TQM through MBP

Dick Sharad, management consultant, has over 30 years of experience in structural design, planning and scheduling, cost engineering, contract administration, management consulting, strategic planning, product development/marketing, management audits, and graduate-level teaching. His professional background is diversified over power-process- chemical-mining industries; highway-railroad-airport and high-rise building construction; and manufacturing of electronics products.

Mr. Sharad is a widely published and internationally acknowledged expert on project management who has worked on assignments around the world. He is currently on assignment in Saudi Arabia as a policies/procedures and training specialist with a high-tech electronics manufacturing company.

Mr. Sharad has honors degrees in physics/mathematics and civil engineering and a master's degree in engineering management. He also holds a certificate of management analysis and systems planning from New York University. He has been an active member of the Project Management Institute, the American Association of Cost Engineers, and the Design and Construction Quality Institute.

The role of Total Quality Management (TQM) is becoming pivotal for the U.S. industry to do well at home and overseas. The economy is struggling for recovery in the face of tough foreign competition. Now is the time to incorporate quality consciousness into our lives in order to be more competitive.

Quality in management of projects has conventionally been reckoned with static conformance to prevailing standards and practices. The new TQM approach demands a dynamic, continuously improving performance. One approach to such improvement is through Management By Projects (MBP), a concept that employs project management methodologies. MBP facilitates TQM by undertaking it as project-oriented activities. Here is an opportunist y to provide linkage between TQM and MBP through quality consciousness.

MBP, THE EMERGING MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

Management By Projects is a valuable approach to conduct any business activity. It is an attitude cultivated to treat any work assignment or set of activities as a project. What is immediately implied by accepting a work assignment as a project is:

1. An identified scope,
2. A required completion time,
3. An estimate of cost and other resources, including labor,
4. An economic, quality performance, and
5. A review of the work done to ensure conformance with the requirements.

This is what forms the core of project management (PM) methodology.

MBP provides the basis to conduct a business like a set of projects, with a systematized process of planning, executing and controlling [1]. This happens in a formal way on a project of significant size and complexity, where a project manager is designated to manage it. A team of specialists from relevant functional groups is provided for design, purchasing, production/construction, etc. An oranization is formed, and an administrative framework, including systems and procedures for coordination and control is developed.

As the project progresses, quality compliance is closely watched and performance is measured and compared against requirements as well as budget and schedule. Variances are examined and explained. Top management reviews project status on a regular basis and actions are taken as necessary and possible. Such a scenario invariably occurs for large construction projects such as power and process plants and infrastructures facilities such as airports and railroads. For a small-scale project, the working team is smaller, and complexity of work and involvement by top management are less.

Thus, a project is a set of predefine activities requiring an estimated amount of resources, including multidiscipline human resources and money. It has a defined start and is expected to be completed in the required time with prescribed quality and economy. This essentially distinguishes project management from general or corporate management. MBP lifts the traditional PM methodology above the realm of construction or production management, and lends to it a kind of universality as a management philosophy and guide.

The PM Body of Knowledge, in the context of a given industry or technology, is really a good blend of basic PM methodology, particular industry know-how, and general management principles and practices. To establish the correlation of the MBP way of business management with TQM, let us briefly examine the big TQM wave that is splashing around us.

THE HIGH TIDE OF TQM

The quality management era dawned on Japan in the early 1950s at the hands of Dr. W. Edwards Deming, an American statistician turned quality specialist turned management consultant.

TQM is varyingly called a program, a process, the Deming Way, or a matrix (of top management support, employee “empowerment” and teamwork, and quality assurance). It is, actually, a management philosophy for achieving higher quality at lower cost with employee participation in making the workplace worthy of pride. This philosophy, though formulated with volume production in mind, is universally applicable as well to service industries, including design/construction.

People who thought of TQM as yet another acronym or cliché or a passing fad are convinced that it is a real, viable practice bringing about remarkable results. Among numerous interpretations and extensions of earlier TQM thinking, one may notice some gleaming essentials (quite familiar to PM practitioners):

• TQM simply means “good” management, with common sense and an open mind, and commitment to make improvements.
• Commitment is expected from every member of the organization to continuing improvement of products and services.
• Customers’ needs and satisfaction have to be everybody's top priority. There are both outside customers and customers within the organization.
• It is management's responsibility to upgrade its own perception and knowledge of the quality phenomenon, and to involve the entire work force in the process.
• Rigorous educational and training/retraining activities have to be undertaken.
• Communication with respect to goals, actions, progress, results, and future plans should be extensive.
• Quality vigilance is as much necessary and feasible in the engineering/design phase as in manufacturing construction.
• An ounce of prevention being better than a pound of cure, early attention and planning for quality are a must.

The high tide of TQM has reached out and touched so many! Most notable on the scene is the appearance of the coveted Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, with an office at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Washington, D.C. This award has sparked tremendous interest among both winners and aspirants in making a total and ongoing commitment to TQM for their own betterment. Table 1 shows the leading organizations active in the TQM field.

The TQM tide has now engulfed the construction industry which is contributing significantly to the “quality movement” in the U.S. Counted foremost among construction project management problems in achieving quality have been:

• Lack of teamwork,
• Lack of communication,
• Poorly defined project scope,
• Inadequate cost/schedule control,
• Inadequate training,
• Poor quality of materials, equipment, and workmanship, and
• Incompetent project leadership.

The TQM application to construction management goes beyond the traditional Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC) approach which advocates stringent technical specifications and operating procedures, detailed documentation, exhaustive training, and additional levels of inspection and review. This approach often proves to be prohibitive in costs. TQM is an operations management philosophy with client satisfaction in the center, surrounded by dedicated and continuous efforts for improvement in results.

Owners have started to institute in-house TQM programs and to require evidence of such programs and management commitment from designers, construction managers, contractors and suppliers as a prerequisite to consideration for selection. They provide a real service to the industry by accelerating the TQM trend. The emergence of MBP stimulates this outlook further. Adopting the TQM approach in corporate management itself should be, and truly has to be, established as a project per se. MBP helps immensely in making it a success.

MBP REINFORCES TQM

Dr. Deming, Joseph M. Juran and Philip B. Crosby are recognized pioneering TQM gurus. They have summarized their somewhat overlapping or common TQM approaches in “points for management” or ’’steps for quality management.” The MBP philosophy facilitates quality improvement through TQM as outlined in the following 10-point Action Plan. Key project management attributes are identified [in brackets and italics] for each step of the plan.

10-Point Action Plan for TQM Through MBP

1. 1.Invoke management awareness. Establish philosophy, mission. [Management Style, Company Culture]

   Management must first come to the realization that TQM is something worth having, understand its implication in terms of total effort required, establish a mission statement, and adopt a relevant policy. Professional management awareness has to be invoked from top management level to front-line supervisory level.

2. 2.Acknowledge potential for improvement, across the organizational hierarchy. [WorkBreakdown Structure (WBS), Organization Breakdown Structure (OBS)]

   The potential for improvement has to be acknowledged in every operational area. Hierarchal breakdown of the organization structure may be matched with the work breakdown structure. Actual work flow should occur properly downwards and upwards, commensurate with decision-making hierarchy. This helps in relating elements of work to responsible individuals/ functions for improvement efforts.

3. 3.Develop a Quality Improvement Program. Identify projects. [Master Implementation Plan]

   Under a Quality Improvement Program (QIP), individual “projects” are identified, with assigned leaders by operational area, and they are recognized as “opportunities or challenges for improvement” rather than being labelled as “problems to be solved.” At this stage, the project specifics may not be defined too clearly, but may be known in general terms in keeping with overall company philosophy and goals.

4. 4.Establish project teams by functions, products, services. [Matrix Management]

   Project teams may be formed, consisting of a balanced mix of technical and non-technical staff, workers, supervisors, and managers by functional entities (engineering/design, manufacturing/construction, marketing/sales, accounting/finance), or by categories of products or by services offered to customers. Projects may, in effect, evolve as teams are formed to serve interdisciplinary and interfunctional interests.

5. 5.Let teams select operations for improving effectiveness. [Scope, Budget, Schedule]

   Each project team selects procedures, systems, methods, or physical operations to study the need and the potential for improving their effectiveness. The easiest ones may be tackled first so that the team gets used to the approach, and gains acceptance, confidence, and satisfaction in its ability to effect changes for the better. The project team works out specific objectives, a budget, and a schedule for its own undertaking. A corporate officer (sponsor) oversees the multiproject program.

6. 6.Communicate results. Prepare team report cards. Arrange forums. (Communications]

   The weaknesses or deficiencies observed by various teams are communicated freely and companywide coverage is provided to attempts undertaken and successes met in each improvement project. Teams prepare their own report cards, and discuss them in formalized sessions among project leaders.

7. 7.Encourage suggestions and self-development goals by others. [Human Resources Development]

   Staff not serving as members of any project team may also be encouraged to contribute to or supplement the team efforts, and actually even to formulate self-improvement goals, and to point out any difficulties encountered in meeting them.

8. 8.Impart training and indoctrination before implementing changes. [Training]

   Ample advance notice must be given and adequate briefing and training imparted before implementing any changes to the existing scheme of things. Case histories may be documented and in-house literature about the quality improvement program (QIP) in the company developed. These can be utilized for new employee indoctrination and training.

9. 9.Maintain ongoing QIP tempo by revisiting and reassessing improvements. [Followup and Review]

   The momentum for the ongoing QIP drive must be kept up, and areas already worked must be periodically revisited and reassessed. QIP is not meant to be a one-time adventure, or a yearly, cyclical, rotational eras-needed exercise. It has to become a way of corporate life forever.

10. 10.Participate in MBP/TQM industry activities. [Progessional Upkeep, Public Relations]

    People from other firms/organizations (preferably in other lines of business to avoid likely infringement on competitive privacy) may be visited and invited to exchange experiences. Participation in MBP and TQM related forums and professional societies (PMI, AACE, DCQ) activities should be encouraged.

It is not too difficult to see that Management By Projects and Total Quality Management are quite complementary concepts essential to successful business management.

SUMMARY

The Total Quality Management concept is very basic, and should become apart of everyday activity in any organization for natural incorporation of quality in the way services and goods are planned and delivered. TQM implementation in a business organization is best undertaken as a project unto itself—an ongoing one. This is where Management By Projects proves to be a novel but practical approach right from the beginning. TQM, which was needed to be competitive in domestic and overseas manufacturing markets, has found welcome application in the construction industry. Since new technology exploration and adaptation, and strengthening of our industrial infrastructure, culminates in building new manufacturing/process facilities, MBP and TQM happen to be natural partners in all types of industries.

Table 1. Organizations Active in TQM