INTRODUCTION

One of the major aspects of quality management is the quality philosophy, principle, practices and techniques. Basically, philosophy is the way how people think to seek to understand the fundamental truth about the particular concept or issue. So, when talk about quality philosophy, we want to understand how people should think and understand the fundamental concept behind the meaning of quality and how the quality understanding should be implemented into practical aspect. Meanwhile quality principle in fact, is a conversion of the quality philosophy as a main guiding rule to understand, and also to practice the quality management initiatives. Quality principles basically are the general guide and the fundamental understanding of how quality management should be implemented and it is going to be the references when they should be a conflict or misunderstanding behind how the quality management is supposed to be implemented.

The quality principle in general is very important because it is supposed to be understood by everyone who wants to implement quality management, quality control and quality assurance effectively. If there is any issues or problems along the way, how the quality initiatives are implemented, every entity within the quality program should refer to the quality principles to find solution or answers to the issues. Meanwhile, quality practices are the activities, behaviours and the actions that how to implement the quality management program based on the guided principles. So, quality practices in fact are the action of implementation details of every quality management activity that in the end are going to achieve quality management objectives. So, the quality practices are very important where this is how people can see the understanding of quality are actually being implemented and practiced in any activities or processes to produce a particular product or to deliver a particular service.

THE PHILOSOPHIES OF QUALITY GURUS

The practice of quality management in the end are going to determine whether the product are actually going to achieved, fulfilled and complied to the specific standard or requirements that will ensure in the end the quality product or services can be delivered to their as customer as promised. The quality management practices actually are going to be implemented based on a particular techniques and tools so that it can be implemented effectively. There are several quality management techniques and tools that supposed to be implemented by the managers and employees to make sure that the right way of delivering quality is to be practiced according to the situation and the context of how a particular product or services going to be delivered to the customer. The different tools and techniques that supposed to be used are depending on the problem that the processes are actually facing and also determine to the nature of the product that's supposed to be produced. It is also going to determine by the standard of quality that is being designed for a particular product at process and also will in the end determine the different level of the quality of the product or services implemented. Figure 2.1 shows some examples of quality management philosophies based on the names behind the quality management concept which we call as the quality tools.

Figure 2.1: Philosophies of the Quality Gurus

One of the most important persons that we always refer who understands the concept of quality and quality management is Edward Deming. As far as Deming is concerned, how we should understand quality is the way that we should believe that quality management and improvement is always the responsibility of every employee in a particular organization. Deming also believe that managers supposed to be act as the change agent to make sure that the strategic decision particularly to implement quality program by the top management is going to be practiced and implemented at every level of the organization. The role of the managers to ensure the quality management is going to be successful is based on how they manage to develop partnership with every operating level of employees and businesses within an organization. In other words, Deming suggested that quality management is going to be successful in the way that every individual within the organization with their all to ensure that the quality levels of activities are going to be implemented depending on their position within an organization. The top management has their roles in determining the direction and the policy of quality management program. The managers have an important role to make sure that the top management decision on quality management program is going to be implemented at all levels based on the particular department of an organization. Lastly, Deming believes that every employee within an organization has an important role to ensure a successful implementation of any quality management programme.

Another important person within quality management study who has come up with a very important quality philosophy is Joseph Juran. He believes that it is very important to take management structure to design proper quality management training and along the way every individual involved within the organization has to make a decision based on at what level that they are working. The quality management should start with the design on how the quality management operations should be done and what are the quality improvement program along the process to produce a particular product or deliver particular service. The main reference to implement quality program and activities within an organization is based on the quality standards and specifications that is determine by the management of documentation or the entities involved in the industry.

Philip Crosby argues that the higher quality management program that is implemented successfully will determine the cost of a particular operation. In other words, the higher the quality of the particular product and operation should lead towards a reducing cost of operation and production. Operational efficiency in the end will ensure that a particular process of a product manufacturing is able to be produced at the minimum time and at the lowest cost, but ensuring the minimum defects, errors and wastage is going to happen along the process. Ultimately, Philip Crosby suggest that zero defects supposed to be the target or the aim of any operation including manufacturing of a product and service delivery by making sure that every fatality should be done right the first time and possibly all the time. Another concept by Philip Crosby behind the meaning of doing things right for the first time is to make sure that the quality of the product is in place or the service quality supposed to be delivered the first time when the interaction is happening within the manufacturer or the service provider with the customer. This is because the customer evaluation and assessment are going to happen immediately the moment the customer experiences the usefulness of the product and the experience of the service delivery provided by them.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

In general, we should understand that quality philosophies that is determine by the gurus are the general understanding how we should understand and make it as a main reference for everyone who wants to implement the quality program as a general guidance will make sure that the quality objective can be achieved within any kind of organizational operation. Another aspect of quality management that is very important is the quality management principle. Quality management principles are the general guides and references for everyone to refer in the process of implementing any quality management initiative. Figure 2.2 illustrated the principles of quality management.

Figure 2.2: Quality Management Principles

The first important quality management principle is customer focus. Some author refers this concept to customer orientation, customer understanding, and fulfilling the customer expectations. In the end, the quality management principles would suggest that every manufacturing product and services supports to ensure customer satisfaction. This is because customers are the main judge who are going to assess the quality of a particular product or services. Any quality management program either it is a manufactured product or a service-oriented organization should be a good relationship customer in a way that they should first understand what are the customer requirement and expectations. In some particular process to ensure quality objective can be achieved, customers are encouraged to get involved in designing a particular quality program or at least customer feedback should be considered as part of the specifications or quality features of a particular product or services.

In some other aspects, customer can be considered as important in a way that different category of customer should be referred. Internal customer is always referred as the employee of the organization where there are also very important to ensure quality delivery of a particular product or services. Meanwhile, the external customer are the buyers or the users of the product who are going to evaluate and determine the quality of a particular product to ensure that they are satisfied with the product or services.

So, in general, the first three principles suggest that the customers should be the starting point of any quality management program especially when the organization are going to design a particular quality management program to produce a quality product or services and the customer feedback supposed to be considered along the way during the manufacturing process and service delivery. Finally, customer assessment and evaluation are going to determine the quality standard of a particular product or services. The main or the ultimate objective of the quality program is to ensure customer satisfaction, customer retention, and customer loyalty.

One of the ways to ensure customer focus are being practiced in the context of quality management practices is by conducting research to understand consumer needs and expectations of our products and services. Based on the result of the research findings, the organization supposed to link how they should produce the product criteria and features should be according or satisfy the customer needs and expectation. Customer communication is also very important in a way where we can get feedback and including complaint from the customer to make sure that we can continue to improve our product and service delivery. In some organization, a very systematic and formal form of customer relationship management are being designed and implemented to ensure a long-term relationship with the customer is going to happen and, in the end, to ensure that the customers are engaged to the organization and playing an important role to ensure the production of quality output and services. In other concept of quality management, customer is considered as the main stakeholders that have a strong interest on our product and they also have a strong influence on the performance of our product or services.

The second quality management principle is visionary leadership. Top management decisions are very crucial in any quality program because leaders are going to determine the quality management philosophy, the quality management program, the extent of quality management scope and also the intensity of quality management within an organization. The leader is supposed to be the role model for the entire organization especially in any quality program, the leader supposed to make a good decision on quality management program and also playing an important role by leading all quality management program and activities. The approach towards quality management program by the leaders of an organization by assuring that they should consider and plan to satisfy the needs and expectation of all stakeholders in their strategic decision. Based on that, they should have a clear vision of the organization's future, especially in ensuring quality management is the main focus of every organization activity to ensure that they can compete based on quality performance. On a specific activity, the leaders will determine the quality management objectives or the specification of a particular product that produced is supposed to comply within pre-determined standards and specifications.

Leaders also have a very important role to motivate the employees to make sure that they are well encouraged towards quality management understanding, quality values, and ensuring the objectives can be achieved. Therefore, the leaders should establish trust with their people and eliminate fear to make sure that the employees will understand and willingly to implement the quality management program. Another important role of the leaders is to ensure a successful quality management implementation is by providing adequate and appropriate resources that is required by every activity within the organization to their people. The policy and decision make sure that every worker is trained and developed so that they are be able to deliver the expected level of the quality management practices as a part of top management training.

Some other activities that are very important in determine the role of the leaders in assurance quality management program is by communicating the quality management understanding, concepts and philosophies to every level of the organization. The clear vision of the organization’s future supposed to be shared throughout the organization by clarifying the specified goals and target that every unit, department and employee supposed to be delivered to ensure the quality management objectives are being achieved.

The third quality management principle is the   people involvement. People play an important role to ensure successful quality management principle besides the resources, facilities, and equipment that supposed to be provided in a workforce to deliver their roles and functions. The employee engagement towards their job and the organizational output is so important to make sure that every quality management program that design can be implemented successfully. People management program that being implemented as a part of the quality management program will ensure that the workers are responsible enough based on their competencies to deliver the expected level of quality outcome. One of the approaches is to ensure people involved within an organization as far as quality management program is concerned as the empowerment approach. Empowerment will allow the decision-making authority is allowed to the relevant workers who supposed to deliver their job and also making a decision in the process of solving a particular use of problem. One of the conditions to ensure that empowerment can be successfully implemented by establishing beliefs and trusts in the people.

One of the ways to ensure that workforce engagement is happening within an organization is by creating an environment where the management of the organization will ensure a healthy workplace, safe condition and skilled working environment. The employee performance management system should be implemented accordingly and fairly to make sure that the workers are clear on what is it expected for them to deliver, especially to ensure that they have important role to achieve the quality management objective.

The performance of the workers is supposed to be assessed based on their capability in delivering a particular job or task assigned to them especially ensure that they are be able to produce the expected level of quality performance. Another thing that the management of the organization should do as far as to improve the role of the people within the organization is by investing in the training and development of their workers. The workers will be engaged to the organization when they feel that they have a good future with the organization which a clear career progression, policy and also a succession plan.

In general, how people supposed to be encouraged to get involved in quality management program is by ensuring that the working environment for every worker are supposed to be ensured that workers are going to work with the organization happily and willingly to deliver the expected level of quality performance. The worker’s competencies will determine that they are be able to deliver or to perform at the expected level by providing them adequate and appropriate training and education program. The work problem can only be solved effectively when the workers have been empowered directly to any particular issue of the operation and being empowered to find this how to solve the particular problem particularly to satisfy their customer. 

Another important quality management principle is teamwork spirit. Quality management does not believe a particular individual champion to ensure successful implementation of a particular program. Therefore, teamwork, team spirit and a proper task force supposed to be developed in every organization who wants to implement quality management effectively. Teamwork can be seen in any organization in a form of vertical teamwork where the top management should ensure that they have a very close working relationship with every level of the organization. When we want to refer to horizontal teamwork, it is supposed to be able to see that every organizational function or departments are supposed to be able to work together to ensure that in the end, every one of them are going to share the common organizational groups.

We also can see that inter-organizational team in partnership is going to ensure successful quality management program especially the important relationship between the manufacturers and suppliers, and also their customers particularly the corporate customers. Therefore, the teamwork between every entity of an organization or a partnership relationship between the organization and the other related parties will ensure that the quality management objective can be achieved.

In implementing quality management program, we should understand the process approach as illustrated in Figure 2.3. The meaning of process manufacturing or services is actually the sequence of activities and it should be continuous in the process to achieve the expected results or outcomes. Process-focused practices in quality management program can be seen as a systematically activities that being designed to make sure that in the end of the process, the quality outcome can be achieved by ensure a clear responsibilities and accountability at every part of the organizational activities.

Rajah 2.3: Konsep pendekatan proses

The assessment and evaluation of the quality management performance should be assessed based on every activity that is happening along the process. To ensure that the process orientation practices is going to be successful particularly in quality management program, the key activities should be identified clearly as part of the process to ensure that the quality management or quality control and assurance is been conducted throughout the organization. To make sure that the process of a particular product manufacturing or service delivery to be successfully and appropriate in educate the sources should be provided. A proper method and the way of producing o a product or the activities that is required throughout the process supposed to be provided effectively.

More current approach of quality management implementation and understanding the concept of risk supposed to be associated to every activity that is happening within the organization which involved the risk assessment and risk management approach to ensure that the quality management objectives can be achieved without having much problem or risk of reducing expected product and outcome. In general, the process approach that supposed to be a part of quality management principle is about determining every important activity within the organization that would lead towards the production of quality product and service delivery including the process of designing of every activity within the organization, ensuring availability of resources and facilities throughout the process and in the end, make sure that quality control and assurance are being implemented to determine the quality management forms.

Another important quality management is the system approach. Systems can be defined as the right way of doing things when there are many ways of producing a particular product or delivery of services. Therefore, a systematic approach to management will ensure that the quality management objective particularly to be efficient how to produce a particular product at an optimal time can be assured. A good quality management system will implement the concept of synthesis where the overall activities of an organization supposed to be looked as the key business attributes, including ensuring the right competencies of the workers, a clear strategic objective, specified action plans and a clear work system for everyone within the organization to follow. The quality management system supposed to be consistently aligned towards the vision, mission, the plan and the process of every activity within the organization and it should be measured and monitored towards the organizational goals and objectives. A quality system can only establish when there is an activity integrating every organizational function, every interrelated activity within the organization and also involving every relevant people and workforce towards producing a quality product, result and outcome.

Another key quality management principle is the concept of continual improvement. In simple term, continuous improvement suggests an incremental performance of any activities from time to time. The continuous improvement should enhance higher level of quality performance on every activity within the organization towards producing a quality product and to satisfy customers. Continuous improvement will ensure a better or higher productivity of the organization through a better work process, reduction of errors, mistakes, defects and wastage in the process of ensuring efficiency and at the same time minimizing cost of operation. Continuous improvement can only be achieved when an organization ensure the flexibility in any particular process, responsiveness of every individual within the organization to the production through the customers and the stakeholders input and it will be measured towards minimizing the cycle time of producing a particular product or delivering a particular service.

Continuous improvement within an organization can only happened through organizational learning process where every aspect of the organization including the people, the unit activities, the functional department of any organization is actually moving on a right direction towards a common shared quality tool. Continuous improvement can be achieved through the people involved within the process, through the activity’s improvement on every unit of the organization, ensuring that the competent workers with proper training and capacity building to ensure that the quality of the product will improve from time to time.

Another important quality management principle is making decision based on facts. So, the factual approach decision-making in quality management program in the end will ensure that the organization has developed a strong quality management strategy, proper stages management orientation and also a correct and precise information that being shared to every organizational member. The factual approach in quality management is very important because all decisions that are going to be made should be based on the true and correct facts and information. To ensure that the factual information only going to be used in quality management process, the assessment of the facts, quality and reliability supposed to be ensured in the first place.

Another important activity in factual approach is to conduct an appropriate analysis and reporting of the data as the basis of any management decision. The factual information also supposed to help the organization to solve a particular problem and to determine a correct and appropriate corrective and preventive action to ensure effective and efficient quality management program. Factual information is determined based on the accuracy of the data and the consistency of the facts against a particular department and also people within an industry.  The application of statistical thinking method and approach are the main tools to make sure that the factual information can be analysed to derive a useful information as the basis of the organizational or managerial decision making. A correct and reliable information that will use for decision making in the end will ensure the quality management objectives can be achieved.

Finally, one of the basic and important quality management principle is to ensure a mutual benefit that is supposed to happen within the supplier and customer relationship. Suppliers are the entities that will help the company to ensure that they have the materials or variables as part of the process is supposed to be happened within the organization to produce the expected level of quality product and service delivery. So, the suppliers will ensure that the quality of the materials or input that will determine the efficient and effective operational process in the process of producing quality product. The win-win situation between the manufacturers, suppliers and customers should begin with the product and the operation design, the manufacturing and service delivery activities. In the end, the supplier supposed to have a share in the process producing quality product and outcomes.

Suppliers should be considered as a partner to make sure that the availability of the required materials with the specified quality that would get into the process and also the feedback given to the suppliers supposed not only help suppliers to make their sales but also to ensure that the operation of the organization are going to use only the quality materials and input to make sure that the process are efficient according to the design, operation and also to  minimize the number of errors, mistakes and wastage. The mutual benefit of supplier relationship in the end will ensure minimum cost of production and service delivery that somehow will help the organization to reduce their product price or charges and as the main way to ensure customer satisfaction when the products are being made available at the minimum waiting time as promised and also to enjoy the quality of product and services.