Quality Management Methodologies/Standards Compatibility: A Basis for Continual Improvement and Excellence

By Ernie A. Cevallos

The notion that quality management is about minimizing defects, especially in production, is an outdated view of what it is and how to improve it. This aspect has long been an entry-level requirement in competition, but is no longer enough from a customer's perspective. Customers expect buying experiences to be flawless. They evaluate quality based on the total value of the offer.

Productivity and Leadership Insights from George David, CEO and Chairman of United Technologies

By Ernie A. Cevallos

What brought about the transformational change and growth that United Technologies (UTX) has experienced under the leadership watch of George David? Since 1992 the Company has produced total shareholder returns of 338%, international revenue grew from 25% to 60%, market capitalization grew from $6B to over $72B, operating income margin grew from 5% to 14%, and EPS grew over 105% in the last five years.

TQM, ISO 9000, Six Sigma: Do Process Management Programs Discourage Innovation?

By Ernie A. Cevallos

A Knowledge@Wharton article based on joint research with the Harvard Business School says now may be the time to re-evaluate the corporate efficacy of process management and tailor them to the right applications. Studies show that misapplied process management can hinder companies and dull innovation. "In the appropriate setting, process management activities can help companies improve efficiency, but the risk is that you misapply these programs, in particular in areas where people are supposed to be innovative," notes Mary Benner–management professor at Wharton.

What is the Purpose of Dr. Deming's Theory of Management?

By ERNIE A. CEVALLOS
(This document was submitted to Professor Howard Gitlow of the University of Miami as a term-paper for MAS 610 Statistical Analysis for Decision Making Process -- Paper has been edited for shortened Blog publication)

Background

After World War II American industry returned to the peacetime production of consumer goods, for which there was unparalleled demand and no competition. Untouched by war, the industrial heartland produced cars, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, mixers, lawnmowers, refrigerators, furniture, carpet, and all the goods for the growing postwar suburbs inhabited by a generation of prosperous Americans.

The American corporation had fulfilled the promise of ‘scientific management,’ formulated by an influential industrial engineer named Frederick Winslow Taylor more than three decades earlier. Taylor had held that human performance could be defined and controlled through work standards and rules. He advocated the use of time and motion studies to break jobs down into simple, separate steps to be performed repeatedly without deviation by different workers. Minimizing complexity would maximize efficiency, although it was as bad to overperform as it was to underperform on a Taylor-style system.

Deming's 14 Points & System of Profound Knowledge

Deming's 14 Points
(Excerpted from Chapter Two of OUT OF THE CRISIS by W. Edwards Deming).

1. Create constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business, and to provide jobs.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. We are in a new economic age. Western management must awaken to the challenge, must learn their responsibilities, and take on leadership for change.