Total Quality
Management (TQM) (graded)
What is total quality
management (TQM)? Is it something you can install, like a refrigerator? How do
you know TQM when you see it?
A System Perspective
(graded)
When we talk about a system
view, what are we interested in and why? Why is a system view so important to
have if you are going to implement TQM?
Week 2
Dr. Deming’s 14 Points
(graded)
Are Dr. Demingâs 14 Points
clear, concise, and achievable? If not, what do you think he had in mind? In
Demingâs view, who needs to do what and why?
Quality Awards and
Standards (graded)
The authors of our text talk about the Baldrige Award
throughout their book. In previous versions, they even designed their text
around this award. Given that our course is about TQM, an in-depth discussion
of the Deming Award would seem to be appropriate. Why do I say this? If you
look at the textbook, you see that the authors state that “the Deming
Prize establishes a framework for a CWQC [Company Wide Quality Control]
system” (p. 122). CWQC embodies what we would call TQM here in the U.S.
So let’s do some research. Put on your investigative
hats and see what you can find about the Deming Award. You can use the Internet
or or any other sources you have available.
How do you see the Deming Prize criteria fitting into
TQM? How does the Deming Prize compare to the Baldrige Award? What are the
differences and similarities between the Deming Prize and the Baldrige Award?
Week 3
TQM Leaders (graded)
How do leaders behave when
they are implementing TQM? What expectations should they set? What kind of
leaders do TQM leaders need to be?
Who Are the Customers? What Are Their Needs? (graded)
What are the dimensions of
service quality? How do these dimensions affect a customer perception? How do
the quality dimensions, as defined by David Garvin, relate to the dimensions of
service quality?
Week 4
TQM and Teams (graded)
Teams are something we talk
about a lot when it comes to TQM. Why are teams instrumental to TQM, or are
they? What kinds of teams exist in a TQM operation?
Employee Involvement (graded)
Just what is employee
involvement? Is it always good? What key elements are necessary to keep it
going? Are there different kinds of involvement?
Week 5
Cost of Quality (graded)
Although a balanced score
card is probably the way to go, most companies don’t seem to have a clue about
the more fundamental aspects of quality, such as the cost of quality. So let’s
start here. Just what do we mean when we talk about the cost of quality? What
major areas does it include?
Supplier Relationships (graded)
An integral part of TCO 9
concerns supplier relationships. What kinds of relationships exist with
suppliers? What can be done to reduce the number suppliers you use?
Week 6
Statistical Tools (graded)
Before you participate in this discussion,
please review this weekâs tutorial.
Two tools were used by the group in the early
analysis of their process. Why was it important for the group to use a
histogram when they did? What could have happened if the group had not used it?
Inspection and Process Evaluations (graded)
Is 100% inspection good? Why
or why not? What alternatives are there to 100% inspection?
Week 7
Implementing TQM (graded)
Over the last six weeks, you
have been gaining insight into the ultimate question for this course: How do we
implement TQM? Where do we begin? What key areas do we need to address first?
Once we get our implementation started, what do we need to do in order to
sustain our momentum?
What is Six Sigma? (graded)
What are the origins of Six
Sigma? What makes Six Sigma what it is? Is Six Sigma new, or has it been there
all the time? If Six Sigma were terminated in an operation, would anything
happen to the quality of the products produced? Why or why not?