Управление качеством в международных корпорациях. Практикум на английском языке

Practical training

among other items. In addition the company also deals in sales of houses, internet services, financial and insurance services. These are among its latest business ventures.

The company has used the concept and philosophy of quality management to maintain its position as the leading supermarket in the UK. It goes the extra length not to increase quality of its services but also to maintain the quality for customer continuous satisfaction. The main focus in quality assurance for the company is to provide customers with products and services that will meet their needs as well as providing products and services that are free of accidents, wastes or defects.

Quality performance objective is the most prioritized objective above all other business strategic objectives. The company uses various strategies to achieve this goal of quality. The company dedicates a highly skilled human resource to maintain and improve the quality of services offered to its customers. Every single day, the company’s management staff has to attend a meeting with the main agenda being total quality management. The staff discusses ways in which every business function can be integrated or adjusted to meet quality. The company has a quality improvement team that deals with ensuring maintenance of quality in all the goods the company sells in its stores as well the services it provides to its loyal customers. In addition the quality improvement team is charged with the responsibility to identify ways of improving the quality of service to its customers every day. This team meets on a weekly basis to lead and monitor the process of quality assurance.

In addition to the dedication of human resource to customer service management, the company also has principles and policies used to govern quality assurance.

The first policy is that, it is a mandatory for all employees to meet the requirements of the customers all the time.

Secondly the policies also focus on prevention of defects in its products and errors during the process of customer service.

The goods sold in Tesco stores must meet certain standards and this means that total quality management according to Tesco involves also the supply chain management. Suppliers of goods are not expected to deliver goods with defects which would cause the customers to raise complaints.

Thirdly, the policies also focus on the verification of processes to measure whether they are meeting the right standards for quality.

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Speed performance objective.

The condition for food preparation has to be hygienic.

The company also considers the quality management system of all its suppliers before getting into business with them.

Cost performance objective. Human resource management.

The company has policies that ensure its team of workers is treated with the respect it deserves.

Improving quality in the products is achieved in several ways. Tesco as a company produces its own products. Being a retain chain with storesonline and in several other location in the UK, the company gets to sell products produced by other manufacturing companies. The company subjects all its products to testing in order to meet the required standard of quality. It inspects all its products at every point during the process of production. Hygiene is maintained especially for production of goods that require cleanliness. Food products and pharmaceuticals are just but the example of products that require high sensitivity to cleanliness. Therefore, a part from employing skilled workforce, the company ensures that the people handling products that require high sensitivity to cleanliness maintain a certain level of hygiene to mitigate errors and complains. If customers who use the foodcourtatanyofthecompany’sstorescomplainofaboutthequality of food, then this would affect the business and cause customers to develop mistrust for the company. However, when customers enjoy the food produced by Tesco because of the quality, then they would undoubtedly develop a habit of buying food at Tesco’s stores.

Products sold at the stores have to have marks indicating the date of expiry. This includes both the products produced by the company and the products produced by other companies. When a good is about to expire after staying on the shelf for too long, the quality assurance and improvement team ensure that they are removed from the shelves and disposed properly. The goods which are shelved on Tesco’s stores have to be fresh.As such, the company has found it highly possible to make sells of items such as groceries and meat fresh meat products. Perishable goods are sold within the stores on a daily basis and replenished on a daily basis. It is hard to find highly perishable products being shelved after 24 hours. In most cases, they are entirely sold out within the time period of 24 hours. The company also has a policy where once perishable goods such

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as groceries begin to show signs of defect, they are automatically removed from the shelves and donated to homes where they can be used immediately. The team charged with the responsibility of quality control and assurance ensures that only products that meet the required standards are shelved.

Quality control is therefore majorly achieved through two main methods: inspections and testing. It is a technique that is applied duringtheentireprocessofproduction.Itisappliedbeforethefinished product is produced and also after production.The raw materials have to be subjected to standard testing. It cannot use raw materials that will not yield the expected quality. Therefore selection of materials to be used in production is an crucial aspect of quality that the company emphasizes on. Every product of the various stages of production has to be tested to meet certain standards.

Speed is a notable emphasis in the company when it comes to performance objective. This implies the time taken for delivery of an item once the client places an order. Customers are highly valued and none of them is expected to wait longer than the required time for delivery. The company simply tries to reduce cases of customer complaints by ensuring that they get value for their money.Acustomer can get what he or she needs whenever they need it; and hence it is only through speedy delivery of products that this objective can be achieved. Speed is used when handling customers. The store customer attendants are taught to be very prompt as they attend to customers.Thecompanyhasnoticedthatcustomerscanbefrustrated by long queues especially when making payments. This frustration can cause the customers to opt for other stores or supermarkets with shorter queues. In response to this need, the company has ensured that delivery of service at the teller points is very fast and efficient so that customers do not have to waste their valuable time.

When speed is achieved in the operations of the company, then all the other departments will be impacted to incorporate speed. Communication of information is done with the same necessary speed for effectiveness. Speedy communication helps in proper record keeping. It helps throughout the entire process of supply chain management and inventory management. Quality in communication however is only achieved through proper IT system that integrates all the business functional units for smooth flow of information. The company has an enterprise resource planning system that helps

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to improve the quality of internal and external communication in the company. The system enhances smooth and quick flow of communication throughout the process of supply chain management.

The human resource management affects quality of the products. HRM is one other area that the company stresses on when it comes to ensuring quality of service delivery. Customers have to be treated with value and esteem when they interact with the company. Human resource is valued since the company has realized the role human resource plays in ensuring effectiveness and efficiency of operations. Tesco has devoted to treating its associates with the respect they deserve and in effect this has yielded fruits in the company’s general output.

The associates and employees need to be motivated to work harder and be at their best. The human resource team at Tesco has ensured that the best potential of every employee is produced. For instance, the company has dedicated substantial amount of its vast revenue and profits toemployee reward and compensation system. The packages provided to employees for their work is worth it since at the end of it all the employees are motivated to work for the best of the company. The organizational culture created by the human resource team is one that is aligned to the strategic objectives of the company. Quality assurance is among the strategic objectives of the company.

Tesco has low cost policies. This performance objective depends on the efficiency of the internal operations of the company. When the company is able to be effective internally, then it implies that it uses less money in running its operations. As a result the company will be in a better position to provide its customers with high quality goods and services at a reduced cost compared to its competitors. Resources are usually wasted or spent unnecessarily when trying to repair products or correct errors made. Such cost has been avoided by the company because of its effectiveness in its internal operations.

However, Tesco is among the few companies in the retail industry that has continued to experience increased revenues and profitability despitetheeffectsoftherecession.Withthelowcostpolicycustomers are still able to maintain their shopping volume.

Adjusting to the recession required flexibility as form of performance objective. The company has been able to achieve this objective and as a result maintained its competitiveness in the market.

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The market has a lot of changes and diversification. The company changes its marketing strategy to suit the opportunities available in the market. For instance, during the peak of the recession in 2008, customer purchase behavior changed drastically. This meant that the company had to adjust to the purchase behavior of that moment. It required constant updated analysis of the market situation and considering the four elements of market mix to identify ways in which they can be adjusted to fit the needs of the markets. In this way the company managed to maintain its sales volume, revenue base, and profit margins.

Flexibility also entails introduction of new services and products to enhance the experience of the customers when they visit Tesco stores. The latest products introduced by the company are mainly in the service industry. They include sales of houses, financial, insurance, and internet services. Another example of a new product is the Irish yoghurt. This was introduced with the realization of consumers appreciating natural products. In order to reduce the cost incurred through the process of product distribution, the company decided to have its own products that are used domestically on daily basis. This includes items such as milk, bread, butter, jam, ice cream etc. all these products bear the brand name of the company and they retail at cheaper prices compared to other brands produced by other companies.

Tasks

1.Name factors influenced the successful conquest of the market organization Tesco.

2.Tell what measures are being taken to improve and maintain the quality control in the supermarket.

3.How do you think human resource management influences the quality of the products? Explain your point of view.

4.Analyze the whole quality management in the supermarket Tesco.

Questions

1.What is the quality management in the company?

2.What are the different approaches to improving the quality of customer service in your organization?

3.How leadership affects the quality of the product?

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References

1.Bowersox C. & Cooper, 2013. Supply Chain Logistics Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.

2.Chew I. & Sharma B., 2012. The effects of culture and HRM practices on firm perfomance. international journal of manpower, pp. 560–581.

3.Ciaran C. & Wall, T., 2014. The global financial crisis and UK’s PPPs. International Journal of public sector management, pp. 533– 542.

4.Heckl D., Moormann J. & Rosemann, M., 2012. Uptake and Success Factors of six signs in the retail service industry. Business Process Management Journal, p. 16(3).

5.Smith S., 2012. Customer Experience Management: 10 Best Practices to Create Real.

6.BusinessValue.[Online]Availableat:http://www.customerthink. com/ article/customer_experience_management_ten_best_practices

7.WesselG.&BurcherP.,2014.Sixsigmaforsmallandmedium– sized enterprises. TheTQM magazine, pp. 16(4), pp.264–272.

8.Yasin M.,Alavi J., Kunt M. & Zimmerer T., 2012. TQM practices inserviceorganizations:anexploratorystudyintotheimplementation, outcome and effectiveness. Managing Service Quality, pp. 14(5), pp. 377–389.

9. STANDARDIZATION IN SWEDEN

The purpose of this practice – to discuss and fix bases of Standardization, its main principles in Sweden.

This practice will allow creating competences PK-3: possession of skills of the strategic analysis, development and implementation of strategy of the organization aimed at providing competitiveness; and PK-5: ability to analyze interrelations between functional strategy of the companies for the purpose of preparation of the balanced administrative decisions and also to acquire the following knowledge and abilities:

–knowledge of Standardizationbases;

–understandingofanorderofitsimplementationinthecompanies’ activity;

–ability to define, what elements Standardizationconsist in and

how to use them to develop the company and economy.

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Relevance of practice consists in necessity to know Sweden experience of Standardization.

Theoretical part

After years of segmentation, the Swedish Standards Institute has undergone a merger of its seven sectorial bodies. The result has been a 20 percent savings in operating costs.

SIS, the Swedish Standards Institute, is a well-known standards body with significant influence in Europe. Last year the organization underwent a major change when the previous seven sectorial standardization bodies merged into the new SIS. Prior to the merger, the seven sectorial bodies were BST (construction and building), HSS (health), IKH (lifts and cranes), SMS (mechanical engineering and materials), STG (a range of general subjects), TKS (pressure vessels) and SIS (an umbrella organization for the others).

Added to these institutes were two subsidiaries of SIS: SIS Förlag AB, Sweden’s largest technical publisher, which supplies standards, manuals and technical publications; and SIS Forum AB, which offers training and consultancy about standards and standardization as well as support to developing countries. Finally, as in many other countries, the electrical and electrotechnical fields (SEK), as well as telecommunications (ITS), had their own national structures.

Customer Orientation

Truth be told, the old structure, which can be found in many countries, operated rather well. However, in the last fiscal year of that organization, the pro forma accounts for 1999 showed a deficit of seven million SEK (Swedish krona). An institution, even a non-profit body, cannot stay in the red forever.

Butthatwasnottheonlyreasonforthereorganization.Thereasons were several. First of all, SIS’s stakeholders needed transparency and visibility. The stakeholders are primarily major companies. The entrepreneurial landscape looks rather like an hourglass: many large groups, fewer medium-sized companies and many small-to-medium sized enterprises. The second feature of the Swedish economy is that it is resolutely oriented towards international trade. The reason is the obvious limitations of the domestic market. This is clearly reflected in the standards policy: more than 95 percent of Swedish standards come from European and other international standards developers.

Lars Flink, managing director of SIS, says: «The standard system needed to be pulled together to ensure better visibility for all the stakeholders, and to offer global solutions».

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Saving Time and Promoting Standardization

The new structure of SIS came about after an analysis conducted with the help of a consultant. The restructuring was considered necessary by all of the organizations and players involved. The new organization went into effect on Jan. 1, 2001. One important requirement was to have a sustainable system, capable of providing the stakeholders with useful documents at shorter notice, while at the same time promoting standardization.

SIS now operates on a «tight ship» model. Seven of the previous organizations have merged to form a new SIS, which now is the national member body representative to ISO. The electrical and electro technical fields and telecommunications are still independent organizations. SEK is a member of CENELEC and IEC, and ITS is a member of ETSI (European equivalent to ITU). Within SIS, the two pre–existing subsidiaries remain; SIS Förlag and SIS Forum.

For standards development, there are three groups: Standardization groups 1 and 2 and the development area. In groups 1 and 2, we find the business and technical areas previously covered by the sectorial bodies. The development department is a kind of incubator where new thoughts and ideas are developed and where requests for work on new or innovative subjects for standardization emerge. Here again, SIS is following the standardization trends that are appearing around the globe: turning military standards to civilian use, services for businesses and private individuals, corporate social responsibility, the world of education (language schools, etc.), and antipersonnel mines. These kinds of projects do not fit in any of the existing technical committees and require more time and resources than an ordinary standardization project. The basic criterion for deciding to engage in a new project is the interest from stakeholders who are willing to finance the work. Considering Sweden’s focus on export and the small domestic market, new standardization projects that SIS engages in are international.

The fiscal aspect of SIS’s work looks like this: 50 percent of revenue comes from the sale of our products: standards, books, training courses, services etc. The industry finances one third of the budget in connection with its participation in the work. Eight percent of the income comes from the government. The State also contributes indirectly, through specific requests for work or through the participation of experts from Swedish government agencies in

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the standards work that they feel a need to join. Those are the main components that make up the budget of SEK 200 million.

Positive Results

The new organization is now in operation and there have already beenanumberofpositiveresults,whicharebothlogicalandexpected. All personnel have been brought together, about 160 people, in the same place. There is a new conference center where meetings and training can be held. SIS now has one common computer system and common promotional and standard production policies. Hardly surprising, these factors have generated 20 percent savings.Another result of the reform is that it is now much easier for all stakeholders, not only industry stakeholders, to get in touch with SIS. There is only one phone number to keep in mind and all SIS personnel are at one place. The interchange of ideas and experiences among sectors and stakeholdershasalsobecomeeasier.Eventhepurchaseofstandards and education or help from consultants have been facilitated by the new organization.

All pre-existing organizations agreed upon the new structure so the change took place without any negative social consequences and with the consent of all involved. Generally speaking, SIS has found that as soon as there is consensus and the assurance that the organization is efficient, there is no reason for change to fail.

When it comes to less tangible areas, for example strengthening the awareness of standardization within companies and throughout society, one has to wait a little. It is not quite so clear–cut and not so easy to measure in the short run.

Lars Flink expresses the change like this: «I am convinced that by improving the transparency of the organization we have strengthened the visibility of the Swedish system in relation to the international scene».

An Active Role in the International Arena

SIS’s strategy at the international level has not changed particularly as a result of the reform, except that now there are better opportunities to pursue the strategy and to get the resources gathered. The strategy should be seen viewed in light of the Swedish economy’s orientation towards international trade.

SIS has to meet the demands of the stakeholders and to conduct activities that meet the needs of Swedish society. Playing an active role in the international arena is quite clearly one of SIS’s objectives.

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But if the stakeholders want SIS to take on secretariats, convene working groups and initiate new projects, they must finance them.

Good Practice Standards

Lars Flink’s comments on the standards of tomorrow serve as a summation of SIS’s goals.

«I will not be saying anything new by recalling that, on the whole, anything that has to do with hardware in the economy is seeing its relative share decreasing to the benefit of services ... I am not placing industry in opposition to services, but merely noting the growing importance of needs resulting from matters of good practice. How should I do it? How should I organize myself? What I call ‘good practice standards’ can only grow in importance».

Case: IKEA in Sweden

IKEA’s first store in Sweden, the first in the world, was opened in 1959 in Älmhult, in Småland (a county in Sweden sometimes rumoured to be very barren and with people that are extremely stingy). IKEA today has 17 stores in Sweden and IKEA is a big part of home decoration in Sweden – and has been so for many years. IKEA’s statement in the business mission that they make furniture for ‘the many people’ is very true in Sweden very penetration of their products are very high, much higher than in many more markets.

Accordingly, IKEA is well-known in Sweden, i.e., Swedes have knowledge about IKEA products, stores and the company, many Swedes have had IKEA furniture for generations. This is from a company perspective also a challenge, not just a good thing as IKEA becomesassociatedwithboringfurnishingstylesofoldergenerations. IKEA is still in Sweden seen as innovative with very good prices.

While ‘the many people’ is an accurate description of consumers of IKEA in

Sweden, in actual marketing work it is a bit smaller. It is women 20–49, often withchildren. In addition, an important target group in recent years has been +55 years that think they have done enough home furnishing, have no kids in the home and have a good financial situation.

Merchandise

Overall, the IKEA assortment is around 10 000 products that the stores can choose from. In Sweden the stores are fairly small

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