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Why is it necessary that all levels of employees have problem solving skills?

What are the causes and affects of poor quality?

What steps would an organization take to implement a TQ process?

What is the difference between reorganizing and reengineering?

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Solution Summary

This solution examines why it is necessary that all levels of employees have problem solving skills, as well as the causes and affects of poor quality. It also identifies and discusses the steps an organization would take to implement a TQ process. Finally, the difference between reorganizing and reengineering are detailed.

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Business, Management
Year 4
Benchmarking

Interesting questions! Let us take a closer look:
Please answer the following questions:

1. Why is it necessary that all levels of employees have problem solving skills?

Business decisions often require critical or in-depth thinking, which requires problem-solving skills. It is therefore important for all levels of employees to have problem solving skills because decisions are made at each level of management, and many business decisions depend on problem solving skills. It is important, too, because of the importance of employee involvement in the decision making process. In other words, the team approach demands that all levels of employees work together, meaning that problem solving skills are necessary for problem definition and generating potential solutions to problem.
Problem solving is often defined a quality improvement approach that involves objectively identifying the causes of a problem and proposing potential, often creative, solutions to the problem, which will be agreeable to multiple parties or individuals. www.qaproject.org/methods/resglossary.html In this sense, it becomes clear that problem solving skills is imperative across all levels of management. It is also important for conflict resolution, which often occurs in the working environment.
Likewise, critical thinking and problem solving skills help to:
• Work harmoniously with others
• Evaluate and accept responsibilities
• Identify methods you use to respond to conflict
• Work in teams more efficiently
http://ilearn.senecac.on.ca/careers/succeed/developing.html

2. What are the causes and affects of poor quality?

Let us see how poor quality shows itself in the healthcare system by looking at the following two examples below:
Example: Causes of poor quality
For example, factors that have been reported as contributing to a quality deficit (e.g., poor quality) in healthcare are as follow:

• People often don't accept personal responsibility for suboptimal performance. The finger of responsibility may be pointed at another department or professional group or at issues considered to be beyond the person's control (e.g., lack of resources or unreasonable expectations, burdensome regulations).
• Practitioners view reports or studies of error rates in healthcare facilities as being something that describes what happens in other organizations, not in their own facility. "It happens elsewhere, not here" is a common response.
• Many of the systems and processes in the organization are derived from the way it has always been done. Often, physicians or staff members make an effort to maintain the status quo rather than introduce new work processes or technologies.
• The lessons learned from improvement projects in one department or unit are not disseminated throughout the organization. Departments or units facing performance problems often do not know how other people in the organization fixed similar problems in their area.
• When presented with comparative performance data that suggest your organization does not quite measure up to what other organizations are able to achieve, the first reaction is to challenge the report, including questioning data definitions, the patient severity adjustment methods, the data collection techniques, and the sample size. Much time is spent on discounting the reliability of comparative data, and little attention, if any, is given to analyzing the internal practices that are contributing to less-than-optimal performance (http://www.fortherecordmag.com/archives/ftr_092004p30.shtml).

Example: The affect of poor quality
Notwithstanding several decades of vigorous promotion of healthcare quality, there are still innumerable gaps between actual and expected health services performance. What are the affects of poor quality? Studies have found that the U.S. healthcare system is responsible for hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths and preventable injuries. Despite tremendous technological and clinical advances, the healthcare experience remains suboptimal. The affect of these quality problems exact a human toll in terms of lost lives and pain and suffering. Plus, poor quality creates a significant economic burden—treatment of complications is costly, as are the indirect costs of lost productivity and premature death. http://www.fortherecordmag.com/archives/ftr_092004p30.shtml

3. What steps would an organization take to implement a TQ process?

Example:
1. Changes need to be made in three systems. For example: 1) TQM is at first glance seen primarily as a change in an organization's technology ¬ its way of doing work. In the human services, this means the way clients are processed ¬ the service delivery methods applied to them ¬ and ancillary organizational processes such as paperwork, procurement processes, and other procedures, 2) But TQM is also a change in an organization's culture ¬ its norms, values, and belief systems about how organizations function, 3). And finally, it is a change in an organization's political system: decision making processes and power bases. For substantive change to occur, changes in these three dimensions must be aligned: TQM as a technological change will not be successful unless cultural and political dimensions are attended to as well (Tichey, 1983). http://www.improve.org/tqm.html
2. Leadership changes in philosophy e.g., participatory style. Many (e.g., Hyde, 1992; Chaudron, 1992) have noted that TQM results in a radical change in the culture and the way of work in an organization. A fundamental factor is leadership, including philosophy, style, and behavior. These must be congruent as they are presented by a leader. Many scaled enlightened leaders of today espouse a participative style, which is not, in fact, practiced to any appreciable degree. Any manager serious about embarking on a culture change such as TQM should reflect seriously on how she or he feels and behaves regarding these factors. For many managers, a personal program of leadership development (e.g., Bennis, 1989) may be a prerequisite to effective functioning as an internal change agent advocating TQM. http://www.improve.org/tqm.html
3. Alignment of various organizational systems is necessary. Other key considerations have to do with alignment among various organizational systems (Chaudron, 1992; Hyde, 1992). For example, human resource systems, including job design, selection processes, compensation and rewards, performance appraisal, and training and development must align with and support the new TQM culture. Less obvious but no less important will be changes required in other systems. Information systems will need to be redesigned to measure and track new things such as service quality. Financial management processes may also need attention through the realignment of budgeting and resource allocation systems. Organizational structure and design will be different under TQM: layers of management may be reduced and organizational roles will certainly change. In particular, middle management and first line supervisors will be operating in new ways. Instead of acting as monitors, order givers, and agents of control they will serve as boundary managers, coordinators, and leaders who assist line workers in getting their jobs done. To deal with fears of layoffs, all employees should be assured that no one will lose employment as a result of TQM changes: jobs may change, perhaps radically, but no one will be laid off. Hyde (1992) has recommended that we "disperse and transform, not replace, mid¬level managers." This no layoff principle has been a common one in joint labor¬ management change processes such as quality of working life projects for many years. http://www.improve.org/tqm.html
5. TQM evolves from organization's strategic plan and based on stakeholders expectations. Another systems consideration is that TQM should evolve from the organization's strategic plan and be based on stakeholder expectations. This type of planning and stance regarding environmental relations is receiving more attention but still is not common in the human services. As will be discussed below, TQM is often proposed based on environmental conditions such as the need to cut costs or demands for increased responsiveness to stakeholders. A manager may also adopt TQM as a way of being seen at the proverbial cutting edge, because it is currently popular. This is not a good motivation to use TQM and will be likely to lead to a cosmetic or superficial application, resulting in failure and disappointment http://www.improve.org/tqm.html.
6. TQM should be purpose ¬oriented: it should be used because an organization's leaders feel a need to make the organization more effective. It should be driven by results and not be seen as an end in itself. If TQM is introduced without consideration of real organizational needs and conditions, it will be met by skepticism on the part of both managers and workers. We will now move to a discussion of the ways in which people may react to TQM (see full article at http://www.improve.org/tqm.html.

Example 2:
How Is Organization-Wide Change Best Carried Out?
Successful change must involve top management, including the board and chief executive. Usually there's a champion who initially instigates the change by being visionary, persuasive and consistent. A change agent role is ...

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