To telescopically look into the future, one needs to reflect on the past. At least in the macro. To the surprise of most, India played a significant role in the history of quality. Globally. A significant reference to India in “History of Managing for Quality” edited by the quality guru, Dr J M Juran, bears testimony.
In the days when historians assumed that history began with Greece, the Greek historian Herodotus recorded the first known reference to cotton grown in India. “Certain wild trees there bear wool instead of fruit, which in beauty and quality excels that of sheep; and the Indians make their clothing from these trees.” Arab travellers in Ninth Century India reported that “in this country they make garments of such extraordinary perfection and nowhere else is their like to be seen…sewed and woven to such a degree of fineness, they may be drawn through a ring of moderate size.”
History Speaks
But weaving was only one of the many handicrafts of India. Europe looked up to Indian expertise in almost every line of manufacture…wood-work, ivory-work, metal-work, bleaching, dyeing, tanning, soap-making, glass-blowing, gunpowder, fireworks and cement. Much of the gold used in the Persian Empire, in Fifth Century before Christ, came from India. The art of tempering and casting iron developed in India long before its known appearance in Europe; Vikramaditya, for example, erected at Delhi (circa 380 AD) an iron pillar that stands untarnished after sixteen centuries. And the quality of metal, or manner of treatment, which has preserved it from rust or decay, is still a mystery to modern science. The industrial revolution taught Europe to scale up manufacturing operations more cheaply, and Indian industry faded into obscurity being unable to stave of competition.
Today, India stands at the threshold of a new WTO driven economy, with her industry having cast off its inhibitions and ready for the big push towards the global market.
TQM Unplugged
For the uninitiated, let me demystify TQM (total quality management). Simply stated, the icon for TQM is the craftsman. What attributes does one associate with the craftsman? Customer knowledge; ability to translate customer needs to product features; skill to produce the features, economically; survival of the family (and generations) dependant on customer satisfaction/loyalty; ownership of the entire process from understanding customer needs, to order execution, to support services; word of mouth recommendations; etc. This is TQM.
The industrial revolution impacted quality of work significantly. The aim of the revolution was to produce more. In the process, work got divided into functions. Production goals were met, at any cost. However, quality suffered. Then came the Second World War. Japan, a shattered nation, with no buying power, decided to redefine the rules of manufacturing for survival and success. Their aim was economic aggression, with no capital investment. Simply translated, the objective was high quality and low cost in order to be globally competitive. They consequently demonstrated how craftsman-like skills could be used in manufacturing to deliver perfect quality, at the lowest cost and just-in-time. TQM was born. An avataar of the craftsman, in an industrial environment.
Quality of Management Performance
The future, there are strong indications, will redefine the term quality (or for that matter TQM). From the original product quality and contemporary process quality, to quality of management performance. What exactly is quality of management performance? It entails a complex combination of factors and processes sandwiched between an input of leadership, and an output of customer satisfaction. The sandwich will need multi-layers of spice and nourishment that the bland ISO 9000 is incapable of providing. In addition to ISO 9000 requirements, the basic system will envelope human resources, communication, information technology, costing, marketing, distribution, quality/business indicators, problem solving, customer relations, etc. Each element of the upgraded system will need to be creatively innovated and improved, continually. The degree of balance in the elements will be measurable. Global customers will derive assurance in their supplier relations through the rating of management performance. Quality ratings of management performance will be the pre-qualification for complex international business relationships. And joint costing of customer-supplier processes, will be the requirement for establishing the contract.
High-trust Culture
Through the force of international competition, high quality and low cost will establish viability. However, to achieve high quality and low cost will require a ‘high-trust’ culture. High trust does, and will, give one the ability to develop mutually beneficial partnerships inside and outside the organisation…with customers, with suppliers, with employees, with everyone. In turn, one cannot achieve a high-trust culture - based on absolute trustworthiness throughout the organisation – without being principle centered. Trust evolves from principles. These principles are universally accepted and pertain to human relationships, for example, honesty, integrity, justice, etc. They are self-evident. These principles are like natural laws that operate regardless of whether one decides to obey them or not.
The great value of a high-trust culture is that it brings together idealism and pragmatism. It becomes the basis for both empowerment and quality. How can one empower people if we do not have high-trust? Empowerment and quality will be totally integrated in a high-trust culture.
In the future, people will be the most valuable corporate asset. Leaders will be seeking hundred-fold more gains from human performance. As a result, leaders will need to help the people believe in their super-potential. After all, the human resource will be the only ‘appreciating’ asset of the organisation. Goethe said: “Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is; treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should be”. So one will have to believe in the unseen human potential. Otherwise, one will only get status quo performance – business as usual. That will create no cut in the global economy.
Creativity Tools
One of the major factors for extraordinary human performance will be creativity. The incremental process improvement methods learned from the Japanese will give way to dramatic breakthroughs, to deal with the deep changes in the business environment. New tools, namely, creativity tools will offer the cutting edge. Creativity is the ability of people to generate new designs, products, or ideas that, until the moment of generation are completely unknown to the creator. These ideas may be an outcome of imaginative thinking, or the combination of thinking and forming new patterns, or they come out of a group’s experiences. The result is more than the sum of what is already known. The creative product or result must be useful and capable of being implemented. It cannot exist forever in one’s imagination. The creativity process is more than dreaming. It must eventually result in a tangible product or service, though not necessarily flawless and complete.
When used effectively, the creativity tools will help to stimulate and accelerate creative thinking and eliminate restrictions on how people think they should be thinking. Some tools that will have widespread application include heuristic redefinition, classic brainstorming, brainwriting 6-3-5, imaginary brainstorming, word-picture associations and analogies, TILMAG, and morphological box. The creativity tools are equally applicable in the process, manufacturing and service industries.
Quality-driven Service System
The next decade will belong to service providers. One of the key service-quality challenges in the future will be service design. Service design is a form of architecture that involves processes rather than brick mortar. The aim will be to design high quality into the service system from the outset. In other words, to consider and respond to customers’ expectations in designing each element of the service along the QFD (quality function deployment) path. Technology will be the foundation for enhancing the quality of service. The dimensions of service-quality will be tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy.
I believe excellent service will be a genuine key to a better future – for those who give service, as well as, for those who receive it; for companies that make things, as well as, for companies traditionally labeled service businesses; for our country’s national pride, as well as, it’s economic competitiveness. This is the new age of the service economy in India. What kind of future is in store for our citizens, our communities, our industries, our economy, and our national self-respect if our service is slovenly, uncaring, incompetent?
To address the above issue, organisations will and must invest enormous sums in education and training. The focus will be on professional certification and periodic re-certification on the following specialisations: quality management, quality engineering, reliability engineering, software quality engineering, quality auditing, human potential, creativity tools, and measurement of management performance. Each certification course will have the customer as the fulcrum. Education will be the singular capital intensive quality activity of world-class organisations.
This Pareto of the future of TQM is almost certain.
But I do have a few stray thoughts. Backend software quality will be the primary focus of quality professionals. Global Indian companies will concentrate on quality of packaging design, mainly for product protection. Reliability engineering will be the driver for the automotive and engineering sectors. The Prime Minister’s office will have a quality council. Systems for quality, safety and the environment, will be integrated.
Are these really stray thoughts?
CREDITS: Suresh Lulla, Founder & Mentor, Qimpro Consultants Pvt. Ltd.