DEVELOPING THE QUALITY STRATEGY

DEVELOPING THE QUALITY STRATEGY

The starting point is to develop strategic quality plans which will incorporate quality statements including the vision, mission and quality policy statement.  These are part of the strategic planning process.

VISION STATEMENT

This is a short declaration of what the organization aspires to be tomorrow.  It is an ideal state that might never be reached but which we continually strive to achieve.  Successful visions are timeless, inspirational and become deeply shared within the organization

A good vision should provide a guideline for decision making.  Having a concise statement of the desired end provides criteria for sound decision making.  Vision can be one sentence or a more elaborate statement e.g. “to be a world class training centre committed to professional excellence.”

Kisii University College Vision Statement.

 “A world class University in the advancement of social welfare, research and academic excellence.”

Railway Training Institute (RTI)

“To be a world class training centre committed to professional excellence”

OR

“Customers receive their orders at the right time, in the right place, in the right quantity and quality at the right price in the right specification (without non-conformities), and billed on time.

MISSION STATEMENT

Mission statement answers the following questions

·                     Who we are

·                     Who are our customers

·                     What we do and how we do it

The statement is usually one paragraph or less in length, is easy to understand and describes the function of the organization.

It provides a clear purpose for employees, customers and suppliers. It can also be simple and also elaborate. Example:           

Kisii University College Mission Statement

“To train high level human resource that meets the development needs of the country and international labour market, and to sustain production of high quality research and consultancy, and dissemination of knowledge, skills and competencies for the advancement of humanity”

Railway Training Institute (RTI)

“To provide practical and quality training in business and logistics, responsive to a dynamic market environment through research and technology”

Ford Motor Company

“Ford Motors Company is a worldwide in automatic and automotive related products and services as well as the newer industries such as aerospace, communication and financial services.  Our mission is to improve continually our products and services to meet our customer’s needs, allowing us to prosper as a business and to provide a reasonable return to our share holders, the owners of our business”

A Transport Company

“To meet customers’ transportation and distribution needs by being the best at moving their goods on time, safely and damage free”

CORE VALUES

Core values are the essential and enduring set of general principles and ideals that will guide an organization in the conduct of its business e.g. integrity, customer service, excellence, innovation, teamwork etc. Other examples of core values include:

·         Visionary leadership

·         Customer driven excellence

·         Organizational personal learning

·         Valuing employees and customers.

·         Focus on future

·         Managing for innovation

·         Agility e.g. innovation, caring, integrity, teamwork, excellence.

Kisii University Core Values

·         Dedication

·         Collaboration

·         Focus on development

·         Compassion

·         Integrity and inclusion

·         Team work

·         Transparency & accountability

·         Environmental conservation

QUALITY POLICY STATEMENT

This is a guide to everyone in the organization as to how they should provide products and services to the customers.

It should be written by the chief executive officer with feed back from work force and the approval of the quality council.

Common characteristics of quality policy statements are:

·                     Quality is first among equals

·                     Meet the needs of the internal and external customers.

·                     Equal or exceed the completion

·                     Continually improve the quality

·                     Include business and production practices

·                     Utilize the entire workforce

Quality Policy statement can be simple and also elaborate simple.

Example:

Rank Xerox

“Xerox is a quality company.  Quality is the basic business principle for Xerox.  Quality means providing our external and internal customers with innovative products and services that fully satisfies their requirements.  Quality is the job of every employee.”

A quality statement consists of core values and concepts, the vision statement, the mission statement and quality policy statement.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES:

Goals and objectives basically have the same meaning.  The only difference is that goals are used for long term planning while objectives are used for short term planning. Concrete goals are needed to provide a focus e.g.

Improving:

·                     customer satisfaction

·                     Employee satisfaction

·                     Processes

Goals can force changes in leadership style from reward and punishment, to identifying and improving systems problems.

Goals must reflect the following attributes:

(i)                 Based on statistical evidence

(ii)               Be definitive, specific and understandable using concrete results rather than behaviors or attitudes

(iii)             Must be measurable - only measurable goals can be evaluated.

(iv)             Must have a plan or method with resources for its achievement.

(v)               Must have a specific time frame or deadlines for achieving them.

(vi)             Must be challenging yet achievable

Note – individuals, work groups, departments and functional areas that are affected by the goals should be involved n their development.

The characteristics of objectives are similar to those of goals.  Objectives are operational approaches to attain the goals.

STEPS TO STRATEGIC QUALITY PLANNING

There are seven basic steps to strategic quality planning.  The process starts with the principle that quality and customer satisfaction are the centre of an organization’s future.  It brings together all the key stakeholders.

1.                  Customer needs.

This involves identifying the future needs of the customer.

·         Who will they be?

·         Will your customer base change?

·         What will they want?

·         How will the organization meet and exceed expectations?

2.                  Customer positioning

This involves determining where the organization wants to be in relation to the customers.

·         Does the organization want to retain, reduce or expand customer base?

·         The organization needs to concentrate its effort on areas of excellence.

·         Products or services with poor quality performance should be improved or eliminated.

3.                  Predict the future

This involves predicting future conditions that are likely to affect the organization’s products or services. Demographics, economic forecast and technical assessments or projections are tools that help predict the future.

4.                  Gap Analysis

This involves identification of the gaps between the current state and the future state of the organization. An analysis of core values and concepts is an excellent technique for pin- pointing gaps.

5.                  Closing the gap

The plan can then be developed to close the gap by establishing goals and responsibilities. All stakeholders should be included in the development of the plans.

6.                  Alignment

As the plan is developed it must be aligned to the mission, vision and core values and concepts of the organization. Without the alignment, the plan will have little chance of success.

7.                  Implementation.

This is the most Is the most difficult step.

o   It requires a lot of resources for purposes of collecting data, designing changes and overcoming resistance to change.

o   Also involves monitoring of activities to ensure that progress is being made.

o   The planning group should meet at least once in a year to assess progress and take any corrective action.