, the following points need to be
ensured:
o Complete and accurate information is recorded during the purchase.

o The criteria for the selection of suppliers are set.

o The suppliers are monitored on a regular basis.
7. Control of products supplied to customers
Ensure the following when supplying products to customers:
o Inform the customer in case of the product is damaged or is in a bad condition.
o Make the identification process, handing and storage of products easy and
convenient.
8. Identification and traceability
This element of ISO 9000 simply ensures that the identity of products are known
and maintained throughout the phases of production.
9. Process control
There should be a record of the process completed with information about the
procedures required to perform and monitor the activities of production affecting
the quality.
10. Inspection
The inspection of the following stages of the production process should be
documented:
o Receiving of raw material
o Work in process
o Final inspection
11. Calibration
The equipment (gauges, thermometers, scales, etc.) used for inspection in
calibration must be maintained by:
o Providing a unique identification for all the equipment
o Sustaining the accuracy required
o Protecting equipment against any damage to maintain accuracy
o Calibrating all instrument on a pre-determined cycle to the procedures established
in advance.
12. Inspection and test status
The following points need to be considered while testing products:
o All the products must be tested at all the stages of the production cycle and the
status of the product at each stage must be recorded.
o The success or failure of the product is determined through the test status.
13. Control of nonconforming product
If a product fails at any stage, it must be separated. The failure or nonconformance
of the product must also be documented.
14. Corrective and preventive action
There must be a formal process for the correction and prevention of problems at
their occurrence. The process must:
o Investigate the root cause of the problem
o Identify the corrective/preventive action required
o Verify the effectiveness of the corrective/preventive action taken
15. Handling, storage, packaging, preservation, and delivering
Any documented procedure pertaining to a product must ensure:
o Handling
o Storage
o Packaging
o Preservation
o Delivery
16. Control of quality records

Records, which demonstrate compliance to procedures and ISO 9000, must be:
o Identified
o Legible
o Accurate
o Filed and indexed properly
o Easily retrievable
o Retained for a specified period of time
17. Internal Quality Audits
Quality audits are required to find out the activities that affect quality. They are also
required for assessing an organizations compliance to documented procedures and
ISO 9000 requirements.
18. Training
To impart training:
o It is necessary to identify the training needs.
o The training, based on these needs, is imparted and the activities conducted in
training are required to be documented
o It is also required to ensure that trained personnel carry out all the activities.
19. Servicing
Sometimes servicing is also provided as a part of the contract. In such cases, one
needs to:
o Control the designing of the service equipment its use.
o Use trained and qualified personnel.
o Ensure the availability of parts and products.
o Document the working of related procedures and methods.
20. Statistical Techniques
The analysis of data, methods of sampling and Statistical Process Control (SPC)
methods used must be based on established procedures and statistical techniques
Q2. Explain the forces of change that affect organizations.
Answer:
Forces of change
Change has become the norm in most organisations. Business failures, plant
closures, mergers and acquisitions, downsizing, re-engineering, productivity
improvement, globalisation, cycle-time reduction and other efforts for survival are
common amongst most Indian companies. Organisations come across various forces
of change. Forces of change are the factors that drive or stimulate the need for a
change in an organisation. Some of these are external, arising from outside the
organisation whereas others are internal, arising from sources within the
organisation. Both these forces are discussed as follows:
1. External forces of change: These forces from outside the organization
stimulate the need for change in an organisation. Unlike the internal forces of
change, the external forces cannot be controlled from within an organisation.
Broadly, external forces of change can be categorised into four key forces of
change, which are discussed as follows:
(i) Demographic characteristics: Organisations should effectively manage
multiplicity if they aim to receive noticeable contribution and commitment from
employees.
(ii) Technological advancements: Technology is being used rapidly by both
manufacturing and service organisations in order to improve productivity and

market competitiveness. For example, manufacturing organisations use robotics to

automate their manufacturing operations.
(iii) Market changes: Global economic developments are driving Indian
organisations to modify the way they operate business. This encourages
organisations to build new associations with their suppliers for delivering highquality products at low costs.
(iv) Social and political pressures: These forces are generated by social and
political events occurring in the organisations external environment. Individual
values affect employees desires, priorities and motivation.
2. Internal forces of change: These forces stimulate change from within the
organisation due to expansion or opportunities created in the core business. The
locus of control for such forces is within the organisation and hence, these can be
monitored and controlled from within. Internal forces of change can
be categorised into the following categories:
(i) Human resource aspect: Employees perceptions about the way they are
treated at work and the balance between individual and organisation needs and
desires often create a need for change. For example, employee dissatisfaction is an
indication of an underlying problem that needs to be addressed. Projections for
positive change stem from employee participation and suggestions.
(ii) Managerial aspect: Too much interpersonal conflict between managers and
their subordinates is an indication that a change is needed. For this, an organisation
can impart interpersonal skills training to managers and subordinates or one of the
parties might be transferred to a new department.
(iii) Falling effectiveness: This is another internal trigger for change. For
example, an organisation that experiences its third quarterly loss within a fiscal year
is motivated to do something about it.
Some companies react drastically by resorting to layoffs, costcutting programmes
and the like while others try to find out the causeeffect relationship for the loss.
(iv) Crisis: A crisis may also instigate change in an organisation. For example,
strikes may compel employees to suffer pay cuts. A change in the organisation
structure may seem unavoidable if a
senior member leaves the organisation.
(v) Differing employees expectations: Differences in the employees
expectations may also trigger change in organisations. Expectations of young and
newly hired employees are different from those of the old employees.
(v) Change in the work climate: When an organisation experiences downsizing
of its employees, its workforce that is left may turn out to be demotivated, lethargic
and dissatisfied to work further. Such
workers might feel let down for those who have lost their jobs and may begin to fear
loss of job.
Q3. What are the dimensions of service quality?
Answer:
Many service organisations such as airlines, banks and hotels have welldeveloped
quality systems. These systems begin with a commitment to the customers. For
example, Amazon.com has pioneered a number of innovative approaches to
improve customer satisfaction, ranging from easy -to-use website design to fast
order fulfilment.

However, managing intangible quality characteristics of services is more difficult

because they usually depend on employee performance and behaviour. This
dependence does not imply that these factors are not important in manufacturing,
of course, but they have special significance in services, just as engineering
technology might have in manufacturing. The two most important drivers of service
quality are people and technology. In discussing Fast Company magazine's selection
of the best customer focused companies, editor John Byrne stated: What do these
companies and the people who run them teach us? First, leaders must be
champions of the customer experience. By example and by emphasis, they
must set high expectations for satisfying customers in their organisations. Second,
employee empathy is what creates distinctive service. It's not enough to put on a
happy face. Our champions of the customer understand that their employees must
know what it feels like to be on the other side of the counter. And while technology
is often central to providing a superior customer experience, it must be used to
benefit customers, not just to replace the human element.... Boosting productivity
and treating customers
well are not mutually exclusive .
The workforce
Customers evaluate a service primarily by the quality of the human contact. For
example, if an associate refuse to listen and register to a customers complaint
saying, Its not my department, or if the associate put your call on hold for a long
time, such factors only gives an impression of the degraded quality of service
organisation. Therefore, training the employees about how to provide quality
service is a major requirement for the organisation. High-quality service workers
require effective reward systems
that recognise customer satisfaction results and customer-focused behaviours,
appropriate skills and abilities for performing the job, and supervisors who act more
as coaches and mentors than as administrators.
Information technology
Information technology incorporates computing, communication, data processing
and various other means of converting data into useful information. Intelligent use
of information technology not only leads to improved quality and productivity, but
also to competitive advantage, particularly when technology is used to better serve
the customer and to make it easier for customers to do business with the company.

Q4. What are the major differences between Total Quality Management
(TQM) and Six Sigma?
Explain the steps involved in identifying customer requirements for
product development.
Answer:
Total Quality
It is a process-improvement
programme based on building teams and

Six Sigma
It is a data-based methodology
aimed at achieving near-perfect

empowering workers.
It takes quality improvement as
conformation to the internal requirements
of an enterprise.
It occurs within a function,
process, or individual workplace.
Training is limited to simple improvement
tools and concepts.
It focuses on improvement with little
financial accountability.

quality and eliminating defects.

It takes quality improvement as
reduction of number of defects.
It has a cross-functional approach.
Training is expanded through
advanced statistical tools and
problem-solving methodology.
It requires a verifiable return on
investment and focuses on
bottomline.

Identifying customer requirements

An effective product development begins with an understanding of customers
requirements. In addition to understanding the current requirements of customers,
an organisation should anticipate the needs that
can be realised by customers in the future. The identification of customers
requirements is a five-step process.

1. Collecting raw data: Raw data refers to the information received through
interviews with prospective customers, existing customers and focus groups.
Another way of seeking primary data is making
observations of similar products available in the market.
2. Interpreting raw data: Raw data collected is of no use without being translated
into customers requirements. The statements and observations can result in
different types of needs. Therefore,
interpretation is done by analysts. There must be more than one analyst in the
analysis team. For example, if a customer says that he likes the grip of the pistol,
then the analysts can interpret from it that the grip of
the pistol is comfortable. So, the customers need is to have a comfortable grip of
the pistol.
3. Creating a hierarchy of needs: The interpretation of data may result in a long
list of statements that need to be broken down further. Therefore, a hierarchical list
must be created. This list will be comprised of the list of the following three needs:
o Primary needs: These are the general needs of customers that do not need a
detailed explanation. For example, a general need of any customer while buying a

mobile is that it must be equipped with user-friendly features.

o Secondary needs: These are the specific needs of customers and should be
expressed in detail. For example, if the user demands that a screwdriver should be
able to turn all types of screws, then the
designers will have to check the various screws for designing the screwdriver in
such a way that it fits in all screws.
o Tertiary needs: In complicated products, secondary needs are further broken
down to tertiary needs and need to be expressed in detail. For example, the
screwdriver must not cut the users hands
while the user uses it.
4. Establishing an importance of needs: After creating the hierarchical list, the
development team needs to assign relative importance to the features to be
designed in the product. The team can conduct another
survey at this stage and ask their customers to decide upon the important features
that could be included or excluded from the product.
Customers can support in establishing an importance of needs by stating the
features that they:
o need the most in the product
o want in the product but do not need
o neither want nor need in the product
5. Reflecting on results: This is the final step in the customers needs
identification process. The development team must test its results to check if the
needs that they have interpreted are consistent with the knowledge they have
received after making intensive interactions with the customers. Some of the
questions that the development team can ask to itself are as follows: o Have we
interacted with the right type of customers in the target market?
o How many of our customers can be useful to our development process?
o Have we made any discovery about any hidden needs after interacting with the
customers?
o What efforts can be made to improve the process in future
Q5. What is Poka-Yoke? Explain its different levels.
Answer:
Poka Yoke helps in eliminating defects in products by identifying and correcting
mistakes as early as possible. The tool was introduced to address the deficiencies in
various statistical techniques in quality
management. Statistical techniques rely mostly on sampling to prevent product
defects. Therefore, in statistical techniques, some products reach the customers
untested. This is the reason statistical techniques cannot completely eliminate
defects and there is always a probability of some rate of defects when the product
reaches the customer. Poka Yoke intends to completely eradicate defects and
achieve zero-defect quality.
The term Poka Yoke is a combination of two Japanese words poka meaning
unintended mistake and Yoke meaning prevent. The central idea of Poka Yoke is to
design the organisational processes in such a way that mistakes are avoided or
detected and corrected at an early stage of production.
Levels
Preventing a

Explanation
This is the first level of Poka

Examples
Suppose an automobile

mistake
being committed

Yoke. Poka Yoke recognises

that
mistakes are inevitable due
to human errors. However,
the
technique aims at preventing
mistakes from taking place in
the
first place.

Detecting
mistakes
incurred
unintentionally

The technique aims at

detecting mistakes before
they become
major issues and significant
cost to the company.

Mitigating the
risk

At this level, Poka Yoke

techniques
mitigate risks by detecting
errors that
have already taken place.

manufacturer intends to put

special heat resistant bolts in
the engine assembly. To
prevent mistakes of putting
the bolts in
other assemblies, the bolts can
be made of certain physical
dimensions, which would only
fit the engine assembly. This
way, the workers
cannot mistakenly use the
special bolts in other
assemblies.
A car seatbelt warning
indicator beeps when one
forgets to put on the seatbelt
while driving. This informs the
user about the occurrence of
the mistake, i.e., forgetting to
wear the seat belt.
Indicators are used in
industrial complexes to detect
occurrences of
undesirable incidents, such as
emission of harmful gases.

Q6. Explain the concept of Knowledge Support System (KSS). Explain its
types.
Answer:
Knowledge Support System (KSS) or Knowledge Collaboration System (KCS) is a
computer based application that supports effective knowledge management in an
organisation. KSS is also classified into two types, namely manual support system
and intelligent support system. It involves knowledge base software that is updated
as and when system engineers acquire new knowledge. Unlike other established
organisational systems such as financial management systems, KSS is still at a
nascent stage in quality and knowledge management. Thus, it requires a lot of
transformation before reaching the highest level of organisational practices.
Transforming a KSS requires the involvement of stakeholders and steering groups
and involves a number of phases starting from the initial needs recognition stage to
the final execution stage. Implementation of KSS is a substantial process that might
influence how people perform, interact, think, and share their knowledge. KSS can
only be implemented successfully once the following criteria are met:
The system should be responsive towards corporate requirements.
It should reflect the principles of knowledge management, particularly knowledge
culture, knowledge sharing, and dimensions of knowledge.
The system should also reflect concern for individuals till all the development

phases are over.

The system should support all knowledge management processes.

The types of KSS are explained as follows:

Manual support systems: These systems provide all types of support in decision
making; however, ultimate decision is based on the users rationale. After acquiring
the available knowledge, the user can take decisions more efficiently.
Intelligent systems: These systems help users in taking decisions based on a
rational approach developed through the knowledge it contains. These are called
intelligent support systems. The knowledge base and system specifications let the
system apply logical thinking in decision making. This technology is called artificial
intelligence and such systems are called expert systems.