Performance - A Choice with No Options

7 March 2005 | Source: Business Standard
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Managing for quality is considered to be a prerequisite for an organization’s success in the market and the customer’s mind space. Over the years, the IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award (RBNQA) has been a symbol of a new era of competitiveness and has captured the imagination of many business leaders in India. They have realised that high quality and performance standards must be maintained to compete against increasing globalisation. In addition, executives have endorsed RBNQA as a useful tool as it stimulates real competition. To know more about how the Indian business community is adopting the IMC RBNQA criteria for quality and performance breakthroughs, read on.

To stay ahead of the competition in a highly dynamic global market, manufacturing and service industries are always striving to improve their operational efficiency and market effectiveness. The ultimate aim is to better the product and service quality at reduced costs and meet customer’s expectations, stated as well as implied. Today, there are several best practices, nurtured in India, available for leaders, engineers, quality professionals, manufacturing managers, service providers as well as customers in the large and small businesses.

Symbol of Excellence

When the IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Award (RBNQA) Program commenced in India in 1996, we were in the right place at the right time with the right idea. Over these years, the RBNQA has captured the imagination of many leaders, symptomatic of a new era of competitiveness. The RBNQA has rapidly become India’s premier symbol of excellence – for six good reasons:

  1. There was fertile soil. Post liberalization, there was a general awareness that quality in the country was not keeping pace with that of our competitors; an awareness that we needed to improve quality to compete globally. The RBNQA gave us a vehicle to marshall our energies and to take positive steps toward addressing a commitment to business excellence.
  2. The RBNQA created a clear, tough, universal standard. Before the RBNQA, there were many definitions of quality, and many tools for measuring quality. Communication was difficult resulting in additional costs and confusion in doing business. Through the RBNQA, we tried to create a consensus, a common concept of quality. We also created a feedback system to permit meaningful diagnosis and feedback. Because the RBNQA criteria are non-prescriptive and adaptable, some non-business organizations benchmark against them. For example, leaders in educational institutions and hospitals are using the RBNQA standards to support their work.
  3. The RBNQA criteria integrate all the important quality concepts and themes into one comprehensive standard. For example, we show how the concept of continuous improvement pertains to all functions and operations within an organization. In effect, we weave all of the important quality threads into the tapestry of the RBNQA.
  4. The RBNQA emphasizes high integrity and thorough competence. We were fortunate to attract several Indian quality professionals in designing the criteria in 1995-96 (updated annually). Their competence and integrity created a foundation of credibility needed for a high prestige award.
  5. The award winning companies took seriously the charge to be quality advocates. They have spread the quality message very fast, very effectively and very generously. To date, the winners have given hundreds of presentations – reaching many more organizations. The level of sharing is amazing.
  6. Indian executives have rallied around the RBNQA and its high standards. They recognize that high standards must be met to compete against international competition in India and overseas. In addition, executives find the RBNQA criteria are a useful and meaningful tool because they stimulate real competition. Their use helps to pinpoint what needs to be done and accelerates the pace of improvement.

RBNQA Criteria Framwork

Core Values and Concepts
The criteria are built upon the following set of interrelated core values and concepts:

  • Visionary leadership
  • Customer - driven excellence
  • Organizational and personal learning
  • Valuing employees and partners
  • Agility
  • Focus on the future
  • Managing for innovation
  • Management for innovation
  • Management by fact
  • Social responsibility
  • Focus on results and creative value
  • Systems perspective.

These values and concepts are embedded beliefs and behaviors found in high-performing organizations. They are the foundation for integrating key business requirements within a results-oriented framework. A framework that creates a basis for action and feedback.

Features of the Award
There are three applicant categories for the RBNQA: manufacturing organizations; service organizations; and small businesses. Only one award is presented in each of the three categories. If the standards of the award are not met, no award is announced. An organization receiving an award is ineligible to apply for another award in the same category for a period of five years.

Tata Chemicals, Mithapur
On 14 January 2005, the Panel of Judges for the IMC RBNQA met to review the recommendations of the IMC Awards Committee and select the winners for the 2004 cycle. As indicated earlier, only one award should be presented in a category. The 2004 cycle experienced a hairline thin tie amongst five applicants in the manufacturing category. Eventually, and reluctantly, the panel agreed to declare two as winners in this category.

The panel selected the following:
Manufacturing:

  • Tata Chemicals Ltd, Mithapur
  • Bharat Heavy Electricals ltd, Ranipet

Service:

  • I-Flex Solutions Ltd, Mumbai

TCL
TCL has participated in the RBNQA competition for the past three cycles. It has steadily and substantially improved its scores over this period. Although it has a well-balanced score for all criteria, it stands distinguished for Customer and Market Focus.

The noteworthy observations for TCL under Customer and Market Focus are:

  • The application of Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to understand customer requirements
  • The process for listening to and learning from customers
  • The assessment of customer satisfaction using the Kano Model.

Also noteworthy is the process of internalization of values, and the model for management of human resources.

Today, TCL is the national market leader in soda ash and branded salt

Bharat Heavy Electricals, Ranipet
As in the case of TCL, the Boilers Auxillaries Plant has also participated in the RBNQA competition for the past three years. BHEL has distinguished itself in Process Management and Social Responsibility.

The noteworthy observations for BHEL are:

  • Strategic outsourcing of non-core activities and effective redeployment of human resources in core activities.
  • Development and nurturing of 100 ancillary units
  • Unique partnership with ISRO, based on BHEL’s capacity for precision machining
  • Water supply to 18 villages sponsored by BHEL, branded by the villagers as “BHEL-Water”.

BHEL is the first public sector undertaking to win the IMC RBNQA.

i-flex Solutions, Mumbai
i-flex solutions is yet one more IT organization to win the RBNQA in the service category. The previous winners have been Infosys Technologies and Satyam Computer Services. Over the course of two application cycles, i-flex has demonstrated effective, systematic, well-deployed approaches across the organization.

The noteworthy observations for i-flex are:

  • The establishment of a culture of execution
  • Conceiving, planning, and developing the world’s leading financial services software, FlexCube
  • Consistently delivering services on-time, to national and international clients.

i-flex is partly owned by Citigroup. Being part of the Citigroup, it enjoys a head-start in terms of technology and quality of human resources. It has used this advantage, efficiently and effectively.

The Challenge
What is at stake, over the next ten years, is the battle for economic and quality superiority. The outcome of this battle will shape our nation’s future for generations to come. I wish to encourage the Indian business community to adopt the IMC RBNQA criteria for quality and performance breakthroughs. According to me, this is a choice with no options.

CREDITS: Suresh Lulla, Founder & Mentor, Qimpro Consultants Pvt. Ltd.
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