Joseph A. Scazzero

Total Quality Management from Theory to Practice: A Case Study

Most quality professionals recommend a core set of attributes as the nucleus of any quality improvement process. These attributes include: (1) clarifying job expectations; (2) setting quality standards; (3) measuring quality improvement; (4) effective super‐vision; (5) listening by management; (6) feedback by management; and (7) effective training. Based on a survey of employees at a medium‐sized manufacturing firm in the United States, it was found that management philosophy and actions can undermine even a proven total quality management (TQM) programme. For the many firms which hire outside consultants to set up a TQM programme, makes recommendations to management to ensure its successful implementation.

Quality Improvement through Team Goal Setting, Feedback, and Problem Solving

Describes a field experiment conducted in a US automotive parts manufacturing plant to explore the impact of team goal setting, feedback and problem‐solving activities on product defect rates. Two manufacturing cells were randomly selected, with one cell serving as the treatment group and the other as the control group. The treatment group employed a team defect‐reduction goal‐setting approach, received daily performance feedback, and developed a group problem‐solving mechanism as part of the experimental treatment. The control group was physically isolated from the treatment group and performed their work under the organization’s traditional operating structure. The treatment group achieved a statistically significant reduction in product defect rates compared to the control group over the 15‐month period of this study. Discusses the implications of this study and suggests that a combination of team goal setting, feedback and problem‐solving practices can improve product quality and can be used as a star...

Causes and Consequences of Stress in the it Profession

Abstract Working long hours, rushing to meet unrealistic deadlines, struggling to keep up with ever-advancing technology and ever-changing user demands – these are just some of the conditions that make a career in IT stressful. Fortunately for IT professionals, work-related stress can be effectively managed and thereby mitigated. Identifying the sources of stress on the job is a major step in its management and reduction.

The Turnover and Retention of it Managers in Rapidly Changing Organizations

Abstract The explosion of information technology (IT) during the 1990s created tremendous opportunities and challenges for IT professionals. As organizations expanded and integrated their information technology into their business functions and made greater use of the Internet as a business tool and marketing channel, the demand for IT managers to guide these efforts created unprecedented career opportunities. Industry sources suggest that even amid the peaks and valleys of turbulent IT business cycles, there is a chronic shortage of top-quality IT managers in North America and that this situation will persist well into the foreseeable future. These supply-and-demand dynamics make it imperative for organizations to know why IT managers leave their positions and, using this knowledge, formulate effective retention strategies.

The ongoing challenge of total quality management

Notes the spread of organizational efforts at continuous improvement using a total quality management (TQM) strategy throughout the global marketplace, and that the factors and practices which lead to quality improvement are indeed well documented. Points out that, while most organizations which start TQM efforts are motivated to succeed, they are frequently exposed to the factors which may cause their TQM efforts to struggle or even fail. Details research in which 137 managers from practising TQM organizations were asked to assess their perceptions of TQM on a host of critical issues associated with long‐term continuous improvement, and were asked to identify specific reasons why quality problems still existed in their organizations. Finds that these managers believe that TQM efforts improve quality, yet they also described a host of problems which can plague organizations well advanced in the TQM process. Maintains that an understanding of these problems can provide needed help for companies involved in long‐term continuous improvement efforts.

Improving service quality: a tale of two operations

At two different warehousing/distribution facilities of the same organization, workers were surveyed about their experiences with the company’s TQM program. The facilities were nearly identical with respect to infrastructure, technology, and systems but only one was considered a success from a quality perspective. The survey indicated that the successful facility exhibited greater attention to the human aspects of the quality process than the unsuccessful facility, for example, a greater degree of management support for TQM, communication and teamwork between managers and workers, effective supervision, effective corrective action procedures, and follow‐up of quality problems. While this study was limited in scope to two operations within the same organization, lessons for the successful implementation of service quality can be drawn from this case study.

D-optimum designs for the linear logistic model when restrictions exist on p

Abstract Suppose that the linear logistic model describes the relationship between a proportion p and some quantitative variable x and that p varies within the range [p01,p02]⊂[0,1]. Using the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker theorem, the D-optimum design for this model is a balanced 2-point design with the location of the design points determined by p01,p02. A step-by-step procedure is presented for obtaining the D-optimum design points for any values p01,p02. In addition, the efficiencies of these designs are discussed in the context of quality assurance experiments.

What about the workers? The workforce benefits of corporate volunteer programs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the workforce benefits associated with formal corporate volunteer initiatives.Design/methodology/approach – An online survey was administered to 26 corporations with formal volunteer programs. A sample of approximately 500 respondents provided the descriptive data described in this manuscript.Findings – The descriptive findings of this research provide a top ten list of workforce benefits associated with formal volunteer initiatives. Benefits include personal and professional development, enhanced workforce camaraderie and teamwork, improved organizational pride, reduction in work‐related stress, and improved work‐life balance.Research limitations/implications – The employees came from a convenience, targeted sample of 26 companies that already had formal volunteer programs in place.Practical implications – These findings make a strong case for organizations to increase and expand their corporate volunteer strategies.Social implications – The implications ...

Interval estimates for the optimum point of a quadratic logistic curve —a comparison of different estimation methods via simulation

Suppose that the quadratic logistic model describes the relationship between a proportion p and some independent variable x. When constructing interval estimates for the value of x at which p attains an optimum value, the following asymptotic methods are available: 1) Fieller; 2) delta; 3) bootstrap variance; 4) bootstrap percentile; 5) bootstrap studentized percentile; and 6) jackknife. It is not known, however, how these asymptotic methods compare for finite sample sizes. For balanced D-optimum designs with equally spaced design points, simulation results were used to compare the small and moderate sample-size performance of these asymptotic methods. Overall, in terms of coverage probabilities and interval length characteristics, the delta method and bootstrap studentized percentile method gave the best results for small and moderate sample sizes, respectively.