Shuki Dror

The Balanced Scorecard versus quality award models as strategic frameworks

During the 1980s and 1990s, increasing criticism was mounted against the use of performance measures based on traditional financial management. Consequently, strategic frameworks were developed for managing organisational performance, among them the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA), the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and the Balanced Scorecard. This work compares the strategic framework of the Balanced Scorecard method to that of the quality award models. The comparison indicates that of the three frameworks, the Balanced Scorecard has important advantages, among them sequential objectives, capability of directing long-term programs, possibility of selecting relevant performance measures, measurement based on actual data and two levels of feedback. Nevertheless, the Balanced Scorecard has some limitations. This paper deals with two of these limitations: (1) no basic guidelines for selecting performance measures, and (2) complex feedback from the financial perspective to the customer and process perspectives. This paper proposes a structured methodological approach based on the Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to improve implementation of the Balanced Scorecard method in an individual organisation. A QFD Balanced Scorecard construction map shows the linkages among five QFD matrices. The map ensures that every financial performance defined by the enterprise strategy is linked to a set of performances measures in the relevant domains that may eventually influence future results.

A strategic service quality framework using QFD

A strategic service framework that provides a global overview of the important components of different dimensions of a service system is developed. The framework is designed to reveal where the quality of service characteristics requires improvement, as highlighted by the customers. Once this is done, a Quality Function Deployment (QFD) method translates the deficiencies into internal improvement needs. The Mean Square Error (MSE) criterion enables the pinpointing of the few essential service characteristics that require improvement in each service dimension. The framework was implemented in a “call center” run by a bank in orderto manage incoming product support and information inquiries from consumers. The model identified service deficiencies in five dimensions of the service system: service quality, worker s attitude, information, organization features, and technology. The recommendations that emerged from these results were that the organization should focus on investing in equipment, establish new organizational connections and take care of employee qualifications.

Effectiveness of a Product Quality Classifier

ABSTRACT This article develops measures for evaluating the effectiveness of a quality sorting station. It takes into account the availability of prior information such as incoming product quality, sorting errors, and losses due to under/over graduation. It is shown that the loss function selection leads both to the already known measures, as well as to some new measures. Two ways of improving effectiveness using repeated sorting are compared to a case using only one rater. A case study shows that the measures that take into account real losses provide more distinguishable results and support the choice of the optimal classification method.

A methodology for realignment of quality cost elements

Purpose – This paper aims to present an innovative research methodology that enables a company to realign its quality cost elements in order to improve implementation of its quality system.Design/methodology/approach – The methodology combines the following methods: the house of quality costs (HOQC) method, which translates the desired improvement in failure costs (internal and external) into controllable efforts (prevention and appraisal costs) and ranks them by relative importance, the analysis of variance method, which supports selection of vital quality costs, and the enhanced control chart method, used to validate the strong causal linkages in HOQC.Findings – Two case studies are presented to illustrate the application of the developed methodology. In the furniture firm, there are basically two vital sources of defects that could affect the overall cost of quality – raw materials and production process. In the food firm, traditional quality control is not enough to eliminate quality problems from the...

House Of Security: A Structured System Design & Analysis Approach

Security managers must always be on guard to prevent terrorist and criminal attacks against their organizations. This paper presents a comprehensive methodology for organizational security decision-making process and security system design. It builds on the house of quality (HOQ) (a customer-requirements planning matrix) by developing a house of security (HOS) that can translate the likelihood and severity of attack scenarios against organizations into a structure comprising security system components ranked according to their likely effectiveness in preventing an attack. We assume that correlations between the system components might be changed for each scenario, i.e. several roofs, corresponding to the number of rows in the HOS matrix. For comparing different security systems designed to prevent the same threats, a measure of effectiveness is proposed. The analysis of variance method is utilized to select the vital security components by dividing the security components into two groups: vital few and trivial many. The HOS method is implemented for hotel protection from a terrorist attack, revealing fi ve components as dominant for security: Operating procedures, TV cameras, internal personnel, entry control, and visual information analysis. A partial analysis to identify the most important component for protecting a specifi c place (parking area) shows that the number of the vital components decreases and the dominant components for preventing parking area threats are operating procedures and internal

Enhancing Control Charts to Validate Strategy Maps

Abstract A strategy map is a diagram that describes how an organization creates value by linking improvement of performance measures to strategic objectives through explicit hypothetical causal relations. To validate these relations, an enhanced control chart method applied to relevant databases of the organization, has been developed. The method identifies significant performance improvements by means of CUSUM control charts, uses binary variables to mark them and time bounded search cycles as dictated by the causality constraints. When appropriate, the fuzzy set theory is utilized for merging local performances measured on different scales/units and for avoiding subjectivity related to the interpretation of the measured results. Analysis of a test case shows that the proposed method succeeded to validate all the hypothetical causal linkages on the strategy map, for which data were available. A (global) fuzzy measure of the main manufacturing process, merging several relevant local manufacturing measures proved useful in the validation procedure.

Water Quality Function Deployment

ABSTRACT Access to a reliable source of potable water is essential for the survival of human life and almost all living organisms. Technological advancements in the last decades have generated a variety of interchangeable methods for improving water quality. The present study seeks to create a framework that will facilitate the selection of the right technology by a water supplier aiming to improve the quality of tap water being supplied. A structured methodological approach based on a quality function deployment (QFD) is presented. This process extracts the desired improvements in water quality (as identified by its users through a questionnaire) and translates them into the required technical improvements and, ultimately, into core technologies ranked by importance. In constructing the water QFD, two matrices representing questionnaire results were analyzed. Normalized improvement scores were calculated at each of three hierarchical levels: customer requirements, technical parameters, and technologies. The components to be improved at each level were selected using analysis off variance (ANOVA). The methodology for selecting relevant technologies for improving tap water quality was implemented in the Galilee region in Israel.

Engineering of service processes through designing simulation experiments

Service processes encompass a large number of variegated factors. These elements and their interactions have to be considered when engineering a service process. We propose a methodology that allows designers to design simulation experiments through which they can handle various service factors and their interactions in action and thereafter propose process improvements based on a generic analysis scheme. Our methodology deals both with conceptual and detailed designs of service processes and enables the designer to define process factors schematically and simulate possible scenarios based on variations in these factors. We present the application of our methodology to the engineering of a customer order handling process.

Matrix Approach to Analysis of Human Errors and their Prevention by Quality Engineering and Managerial Tools

We apply well-known quality engineering matrix techniques such as quality function deployment; Teoriya Resheniya Izobretatelskikh Zadatch (TRIZ); and failure mode, effects, and criticality analysis for characterizing, mapping, and preventing human error (or, at least, reducing damage caused by errors). Human errors (‘WHATs’, in the language of quality function deployment) are classified according to 10 characteristics, while 20 typical types (or protective layers)—‘HOWs’—in quality assurance systems are proposed for preventing/stopping/minimizing to some extent damage caused by the error. During the analysis of a specific system, any error is estimated according to its likelihood and severity, and every protective layer receives a score according to its effectiveness in preventing errors. Synergy or antagonism between protective layers may also be taken into account when calculating the effectiveness. The approach facilitates evaluation and comparison of the effectiveness of different quality assurance systems dealing with human errors. The authors emphasize the need to create a ‘recipe book’ based on a historical database, which will enable, after characterizing the potential human errors according to the 10 criteria mentioned earlier, application of the optimal prevention efforts. The proposed approach is illustrated by an example of product delivery errors analysis. Copyright

Generating and evaluating simulation scenarios to improve emergency department operations

Overcrowding and long patient length of stay, staff shortage, arrival volume increases, and budget constraints are problems hampering ED operations (Sinreich and Marmor, 2005; Maull et al., 2009; NHS, 2010). This paper suggests a framework for schematic generation and evaluation of simulation scenarios to improve ED processes in real-life environments. We illustrate the application of our methodology in a specific ED. We contribute to the area of ED computer simulation by suggesting a methodology that offers the following advantages: (1) Simulation scenarios can be schematically formulated rather than based on trial-and-error experiments. (2) Scenario development can be integrated in the different stages of simulation model development to support designers and management in understanding ED problems, improvement goals, data that should be collected and operational changes that should be applied.