Essay on "Quality Management Principles ISO 9000"

Essay 5 pages (1687 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Quality Management Principals

Over the last several decades, a variety of firms have been continuing to embrace the practices of total quality management (TQM). This is an idea that was developed by William Edwards Deming during the early 1950's. As he established, a new way for businesses to be able to improve their competitive position through focusing a number of different factors. A few of the most notable include: improving design, product quality, testing and sales. The basic idea with this approach is to be able to give businesses a competitive advantage over other firms. At which point, they can seize market share from other organizations that are not as efficient or well run. (Evans, 2011, pg. 92)

To see how effective this strategy is in identifying the underlying strengths and weaknesses of a business requires comparing two different entities with each other. This will be accomplished by carefully examining the Florida Department of Corrections in comparison with Johnson & Johnson. As we are looking at a number of factors to include: the history of the two organizations, their past quality programs, providing a summary of their activities, studying the results of the quality management programs, comparing both entities against the ISO 9000 and identifying where specific improvements could be made inside one of the organizations (i.e. The Florida Department of Corrections). Once this occurs, it will offer the greatest insights as to the how this philosophy is impacting these firms.

History of the Organizations

The Florida Department of Corrections was established in 1821. They are currently the third largest prison system in the United States and they have 104 thousand incarcerated inmates, 150 thousand offenders and an annual budget of $2.3 billion. The total number of facilities that the Department of Corrections (DOC) controls includes: 62 prisons, 45 work / forestry camps, 33 work release centers, 5 road centers and 1 treatment facility. These different elements are important, because they are showing how the DOC has a tremendous amount of bureaucracy based upon their overall size. ("The History of the Florida Department of Corrections," 2011)

Johnson & Johnson was founded in 1886. They are currently involved in the manufacture as well as distribution of a host of different pharmaceutical products. A few of the most notable include: the sale of prescription / over the counter drugs, consumer goods and medical devices. This has helped to increase their bottom line results with the company reporting worldwide sales of $24.6 billion in 157 countries. ("The History of Johnson & Johnson," 2011)

History of the quality programs in the organizations

The current efforts that are taking place inside the DOC are that the state has been providing some basic guidelines that can create a TQM program. As, they have established various conferences and workshops on how this can be implemented by various supervisors along with team leaders. On the surface, this is supposed to help improve the efficiency of the organization itself. However, the reality is that these programs are providing a basic background. Yet, they are not offering a specific formula that could be implemented to improve each segment of the organization. This is important, because it is illustrating how there are limited amounts of focus in trying to implement this strategy throughout the system. ("Secretary's Message," 2011)

As far as Johnson & Johnson is concerned, the company has been focused on using TQM to improve the efficiency of the organization. The way that this is accomplished is through their system known as their IT Infrastructure Library. This is a TQM management strategy that was developed to focus on several different aspects of the company. The most notable include: the design, the marketing strategy, the service transition, operations and constant improvement. These different elements are important, because they helped the company to increase productivity and the underlying profit margins dramatically. ("Team Five," 2011)

Summary of quality activities (e.g., leadership, quality circle, quality program, management commitment level, employee involvements, product or service quality level progress, continuous improvement activities, supplier certification activities, etc.)

As far as the DOC is concerned, there has been some leadership with the commitment of implementing TQM principals. While at the same time, there has been a certain amount of management commitment to these ideas. However, issues such as: employee involvement, continuous improvement activities and supplier certification are illustrating how they have also been ignoring number of different provisions. These elements are important, because they are showing how the DOC is facing a number of challenges in trying to implement an effective TQM system. ("Secretary's Message," 2011)

In the case of the Johnson & Johnson, they have been addressing these different areas with their IT Infrastructure Library. The reason why, is because management has been focusing on using TQM principals to improve their operating margins. As they, took these ideas and the implemented them as part of their operating environment. Over the course of time, this would set the stage for the company to be able to be more responsive to the needs of customers in an ever changing marketplace. Because they took such an active role in implementing this strategy they were able realize an improvement in the quality of activities. Most notably through: their leadership, quality circle, quality program, the management commitment level, employee involvements, the product quality process, employee certification and continuous improvement activities. These different elements are important, because they are showing how TQM principals can be effective when they are implemented in every aspect of the organization itself. Once this occurs, is when there is a transformation in the operating environment of the firm. ("Team Five," 2011)

Results of the quality programs (e.g., product or service quality level, saving cost, financial business improvements, customer satisfaction rate, team work practices, market share changes, employee productivities, etc.)

The results of the program for the DOC are that it failed to achieve its intended objectives. This is because it was only partially implemented. At which point, the program would not address a number of issues to include: service quality, cost savings, financial improvements and employee productivity. At the same time, there was one area that was successful this includes: team work practices. These different elements are important, because they are showing how the failures of the current strategy are not addressing the most pressing issues facing the DOC. ("Secretary's Message," 2011)

In the case of Johnson & Johnson, they have implemented a strategy that is addressing all of the various aspects of their business. The most notable include: service quality, cost savings, financial improvements, employee productivity, customer satisfaction, team work practices and increasing market share. These different elements are important, because they are illustrating how the IT Infrastructure Library is addressing the needs of the entire organization. ("Team Five," 2011)

Compare both companies against the ISO 9000:2000 Quality Management Principles

The ISO 9000 embraces a number of different principals in helping to improve an organization. A few of the most notable include: focusing on customers, having effective leadership, involving the staff, taking a systems approach, working on continuous improvement and obtaining all relevant facts before making a decision. When you compare the DOC with these various ideas, it is clear that they have effective leadership and they are taking a systematic approach. However, when it comes to the other areas they are lacking any kind of focus on these aspects. In the case of the Johnson & Johnson they have been continually concentrating on these different areas for over 15 years. As, these basic ideas have become a part of the organization itself. Once this occurred, it means that they were able to increase productivity and reduce the underlying costs to the firm. ("ISO 9000,' 2005) (Evans, 2011, pp. 127 -- 139)

In your comparison, address how well company 1 positioned against ISO 9000 criteria.

The DOC… READ MORE

How to Reference "Quality Management Principles ISO 9000" Essay in a Bibliography

Related Essays:

TQM Initiatives at Ford Motors Essay

TQM initiatives at Ford Motors. Ford Motors adopted the concept of TQM in 1980 and since then has adopted other more efficient techniques of quality and performance management such as… read more

Essay 11 pages (2935 words) Sources: 12 Topic: Management / Organizations

---

ISO 14000 Research Paper

ISO Standardized Quality Systems

In terms of creating and setting standards, ISO does not decide when to develop a new standard. The process for the development of a new standard… read more

Research Paper 9 pages (2821 words) Sources: 5 Topic: Management / Organizations

---

Quality Management Approaches Six Sigma Research Paper

Quality Management Approaches

Six Sigma Quality Management

The Six Sigma Quality Management approach is based on two core concepts: (1) that business processes can (and should) be broken down into… read more

Research Paper 2 pages (569 words) Sources: 2 Topic: Management / Organizations

---

Dell Total Quality Management Questions Essay

Dell Total Quality Management

Questions on Dell's Total Quality Management Strategy

What is TQM? Why it is important to your company?

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a foundational platform of… read more

Essay 3 pages (1175 words) Sources: 1+ Topic: Management / Organizations

---

Sal Ltd. Is Currently Looking to Increase Essay

SAL Ltd. is currently looking to increase its global presence. In doing so, it would be using the same products it already manufactures, and would strive to succeed through the… read more

Essay 3 pages (811 words) Sources: 4 Topic: Management / Organizations

---

View 100+ more related papers  >>