managing quality - chapter 4

8/19/2019 Managing Quality - Chapter 4

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Chapter 4

QUALITY ENHANCEMENT, THE MANAGER, AND THE HR

FUNCTION

Launching and sustaining quality-enhancement and quality-improvement

programs is easier with the support of top management. Managers would

certainly want to know that the executive suite is fully behind the idea.

There have been many instances, however, in which this has not been the

case, and the progress in achieving total quality reects this lack of

commitment. !oger "mith#s comments $made in Business Monthly % about

his participation in a quality-improvement program at &eneral Motors

conveyed to both management and the work force a lack of commitment

at the top. 'ere is a question, together with !oger "mith#s answer, during

an interview about &M#s participative program(

)( "ome *,+ senior executives have gone through &M#s Leadership

ow programa /ve-day intensive training in participative

management. 0re you the only one who hasn#t taken it1

0( 2#m not the only one. 2f 2 had two weeks o34 2#d spend the /rst week

/shing and the second week in Leadership ow. $"immons 5676( 86%

These half-hearted endorsements by top management often make for

tough sledding for managers during the implementation phase of a quality

program. 9urrent 9:; !obert "templ by contrast appears to be more in-

volved in the quality programs at &M.

More typically, however, it is top management pointing the /nger at

middle management as being the real impediment in quality programs(

The most resistance usually comes from the middle-manager and

supervisory levels.


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* )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '! aldrige 0ward% isthat(

:verybodyeverybody has to be involved. Fou =ust can#t have one

person doing it. This is how you get the contribution from the guy

who knows his =ob better than you#ll ever know it and therefore

knows how to improve it better than anybody else. $Main 566(5G%

NEW ROLES FOR THE MANAGER

Typically, managers demonstrate resistance when total quality programs

are DinstalledD without their active participation. This resistance is

understandable, given that total quality programs require substantial skill

and role changes for and from these managers. Ean 9arlIon, president and

9:; of "candinavian 0irline "ystem $"0"%, described the airline#s e3orts

at implementing a quality customer-service program(


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9hange rarely is accomplished without some diJculty and resistance

and the revolutionary restructuring at "0" was no exception.

0lthough the organiIation#s new philosophy has allowed employees

on the front line to grow and thrive as never before, some of thecompany#s other employeesin particular, its middle managers

have found the changes somewhat threatening.

9arlIon explained that in the traditionally structured organiIation,

#top management hands down orders to middle management, which

/ne-tunes and interprets them according to the rules and regulations,

and then passes them on down to be implemented. >asically, middle

managers are messengers for top management.#

'owever, at the new "0", this #messenger# role has been rendered

obsolete. 9arlIon noted that by creating a freer, less hierarchical

structurein which front-line people have their own information,

power, and responsibility#you undermine middle management in a

terrible way. Fou may not say so, but you question their raison d#etre.#

$Bagel et al. 5677( G*%

>ut as the messenger role is being discarded, new roles for managers

are appearing. 9ommenting on "0"#s successful change to quality

customer service, 9arlIon indicates how important middle managers are(

2n fact, middle management#s new raison d#etreproviding support

for the #front-line troops#is crucial to the company#s success. Fet, as

9arlIon noted, #middle managers# role of serving those who used to

report to them won#t go over too well back at the pub when they#re

asked to explain what their new =obs are.# 9arlIon is con/dent,

however, that middle managers can and will adapt to their new roles.

#;ne should not discount the possibility of personal growth,# he said.

#2n an ideal world, creative people would eventually lose their fear of

a highly structured workplace, and the law-and-order people would

stop being afraid of free-form entrepreneurship. This may never

happen. >ut we are not bees who are biologically programmed to


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H )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '!


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employment loss directly. This is done by identifying the new role

requirements for these managers. ;nce it is clear what the new roles

are and what training will be provided to assist the managers in

performing these new roles, resistance diminishes. The new managerial roles include(

Leader

9oach

Motivator

!esource gatherer


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)uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '!


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G.The call-report form was made more explicit, so the line managers

could use this form to determine the exact status of a call and assess

the likelihood of a hit, which, in turn, enabled them to make an

informed decision to stop if the likelihood was low.

H.Marketing e3orts were better focused.

+.Travel and expenses were now better managed.

.The marketers experienced more win-win situations.

The bottom line( improved customer service and lower costs.

2n part, this whole scenario arose because of "wiss >ank

9orporation#s new strategic mission of high-quality, relationship-

oriented banking and the highly competitive environment and because

the '! department had repositioned itself to provide high-quality

services and products to its internal customers $"chuler 5677%. "ee

0ppendix > for more details on this pro=ect.

2ncreasingly, this type of scenario is likely to result in line managers#

gaining a greater awareness of the importance of human resources and

being evaluated in terms of how well they manage their people.


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7 )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '! ecause the successful execution of quality programs depends on e3ec-

tive people management, line managers have a greater stake in human

resource management issues, policies, and practices. The di3erence this

time, however, is that the line managers may actually have the time to do

this. Their old roles are gone, and their new roles are basically focused on

managing human resources( training, motivating, team building. 2f we add

to these the roles of selection, compensation, performance review, safety,

and labor relations, we have the entire set of traditional personnelpractices in the hands of the line managers. 'owever, those traditional

activities $e.g., payroll processing% have many components that line

managers have neither the time nor the skill to do. Thus, there is still

plenty for the traditional '! department to do, although the department is

smaller $vacated by people who have perhaps moved into line-manager

positions%.

THE VICE PRESIDENT OF QUALITY

This shift of human resource functions and activities to the line managers

as part of quality-improvement programs is being accompanied by

another phenomenon in middle management, this one involving the

creation of a new position( vice president of quality.

Last week, for example, the Bhitman 9orporation, formerly 29

2ndustries, which grew out of the 2llinois 9entral !ailroad, named a

vice president to head its new corporate oJce of quality. 0t Bhitman,

now a highly diversi/ed 9hicago-based conglomerate with four

operational units, the =ob went to Billiam 9. aumann, who will

report directly to the chairman and chief executive, Narl ?. >ays.

2n addition, each of the company#s tour subsidiaries has a new vice

president in charge of quality who will report to the chief executive of


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the unit. Mr. aumann, who is + years old, called the new stress on

quality #a pervasive attitudinal approach.#

#;ur focus on quality now is broader,# he said. 2n our de/nition,

quality has two dimensions. 2nternal quality involves everything wecan do inside, including cutting the number of re=ects and improving

=ob satisfaction. The second dimensionexternal qualityis really a

perception involving what customers and the community think about

us. That is harder to measure.#

Mr. >ays said( #Be have restructured Bhitman in the last year and a

half. )uality is our top priority and it will be the glue that holds

everything together.# $


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5 )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '!


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to the fact that there is no overriding vision or philosophy guiding the

development and articulation of the policies and practices used to

manage the company#s most valued assetits human resources. The

company#s ability to deliver its products and services to its customers isdoubtless somewhat impaired, and even its ability to survive can be

=eopardiIed if its competitors have a more coherent and consistent set of

human resource policies and practices.

To avoid this scenario, companies can choose the second option in

managing their human resourcesi.e., they can decide to be

systematic in the development of human resource policies and

practices. >eing systematic means selecting and implementing

policies and practices that are consistent with and coordinated with

each other. 0lthough initially, this approach is perhaps not as easy to

implement as the unsystematic approach, once the manager decides

to be systematic, it becomes relatively easy to determine whether or

not it is in the company#s best interests to continue with an

established policy or to adopt one of the latest fashions. Tire decision

to be systematic should also result in improved employee performance

as well as an enhancement in the company#s e3ectiveness and

competitive position.

BEING SYSTEMATIC

Bhen managers consider adopting the systematic approach, two

critical questions arise(

5. Bhy does being systematic in the selection and implementation of human resource policies and practices work1

*. 'ow do managers go about being systematic4 what steps are required1

Bhen human resource policies and practices are consistent with

each other and coordinated with each other, a consistent message is

communicated to employees. 0 performance-appraisal system that

evaluates employees based on the attainment of long-term goals

coupled with a compensation system that rewards employees based on


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5* )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '! eing consistent across all human resource policies and

practices results in consistency and clarity regarding what is expected,

what is rewarded, and what is important. 'aving consistency and

clarity regarding all three of these issues is an absolute must if an

organiIation is to use its human resources e3ectively .and achieve

organiIational e3ectiveness.

9larity and consistency regarding what is expected, what is rewarded,

and what is important result from the systematic selection and

implementation of human resource policies and practices. >eing

systematic means packaging human resource policies and practices that

/t together and send the same message. The availability of such a wide

variety of human resource policy and practice options makes this an

enormous task, however, and it can take considerable time for an

organiIation to identify and correctly package those policies and practices

that send the same message. This, in itself, is the ma=or reason why

companies would rather continue doing what they have always done or do

what others are currently doing.


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with each other. 'uman resource management philosophies package

policies and practices that are consistent with each other and that can

send the same message to employees. 9entral, then, to being systematic

in human resource management is selecting a human resourcemanagement philosophy.

There are three ma=or philosophies of human resource management

from which to choose. :ach represents a consistent package of policies

and practices for managing human resources. >ecause these three

philosophies are essential to the systematic management of human

resources, we describe each of them in detail in the following subsections.

A!"!#at$%&

The /rst ma=or philosophy of treating and managing people in

organiIations is called accumulation. 2n brief, this philosophy translates

into policies and practices designed to attract many good candidates very

carefully and very consistently, often more on the basis of personal /t

than technical /t. The technical skills that are lacking can be provided by

in-house training programs. 0lthough this approach takes a longer-term

view of human resource management $training costs a great deal, and

many of its bene/ts are likely to be reaped only after several years%, it

makes good sense in a constantly changing world in which new skills are

needed all the time.

2n this scenario, even if a person initially has the necessary technical

skills, those skills will eventually become outdated and require change. 0

policy predicated on constant change makes it easier for the organiIation

to provide training and for employees to adapt to change and retain their

exibility. This policy, in turn, facilitates the practices of lifetime

employment and seniority. 2f these two practices are to be followed and

the organiIation is to be e3ective, employees must have current skills as

well as experience in the company. 9urrent skills and experience can be

achieved through the practices of =ob rotation and internal promotion, with

many employees starting at the bottom and working their way up through

the ranks.


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5H )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '! ecause accumulation rests on a policy of long-term $possibly lifetime%

employment, many employees will be around for a long time, and there

will be a mix of younger and older workers. @ractices that complement this

policy include relative egalitarianism among workers, slow rates of promo-tion, salary based on =ob level and seniority $with groups receiving more

attention than individuals%, and respect for older workers. :xamples of

egalitarianism among workers include having a small di3erential $e.g.,

8(5% between the salaries of top management and entry-level workers,

common perquisites such as insurance bene/ts or a single cafeteria, and

removal of class distinctions such as reserved parking spaces. Taken

together, all of these practices make team activities $such as quality

circles% work more smoothly and e3ectively. 0iding this approach is the

practice of extensive management-employee cooperation.

Ut$#$'at$%&

The second ma=or philosophy of treating and managing people in

organiIations is called utiliIation. 2n keeping with this philosophy,

individuals are generally selected with attention to technical skills $=ob-relevant skills, knowledge, and abilities%, although personal characteristics

are still important. 9onsequently, once hired, new employees can begin

their work with relatively little training. This shorter-term view of human

resource management saves on training costs and allows organiIations to

put individuals into vacant positions with relatively little long-range

planning. 2n this respect, the practice of hiring on the basis of technical /t

is very eJcient and allows for rapid response and ad=ustment $relativelyspeaking%. 2t also supports the concept of employment at will $those with

currently relevant skills survive% and allows employees to be moved into

positions almost anywhere in the organiIation almost anytime.

9onsequently, at all levels, there is a lot of external recruitment and a lot

of external placement.

>ecause utiliIation rests on the policy of employment at will, relevant

skills, and organiIational need, employees are not always sure how longthey will be around. D'ere today, gone tomorrowD is truer than ever. @rac-


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tices that complement this policy include individual-based compensation,

preferably with a substantial incentive component. 9onsistent with this

approach are relatively high salary di3erentials among employees $e.g.,

*(5% and rapid rates of performance evaluation and promotion. 2n fact,employees at di3erent =ob levels tend to distinguish themselves by

wearing di3erent clothing, even when di3erences in attire are unrelated to

actual =ob requirements. 0ll these practices, taken together, make it

possible to reward individuals for outstanding achievement and result in a

lack of egalitarianism. 0iding this policy is the relatively modest amount of

collective or team-oriented behavior on the part of employees at all levels.

Fa$#$tat$%&

The third ma=or philosophy of treating and managing people in organiIa-

tions is called facilitation. This philosophy holds that although individuals

must have technical skills, it is important that they be able to work

together in close reciprocal interaction. :mployee development and

enhancement are valued, but the organiIation will facilitate the

acquisition of new knowledge and abilities rather than directly providing

for their acquisition. This approach then places the responsibility for

learning on the individual employees, albeit the organiIation will assist by

providing /nancial and non- /nancial resources. 2ndividuals are relied on

to develop information networks both inside and outside the organiIation.

This practice, however, results in employees# having one foot inside and

one foot outside the organiIation in order for them to possess and create

state-of-the-science knowledge.

2ndividuals working under the facilitation philosophy become valuable

both to the organiIation and to themselves. They also become valuable to

other organiIations, especially competitors. 9onsequently, organiIations

that adhere to the facilitation philosophy seek to wed their employees to

the organiIation but do so in a very no coercive manner. ;3ering

employment security has little impact, and practicing employment at will

is counterproductive. 2nstead, what is o3ered is organiIational


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5 )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '! eyond entry-level positions, external recruitment

is used in order to tap potential sources of new knowledge.

2n essence, the facilitation philosophy is based on new knowledge and

the creation of knowledge, whereas the utiliIation philosophy is based on

minimal commitment and high control, and the accumulation philosophy

is based on maximum involvement and skilled execution

CHOOSING A HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

'ow do companies and their managers go about choosing one of these

three human resource management philosophies1 9ertainly, the

preferences of top management are important in selecting a human

resource management philosophy. 'aving consistency across all areas of

the business is as essential as having consistency across human resource

policies and practices. Top management#s involvement in the selection of

the human resource philosophy can help ensure that this consistency is

achieved. The answers the following two questions, then, hold the key to

making the decision(

5. Bhat mind-set do you want your employees to have1

*. 'ow do you want them to behave as they go about their =obs1

A#ter&at$(e M$&)*Set+

:ach of the three philosophies of human resource management has a

distinct impact on how employees think in their work environment and

how they think about their =obs.


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57 )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '!


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C%+t*C!tt$&- C%"pet$t$(e Strate-.. The cost reducer strives to

produce goods and service more cheaply than competitors. This type of

organiIation stresses having eJcient-scale facilities, pursuing cost

reductions, and minimiIing the expenses of production, services, selling,training, and advertising. 9ost leaders try to supply a standard, no-frills,

high-volume product. The structure is only moderately di3erentiated

because the emphasis throughout is on following programs and plans.

2ntegration is e3ected mainly through these programs. @ower rests in the

hands of the top executives and the designers of work-ow processes.

Q!a#$t.*E&ha&e"e&t C%"pet$t$(e Strate-.. The quality enhancer at-

tempts to produce and deliver goods and services with the highest

possible quality. >ecause this type of organiIation recogniIes that quality

is a product of the total process, quality-enhancement e3orts are targeted

toward suppers and customers as well as toward the organiIation itself.

"uppliers are brought into the picture to ensure that they know how to

produce quality products. 2f a particular supplier doesn#t know how, then

the organiIation itself trains the supplier in methods that will ensure high

quality. The organiIation also solicits information from customers

regarding what they want. 2t is the customers# desires and needs that

drive the quality targets for the products or services the organiIation

delivers.


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* )uality :nhancement, the Manager, and the '!


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procedures since these are too con/ning and would in any event rapidly

become obsolete. "ensitive information-gathering systems are developed

for analyIing the environment, and vertical and horiIontal com-

munications are open and frequent.

MATCHING PHILOSOPHY WITH COMPETITIVE STRATEGY

ecause in many cases,

employees are the ones who are most knowledgeable about their own

=obs, quality- enhancement bene/ts from the ideas of employees who are

working smarter and are committed to the company.

The utiliIation philosophy is a good choice for companies pursuing a

cost-cutting competitive strategy. The success of this strategy depends on

minimiIing costs. ot spending money on training and development and

being able to lay employees o3 at will also help to minimiIe human

resource management costs.

>ecause of the characteristics of the facilitation philosophy, it is a good

choice for companies pursuing an innovative competitive strategy. The

success of this strategy depends on employees# generating new ideas and

working and thinking di3erently. 9ompanies that hope to pursue success-

fully a strategy of innovation must make it a practice to assure their em-

ployees that occasional failure is to be expected and will not be punished.

9reating an atmosphere in which employees constantly think creatively

helps guarantee a steady ow of new ideas for products and services.

Table H.5 shows the mind-sets and behaviors that are elicited by the

three philosophies of human resource management as well as the

relationships between these philosophies and the three competitive

strategies.

managing quality - chapter 4

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