Sunil Babbar

Competitive intelligence for international business

Abstract In an era of globalization, competitors need to incorporate new approaches in managing their intelligence processes. Globalization of markets, resulting from advances in communication and transportation, rapidly changing political climates and ideologies, and the reduction in trade barriers has opened doors to new international opportunities for business. With foreign competitors invading domestic markets, firms must aggressively identify ‘windows of opportunity’ and then institute programmes to achieve continuous improvement, creativity and innovation to enhance their competitive position. This article analyses the trends in the international business environment, and explores the strategic issues for management. The authors develop guidelines for the design and implementation of effective competitive intelligence systems and for the redesign of managerial processes for intelligence gathering and utilization. They also identify management approaches which can help to create a supportive corporate culture.

Applying total quality management to educational instruction

How can education service managers, administrators and teachers make educational instruction more effective? Can concepts fundamental to the total quality management (TQM) philosophy be applied to teaching? Just as managers often buy the most advanced equipment but fail to integrate it fully into their production process, so many administrators and educators hear and read about, and are able to identify with, the TQM philosophy in general, yet they remain wanting of an understanding of how it can be applied to teaching. Presents a framework for TQM‐oriented instruction in an attempt to serve this end. Presents the specific practices that constitute this approach as part of an effort to facilitate TQM‐driven instructional processes across educational levels and disciplines, and across nations. Assesses the effectiveness of TQM‐driven teaching through student feedback from course evaluations and administers an educational survey. The approach presented can serve as one benchmark for use in the process of re...

A Dynamic Model for Continuous Improvement in the Management of Service Quality

Quality is increasingly becoming the key determinant of demand for goods and services. Managerial philosophy and perceptions shape the overall corporate attitude towards quality and define the parameters for its role as a determinant of competitiveness and performance. Quality of services is defined and determined primarily by individual customers through their perceived delivery of service attributes expected. Customer input and feedback is essential for bridging the gap between the perceptions of management and those of the customers, as they view service quality. It is only the mutual synchronization of perceptions that ensures high quality. This article discusses important limitations of contemporary methods in use for the control of quality in services. It models a system and provides a complete and effective quality management framework. The proposed model is dynamic, flexible and utilizes information gathered through an unbroken chain of customer input and feedback in ensuring competitiveness throu...

Computer Integrated Flexible Manufacturing: An Implementation Framework

The concept of flexibility in computer integrated manufacturing is introduced. A production control hierarchy is developed as an evolutionary method towards computer integrated flexible manufacturing (CIFM). A strategically comprehensive implementation model is presented. The components of CIFM are identified, defined and their relationships examined. Potential benefits from incorporating flexibility and integration are indicated.

TQM? It’s as Easy as ABC

Can a TQM initiative really fail? The primary aim of the article is to convey a more astute understanding of the very essence of TQM. It shows how the TQM philosophy is founded in common sense, and why the infusion of TQM in any organization should result only in a win‐win situation. While stressing the value of the human resource, it sheds light on the practical application of TQM. It establishes an innovative and proactive perspective on TQM implementation. Most importantly, it challenges sceptics of TQM to re‐evaluate. In helping management and other employees understand the essence of TQM, addresses some commonly held misconceptions.

Molding Students into Better Decisionmakers and Managers: An Experiential Learning Exercise

Abstract This article presents an innovative class exercise in experiential learning. The goal of the exercise is to instill in students a greater sensitivity for detail necessary for effective decision-making and managing. Numerous illustrative examples of real-world business situations that reveal managements insensitivity to detail in serving the customer are presented. These situations were all observed by students as part of an exercise in management courses. Student responses to a questionnaire, administered after the course and relating to the class exercise, are also analyzed.

Ensuring the quality, reliability and precision of measurement processes through traceability

Inadequate measurement capability can place a heavy burden of implicit costs on manufacturers – even drive them out of business. It can have serious consequences for stakeholders in industry, commerce or science. High‐technology manufacturing must ensure a high level of precision in measurements, often to as much as a millionth of an inch. In seeking such high levels of precision, measurement laboratories often use traceability as a key precision criterion. Two comprehensive sets of measurements made over time by high‐precision laboratories on gauge blocks are used to explore the scope of traceability in ensuring high‐precision measurements. Significant differences were found between the high‐precision primary laboratories traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in the USA. Explores general implications of such between‐laboratory differences and makes recommendations for secondary laboratories and stakeholders in dimensional metrology seeking to ensure a high level of precision in ...

Measurement Precision in Quality Management

A major problem encountered by high‐tech management is that of managing the precision of product components and their assembly. For dimensional metrology, management’s ultimate tool for technologically assuring measurement precision to the microinch, and the product reliability depending on this precision, is the use of gauge blocks for calibration. Using three comprehensive sets of data from high precision primary laboratories in the US and from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), not only explores, but also provides insights on, how reliable a calibration standard are gauge blocks. The results show that individual blocks do expand or contract over time. The true value of blocks was found to differ significantly from their specified nominal values. There was strong evidence that some blocks are in fact manufactured much above or below their nominal specification. Also a significantly higher range was displayed in measurements on larger blocks.