13. međunarodni simpozij o kvaliteti „KVALITETA I DRUŠTVENA ODGOVORNOST“, 15.-16.3.2012.
COMPETING IN A TURBULENT ECONOMY: THE QUALITY CHALLENGE NATJECANJE U TURBULENTNOM GOSPODARSTVU: IZAZOV KVALITETE
Professor Michael Kaye, Emeritus Professor of Operations and Quality Management, University of Portsmouth, UK E-mail: michael.kaye@port.ac.uk Dr Marilyn Dyason, Business Advisor and Coach, Quality Partnership Solutions Limited, UK E-mail: mdyason@qpsl.org UDK/UDC: 005.6+330.3 Pregledni rad/Review Primljeno: 18. siječnja, 2012./Received: December 18th, 2012 Prihvaćeno: 25. siječnja, 2012./Accepted: January 25th, 2012
ABSTRACT
Izvor: Zbornik radova 13. međunarodnog simpozija o kvaliteti Kvaliteta i društvena odgovornost, Hrvatsko društvo menadžera kvalitete, Zagreb, Solin, 2012, str. 81-90. Source: Proceedings 13th International Symposium on Quality, Quality and Social Responsibility, Croatian Quality Managers Society, Zagreb, Solin, 2012, p. 81-90.
This paper examines the extent to which we are equipping our new generation of quality professional with the right skills to meet the challenges dictated by the current economic environment. We can all cite common “quality dilemmas” faced by our organisations and our recent research findings1 confirmed these to include: the constant drive to deliver more with less, to maintain and build upon industry specific quality standards by delivering customer value, to reduce costs and prices without sacrificing quality. What is markedly different, however, is the way in which organisations were responding to these challenges and others relating to their industries. Many are “seizing the moment” and capitalising on opportunities. From our international research study findings into the role of quality in this new competitive era and case study based investigative work, we identified a change in quality emphasis that is necessary in order for companies to achieve and sustain competitiveness. For example, where the quality strategy is driven by the voice of the market and voice of the customer; the quality emphasis is on relationships including partnerships and collaborations; where the quality strategy is aligned with business competitiveness strategy and goes beyond product or service. This is what is required of a new generation of companies operating in this competitive era. Those companies struggling to survive remained rooted in the early “quality eras” where the quality emphasis remains focused on inspection and detection - the use of so-called “policing” methods that did not lead to the strategic growth necessary to survive and compete. We will explain how we have used these findings to design a business model incorporating the necessary “key characteristics” and how we are using action-learning methods to develop the capability of companies to survive and compete. We examine the implications for the quality professional and opportunities to enhance the role to one of greater strategic influence.
Key words: competitiveness, strategic quality, quality professional. 1
Michael Kaye and Marilyn Dyason, New Generation Quality, Parts I and II, The Chartered Institute of Quality Assurance, UK, Professional Update Series, 2011.