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Production and Quality 4

This resource is designed specifically for Units 1 and 2 of the Edexcel BTEC National qualification, 'Introduction to Business' and 'Business and Management'.

Aim:

The aim of this resource is to complete your understanding of quality practices in business production. By the end, you should be able to:

  • Complete your understanding of the origins of quality approaches to production
  • Investigate Deming's advice on achieving constant business improvement
  • Evaluate different training and development events

Resources:

Activity: Benchmarking, Training and Development

Task 1: What is benchmarking?

The European economy has lagged behind the US and Japan historically in terms of its competitiveness. Recognising this, the UK Government has channelled effort into creating an environment that encourages business organisations to adopt benchmarking.

Wikipedia gives a good outline as to what is meant by benchmarking and how organisations should assess whether they can implement it.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benchmarking)

Make brief notes on what the term means and how business organisations should go about introducing a system of benchmarking.


Task 2: Case studies

Go to the Benchmark Index Web site for more information on how business organisations implement benchmarking.(http://www.benchmarkindex.com) Follow the link to 'a business' and read through a selection of the case studies that are available.


Task 3: Action as a result of benchmarking

If as a result of benchmarking, a business organisation found that it had the following problems when compared to its competitors, what action would you suggest the business take? Bear in mind the work of Deming and other TQM thinkers in your answers:

  1. Lack of customer focus.
  2. Inability to promote business through its staff.
  3. Low use of ICT such as email and tele/video conferencing.
  4. High staff turnover rates.
  5. Inability to gain Investors in People status.

Task 4: Training

The list that follows is from the Presentation for this session. Use what you know about TQM to give reasons why business organisations should or should not adopt these training and development activities:

  • Job rotation days when staff from different departments swap jobs.
  • 'Be a better manager' day, when managers get intensive training on how to control their teams.
  • Social events where people from different departments are encouraged to mix.
  • 'Name and shame' sessions to stop repeated errors by individuals and teams.
  • Computer skills training in lunch breaks.
  • Business finance sessions where all staff get some basic financial training, to understand how the business is performing.
  • League tables of product defects and the teams or departments responsible.