Research Paper on "TQM Concept in Ford Motors Company"

Research Paper 6 pages (2452 words) Sources: 11

[EXCERPT] . . . .

The styles of leadership can also help gain employees buy-in. Encouraging two-way communication and also integrating training programs for workers can help to positively incentivize them and to also gain their buy-in. Additionally, organizational coaching has also been found to be effective in helping employees to embrace new changes and this too can be done at the Ford Motor Company. Finally, the company can organize an open forum with employees and encourage them to ask anything about the program so as to allow them to see the importance of the project and how it will benefit them. (Uma et al., 2015).

VI. Leadership/Employee Involvement in Implementation of TQM

The executive can help transform employees' attitude. Leaders need to inspire employees towards achieving the firm's goals by helping them to understand the process and the benefits they will likely get if the firm succeeds. Monitoring implementation, analyzing statistics from the monitoring system and making changes if needed are some of the responsibilities of any company leadership during implementation of new projects. Executives can kick start the TQM process by acting as the perfect role models (Scheid et al., 2011). This means leaders have to do two things - serve their clients and help run the business. The focus on serving customers is key to the overall quality improvement process (UmaMageswari et al., 2015).

VII. Results

Ford officially launched the 6-sigma process, in early 2000 and the first goal of the process was to concentrate on client satisfaction issues. After training its top executives, the process was extended to all company's plants and branches. In the first 18 months more than 10,000 employees were trained in Six-sigma. The criteria of selecting a Six-sigma project is that: it has to relate to client satisfaction; results must cut errors/defects by 70% and that every single project should result in approximately 250,000 dollars in cost savings (Paton, 2015). The incorporation of JIT (just in time) manufacturing -- a production-push system whereby quantity is produced exactly when needed was also in line with 6-sigma and TQM (Gubata, 2015). The company also made commitments to quality through its Best Practices Replication (eBPR) process whereby the company through its internal website was able to collect, disseminate and track the value of copying/replicating the best methods of operation throughout the corporation (Wilson & McKinlay, 2010). The Best Practices Replication initiative enabled the addition of over 1.3 billion dollars in value (Wolford & Kwiecien, 2004).

VIII. Goals Met

The Ford Motor Company through its focus on investors, customers, employees and quality satisfaction has been able to create a strong loyal customer base by integrating the TQM process. One of the biggest draws to buying Ford vehicles for American consumers is the fact that they are dependable and serviceable, these had made its loyal customers to say that its name (Ford) is an abbreviation of Fix Or Repair Daily. Several analysts claim that the country could also have avoided making losses in the 1990s and also now if they collaborate with makers of fuel efficient automobiles such as KIA motors and Hyundai (Zeller & Gillis, 1995). 6-sigma training has also helped employees to be more satisfied. If the company in collaboration with other automobile manufacturers were to lobby or petition the government for lower taxes on gas, this would free more disposable income for customers and will also boost the demand for SUVs and pickups leading to increase in profits.

IX. Conclusion

In conclusion, for a company to succeed leadership styles must be in line with TQM. Leaders must monitor the TQM process, be goal-driven, keep the process transparent, and provide all the support required to enable success (Uma et al., 2015). By investing into its TQM, Ford Motor Company was able to guarantee its long-term success. The 110-year-old company must however determine its main success factors and also start to design more quality and innovative product if it is to remain relevant.

Ford Motor Company Implementing TQM 8

References

Carmona, J. L., & Roura, P.S. (2013)."The man behind Ford's remarkable comeback."Caribbean Business, 41(9), 14.

Gabor, A. (2001). Management: Ford Embraces Six Sigma.The New York Times.Retrieved

from http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/13/business/13QUAL.html on 16th November,

2015.

Gubata, J. (2015). Just-In-Time Manufacturing. Research Starters: Business (Online Edition),

2015. 7p.

Hashmi, K. (2015). Introduction and Implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM).

Retrieved November 5, 2015, from http://www.isixsigma.com/methodology/total quality- management-tqm/introduction-and-implementation-total-quality-management tqm/

Madan, P. (2006). Chapter 6: Unleashing the Power of People.In Krishna's Total Quality

Management (1st ed., pp. 203-204). Meerut: Krishna Prakashan Media (P).

Paton, S. (2015). Consumer-driven Six Sigma Saves Ford $300 Million. Retrieved from http://www.qualitydigest.com/sept01/html/ford.html on 16th November, 2015.

Reid, R., & Sanders, N. (2004).Total Quality Management.In Operations Management an Integrated Approach. (2nd Ed, 136-170). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Root, G.N. (2015). Advantages and Disadvantages of Downsizing a Company.Hearst

Newspapers, LLC.Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantagesdisadvantages-downsizing-company-18713.html on 16th November, 2015.

Scheid, J. (2011). TQM and Ford Motor Company (M. McDonough, Ed.).Retrieved from http://www.brighthubpm.com/methods-strategies/72279-tqm-and-ford-motor company/on 16th November, 2015.

Sorbo, T. (2015).How to Implement Total Quality Management and Six Sigma. [Blog

post].Retrieved from https://xeneta.com/blog/how-to-implement-total-quality management-and-six-sigma on 16th November, 2015.

UmaMageswari, S. D., Sivasubramanian, C., & SrikanthaDath, T. N. (2015). "Knowledge

Management Enablers, Processes, and Innovation in Small Manufacturing Firms: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach." IUP Journal of Knowledge Management,

13(1), 33.

Wilson, J. M., & McKinlay, A. (2010)."Rethinking the assembly line: Organization,

performance and productivity in Ford Motor Company, c. 1908-27."Business History,

52(5), 760-778. doi:10.1080/00076791.2010.499425499425

Wolford, D., & Kwiecien, S. (2004). Chapter 55: Driving Knowledge Management at Ford

Motor Company. In, Handbook on Knowledge Management 2: Knowledge Directions

(pp. 501-510). Springer Science & Business Media B.V. / Books.l

Zeller, T. L., & Gillis, D. M. (1995)."Achieving market excellence through quality: The case of Ford… READ MORE

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