FAQ for LO List LO4920

John Zavacki (jzavacki@epix.net)
Tue, 16 Jan 1996 05:34:43 -0500

Replying to LO4882 --

Barry Mallis wrote:
> John Paul Fullerton suggested some wonderful questions. Each demands
> close attention.
>
> Around his first one I'd like to sned a few thoughts. John asks:
>
> "How do the disciplines of a learning organization relate to TQM?"
>
> Here's my train of thought. Assumption: total quality is a team effort,
> because collective genius is more powerful and efficient within
> organizations than genius of the single individual WHEN IT COMES TO
> ORGANIZATION GOALS.
>
> Teams require an understanding of human interaction. That understanding
> requires demystification through education--putting our human behavior
> traits out on the table for all to scrutinize, so that insofar as possible
> the degree of sensitivity to our strengths and foibles is understood
> before taking steps.
> snip....
> Total quality practices support learning and team work. Lester Thurow
> stated that "the rate at which individuals and organizations learn may
> become the only sustainable advantage".
>
> TQM is definable this way: an evolving system of practices, tools and
> training methods for managing organizations to provide customer
> satisfaction in a rapidly changing world.

The issue or TQM is extremely important here, as well as in other facets
of organizational design and analysis. Barry's post (and I suspect, the
non-technical understanding in general) stresses learning and team work.
He concludes with a strong definition which entails "..a system of
practices, tools, and training methods...".

Having read a lot of his posts, I know he is very familiar with what those
practices, tools, and methods are. There are, however, many
miscomprehension about the quality sciences which should be aired here.
TQM was framed by Armand Fiegenbaum, an MIT educated engineer, as TQC, or
Total Quality Control. The first derivative of this was "Company Wide
Quality Control" which eventually become "Total Quality Management". So
far, there are no problems. Management, in some sense, assumes control.
But controlling a system, particularly a manufacturing system, requires a
knowledge of the operating characteristics of that system and the areas
which needed to be established as control and feedback mechanisms. Hence,
standards and models such as ISO 9000 and Mil-Q-9858; disciplines such as
metrology, quality engineering, etc.

Much of these narrower foci are lost in the recent literature of TQM. The
"touchy-feely" stuff ascends. Metanoid managers abolish quality
departments (and learning history), mistakenly thinking they are "ceasing
dependence on mass inspection".

If your teams are not capable of choosing the properly discriminant
measuring instrument; calibrating it; understanding measurement error;
prbability; capability; etc. there must be a technical infrastucture
available to support them.

Although there have been no explicit messages here to support my concerns,
I have found them in sufficient quantities elsewhere on the internet to
offer a reminder of the technical underpinnings that allow us to go
forward in our eefforts.

-- 
jzavacki@epix.net 
	John Zavacki
	The Wolff Group
	900 James Avenue
	Scranton, PA 18510
Phone: 717-346-1218	Fax: 717-346-1388