Managing for Quality
This chapter covers two major topics relating to managing an organization for producing quality results The first deals with managing an organization’s human resources, and the second deals with including quality in the strategic planning of an organization as an equal parameter with financial and m...
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| description | This chapter covers two major topics relating to managing an organization
for producing quality results The first deals with managing an organization’s human resources, and the second deals with including quality in the
strategic planning of an organization as an equal parameter with financial
and marketing metrics 6.1.1 Importance of Human ResourcesFor an organization pursuing quality and customer satisfaction, success
greatly depends on how the workforce contributes to this effort “If total
quality does not occur at the workforce level, it will not occur at all” (Evans
and Lindsay 1996) The contribution from the workforce depends on how it
is recruited, trained, organized, and motivated This chapter discusses the
issues involved and the approaches taken to optimize efforts in developing, organizing, and managing human resources for achieving excellence in
product quality, process efficiency, and business success Dr Deming recognized the importance of the contributions that people
in an organization make toward producing quality products and achieving customer satisfaction Nine of the 14 points he recommended to organizations for improving quality, productivity, and competitive position
were related to people The points he made in this regard include (Deming
1986):• Institute training on the job
• Adopt and institute a new form of leadership
• Drive out fear
• Break down barriers between staff areas
• Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce
• Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goalsfor management
• Remove barriers that rob people of pride in workmanship• Eliminate the annual rating or merit system
• Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement foreveryoneThese points are discussed in detail in Chapter 9 For now, note that
Dr Deming considered people’s contributions to be paramount in achieving quality results in an organization We refer in this regard to a quote by
Dr Deming on how organizations deal with people issues: “In my experience, people can face almost any problem except the problem of people”
(Deming 1986) In other words, a typical organization does not recognize
the enormous contribution that people can make toward quality and productivity, and fails to exploit this resource to the fullest extent through
understanding their problems and finding solutions The importance of
people in the effort for quality improvement cannot be overemphasized It
is necessary to understand the challe |
| doi_str_mv | 10.1201/b18637-10 |
| format | Book Chapter |
| fullrecord | <record><control><sourceid>proquest_infor</sourceid><recordid>TN_cdi_proquest_ebookcentralchapters_5338466_141_399</recordid><sourceformat>XML</sourceformat><sourcesystem>PC</sourcesystem><sourcerecordid>EBC5338466_141_399</sourcerecordid><originalsourceid>FETCH-LOGICAL-i1039-2c74a3f64f62ed80e231c2ea2355a32d7c94ba78f4c646145d574a66211b401e3</originalsourceid><addsrcrecordid>eNotkMtOwzAQRY0QCChdIPEB_YGAxzOxk2VV8ZKKEBKsLcdxSiDExU5B_XscpavRWdxzR5exK-A3IDjcVlBIVBnwI3YBhGVRKiH48QGII4nTBBwBiZRQZ2we4yfnHIgDSDpn18-mN5u23ywaHxavO9O1w_6SnTSmi25-uDP2fn_3tnrM1i8PT6vlOmuTssyEVWSwkdRI4eqCO4FghTMC89ygqJUtqTKqaMhKkkB5naeAlAKgSv0OZ4wm7zb4n52Lg3aV91_W9UMwnf0w28GFqHPEgqTUQKCxLFNsOcXaPj39bf586Go9mH3nQxNMb9s4aqIGrseZ9DTTiL_J1_pe4D8d0FjT</addsrcrecordid><sourcetype>Publisher</sourcetype><iscdi>true</iscdi><recordtype>book_chapter</recordtype><pqid>EBC5338466_141_399</pqid></control><display><type>book_chapter</type><title>Managing for Quality</title><source>O'Reilly Online Learning: Academic/Public Library Edition</source><creator>Krishnamoorthi, K.S. ; Krishnamoorthi, V. Ram</creator><creatorcontrib>Krishnamoorthi, K.S. ; Krishnamoorthi, V. Ram</creatorcontrib><description>This chapter covers two major topics relating to managing an organization
for producing quality results The first deals with managing an organization’s human resources, and the second deals with including quality in the
strategic planning of an organization as an equal parameter with financial
and marketing metrics 6.1.1 Importance of Human ResourcesFor an organization pursuing quality and customer satisfaction, success
greatly depends on how the workforce contributes to this effort “If total
quality does not occur at the workforce level, it will not occur at all” (Evans
and Lindsay 1996) The contribution from the workforce depends on how it
is recruited, trained, organized, and motivated This chapter discusses the
issues involved and the approaches taken to optimize efforts in developing, organizing, and managing human resources for achieving excellence in
product quality, process efficiency, and business success Dr Deming recognized the importance of the contributions that people
in an organization make toward producing quality products and achieving customer satisfaction Nine of the 14 points he recommended to organizations for improving quality, productivity, and competitive position
were related to people The points he made in this regard include (Deming
1986):• Institute training on the job
• Adopt and institute a new form of leadership
• Drive out fear
• Break down barriers between staff areas
• Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce
• Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goalsfor management
• Remove barriers that rob people of pride in workmanship• Eliminate the annual rating or merit system
• Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement foreveryoneThese points are discussed in detail in Chapter 9 For now, note that
Dr Deming considered people’s contributions to be paramount in achieving quality results in an organization We refer in this regard to a quote by
Dr Deming on how organizations deal with people issues: “In my experience, people can face almost any problem except the problem of people”
(Deming 1986) In other words, a typical organization does not recognize
the enormous contribution that people can make toward quality and productivity, and fails to exploit this resource to the fullest extent through
understanding their problems and finding solutions The importance of
people in the effort for quality improvement cannot be overemphasized It
is necessary to understand the challenges that employees face and to take
advantage of their experience, intelligence, and capability to contribute in
solving process-related problems We begin with a discussion on how people are organized and how they work within organizations [The material in this chapter has been gathered from several sources,
including the authors’ observations in organizations they are familiar with
However, the Certified Quality Manager Handbook (Oakes and Westcott 2001)
and Juran’s Quality Handbook (Juran and Godfrey 1999) have provided the
nucleus of information for this chapter Readers are referred to these for further information on these topics ]6.1.2 Organizations6.1.2.1 Organization StructuresAn organization is a collection of hard entities (e g , facilities, machineries)
and soft entities (e g , methods, people, values) that are gathered together to
accomplish a certain goal Oakes and Westcott (2001) define an organization
as “the integration of two major systems:1 The technical system, which defines how work is to occur (including the equipment, work processes and procedures, and human
resources to carry out the processes), and2 The social system consisting of how people communicate, interrelate
and make decisions ”The structure of an organization describes how the different entities are related
to one another The structure is designed based on several factors, such as the
nature, size, skill requirements, and geographical dispersion of the activities
The structure for an organization is chosen based on what will best suit the
needs of the organization in order for it to accomplish its vision and goals A “functional structure,” which is found in many organizations, is created by grouping activities based on the functions they perform Thus,
people working different functions such as marketing, engineering, production, quality, maintenance, and customer service are organized in separate
departments under individual supervisors This structure provides flexibility and is cost-effective, because many “products” can share the expertise of
the departments, resulting in good utilization of the departmental experts A “product structure” is used when activities are grouped by the “product” on which activities are performed Thus, there will be a product manager for each of the major product categories, with marketing, engineering,
maintenance, and other personnel assigned to each product group This
structure allows specialization relative to individual product types and
improves accountability for accomplishing goals of the organization relative
to the products A structure based on the customer being served is used where there are
large segments of customers and each segment has its own unique needs
A college of engineering organized to address the needs of engineering majors
in a university is an example of a “customer-based structure” for an organization Similarly, organizations can be structured based on the geographical
regions serviced or any special nature of activities performed Ford Europe is
an example of the former type, and Citi Card is an example of the latter A “team” is also an organization with no rigid structure It brings together
people with expertise and capabilities in various areas to accomplish a specific project mission, and it is dissolved at the end of the mission Thus, a team
is a temporary organization formed for individual missions The team has
the advantage of being able to assemble the needed expertise for the needed
length of time, but it also faces challenges that can arise when a disparate
group of people, with no prior social ties, are brought together to accomplish
a particular goal Cross-functional teams that draw expertise from various
functional areas specific to the needs of a project are suited for many qualityrelated activities They therefore play an important role in enhancing the
quality of an organization’s output A “matrix structure” exists when an organization that is functionally
grouped vertically is also grouped horizontally Specialists from the vertical
groups such as product designers, manufacturing engineers and financial
managers are assigned to projects or products such as engines, transmissions and body shops, which are grouped horizontally The specialists are
mainly responsible to the project or product managers while reporting to the
functional manager for administrative purposes The functional manager
is responsible for coordinating the specialists within the function and for
training and evaluating them A boundary-less organization is made up of a group of individuals with
no structured relationship (e g , departments and supervisors) Such an organization evolves among groups of people who have equal skills or expertise
and do not require regular supervision or guidance A group of financialadvisers or computer system experts are examples of such groups Without
the departmental structure and attendant bureaucracy, they enjoy flexibility,
which contributes to creativity and innovation Boundary-less organizations
are also known as “virtual corporations ” The availability of modern communication tools, such as the Internet and intranets, has contributed to the
growth of such organizations It is hard to find an organization, however, that is purely of one type, such
as the functional or the product type Most organizations are a mixture of
several types For example, an organization may be geographically structured at the global level but grouped by product nationally and structured
functionally within a regional headquarters Traditional organizations were designed following the principle of unity
of command, by which each employee in an organization reported to a single
boss Such principles ensured that the employee received clear instructions,
but they also contributed to the growth of bureaucratic rules and red tape
Modern structures, such as the matrix structure, team structure, and boundary-less organizations, do not follow the unity-of-command principles; they
depend on the individual employee’s abilities to define their own responsibilities and resolve conflicts in the overall context of achieving the goals and
mission of the organization “Span of control” is another factor used in the design of organizations
It refers to the number of subordinates that a manager supervises In traditional organizations, the span of control was once small, on the order
of 6 to 10, to maintain close control Modern organizations are designed
with a much larger span of control, which is made possible with improved
training and knowledge of the subordinates, and their ability to make
decisions for themselves In other words, as the employees are educated
and empowered to make their own decisions, the span of control becomes
larger and wider 6.1.2.2 Organizational CultureThe culture of an organization is a function of the values, norms, and
assumptions shared by members of the organization “Culture is visible in
ways such as how power is used or shared; the orientations towards risk
or safety; whether mistakes are punished, hidden, or used to guide future
learning; and how outsiders are viewed” (Oakes and Westcott 2001) Thus, the culture of an organization can be seen in the ways in which the
members of an organization make decisions, how they treat one another
within the organization, and how they treat their contacts outside the
organization The culture of an organization is largely shaped by its leadership-through the values they believe</description><identifier>ISBN: 1439840342</identifier><identifier>ISBN: 9781439840344</identifier><identifier>EISBN: 1439897220</identifier><identifier>EISBN: 0429195966</identifier><identifier>EISBN: 9781439897225</identifier><identifier>EISBN: 9780429195969</identifier><identifier>DOI: 10.1201/b18637-10</identifier><identifier>OCLC: 1031344727</identifier><identifier>LCCallNum: TS156.8 .K757 2011</identifier><language>eng</language><publisher>United States: CRC Press</publisher><subject>Business & management ; Probability & statistics ; Production & quality control management</subject><ispartof>A First Course in Quality Engineering, 2011, p.398-431</ispartof><rights>2011 by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC</rights><woscitedreferencessubscribed>false</woscitedreferencessubscribed></display><links><openurl>$$Topenurl_article</openurl><openurlfulltext>$$Topenurlfull_article</openurlfulltext><thumbnail>$$Uhttps://ebookcentral.proquest.com/covers/5338466-l.jpg</thumbnail><link.rule.ids>775,776,780,789,24760,27902</link.rule.ids></links><search><creatorcontrib>Krishnamoorthi, K.S.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Krishnamoorthi, V. Ram</creatorcontrib><title>Managing for Quality</title><title>A First Course in Quality Engineering</title><description>This chapter covers two major topics relating to managing an organization
for producing quality results The first deals with managing an organization’s human resources, and the second deals with including quality in the
strategic planning of an organization as an equal parameter with financial
and marketing metrics 6.1.1 Importance of Human ResourcesFor an organization pursuing quality and customer satisfaction, success
greatly depends on how the workforce contributes to this effort “If total
quality does not occur at the workforce level, it will not occur at all” (Evans
and Lindsay 1996) The contribution from the workforce depends on how it
is recruited, trained, organized, and motivated This chapter discusses the
issues involved and the approaches taken to optimize efforts in developing, organizing, and managing human resources for achieving excellence in
product quality, process efficiency, and business success Dr Deming recognized the importance of the contributions that people
in an organization make toward producing quality products and achieving customer satisfaction Nine of the 14 points he recommended to organizations for improving quality, productivity, and competitive position
were related to people The points he made in this regard include (Deming
1986):• Institute training on the job
• Adopt and institute a new form of leadership
• Drive out fear
• Break down barriers between staff areas
• Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce
• Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goalsfor management
• Remove barriers that rob people of pride in workmanship• Eliminate the annual rating or merit system
• Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement foreveryoneThese points are discussed in detail in Chapter 9 For now, note that
Dr Deming considered people’s contributions to be paramount in achieving quality results in an organization We refer in this regard to a quote by
Dr Deming on how organizations deal with people issues: “In my experience, people can face almost any problem except the problem of people”
(Deming 1986) In other words, a typical organization does not recognize
the enormous contribution that people can make toward quality and productivity, and fails to exploit this resource to the fullest extent through
understanding their problems and finding solutions The importance of
people in the effort for quality improvement cannot be overemphasized It
is necessary to understand the challenges that employees face and to take
advantage of their experience, intelligence, and capability to contribute in
solving process-related problems We begin with a discussion on how people are organized and how they work within organizations [The material in this chapter has been gathered from several sources,
including the authors’ observations in organizations they are familiar with
However, the Certified Quality Manager Handbook (Oakes and Westcott 2001)
and Juran’s Quality Handbook (Juran and Godfrey 1999) have provided the
nucleus of information for this chapter Readers are referred to these for further information on these topics ]6.1.2 Organizations6.1.2.1 Organization StructuresAn organization is a collection of hard entities (e g , facilities, machineries)
and soft entities (e g , methods, people, values) that are gathered together to
accomplish a certain goal Oakes and Westcott (2001) define an organization
as “the integration of two major systems:1 The technical system, which defines how work is to occur (including the equipment, work processes and procedures, and human
resources to carry out the processes), and2 The social system consisting of how people communicate, interrelate
and make decisions ”The structure of an organization describes how the different entities are related
to one another The structure is designed based on several factors, such as the
nature, size, skill requirements, and geographical dispersion of the activities
The structure for an organization is chosen based on what will best suit the
needs of the organization in order for it to accomplish its vision and goals A “functional structure,” which is found in many organizations, is created by grouping activities based on the functions they perform Thus,
people working different functions such as marketing, engineering, production, quality, maintenance, and customer service are organized in separate
departments under individual supervisors This structure provides flexibility and is cost-effective, because many “products” can share the expertise of
the departments, resulting in good utilization of the departmental experts A “product structure” is used when activities are grouped by the “product” on which activities are performed Thus, there will be a product manager for each of the major product categories, with marketing, engineering,
maintenance, and other personnel assigned to each product group This
structure allows specialization relative to individual product types and
improves accountability for accomplishing goals of the organization relative
to the products A structure based on the customer being served is used where there are
large segments of customers and each segment has its own unique needs
A college of engineering organized to address the needs of engineering majors
in a university is an example of a “customer-based structure” for an organization Similarly, organizations can be structured based on the geographical
regions serviced or any special nature of activities performed Ford Europe is
an example of the former type, and Citi Card is an example of the latter A “team” is also an organization with no rigid structure It brings together
people with expertise and capabilities in various areas to accomplish a specific project mission, and it is dissolved at the end of the mission Thus, a team
is a temporary organization formed for individual missions The team has
the advantage of being able to assemble the needed expertise for the needed
length of time, but it also faces challenges that can arise when a disparate
group of people, with no prior social ties, are brought together to accomplish
a particular goal Cross-functional teams that draw expertise from various
functional areas specific to the needs of a project are suited for many qualityrelated activities They therefore play an important role in enhancing the
quality of an organization’s output A “matrix structure” exists when an organization that is functionally
grouped vertically is also grouped horizontally Specialists from the vertical
groups such as product designers, manufacturing engineers and financial
managers are assigned to projects or products such as engines, transmissions and body shops, which are grouped horizontally The specialists are
mainly responsible to the project or product managers while reporting to the
functional manager for administrative purposes The functional manager
is responsible for coordinating the specialists within the function and for
training and evaluating them A boundary-less organization is made up of a group of individuals with
no structured relationship (e g , departments and supervisors) Such an organization evolves among groups of people who have equal skills or expertise
and do not require regular supervision or guidance A group of financialadvisers or computer system experts are examples of such groups Without
the departmental structure and attendant bureaucracy, they enjoy flexibility,
which contributes to creativity and innovation Boundary-less organizations
are also known as “virtual corporations ” The availability of modern communication tools, such as the Internet and intranets, has contributed to the
growth of such organizations It is hard to find an organization, however, that is purely of one type, such
as the functional or the product type Most organizations are a mixture of
several types For example, an organization may be geographically structured at the global level but grouped by product nationally and structured
functionally within a regional headquarters Traditional organizations were designed following the principle of unity
of command, by which each employee in an organization reported to a single
boss Such principles ensured that the employee received clear instructions,
but they also contributed to the growth of bureaucratic rules and red tape
Modern structures, such as the matrix structure, team structure, and boundary-less organizations, do not follow the unity-of-command principles; they
depend on the individual employee’s abilities to define their own responsibilities and resolve conflicts in the overall context of achieving the goals and
mission of the organization “Span of control” is another factor used in the design of organizations
It refers to the number of subordinates that a manager supervises In traditional organizations, the span of control was once small, on the order
of 6 to 10, to maintain close control Modern organizations are designed
with a much larger span of control, which is made possible with improved
training and knowledge of the subordinates, and their ability to make
decisions for themselves In other words, as the employees are educated
and empowered to make their own decisions, the span of control becomes
larger and wider 6.1.2.2 Organizational CultureThe culture of an organization is a function of the values, norms, and
assumptions shared by members of the organization “Culture is visible in
ways such as how power is used or shared; the orientations towards risk
or safety; whether mistakes are punished, hidden, or used to guide future
learning; and how outsiders are viewed” (Oakes and Westcott 2001) Thus, the culture of an organization can be seen in the ways in which the
members of an organization make decisions, how they treat one another
within the organization, and how they treat their contacts outside the
organization The culture of an organization is largely shaped by its leadership-through the values they believe</description><subject>Business & management</subject><subject>Probability & statistics</subject><subject>Production & quality control management</subject><isbn>1439840342</isbn><isbn>9781439840344</isbn><isbn>1439897220</isbn><isbn>0429195966</isbn><isbn>9781439897225</isbn><isbn>9780429195969</isbn><fulltext>true</fulltext><rsrctype>book_chapter</rsrctype><creationdate>2011</creationdate><recordtype>book_chapter</recordtype><recordid>eNotkMtOwzAQRY0QCChdIPEB_YGAxzOxk2VV8ZKKEBKsLcdxSiDExU5B_XscpavRWdxzR5exK-A3IDjcVlBIVBnwI3YBhGVRKiH48QGII4nTBBwBiZRQZ2we4yfnHIgDSDpn18-mN5u23ywaHxavO9O1w_6SnTSmi25-uDP2fn_3tnrM1i8PT6vlOmuTssyEVWSwkdRI4eqCO4FghTMC89ygqJUtqTKqaMhKkkB5naeAlAKgSv0OZ4wm7zb4n52Lg3aV91_W9UMwnf0w28GFqHPEgqTUQKCxLFNsOcXaPj39bf586Go9mH3nQxNMb9s4aqIGrseZ9DTTiL_J1_pe4D8d0FjT</recordid><startdate>2011</startdate><enddate>2011</enddate><creator>Krishnamoorthi, K.S.</creator><creator>Krishnamoorthi, V. Ram</creator><general>CRC Press</general><general>CRC Press LLC</general><scope>FFUUA</scope></search><sort><creationdate>2011</creationdate><title>Managing for Quality</title><author>Krishnamoorthi, K.S. ; Krishnamoorthi, V. Ram</author></sort><facets><frbrtype>5</frbrtype><frbrgroupid>cdi_FETCH-LOGICAL-i1039-2c74a3f64f62ed80e231c2ea2355a32d7c94ba78f4c646145d574a66211b401e3</frbrgroupid><rsrctype>book_chapters</rsrctype><prefilter>book_chapters</prefilter><language>eng</language><creationdate>2011</creationdate><topic>Business & management</topic><topic>Probability & statistics</topic><topic>Production & quality control management</topic><toplevel>online_resources</toplevel><creatorcontrib>Krishnamoorthi, K.S.</creatorcontrib><creatorcontrib>Krishnamoorthi, V. Ram</creatorcontrib><collection>ProQuest Ebook Central - Book Chapters - Demo use only</collection></facets><delivery><delcategory>Remote Search Resource</delcategory><fulltext>fulltext</fulltext></delivery><addata><au>Krishnamoorthi, K.S.</au><au>Krishnamoorthi, V. Ram</au><format>book</format><genre>bookitem</genre><ristype>CHAP</ristype><atitle>Managing for Quality</atitle><btitle>A First Course in Quality Engineering</btitle><date>2011</date><risdate>2011</risdate><spage>398</spage><epage>431</epage><pages>398-431</pages><isbn>1439840342</isbn><isbn>9781439840344</isbn><eisbn>1439897220</eisbn><eisbn>0429195966</eisbn><eisbn>9781439897225</eisbn><eisbn>9780429195969</eisbn><abstract>This chapter covers two major topics relating to managing an organization
for producing quality results The first deals with managing an organization’s human resources, and the second deals with including quality in the
strategic planning of an organization as an equal parameter with financial
and marketing metrics 6.1.1 Importance of Human ResourcesFor an organization pursuing quality and customer satisfaction, success
greatly depends on how the workforce contributes to this effort “If total
quality does not occur at the workforce level, it will not occur at all” (Evans
and Lindsay 1996) The contribution from the workforce depends on how it
is recruited, trained, organized, and motivated This chapter discusses the
issues involved and the approaches taken to optimize efforts in developing, organizing, and managing human resources for achieving excellence in
product quality, process efficiency, and business success Dr Deming recognized the importance of the contributions that people
in an organization make toward producing quality products and achieving customer satisfaction Nine of the 14 points he recommended to organizations for improving quality, productivity, and competitive position
were related to people The points he made in this regard include (Deming
1986):• Institute training on the job
• Adopt and institute a new form of leadership
• Drive out fear
• Break down barriers between staff areas
• Eliminate slogans, exhortations, and targets for the workforce
• Eliminate numerical quotas for the workforce and numerical goalsfor management
• Remove barriers that rob people of pride in workmanship• Eliminate the annual rating or merit system
• Institute a vigorous program of education and self-improvement foreveryoneThese points are discussed in detail in Chapter 9 For now, note that
Dr Deming considered people’s contributions to be paramount in achieving quality results in an organization We refer in this regard to a quote by
Dr Deming on how organizations deal with people issues: “In my experience, people can face almost any problem except the problem of people”
(Deming 1986) In other words, a typical organization does not recognize
the enormous contribution that people can make toward quality and productivity, and fails to exploit this resource to the fullest extent through
understanding their problems and finding solutions The importance of
people in the effort for quality improvement cannot be overemphasized It
is necessary to understand the challenges that employees face and to take
advantage of their experience, intelligence, and capability to contribute in
solving process-related problems We begin with a discussion on how people are organized and how they work within organizations [The material in this chapter has been gathered from several sources,
including the authors’ observations in organizations they are familiar with
However, the Certified Quality Manager Handbook (Oakes and Westcott 2001)
and Juran’s Quality Handbook (Juran and Godfrey 1999) have provided the
nucleus of information for this chapter Readers are referred to these for further information on these topics ]6.1.2 Organizations6.1.2.1 Organization StructuresAn organization is a collection of hard entities (e g , facilities, machineries)
and soft entities (e g , methods, people, values) that are gathered together to
accomplish a certain goal Oakes and Westcott (2001) define an organization
as “the integration of two major systems:1 The technical system, which defines how work is to occur (including the equipment, work processes and procedures, and human
resources to carry out the processes), and2 The social system consisting of how people communicate, interrelate
and make decisions ”The structure of an organization describes how the different entities are related
to one another The structure is designed based on several factors, such as the
nature, size, skill requirements, and geographical dispersion of the activities
The structure for an organization is chosen based on what will best suit the
needs of the organization in order for it to accomplish its vision and goals A “functional structure,” which is found in many organizations, is created by grouping activities based on the functions they perform Thus,
people working different functions such as marketing, engineering, production, quality, maintenance, and customer service are organized in separate
departments under individual supervisors This structure provides flexibility and is cost-effective, because many “products” can share the expertise of
the departments, resulting in good utilization of the departmental experts A “product structure” is used when activities are grouped by the “product” on which activities are performed Thus, there will be a product manager for each of the major product categories, with marketing, engineering,
maintenance, and other personnel assigned to each product group This
structure allows specialization relative to individual product types and
improves accountability for accomplishing goals of the organization relative
to the products A structure based on the customer being served is used where there are
large segments of customers and each segment has its own unique needs
A college of engineering organized to address the needs of engineering majors
in a university is an example of a “customer-based structure” for an organization Similarly, organizations can be structured based on the geographical
regions serviced or any special nature of activities performed Ford Europe is
an example of the former type, and Citi Card is an example of the latter A “team” is also an organization with no rigid structure It brings together
people with expertise and capabilities in various areas to accomplish a specific project mission, and it is dissolved at the end of the mission Thus, a team
is a temporary organization formed for individual missions The team has
the advantage of being able to assemble the needed expertise for the needed
length of time, but it also faces challenges that can arise when a disparate
group of people, with no prior social ties, are brought together to accomplish
a particular goal Cross-functional teams that draw expertise from various
functional areas specific to the needs of a project are suited for many qualityrelated activities They therefore play an important role in enhancing the
quality of an organization’s output A “matrix structure” exists when an organization that is functionally
grouped vertically is also grouped horizontally Specialists from the vertical
groups such as product designers, manufacturing engineers and financial
managers are assigned to projects or products such as engines, transmissions and body shops, which are grouped horizontally The specialists are
mainly responsible to the project or product managers while reporting to the
functional manager for administrative purposes The functional manager
is responsible for coordinating the specialists within the function and for
training and evaluating them A boundary-less organization is made up of a group of individuals with
no structured relationship (e g , departments and supervisors) Such an organization evolves among groups of people who have equal skills or expertise
and do not require regular supervision or guidance A group of financialadvisers or computer system experts are examples of such groups Without
the departmental structure and attendant bureaucracy, they enjoy flexibility,
which contributes to creativity and innovation Boundary-less organizations
are also known as “virtual corporations ” The availability of modern communication tools, such as the Internet and intranets, has contributed to the
growth of such organizations It is hard to find an organization, however, that is purely of one type, such
as the functional or the product type Most organizations are a mixture of
several types For example, an organization may be geographically structured at the global level but grouped by product nationally and structured
functionally within a regional headquarters Traditional organizations were designed following the principle of unity
of command, by which each employee in an organization reported to a single
boss Such principles ensured that the employee received clear instructions,
but they also contributed to the growth of bureaucratic rules and red tape
Modern structures, such as the matrix structure, team structure, and boundary-less organizations, do not follow the unity-of-command principles; they
depend on the individual employee’s abilities to define their own responsibilities and resolve conflicts in the overall context of achieving the goals and
mission of the organization “Span of control” is another factor used in the design of organizations
It refers to the number of subordinates that a manager supervises In traditional organizations, the span of control was once small, on the order
of 6 to 10, to maintain close control Modern organizations are designed
with a much larger span of control, which is made possible with improved
training and knowledge of the subordinates, and their ability to make
decisions for themselves In other words, as the employees are educated
and empowered to make their own decisions, the span of control becomes
larger and wider 6.1.2.2 Organizational CultureThe culture of an organization is a function of the values, norms, and
assumptions shared by members of the organization “Culture is visible in
ways such as how power is used or shared; the orientations towards risk
or safety; whether mistakes are punished, hidden, or used to guide future
learning; and how outsiders are viewed” (Oakes and Westcott 2001) Thus, the culture of an organization can be seen in the ways in which the
members of an organization make decisions, how they treat one another
within the organization, and how they treat their contacts outside the
organization The culture of an organization is largely shaped by its leadership-through the values they believe</abstract><cop>United States</cop><pub>CRC Press</pub><doi>10.1201/b18637-10</doi><oclcid>1031344727</oclcid><tpages>34</tpages></addata></record> |
| fulltext | fulltext |
| identifier | ISBN: 1439840342 |
| ispartof | A First Course in Quality Engineering, 2011, p.398-431 |
| issn | |
| language | eng |
| recordid | cdi_proquest_ebookcentralchapters_5338466_141_399 |
| source | O'Reilly Online Learning: Academic/Public Library Edition |
| subjects | Business & management Probability & statistics Production & quality control management |
| title | Managing for Quality |
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