TQM Process Thinking

TQM requires a new process thinking mindset. We must realize that everything we do is part of a process.
Our focus shifts from managing outcomes to managing and improving processes; from what to do to how
to do the processes better. Quality performance expands to include how well each part of the process
works and the relationship of each part to the process. Also, process improvement focuses on
continuously achieving the greatest potential benefit for our customers.

Total Quality Management

No two organizations have the same TQM implementation. There is no recipe for organization success,
however, there are a number of great TQM models that organizations can use. These include the Deming
Application Prize, the Malcolm Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence, the European Foundation
for Quality Management, and the ISO quality management standards. Any organization that wants to
improve its performance would be well served by selecting one of these models and conducting a self-
assessment.

The simplest model of TQM is shown in this TQM diagram. The model begins with understanding
customer needs. TQM organizations have processes that continuously collect, analyze, and act on
customer information. Activities are often extended to understanding competitor's customers. Developing
an intimate understanding of customer needs allows TQM organizations to predict future customer
behavior. TQM organizations integrate customer knowledge with other information and use the planning
process to orchestrate action throughout the organization to manage day to day activities and achieve
future goals. Plans are reviewed at periodic intervals and adjusted as necessary. The planning process is
the glue that holds together all TQM activity.

TQM organizations understand that customers will only be satisfied if they consistently receive products
and services that meet their needs, are delivered when expected, and are priced for value. TQM
organizations use the techniques of process management to develop cost-controlled processes that are
stable and capable of meeting customer expectations.

TQM organizations also understand that exceptional performance today may be unacceptable
performance in the future so they use the concepts of process improvement to achieve both breakthrough
gains and incremental continuous improvement. Process improvement is even applied to the TQM system
itself!

The final element of the TQM model is total participation. TQM organizations understand that all work is
performed through people. This begins with leadership. In TQM organizations, top management takes
personal responsibility for implementing, nurturing, and refining all TQM activities. They make sure
people are properly trained, capable, and actively participate in achieving organizational success.
Management and employees work together to create an empowered environment where people are
valued.

All of the TQM model's elements work together to achieve results.

Downsizing

Reducing the size of the organization or reducing number of employees in the organization is called
downsizing. Downsizing is a critical decision take by organization and human resource management have
important role to play in this context.

This pattern seems to represent a “churning” of employees.  Organizations were laying off employees
with outdated skills or cutting whole businesses that were in declining markets while simultaneously
building businesses and employee bases in newer, higher-growth markets. Initially layoff refer to the
temporary suspension of the employees but now this term also refer to the permanent suspension of the
employees.

Reasons of Downsizing

Organization take downsizing decision  due to several reasons some of them are mention below.

Mergers

When two organization in same industry take the decision to combine their resources for exploiting
opportunities and reduce their cost.Downsizing take place in mergers because their are more than one
person for the single position, so company have to take rational decision to layoff some employees.

Acquisition

One organization purchase other results in change management. Mostly stakeholders take decision to
layoff employees to cut the cost and Increase revenues and profits.

Economics crisis

Recession or depression  lead to the financial crises in the organization. To avoid losses organization have
to reduce the number of employees.
Change management

Processes,procedure or higher management change can also result in downsizing.

Optimization

Due to intense competition companies sometimes aimed to increase revenues and profit to benefit the
shareholders. In order to do this companies take the step of downsizing for maximum utilization of human
resource.

Human resource management role in downsizing

All employees should be informed why the downsizing is necessary, what costs are to be cut, how long
the downsizing will last, and what strategies the organization intends to pursue.

Human resource management play vital role in downsizing to communicate the message in a right way
that it will not harm organization image and employees have positive perception after leaving the
organization.

Downsizing also impact on the mind of employees working in the organization they feel insecure about
their job. HR managers should tell all the employees that their job are secure.

Human resource department should assist the layoff employees in finding other job.

Alternatives of downsizing

Organization to avoid downsizing can take the following step.

Part time Job

Cut the number of job hours and pay employee on hourly basis to engaged him with the company. During
his free time he can do any other work for earnings.

Work at home

Give access to the employees to work at home rather then coming at office. This step will reduce the
operational cost of the organization.

Shift of department

One business unit of the organization is not doing well, organization can shift the employees to other
business unit.

Outsource Employees

Organization can provide outsourcing services is specialized domain so their employees can work on
other company projects.
Outsourcing

Outsourcing is mainly a process where one company contracts some of its work to another company. In
other terms, one company contracts another company to provide services that might otherwise be carried
out by internal employees of the company. A very easy example is the call center industry and freelancing
writing; most companies outsource such jobs to companies in countries where it would cost them less. So
basically outsourcing is done to save money, besides other reasons, which will be discussed in this
article.  However outsourcing allows companies to focus on main business issues while the minor details
are handled by external experts.

This saves organizations from burdening their in-house management with extra and needless
responsibility to focus on more important issues. Companies that handle outsourced work are specialized
in their fields and their work is usually streamlined, these companies come with world-class capabilities
and have access to new technology which the outsourcing companies couldn’t afford to buy or deemed as
an extra expense. For example, it would cost much less for a company to outsource its payroll service to
other companies on contract basis than get extensive manpower and technology to do it on a monthly
basis. Many of the companies who provide outsourcing services do it considerably for lesser money as
they have fewer overhead expenses. Outsourcing is also now being interchanged with the word off-
shoring, when in fact that shouldn’t be the case. When you say you’ll outsource something that means
you will have a role or task done outside your company, it can be within your country or outside. When
you say off-shoring, it is outsourcing something outside your country.

Reasons for Outsourcing

Most organizations that outsource are basically seeking to address some of the following issues.

o    Cost saving

o    Focusing on core business
o    Restructuring costs
o    Improving quality
o    Accessing talent
o    Enhancing capacity for innovation
o    Venture capitalism
o    Risk management
o    Tax benefits
o    Operational expertise

Advantages of Outsourcing

Some of the man advantages of outsourcing are that it is a reasonable way of cutting costs if the company
providing the outsourcing service is reliable then companies can also save costs on clients. Outsourcing is
also a means of providing jobs and ability to make good money along with the flexibility to work as a
freelancer.

Disadvantages of Outsourcing

Some of the disadvantages of outsourcing are that it often eliminates direct communication between a
company and its clients which leads to poor relationships between companies and customers. Also there
companies cannot control some aspects of its outsourced projects and this leads to delay in deadlines and
project implementation. In some cases companies become dependent on upon it’s outsource providers,
which leads to certain problems such as provider backing out of the contract or delayed feedback etc.

In the end I would just like to say that “Everyone’s experience is different on outsourcing, but there is
always a negative & positive experience. Outsourcing should not be used if the sole reason is to save
money, but because it makes sense in the long term process of becoming successful in ones project or
daily task. Thus before outsourcing one should consider analyzing company needs and requirements to
that prove that outsourcing will lead to be a benefit. So it is not just the cost one should consider, but who
they outsource the work to. Remember this is just one scenario and it is important to consider ones own
variables prior to choosing to outsource or not.”

Role Focused Interventions

A large number of organizations have used role based interventions. Whenever there is a restructuring
exercise, "role clarity" becomes an issue. Many organizations in India keep conducting role clarity and
role negotiation exercises. The role negotiation exercises normally are between departments. Indian
managers tend to differentiate themselves fast and develop departmental loyalties too soon. As a result,
some times the organizational goals suffer and interdepartmental conflicts increase. Role negotiation
exercises, therefore, have been a very common practice to build a collaborative and synergistic culture.
Udai Pareek's book 'Managing Organizational Roles' is a classic book and is widely used in India.

Role efficacy lab (REL) is a short process oriented program to diagnose the level of role efficacy in a
group of employees in the organization and take steps to raise that level. The objective of such an
intervention is to enable understanding of individual and group commitments with the top management,
creating an opportunity to get moral support and reinforcement from the top management and providing a
forum for top management to comment on the managers' expectations and accordingly prepare action
plans. RELs are also very common in India. They are normally done as a part of training or restructuring
interventions. As a training tool it aims at enhancing role efficacy. Role efficacy as a concept was
formulated by Udai Pareek in the mid-seventies. For a typical design in role efficacy see Ramnarayan,
Rao and Singh (1998, p.110).

Role Stress comes to play in a relationship oriented culture where people who are required to play
multiple role get subjected to additional stress. Also dual reporting in matrix structures creates newer
issues. Role stress programs are also conducted by Indian O.D. practitioners.

Person Focused Interventions

All person focused interventions focus on individuals working in organizational context and have great
relevance to various HRD subsystems like training, performance development, counseling, etc. These
interventions can be mainly classified as mainly:

Participant active interventions: encounter groups, role playing, instrumentation, self study & reflection
and awareness expansion.

These are used largely as training interventions. However organizations are increasingly using instrument
based feedback. Use of MBTI, FIRO-B, 16 PF and such other instruments is a common. There are a
number of Handbooks of Psychological and Social Instruments published in India. Notable among these
are the one by Pareek (1997) and Pareek and Rao (1975), and Pestonjee (1982). Self assessment through
Feedback on Instruments (SAFI services) was an organizational intervention to promote self assessment
for managerial effectiveness in late seventies. A few organizations have established such centers but they
have not taken off due to lack of trained manpower and sustainable interest of HRD departments.

Facilitator Active Interventions: psychodynamic methods, motivation approach, training, feedback and
coaching & mentoring.

360 Degree Feedback Based Interventions: In the recent past some of the Indian organizations are using
multi-rater assessment methods to initiate change process. The first systematic program using this method
was initiated at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in 1987. A number of CEOs participated
in this program. They were provided feedback on their Management Styles, Leadership Styles,
Leadership Roles, Delegation, and other competencies. Experiences with this methodology was limited to
the India Institute of Management till early nineties. As 360 Degree feedback became popular there is a
renewed interest in using this methodology to bring change in the styles and effectiveness of top level
managers. This intervention is beginning to gain momentum.

ROLE EFFICACY

defines role efficacy as the potential effectiveness of a role or the psychological factors underlying role
effectiveness. He has outlined 10 aspects of role efficacy arranged under three dimensions.

ROLE-MAKING

Udai describes role-making as a role-holder's active attitude towards the role as evidenced by the effort
and initiative taken to go beyond the brief and make the role that one likes and believes in. He sees it as
different from role-taking which is a much more passive attitude of merely responding to others'
expectations.

He saw role-making as a function of four aspects: self-role integration, pro-activity, creativity and
confrontation.

Udai saw the self and role integrating when a person occupied a role that provided him with the
opportunity to use his special strengths and skills.

ROLE CENTRING

While the first dimension focuses on the individual, the second dimension focuses on the job design
aspects.

He saw role centring as a function of three aspects: centrality, influence and personal growth. The concept
of centrality is very interesting.

Udai shares the example of how helping the gatekeeper of a hospital made him feel more central and
enhanced his motivation.

The famed story of the doorman at the Marriot hotel is a clear validation of Udai's insight into this aspect
of efficacy.

ROLE LINKING
This dimension of efficacy focuses on how the role integrates into others' roles and with the larger
purpose of the organisation. He saw role linking as a function of three aspects: inter-role linkage, helping
relationship and super-ordination.

Udai goes on to offer two specific tools to measure role efficacy - Essay on my Role (EMR) and the
famous Role Efficacy Scale (OR).

These two tools help practitioners measure and enhance role efficacy. That Udai chose to put all of his
intellectual property into the book and share it freely with his readers is a small but significant part of
Udai Pareek's greatness.

Force Field Analysis

Force field analysis is a management technique developed by Kurt Lewin, a pioneer in the field of social
sciences, for diagnosing situations. It will be useful when looking at the variables involved in planning
and implementing a change program and will undoubtedly be of use in team building projects,when
attempting to overcome resistance to change.

Lewin assumes that in any situation there are both driving and restraining forces that influence any
change that may occur.

Driving Forces

Driving forces are those forces affecting a situation that are pushing in a particular direction; they tend to
initiate a change and keep it going. In terms of improving productivity in a work group, pressure from a
supervisor, incentive earnings, and competition may be examples of driving forces.

Restraining Forces

Restraining forces are forces acting to restrain or decrease the driving forces. Apathy, hostility, and poor
maintenance of equipment may be examples of restraining forces against increased production.
Equilibrium is reached when the sum of the driving forces equals the sum of the restraining forces. In our
example, equilibrium represents the present level of productivity, as shown below.
Equilibrium

This equilibrium, or present level of productivity, can be raised or lowered by changes in the relationship
between the driving and the restraining forces.

For illustration, consider the dilemma of the new manager who takes over a work group in which
productivity is high but whose predecessor drained the human resources.

The former manager had upset the equilibrium by increasing the driving forces (that is, being autocratic
and keeping continual pressure on subordinates) and thus achieving increases in output in the short run.

By doing this, however, new restraining forces developed, such as increased hostility and antagonism,
and at the time of the former manager's departure the restraining forces were beginning to increase and
the results manifested themselves in turnover, absenteeism, and other restraining forces, which lowered
productivity shortly after the new manager arrived. Now a new equilibrium at a significantly lower
productivity is faced by the new manager.

Now just assume that our new manager decides not to increase the driving forces but to reduce the
restraining forces. The manager may do this by taking time away from the usual production operation and
engaging in problem solving and training and development.

In the short run, output will tend to be lowered still further. However, if commitment to objectives and
technical know-how of the group are increased in the long run, they may become new driving forces, and
that, along with the elimination of the hostility and the apathy that were restraining forces, will now tend
to move the balance to a higher level of output.

Managers are often in a position in which they must consider not only output but also intervening
variables and not only short-term but also long-term goals. It can be seen that force field analysis provides
framework that is useful in diagnosing these interrelationships.

BUSINESS PROCESS REENGINEERING

The analysis and design of workflows and processes within an organization. A business process is a set of
logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. Re-engineering is the basis for
many recent developments in management. The cross-functional team, for example, has become popular
because of the desire to re-engineer separate functional tasks into complete cross-functional processes.
[citation needed]
Also, many recent management information systems developments aim to integrate a wide
number of business functions. Enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, knowledge
management systems, groupware and collaborative systems, Human Resource Management Systems and
customer relationship management.

Business Process Reengineering is also known as Business Process Redesign, Business Transformation,
or Business Process Change Management.
Business process reengineering (BPR) began as a private sector technique to help organizations
fundamentally rethink how they do their work in order to dramatically improve customer service, cut
operational costs, and become world-class competitors. A key stimulus for reengineering has been the
continuing development and deployment of sophisticated information systems and networks. Leading
organizations are becoming bolder in using this technology to support innovative business processes,
rather than refining current ways of doing work. [1]

Reengineering guidance and relationship of Mission and Work Processes to Information Technology.

Business process reengineering is one approach for redesigning the way work is done to better support the
organization's mission and reduce costs. Reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the
organization's mission, strategic goals, and customer needs. Basic questions are asked, such as "Does our
mission need to be redefined? Are our strategic goals aligned with our mission? Who are our customers?"
An organization may find that it is operating on questionable assumptions, particularly in terms of the
wants and needs of its customers. Only after the organization rethinks what it should be doing, does it go
on to decide how best to do it.[1]
Within the framework of this basic assessment of mission and goals, reengineering focuses on the
organization's business processes—the steps and procedures that govern how resources are used to create
products and services that meet the needs of particular customers or markets. As a structured ordering of
work steps across time and place, a business process can be decomposed into specific activities,
measured, modeled, and improved. It can also be completely redesigned or eliminated altogether.
Reengineering identifies, analyzes, and redesigns an organization's core business processes with the aim
of achieving dramatic improvements in critical performance measures, such as cost, quality, service, and
speed.[1]

Reengineering recognizes that an organization's business processes are usually fragmented into
subprocesses and tasks that are carried out by several specialized functional areas within the organization.
Often, no one is responsible for the overall performance of the entire process. Reengineering maintains
that optimizing the performance of subprocesses can result in some benefits, but cannot yield dramatic
improvements if the process itself is fundamentally inefficient and outmoded. For that reason,
reengineering focuses on redesigning the process as a whole in order to achieve the greatest possible
benefits to the organization and their customers. This drive for realizing dramatic improvements by
fundamentally rethinking how the organization's work should be done distinguishes reengineering from
process improvement efforts that focus on functional or incremental improvement. [1]