OM08
Quality Management
Assignment No.I
Assignment Code: 2013OM08A1 Last Date of Submission: 15th April 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 Describe the role of cross-functional teams in the process of Quality improvement.
Take examples of Motorola or similar firms in explaining the above.
Ques. 2 How is benchmarking performed? Explain the benchmarking template and the
various steps in this process
Ques. 3 Enumerate the five major benefits of ISO 9000 certification.
Ques. 4 What are the various dimensions of Quality?
Section-B
Case Study
The Case of the Stranded Traveler
One of the authors traveled to Texas to attend a meeting. Before leaving home, he made a reservation to be picked up by a shuttle company (one with operations in several cities) and taken to his hotel, about one-half hour from the airport. The company’s promotional materials strongly recommended securing reservations, as this would ensure “priority service.” He was instructed to call the shuttle service once inside the terminal. He was told on the phone where to wait, what the sign on the van would say, and that it would pick him up within about 10 minutes. He was happy to hear that the van would be arriving soon, because it was raining and unseasonably cool, even for February, and it had been a long flight.
After 20 minutes, although many of the company’s vans had passed by, the van, with the correct destination sign still had not arrived. One of the company’s drivers pulled over and asked the traveler which van he was waiting for. The driver radioed the dispatcher, who told him that the correct van would be there momentarily.
After another 15 minutes, another of the company’s vans pulled over, but it was still not the right one. The woman driving this van asked the traveler which van he was waiting for and, after hearing the story, also radioed the dispatcher. She requested and received permission to change her route to take the traveler to his hotel.
The traveler relaxed in the back seat of the van, believing that his experience with “priority service” was almost over. As it became increasingly clear that the van was not leaving the airport, but was circulating among the terminals, the traveler asked the driver what was going on. She said that drivers were not allowed to leave the airport with fewer than three passengers. She had requested permission to drive the traveler immediately to his hotel to make up for the inconvenience he had suffered, but the request was denied. The driver apologized and said she would take him directly to the hotel if it were up to her.
After another 10 minutes or so cruising the terminals, a couple boarded the van. The driver requested permission to leave the airport, and this time permission was granted. Fortunately, one of the passengers knew a good route to the hotel, because the driver was not very familiar with this destination.
As the traveler got out of the van, the driver continued to apologize for the poor service he had received from the company and gave him the name of a manager to call to complain. Like most people in this situation, the traveler did not call the manager, but quietly resolved never to use this company’s services when visiting this or any other airport.
Case Questions
1. In what ways did the shuttle company fail to provide quality service?
2. Were the dispatcher’s decisions appropriate?
3. How would you change the company’s policies to improve quality?
4. What are the lessons about empowerment from this case?
OM08
Quality Management
Assignment No.II
Assignment Code: 2013OM08A2 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 What is the purpose of Quality Function Deployment (QFD)? How can it help improve
the quality of products?
Ques. 2 What type of problems would a service provider have in implementing TQM that a
manufacturer would be less likely to have?
Ques. 3 Critically compare the control charts for variables and attributes.
Ques. 4 State the common pitfalls in BPR. Describe the seven-step approach to change
management in BPR.
Section-B
Case Study
Welz Business Machines
Welz Business Machines sells and services a variety of copiers, computers, and other office equipment. The company receives many calls daily for service, sales, accounting, and other departments. All calls are handled centrally by customer service representatives and routed to other individuals as appropriate. A number of customers had complained about long waits when calling for service. A market research study found that customers became irritated it the call was not answered within five rings. Scott Welz, the company president, authorized the customer service department manager, Tim, to study this problem and find a method to shorten the call-waiting time. Tim met with the service representatives who answered the calls to attempt to determine the reasons for long waiting times. The following conversation ensued.
Tim: This is a serious problem. How a customer phone inquiry is answered to the first impression the customer receives from us. As you know, this company was founded on efficient and friendly service to all our customers. It’s obvious why customer have to wait: You’re on the phone with another customer. Can you think of any reasons that might keep you on the phone for an unnecessarily long time?
Robin: I’ve noticed quite often that the person to whom I need to route the call is not present. It takes time to transfer the call and to see if it is answered. If the person is not there, I end up apologizing and transferring the call to another extension.
Tim: You’re right, Robin. Sales personnel often are out of the office on sales calls, away on trips to preview new products, or away from their desks for a variety of reasons. What else might cause this problem?
Ravi: I get irritated at customers who spend a great deal of time complaining about a problem that I cannot do anything about except refer to someone else. Of course, I listen and sympathize with them, but this eats up a lot of time.
Lamarr: Some customers calls so often, they think we’re long-lost friends and strike up a personal conversation.
Tim: That’s not always a bad thing, you realize.
Lamarr: Sure, but it delays my answering other calls.
Nancy: It’s not always the customer’s fault. During lunch, we’re not all available to answer the phone.
Ravi: Right after we open at 9 A.M., we get a rush of calls. I think that many of the delays are caused by these peak periods.
Robin: I’ve noticed the same thing between 4 and 5 p.m.
Tim: I’ve had a few comments from department managers who received calls that didn’t fall in their areas of responsibility and had to be transferred again.
Mark: But that doesn’t cause delays at our end.
Nancy: That’s right, Mark, but I just realized that sometimes I simply don’t understand what the customer’s problem really is. I spend a lot of time trying to get him or her to explain it better. Often, I have to route it to someone because other calls are waiting.
Ravi: Perhaps we need to have more knowledge of our products .
Tim: Well, I think we’ve covered most of the major reasons why many customers have to wait. It seems to me that we have four major reasons: the phones are short-staffed, the receiving party is not present, the customer dominates the conversation, and you may not understand the customer’s problem. Next we need to collect some information about these possible causes. I will set up a data collection sheet that you use to track some of these things. Mark, would you help me on this?
Over the next two weeks the staff collected data on the frequency of reasons why some callers had to wait. The results are summarized as follows:
Reason Total Number
A. Operators short-staffed 172
B. Receiving party not present 73
C. Customer dominates conversation 19
D. Lack of operator understanding 61
E. Other reasons 10
Questions
1. From the conversation between Tim and his staff, draw a cause-and-effect diagram.
2. Perform a Pareto analysis of the data collected.
3. What actions might the company take to improve the situation?
Quality Management
Assignment No.I
Assignment Code: 2013OM08A1 Last Date of Submission: 15th April 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 Describe the role of cross-functional teams in the process of Quality improvement.
Take examples of Motorola or similar firms in explaining the above.
Ques. 2 How is benchmarking performed? Explain the benchmarking template and the
various steps in this process
Ques. 3 Enumerate the five major benefits of ISO 9000 certification.
Ques. 4 What are the various dimensions of Quality?
Section-B
Case Study
The Case of the Stranded Traveler
One of the authors traveled to Texas to attend a meeting. Before leaving home, he made a reservation to be picked up by a shuttle company (one with operations in several cities) and taken to his hotel, about one-half hour from the airport. The company’s promotional materials strongly recommended securing reservations, as this would ensure “priority service.” He was instructed to call the shuttle service once inside the terminal. He was told on the phone where to wait, what the sign on the van would say, and that it would pick him up within about 10 minutes. He was happy to hear that the van would be arriving soon, because it was raining and unseasonably cool, even for February, and it had been a long flight.
After 20 minutes, although many of the company’s vans had passed by, the van, with the correct destination sign still had not arrived. One of the company’s drivers pulled over and asked the traveler which van he was waiting for. The driver radioed the dispatcher, who told him that the correct van would be there momentarily.
After another 15 minutes, another of the company’s vans pulled over, but it was still not the right one. The woman driving this van asked the traveler which van he was waiting for and, after hearing the story, also radioed the dispatcher. She requested and received permission to change her route to take the traveler to his hotel.
The traveler relaxed in the back seat of the van, believing that his experience with “priority service” was almost over. As it became increasingly clear that the van was not leaving the airport, but was circulating among the terminals, the traveler asked the driver what was going on. She said that drivers were not allowed to leave the airport with fewer than three passengers. She had requested permission to drive the traveler immediately to his hotel to make up for the inconvenience he had suffered, but the request was denied. The driver apologized and said she would take him directly to the hotel if it were up to her.
After another 10 minutes or so cruising the terminals, a couple boarded the van. The driver requested permission to leave the airport, and this time permission was granted. Fortunately, one of the passengers knew a good route to the hotel, because the driver was not very familiar with this destination.
As the traveler got out of the van, the driver continued to apologize for the poor service he had received from the company and gave him the name of a manager to call to complain. Like most people in this situation, the traveler did not call the manager, but quietly resolved never to use this company’s services when visiting this or any other airport.
Case Questions
1. In what ways did the shuttle company fail to provide quality service?
2. Were the dispatcher’s decisions appropriate?
3. How would you change the company’s policies to improve quality?
4. What are the lessons about empowerment from this case?
OM08
Quality Management
Assignment No.II
Assignment Code: 2013OM08A2 Last Date of Submission: 15th May 2013
Maximum Marks:100
Attempt all the questions. All the questions are compulsory and carry equal marks.
Section-A
Ques. 1 What is the purpose of Quality Function Deployment (QFD)? How can it help improve
the quality of products?
Ques. 2 What type of problems would a service provider have in implementing TQM that a
manufacturer would be less likely to have?
Ques. 3 Critically compare the control charts for variables and attributes.
Ques. 4 State the common pitfalls in BPR. Describe the seven-step approach to change
management in BPR.
Section-B
Case Study
Welz Business Machines
Welz Business Machines sells and services a variety of copiers, computers, and other office equipment. The company receives many calls daily for service, sales, accounting, and other departments. All calls are handled centrally by customer service representatives and routed to other individuals as appropriate. A number of customers had complained about long waits when calling for service. A market research study found that customers became irritated it the call was not answered within five rings. Scott Welz, the company president, authorized the customer service department manager, Tim, to study this problem and find a method to shorten the call-waiting time. Tim met with the service representatives who answered the calls to attempt to determine the reasons for long waiting times. The following conversation ensued.
Tim: This is a serious problem. How a customer phone inquiry is answered to the first impression the customer receives from us. As you know, this company was founded on efficient and friendly service to all our customers. It’s obvious why customer have to wait: You’re on the phone with another customer. Can you think of any reasons that might keep you on the phone for an unnecessarily long time?
Robin: I’ve noticed quite often that the person to whom I need to route the call is not present. It takes time to transfer the call and to see if it is answered. If the person is not there, I end up apologizing and transferring the call to another extension.
Tim: You’re right, Robin. Sales personnel often are out of the office on sales calls, away on trips to preview new products, or away from their desks for a variety of reasons. What else might cause this problem?
Ravi: I get irritated at customers who spend a great deal of time complaining about a problem that I cannot do anything about except refer to someone else. Of course, I listen and sympathize with them, but this eats up a lot of time.
Lamarr: Some customers calls so often, they think we’re long-lost friends and strike up a personal conversation.
Tim: That’s not always a bad thing, you realize.
Lamarr: Sure, but it delays my answering other calls.
Nancy: It’s not always the customer’s fault. During lunch, we’re not all available to answer the phone.
Ravi: Right after we open at 9 A.M., we get a rush of calls. I think that many of the delays are caused by these peak periods.
Robin: I’ve noticed the same thing between 4 and 5 p.m.
Tim: I’ve had a few comments from department managers who received calls that didn’t fall in their areas of responsibility and had to be transferred again.
Mark: But that doesn’t cause delays at our end.
Nancy: That’s right, Mark, but I just realized that sometimes I simply don’t understand what the customer’s problem really is. I spend a lot of time trying to get him or her to explain it better. Often, I have to route it to someone because other calls are waiting.
Ravi: Perhaps we need to have more knowledge of our products .
Tim: Well, I think we’ve covered most of the major reasons why many customers have to wait. It seems to me that we have four major reasons: the phones are short-staffed, the receiving party is not present, the customer dominates the conversation, and you may not understand the customer’s problem. Next we need to collect some information about these possible causes. I will set up a data collection sheet that you use to track some of these things. Mark, would you help me on this?
Over the next two weeks the staff collected data on the frequency of reasons why some callers had to wait. The results are summarized as follows:
Reason Total Number
A. Operators short-staffed 172
B. Receiving party not present 73
C. Customer dominates conversation 19
D. Lack of operator understanding 61
E. Other reasons 10
Questions
1. From the conversation between Tim and his staff, draw a cause-and-effect diagram.
2. Perform a Pareto analysis of the data collected.
3. What actions might the company take to improve the situation?
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