Quality Culture

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Quality Culture

• Course Instructor
• Dr. Syed M. Ahmed, Ph.D.
• College of Engineering Computing
• Florida International University, Miami, Florida

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Major Topics

• Understanding What a Quality Culture Is
• Quality Culture vs. Traditional Cultures
• Activating Cultural Change
• Changing Leaders to activate Cultural Change
• Laying the Groundwork for a Quality Culture
• Learning What a Quality Culture looks like
• Countering Resistance to Culture Change
• Establishing a Quality Culture
• Maintaining a Quality Culture

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Understanding What a Quality Culture Is

• To understand a Quality Culture, one must first
  understand a Organizational Culture.
• An organizational culture has the following
  elements
• Business Improvement
• Organizational Values
• Cultural Role Models
• Organizational Rites, Rituals and Customs
• Cultural Transmitters
• A quality culture is
• An organizational value system that results in an
  environment that is conducive to the
  establishment and continual improvement of
  Quality.

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Quality Culture vs. Traditional Cultures

• Organizations that develop and maintain a quality
  culture will differ significantly from those with
  a traditional culture in the following areas
• Operating Philosophy
• Objectives
• Management Approach
• Attitude towards Customers
• Problem-Solving Approach
• Supplier Relationship
• Performance-Improvement Approach

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Activating Cultural Change

• To attempt the implementation of total quality
  without creating a quality culture is to invite
  failure.
• Several primary reasons cultural change must
  either precede or at least parallel the
  implementation of total quality are
• Change can not occur in a hostile environment
• Total Quality approach might be radically
  different from what the management is accustomed
  to.
• Moving to Total Quality takes time
• In a conversion to Total Quality, positive
  results are rarely achieved in the short run.
• It can be difficult to overcome the past
• Employees might remember earlier fads and
  gimmicks and characterize total quality as being
  just the latest one.

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Changing Leaders to Activate Cultural Change

• Cultural change is one of the most difficult
  challenges an organization will ever face.
• Leadership from the top is essential.
• Sometimes, an organizations culture simply
  cannot be changed without a change in leadership.
• Senior Executives who fail to comprehend the need
  to change, who fail to create a sense of urgency
  when needed and who fail to follow through the
  changes they initiated are poor candidates to
  lead an organization through a major culture
  change.
• Culture change requires support, ideas, and
  leadership from employees at all levels.

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Laying the Groundwork for a Quality Culture

• Establishing a Quality Culture is lot like
  constructing a building.
• According to Peter Scholtes,
• Management should begin by developing an
  understanding of laws of organizational change.
  They are
• Understand the History behind the Current Culture
• Dont Tamper with Systems Improve Them
• Be prepared to Listen and Observe
• Involve Everyone Affected by Change in Making It

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Learning What a Quality Culture looks like

• Part of laying the groundwork for a quality
  culture is understanding what one looks like.
• Any Executive team that hope to change the
  culture of its organization should
• Know the laws of organizational change
• Understand the characteristics of organizations
  that have strong quality cultures.

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Countering Resistance to Culture Change - 1

• Change is Resisted in any Organization.
• Continuous Improvement means Continuous Change.
• Why Change is Difficult?
• Juran describes organizational change as
• Clash between Cultures

Fig 1. Two separate organizational Cultures
relating to change
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Countering Resistance to Culture Change - 2

• There are different perceptions to the same
  proposed change in an organization.

Fig 2. Different Perceptions of Same change
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Countering Resistance to Culture Change - 3

• How to Facilitate Change?
• The responsibility to facilitate change
  necessarily falls to its advocates.
• Begin with a new advocacy Paradigm
• The first step is to adopt a facilitating
  paradigm.
• Understand Concerns of Potential Resisters
• Understand the concerns of resisters like fear,
  loss of control, uncertainty and more work.
• Implement Change Promoting Strategies
• Involve Potential Resisters, Avoid Surprises,
  Move slowly at first, Start Small and be
  flexible, create a positive environment,
  Incorporate the change, Respond Quickly and
  Positively, Work with Established leaders, Treat
  people with dignity Respect, Be Constructive.

Fig 3. Steps in Facilitating Change
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Establishing a Quality Culture - 1

• Establishing a quality culture involves specific
  planning and activities for business or
  department.
• Phases of Emotional Transition

Fig 4. Emotional Transition
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Establishing a Quality Culture - 2

• Steps in Conversion to Quality
• Identify the Changes needed
• Put the Planned Changes in Writing
• Develop a Plan for Making the Changes
• Understand the Emotional Transition Process
• Identify Key People and Make Them Advocates
• Take a Hearts and Minds Approach
• Apply Courtship Strategies

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Maintaining a Quality Culture

• Establishing Quality Culture is a challenging
  undertaking for any organization. It is even more
  challenging to maintain it over time.
• In order to maintain Quality Culture,
  organizations must foster the following
  behaviors
• Maintain an awareness of Quality as a key
  cultural issue.
• Make sure that there is plenty of evidence of
  Managements leadership.
• Empower Employees and encourage self-development
  and self-initiative.
• Recognize and reward the behaviors that tend to
  nurture and maintain Quality Culture.

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Questions/Queries