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Quality Management Issues and Challenges
Quality is the level of excellence viewed by customers to satisfy their needs. The greater the noticed value of a product or service, the greater buyer expectations for quality.
Quality management is one of the important means of improving the quality of products and customer satisfaction. It emphasizes continuous improvement in products and services to meet customers’ expectations and business objectives.
Some emerging quality management issues and challenges include the following.
- Redesign organizational structure
- Workforce diversity
- Innovation and change
- Employee motivation
- Knowledge management
- Technological development
- Improving the quality of service
- Benchmarking
- Assessment of total quality management
Here, we go
Redesign Organizational Structure
At the hierarchy level of organizational structure, it needs to fulfill many stages for completing any work. It brings delays in performance and problems in quality work.
From the emerging issues of quality management, the redesign of organizational structure is by cutting many hierarchal levels.
Emphasis should be given to flattening the structure of the organization so that better control and coordination can be maintained in the performance. It is essential to ensure quality products and services.
Related: What is Quality Control? Definition, Meaning, and Techniques
Workforce Diversity
Workforce diversity is increasing in organizations today because of changing population dimensions. There are several dimensions of diversification, however, the important ones are age, gender, and ethnicity.
The overall age of the workforce is increasing. More women are also getting involved in the workplace. The emerging issue of quality management is to use a diversified workforce to improve quality and productivity.
Innovation and Change
The innovation of new knowledge to fulfill the expectations of stakeholders is increasing today. Change can occur in the character and role of stakeholders like competitors, customers, employees, suppliers, and lenders.
The emerging issue in quality management is to fulfill changing needs of stakeholders. Emphasis should be given to improving the quality of products and services to fulfill changing needs of customers.
Employee Motivation
Employees are the main ingredient of the internal environment of an organization. When managers and employees embrace the same values and have the same goals, it becomes convenient to achieve organizational objectives.
From the emerging issues of quality management, the manager has to encourage and stimulate employees for quality service. The motivation of employees having different abilities, attitudes, beliefs, cultures, and perceptions is essential for management to meet objectives.
Related: What is Motivation?
Knowledge Management
In this competitive environment, knowledge has become power. Society expects new ideas, new things, and creativity in the product or service of an organization.
To fulfill such social expectations, the manager has to accumulate knowledge and ideas from all members involved in the organization. A model manager must be flexible to manage knowledge and also consider the situational factor.
Technological Development
Today, technology becomes one of the important issues in quality management. It tends to increase the aspirations and expectations of customers, investors, competitors, employees, and other stakeholders of the organization.
It develops the concept of a competitive environment among manufacturers and suppliers. The most important issue today for managers is to identify and predict the ever-developing new technology.
It is the responsibility of the managers to keep pace with the changes in technology and grab the opportunity to make the business a success.
Improving Quality of Service
Nowadays more emphasis has been given to the service-oriented business. Manufacturers involved in producing quality products also need to provide after-sales service to customers for durable products.
Similarly, the customer expects better and more timely service from service-oriented firms. Quality service sees to be an intangible asset of management. The emerging issue of quality management is to improve the quality of service.
Benchmarking
One of the important issues in quality management is benchmarking. Benchmarking is the process of getting knowledge from the same type of organization having a leader in performance. It facilitates the realization of the areas of defects and the scope of improvement.
There may be many factors that contributed to better performance like quality and cost of product or service, time of delivery, service after the sale, promotion, etc. The emerging issue of quality management is to identify the factor to be taken for benchmarking. This is a must for improving the quality of service.
Assessment of Total Quality Management (TQM)
Total quality management emphasizes continuous improvement of the quality of products and services for customer satisfaction. The emerging issue of present management is that the top level must assure total quality management.
For this purpose, top-level managers should focus on employee empowerment, research, and development, new technology in the market, development of employees’ efficiency, etc.
Read Next: What is Deming Management? Definition, History, Principles, and 14 Points