Facilitating implementation of total quality management
through information technology
Grace Au
a,*, Ivan Choi
baDepartment of Information and Systems Management, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong
bBrunel University, Uxbridge, Sussex, UK
Received 19 May 1996; received in revised form 16 September 1996; accepted 5 October 1998
Abstract
There is growing interest in the service industries in the adoption of quality management programs to improve their operational ef®ciency and market competitiveness. Deming's total quality management (TQM) philosophy is one of the well-known ones. The TQM emphasizes continuous improvement through statistical control and the continuous training of people in the principles of quality management. One of the main implementation issues is the large volume of data that must be statistically analysed. Although recent researches have reported on how TQM is applied in various industries, few have discussed the importance of information technology in ensuring a successful TQM program. This paper reports on the application of information technology in the TQM process and how it can support management decisions. A case example is included to support these views.#1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Total quality management; Quality control information system; Statistical process control; Continuous improvement
1. Introduction
Quality is seen as saving time and money. A.T. Kearney found that, out of 50 determinants of com-petitiveness, quality was most often cited by chief executive of®cers as critical [24]. Today, the focus on quality has gone well beyond the ®nished product to looking at the processes of production throughout the entire organization. No longer is quality a question of meeting customers' expectations, but one of exceed-ing them. Motorola's former chairman, Bob Galvin,
believes that the gross national product of the USA could go up by some 0.5±1% per year if there were a national policy on quality.
As more and more companies strive to maintain competitiveness, the philosophy and concepts of total quality management (TQM) have been received increased attention by American industry as well as by academic researchers [10]. TQM is a customer-focused management philosophy that aims at the continuous improvement of the processes and man-agement of an organization through statistical control, procedure design, policy deployment and human resource management techniques. Not only has TQM fundamentally altered and re-shaped the work practices and management thinking of many organi-*Corresponding author. Tel.: 7635; fax:
+852-2358-2421
E-mail address: [email protected] (G. Au)
zations in the 90s, it has also made new and profound demands on every organization. Although TQM was initially introduced into the manufacturing industries, its adoption has also gradually been extended to the service industries. Nowadays, service and quality are intertwined. In virtually every business sector, being a quality organization has increasingly become a pre-requisite, rather than an exceptional achievement. Accreditation with internationally recognized quality standards, such as the European ISO 9000 and the American Six Sigma, has become a basic requirement for doing businesses with many organizations.
A major implementation issue of TQM in the service industries is the need to collect a large amount of data and carry out statistical analysis on them. Owing to the vast volume of data involved, the success of a TQM program depends on the use of information technology (IT). If properly planned and implemen-ted, IT will greatly enhance the application of quality management in the organization. While IT is taking care of the more mundane and routine tasks of data input, computation, measurement, and output, the users can concentrate their effort on ful®lling the more important objective of `quality improvement.' This paper reports on the application of IT in the TQM process and how management can use the output to support decisions that help to achieve continuous improvement of a service-oriented organization. A case example in the design and implementation of a hotel housekeeping TQM-IS that aims to improve customer service quality is included to support these views.
2. Total quality management (TQM)
2.1. Deming's TQM philosophy
TQM evolved from statistical process control the-ories pioneered by Dr. Walter A. Shewhart in the Bell Telephone Laboratories of AT&T in 1924 [15]. His theories, originally designed for the manufacturing sectors, were also applied by practitioners in the service industries and became the basis of Dr. W. Edward Deming's work [18,22]. An American by nationality, successful implementation of TQM by Deming did not occur in the US, but in Japan during the 1980s [5,9]. It was his success in Japan that led to
the sudden growth of interest in TQM in American industry.
TQM is a management philosophy that is intended to empower every member of the organization. It is intended to promote continuous, sustained, and long term improvement in quality and productivity and to eliminate employees' fear of change. Its basic prin-ciple is that the cost of prevention is less than the cost of correction. Bellis-Jones et. al. [3] suggest that TQM is not just another management fad; it is capable of delivering real competitive advantage. The TQM approach integrates the fundamental techniques and principles of quality function deployment, statistical control, and existing management tools in a structured manner. By establishing a quanti®ed deliverable cost bene®t, TQM can help management to measure the effectiveness and ef®ciency of the use of resources across the organization.
The TQM theoretical framework is articulated else-where [1], but the essence of the theory of total quality can be summarized as follows:
1. Quality leads to lower costs as defects are reduced;
2. Quality is made in the boardroom, it cannot be instilled into shop floor without the initiative and commitment of top management;
3. Most defects are caused by the system not the worker;
4. Inspection is too late; aim to reduce defects during production and eliminate mass inspection; 5. Eliminate numerical quotas, slogans, exhortation
and targets for the workforce and promote sustained and continuous improvement of process and quality of output;
6. Drive out fear of change from workers; institute a vigorous program of education, training, and retraining to help the workforce improve con-tinuously and to increase their job security; 7. Break down barriers between staff areas and
abandon review systems that will destroy team-work and create rivalry;
8. End the practice of awarding business on price tag alone; look for suppliers committed to quality and develop long term relationships with them.
way of people doing a good job; some are inadequate resources, poorly designed procedures, and lack of training. An organization must examine how its pro-duct or service ultimately will be used and identify, as well as measure, the attributes that will provide the greatest overall level of customer satisfaction.
2.2. Key concepts of TQM
There are two key concepts in the TQM framework ± statistical control that uses statistical methods to control both management and product processes [14], and continuous improvement that involves all pro-cesses in the management, product, and service chain. Statistical process control (SPC) theory is based on the idea that process performance is dynamic, that natural up-and-down variation is the rule rather than the exception. Thus, random variation of any aspect of an average worker's work can be de®ned by setting acceptable highs and lows, so that any variation beyond those limits can be detected, the causes studied, and corrective actions taken. Statistically, every process experiences variation that can lead to quality problems. SPC is used to measure variability of a process and to determine whether and how it can produce a particular part [25]. The collection of data and the comparison of actual performance to the standards are necessary to identify gaps or oppor-tunities for improvement [19]. Tools include cause-and-effect diagrams, ¯ow charts, pareto charts, run charts, histograms, control charts, and scatter dia-grams.
Continuous improvement is achieved by a system designed to keep customer satis®ed throughout the product or service cycle. Mathieson and Wharton [17] suggest three levels of customer satisfaction: custo-mers' demands, expectations, and delight. The invol-vement of all employees in continuous improinvol-vement of the work process is the foundation of any TQM effort. All employees should view the work they do as a series of processes, the goal of each being total customer satisfaction. Thus, all members of the orga-nization must understand their work processes, who their customers are, what their customers' needs and expectations are, and how to communicate those needs and expectations to their suppliers [21]. This often requires training to improve quality of work and quality awareness. Moreover, as processes can be
analyzed to identify where errors may occur, measur-ing quality implicitly includes measurmeasur-ing the cost of non-conformance. Nevertheless, learning from errors is also a key to continuous improvement [6].
2.3. The process of designing a service-oriented TQM program
An overview of the process of designing a TQM program in a service-oriented organization is shown in Fig. 1.
The ®rst step in designing a TQM program is to de®ne the TQM vision. The lack of senior manage-ment commitmanage-ment, awareness and vision in an orga-nization has often caused a TQM program to fail. The importance of management providing a clear and strong message about its vision should therefore not be overlooked. The management vision should be articulated at all levels in the organization.
After de®ning the vision, management must de®ne a clear set of measurable objectives and a clearly de®ned ¯exible strategy. A project team must be assembled for carrying out the de®ned strategy. Ide-ally, the team should consist of senior management representatives, TQM experts, IT professionals, mid-dle manager, trainers, and representatives for knowl-edge and/or production workers, depending on the service procedures to be evaluated. The project team is responsible for detailed design of the program, and also to estimate and gather resources required to execute the program.
Training on basic TQM principles and brie®ng on the management's total quality vision are essential before the detailed design phase. This must provide a clear explanation of the objectives of the program, educate employees on the concept, eliminate employ-ees' fear of the program, and motivate employemploy-ees' incentive in participating.
evaluate sample outputs of the processed data with potential users.
Simply generating statistical reports does not, how-ever, automatically lead to continuous improvement of an organization processes. It is important for the information to reach management in a timely manner,
so that decisions and actions can be made to improve the process promptly. As a TQM program often gen-erates large volume of data and demands effective statistical analysis, there is a need for a TQM infor-mation system (TQMIS). Its role is to capture, process, and produce outputs that help management make these
critical decisions. The TQMIS should be designed to minimize the amount of input efforts, analyse data statistically, and produce accurate and easy-to-read information.
The key driving force behind TQM was employee empowerment and worker satisfaction based on intrin-sic motivation, involving collaboration among orga-nizational work units, emphasizing prevention rather than detection, and measuring performance based on goals [8]. Based upon the results, management can design continuous improvement strategies that ensure total quality of the processes being examined.
If the relationship between management decisions and outputs of the TQMIS can be logically de®ned, then a DSS can be used to simplify the output for management. Instead of producing many tables of numerical data or graphical charts, the system can further interpret the results and give meaningful alter-natives for the ®nal action. In this way, management actions can be taken to correct any error effectively. Finally, the last and most dif®cult step is to integrate quality management into the organization's support systems and ensure that TQM will be a way of life rather than just another short-lived program [20]. The project team will have to review the quality control model periodically so that the measuring functions and parameters can be updated and veri®ed over time. As achieving total quality in a service procedure is highly labour intensive, the project team must listen to the feedback of staff involved in the program and modify the operational logistic. Where there is a change in the service procedure, it is also necessary to update the quality model to maintain the validity of the data produced.
3. A case example
Total quality management in the hospitality industry is becoming commonplace. Hotel companies have tried to implement service-quality-improvement programs with varying degrees of success. Although it is not possible to measure every aspect of the service encoun-ter, most steps can be quanti®ed and measured [16].
3.1. Defining the vision, objective and strategy
The management vision was to provide `zero-defect' services with maximum ef®ciency through
continuous improvement of staff's service quality. Housekeeping was chosen because it was one of the front-line operations, where service quality and cus-tomer satisfaction are paramount. The growing cost pressures have made the management of housekeep-ing more demandhousekeep-ing than ever. Managers are reminded that their greatest asset is the pride people take in their areas of responsibility. The use of Dem-ing's TQM principles will improve the pride of the housekeeping staff [26]. The objective of the TQM program was to enhance continuous improvement of the service quality of the housekeeping procedure by minimizing the cost of errors and the average process time. The management strategy was to motivate the staff to improve their work quality by customised training and personal management techniques. After de®ning the vision, several meetings were held between management and staff at different organiza-tional levels to ensure their support.
3.2. Assigning a project team
A project team consisting of the director of opera-tions, a TQM expert, the training manager, a training of®cer representative, the head of housekeeping, a housekeeper representative and the authors was con-vened to carry out the strategy laid down by the senior management. The role of the authors was to design and implement a TQMIS based upon requirements speci®ed by the project team. Both the training and housekeeping departments were involved.
3.3. Implement training program on TQM for staff concerned.
A series of training seminars was conducted on TQM for both the managerial staff and operational workers in the hotel. Experience gained from success-ful and failed implementations of the TQM program in similar organizations were shared with the audi-ence.
3.4. Identify the quality control model with measuring functions and parameters
ef®-ciency in its service procedure, a nature way of measuring the outcome is by means of a set of non-conformance attributes on all the visible items inside a hotel room in conjunction with the time it takes for the housekeeper to complete the housekeeping task. The objective function of the TQM program is to minimize the total defect value and the total time it takes to complete the housekeeping procedure:
X
whereirefers to the individual housekeeper,jrefers to
the room being cleaned, NC andWrefers to the value
of the non-conforming itemkand the corresponding
weight factor, andTrefers to the time it takes for the
housekeeper to complete taskl.
The project team initially identi®ed a list of 300 non-conformance items based upon three attributes ± the location (e.g., entrance), item (e.g., eye viewer), and reasons for non-conformance, such as mould, hair, dirt, and wrinkles. A different quality weight factor for each of these was assigned by the project team. For example, hair in the wash basin was giving a higher weighting than hair on the carpet. An example of part of the non-conformance list is shown in Appendix A.
A quality control check sheet was then designed. This, a sample of which is shown in Appendix B, contains a list of non-conforming items that each housekeeper is expected to clean or tidy up. During each inspection, the non-conformance items that fail to conform to the standard such as wrinkles on the bed sheet and hair in the bath tub, are recorded by a training of®cer. Out of 800 rooms in the hotel, a random sample of 80 was selected for daily quality inspection.
The average process time for each housekeeper was compiled by means of a housekeeping check sheet (see Appendix C); this contains a list of all the tasks to be carried out during room cleaning. The entire house-keeping procedure was divided into ®ve process cycles ± bed making and stripping, dusting, bathroom, vacuuming and other special tasks, such as carpet spotting or baby cot making. Each process was further subdivided into smaller tasks and the housekeepers
were trained to perform each task with guidelines on time allocation during training. Each housekeeper was required to identify which tasks were performed and the time to complete each process cycle on the check sheet for each room being cleaned.
Statistical analysis was then carried out on a set of sample data to produce various statistical reports and control charts. These outputs were then evaluated by the project team. Sample management reports were then speci®ed for helping assess the ef®ciency, the level of non-conformance and training needs of each individual housekeeper.
3.5. Design and development of a TQMIS
A TQMIS was developed to support the implemen-tation of the program. The system was designed to enable users to monitor the performance and training requirements of the housekeepers in an effective manner. Badiru [2] stated that a systems approach to TQM considers every interaction necessary between the various elements of an organization. A high degree of user-designer interaction was main-tained throughout all system development processes. This also helped to narrow the expectation gap between the system functionality and the user require-ments.
An entity-relationship diagram and a data ¯ow model [4] for the housekeeping TQMIS are shown in Figs. 2a and b, respectively.
A multi-user relational database system was developed on a network of Apple Macintoshes computers. In order to minimize the data input task, information about the housekeepers, trainers, tasks, and rooms were pre-input into the system. The user interface of the system was designed so that the input screen was similar to that of the housekeeping and quality control check sheet. By using on-screen check boxes, input operators can key in the completed housekeeping tasks and non-conformance items by simply clicking on the corresponding check boxes.
In order to facilitate database searching, a data inquiry screen was designed for the training manager, training of®cers, and the head of housekeeper to specify user-de®ned search criteria.
3.6. Design continuous improvement management strategy
To achieve continuous improvement, it is important for housekeepers to understand the performance goal, how it is being measured, the current level of quality, and the degree of improvement over time. The man-agement strategy was to achieve continuous
improve-ment via customised training and employee
motivation. An employee recognition reward system was then designed.
3.7. Collect data and generate output reports
The actual implementation of the TQM program then began. Everyday, data were collected and keyed into the TQMIS by four input operators: each respon-sible for keying in 200 daily housekeeping and 20 quality control check sheets. At the end of each day, a
report showing non-conformance in each task for each housekeeper (see Fig. 3) is generated.
The daily summary report indicates the total num-ber of non-conforming items, the average numnum-ber of non-conforming items per room and the percentage of rooms in which each non-conforming item was dis-covered. The report is also used for generating sum-mary data every month and over any user-de®ned time period. Trend analysis on each housekeeper's non-conformance history has helped management in asses-sing whether and how quickly improvements have been made. These results form the basis of the employee recognition reward system.
Control charts that identify anomalies for each housekeeper (see Fig. 4) and pareto charts that identify major areas of non-conformance (see Fig. 5) can also be obtained from the system.
3.8. Ensure continuous improvement
After running a trial of the TQM program for three months, the measuring functions and parameters were updated and veri®ed. Several meetings were held to review the design of the TQM program. Modi®cations were made in the quality control model, the design of
the TQMIS, and the implementation logistics of the TQM program to ensure the validity of the data generated and effectiveness of the program.
Everyday, the names of the best housekeepers were posted on the hotel training notice board. Based on the daily results, the best housekeeper for every month is selected and US$150 is awarded to that housekeeper by senior management.
Continuous improvement was also ensured by enabling housekeepers to understand their own strengths and weaknesses. Each housekeeper receives a monthly summary report showing the housekeeper's
individual performance relative to the best house-keeper.
Personal attention by the head of housekeeping was also given to the individual housekeeper when performance anomalies were tracked in the daily and monthly quality control reports. The trainers were then able to arrange customised training to help the housekeeper to improve her work quality in speci®c areas. In addition, the quality control reports were incorporated into the appraisal system so as to ensure integration of the TQM program into the hotel's daily operation.
4. Lessons learnt
The effective design of a TQMIS to support the implementation of the TQM program is valuable. A
good design must support the users from data input to the delivery of meaningful and useful information to the management. Indeed, the TQMIS is the main mechan-ical force for driving the daily operational program.
Fig. 3. A daily summary quality control report.
4.1. Early involvement with IT professionals is essential
Early involvement of the IT professionals during the design phase of the TQM program is essential. Throughout the design process, we were able to receive training by the TQM expert. This helped us to understand the users' needs and why the informa-tion was needed. We were then able to give advice on the input and outputs of the program.
4.2. Avoid delays and errors during data input
Delays in the input process could cause a halt to the entire TQM program. During the initial trial period, the number of input operators was increased from two to four. It took the operators two weeks before they could achieve enough speed to complete data input everyday; however there has been high turnover of employees and a high percentage of human input errors.
Training has to be given for every new employee. Moreover, time has to be allowed for the new person gain experience with the job. This has inevitably increased the cost of the program. A daily sample set of data is quality checked to ensure reasonable accuracy.
To solve these problems, we recommended either the use of forms scanning technology with optical character recognition features or hand-held pen-based computers for simultaneous quality inspection and data input.
4.3. Information must reach the management in an effective manner
One signi®cant modi®cation that we made in the TQMIS was to integrate the system with the hotel's electronic mail so that summary reports are sent to the housekeeping and training department electronically. Every morning, an electronic message identifying the three best housekeepers is sent to the head of housekeeping. Other exceptional reports, such as sud-den decline of housekeeper's performance or high percentage of non-conforming errors were also auto-matically generated and forwarded by electronic mail. This seamless integration has improved user accep-tance of system.
4.4. Synchronization between results generated by the TQMIS and management's continuous
improvement actions
As suggested by Smith [23], TQM succeeds best when a continuous improvement culture is instilled into the employees. A basic tenet of TQM is that employees are eager to succeed if they understand the de®nition of a good job and are given the information and tools to complete it. Although the TQMIS was designed with that purpose in mind [12], continuous improvement can only be achieved if appropriate management actions are taken in time. Training and education are effective ways to implementing perfor-mance management systems [11].
4.5. Outputs from the TQMIS must be thoroughly tested and validated
In the ®nal implementation of the hotel housekeep-ing TQM program, the number of non-conformhousekeep-ing items has been reduced from 300 to 230. Changes in the quality weight factor for each non-conforming
item were also made in order to improve the validity of the results.
4.6. Listen to employees' feedback and initiate positive changes
The introduction of the TQM program has caused an increase in the daily workload of the housekeepers and trainers: they now have to provide more informa-tion. This increase of workload has caused some reluctant employees to be disgruntled: lack of employ-ees' support can cause a TQM program to fail. It is therefore important for management to listen to the employees' feedback. One useful change proposed by the housekeepers was to increase the varieties in the prize awarded to the best housekeeper of the month. This has helped to make the quality control process more relaxed and enjoyable.
4.7. Further use of the TQMIS
The TQMIS can potentially be transformed into a `knowledge-based information system' [7,13]. For example, the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain has installed a system to track customer preferences and needs and automatically transmit the information worldwide; if a customer in Boston asks for six hypoallergenic pil-lows, for instance, she will ®nd them in her room next time she checks in to a Ritz-Carlton hotel elsewhere. In the housekeeping case, complaints from customers can be fed into the TQMIS to inform the hotel that extra attention is required.
5. Conclusions
We have provided empirical evidence of the appli-cation of TQM theory to improve the IT implementa-tion process. Contrary to the old training methods, the TQMIS provides a systematic mechanism for trainers to assess requirements based on quantitative analysis. Training thus becomes more cost effective: unneces-sary training is eliminated and programs are designed proactively. TQM plays a signi®cant role in supporting and driving a continuous improvement culture. Keeping systems aligned with continuous improve-ment strategies will be the challenge of the next decade.
Appendix A. An Example of the list of non-conformance items
Entrance door bell sign d 1
Entrance door bell sign r 6
Entrance master switch d 2
Entrance master switch r 5
Entrance master switch f 7
Entrance eye-viewer d 2
Entrance eye-viewer r 1
Entrance door frame d 1
Entrance door frame r 4
Entrance door strayer d 1
Entrance door strayer r 3
Entrance doublelock r 6
Entrance carpet k 2
Entrance carpet m 2
Entrance carpet r 4
Entrance carpet s 1
Entrance ceiling paper d 1
Entrance ceiling paper f 2
Entrance ceiling paper k 4
Entrance ceiling paper m 4
Entrance ceiling paper r 1
Entrance ceiling paper s 1
Entrance ceiling board b 1
Entrance ceiling board d 1
Entrance ceiling board f 4
Entrance ceiling board m 1
Entrance entrance ceiling
Closet door mirror a 2
Closet door mirror d 1
Closet door mirror k 4
Closet door mirror r 5
Closet hangers d 4
Closet hangers p 1
Closet hangers q 1
Closet light r 4
Closet ceiling board k 1
Closet ceiling board r 1
± ± ± ±
Appendix B. Quality control check sheet
Date f ± fingerprints
h ± hair
Start time i ± wrinkles
k ±dirt
End time l ± locked
m ± mould
Entrance
Room no plate: d f r
Master switch: d r
Eye viewer: d m
Entrance door b d r
Door lock r
Ceiling board k r
Wallpaper a b d f h k m
Safe r
Mini Bar and fridge Mini bar marble
Appendix C. Housekeeping check sheet
Schedule No. Room No. Housekeeper ID Date
Start time End time Total time (tick tasks
Dust ceiling check ceiling spot light bulbs Bed making remove rubbish
Closet cycle time Clean door mirror count hangers Check safety box check spare
blanket & pillow Clean closet light dust ceiling
board
Clean wash basin replenish bath room amenities Clean bath tub clean bath room
wall Minibar & fridge cycle time
Clean bar counter replace glass Replenish drinks
& other supplies
complete & replace mini bar voucher Total no. of tasks
completed in room:
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Dr. Grace Auis currently Director of Centre for Enhanced Learning and Teaching at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology responsible for developing tools and techniques in enhancing learning and teaching at the tertiary level. Prior to this, she was a lecturer at the Department of Informa-tion and Systems Management where she has taught and conducted research in the areas of multimedia and learning for many years. She has published various papers in this area. She was instrumental in setting up the multimedia research laboratory within the department whereby students can learn and experiment multimedia applications.
