The TQM Magazine

Hubert K. Rampersad

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/09544780110391648

Visionary management is a key issue for all organizations. It is a never-ending journey toward competitive advantage. By making visionary thinking a part of your daily routine, you will integrate it into all aspects of your work. This should become your organization's way of life. This article introduces a visionary management model, based on an ambiguous mission, vision, core values, smart goals, strategies, critical success factors, and related performance indicators. It is based on the most recent book of the author.

John W. Moran; Jeffrey M. Mead

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/09544780110392115

Change is often brought about by an organization's old ways being shown to be ineffective and inefficient in the currrent market environment. For most organizations this is usually found out too late in today's rapid pace of Internet speed change. Organizations must approach change just as the most successful "techno-individuals" have, by constantly reinventing and making minor changes, so they are always positioned for the next wave of change in the marketplace. Their workforces then view change as a phenomenon to embrace and not fear. It is normal to change if one is always doing it. Organizations must ask themselves "What do we need to change to be a fierce and flexible force in our marketplace?" "How have we changed this week? How must we change next week?".

Roberth Gustafsson; Bengt Klefsjö; Eric Berggren; Ulrika Granfors‐Wellemets

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/09544780110366088

Describes a project focusing on the experiences of implementing a third-party certified quality system in small (maximum 50 employees) Swedish organisation. The project consisted of a questionnaire to CEOs, and then a more comprehensive case study of selected organisations. Results show that the more the CEO and employees have been involved in the implementation process, the more the system is used, that the CEO is more satisfied with the results; and quality improvements have continued after certification. Furthermore, the higher the level of education within the company, the less help has been required from external consultants. Indicates that important factors for a successful implementation are the attitude of the organisation when the implementation starts, that fairly detailed plans for the implementation are performed and that the documentation is adapted to the business and not necessarily to the ISO standard.

Y.J. Shen; D.H.T. Walker

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/09544780110392241

Discusses the issue of developing a project design that adequately addresses the practicality of delivering integrated construction knowledge and experience in planning, engineering, procurement and field operations. There are few practical examples in the literature that explain how non-traditional construction project procurement approaches can be utilised to organise an integrated project management system incorporating occupational health and safety (OHS), environmental management (EM) and quality management (QM) systems. Reports on a case study that helps fill that gap. Shows how the adoption of a design and construct procurement approach, together with appropriate management techniques, on a successful major freeway project in Melbourne, Australia, was driven by a sound construction planning process, and integrated the construction planning system with OHS, EM and QM systems.

P.A. Cauchick Miguel

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/09544780110391675

Deals with some of the quality award programmes applied worldwide. First, briefly describes five quality awards: the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from the USA, the European Quality Award, the Deming Prize of Japan, the Canadian Quality Award and the Australian Quality Award. Second, presents the National Quality Award of Brazil. Outlines its criteria for performance excellence and some descriptors. Additionally, describes the application procedure, evaluation process, and the scoring methodology. Finally, performs a comparison between the major awards and the Brazilian programme in order to identify some similarities and differences among them. It can be remarked that the major internationally recognised quality awards use evaluation criteria which are similar in nature, when compared with the Brazilian award.

Sarah Ingle; Willo Roe

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/09544780110391666

Examines different approaches that can be utilised to introduce a Six Sigma Black Belt programme. Compares and contrasts the implementation strategies used in both Motorola and General Electric. Provides information based on a literature review as well as interview evidence from employees in both firms. Concludes by defining the overall approach used by each company. The benefits as well as some criticisms of the Six Sigma and Black Belt methodology are also provided, and we warn about the dangers of focusing on the metric rather than the mission.

Pauliina Hirvonen; Nina Helander

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/09544780110391657

Studies customer relationships in professional services. A framework is proposed for managing professional service relationships in a way that creates value for both parties of the relationship. Furthermore, through the framework the marketer is able to discover also those customer needs that the customer itself is not even aware of. The framework and the benefits of joint value creation are illustrated through a case study of an organisation providing learning and personnel development services.

Jaideep Motwani

2001 The TQM Magazine

doi: 10.1108/13683040010362300

The aim of this study is to identify and interpret the critical factors and performance measures of TQM. Based on extensive review of prescriptive, conceptual, practitioner, and empirical literature; we were able to identify seven critical factors and more than 45 performance measures of TQM. A possible sequence for implementation of these factors is then presented.