Ram Narayanan SastryProduct Analyst| Toshiba Medical Systems CorporationNasushiobara-Shi, Tochigi-Ken, Japan
During my tenure as Project Manager, I have often seen an obsessive dream of the Quality departmetns to try and implement Japanese Quality Concepts such as Six Sigma, Kaizen or TQM. Most of the efforts at implementing these faced stiff resistance from the employees and also had an impact on the overall productivity of the teams without too much of added value in terms of quality. Now I work in Japan and have first hand experience of how these are implemented and my views on these quality concepts are very different now. I have captured my observations on this blog: https://ramadvice.wordpress.com/2016/05/22...ality-concepts/
What are your views on this? Do you guys concur with this analysis or do you view things differently?
Thanks for sharing. All I see - This page can’t be displayed
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1 reply by Ram Narayanan Sastry
Sep 20, 2016 7:17 AM
Ram Narayanan Sastry
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Hi Anupam,
I tried the link and it seemed to work. Can you try just copying the hyperlink and opening it in a new tab? Sorry this is my first post here, so not sure if there are any rules for sharing links or not.
Thanks,
Ram
Saving Changes...
Ram Narayanan SastryProduct Analyst| Toshiba Medical Systems CorporationNasushiobara-Shi, Tochigi-Ken, Japan
Sep 20, 2016 7:09 AM
Replying to Anupam
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Thanks for sharing. All I see - This page can’t be displayed
Hi Anupam,
I tried the link and it seemed to work. Can you try just copying the hyperlink and opening it in a new tab? Sorry this is my first post here, so not sure if there are any rules for sharing links or not.
Thanks,
Ram Saving Changes...
AKSHAY JAINPlanning Group Leader| YOKOGAWA, BahrainGwalior, Mp, India
In international scenario these quality practices are very old & common and do not face any resistance from employees. If you talking about Indian companies, yes these concepts are not very common and problem start first from quality of management. Finding of quality systems are misused by managements against employees so they resist such system and don't allow implementation and clearance of facts. For implementation of such practices in genuine sprit first companies need to have professional management.
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1 reply by Ram Narayanan Sastry
Sep 20, 2016 7:39 PM
Ram Narayanan Sastry
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I think in the International scenario as well, it is pretty much accepted in the manufacturing processes, but on the services side of things the implementation has been very challenging. I have experienced it myself with two global giants that I have worked with.
But, your point on management misusing the findings is a great one. I think over-reactive managements tend to increase the resistance for change. It is very important to have a bit of leniency while starting of the processes with a slow tightening of the screws over time.
Saving Changes...
Sergio Luis ConteHelping to create solutions for everyone| Worldwide based OrganizationsBuenos Aires, Argentina
Those quality practices are the basement for new "buzzwords" like agile (agile is a reality, but it becomes a buzzwords). The problem with this practices is the same than other things that becomes buzzwords: some people do not understand that a whole organization transformation is needed. And by the way, lot of people talk about that principles and practices without really understand it.
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1 reply by Ram Narayanan Sastry
Sep 20, 2016 7:41 PM
Ram Narayanan Sastry
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That's a good point. Companies adopting these for buzzwords really struggle and it is important to understand that there is a lot of hardwork and commitment behind these and not just buzzwords.
And completely agree with your point that there are too many self professed experts who only understand things at a superfluous level and do not clearly understand the issues involved.
Saving Changes...
Ram Narayanan SastryProduct Analyst| Toshiba Medical Systems CorporationNasushiobara-Shi, Tochigi-Ken, Japan
Sep 20, 2016 10:32 AM
Replying to AKSHAY JAIN
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In international scenario these quality practices are very old & common and do not face any resistance from employees. If you talking about Indian companies, yes these concepts are not very common and problem start first from quality of management. Finding of quality systems are misused by managements against employees so they resist such system and don't allow implementation and clearance of facts. For implementation of such practices in genuine sprit first companies need to have professional management.
I think in the International scenario as well, it is pretty much accepted in the manufacturing processes, but on the services side of things the implementation has been very challenging. I have experienced it myself with two global giants that I have worked with.
But, your point on management misusing the findings is a great one. I think over-reactive managements tend to increase the resistance for change. It is very important to have a bit of leniency while starting of the processes with a slow tightening of the screws over time. Saving Changes...
Ram Narayanan SastryProduct Analyst| Toshiba Medical Systems CorporationNasushiobara-Shi, Tochigi-Ken, Japan
Sep 20, 2016 3:14 PM
Replying to Sergio Luis Conte
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Those quality practices are the basement for new "buzzwords" like agile (agile is a reality, but it becomes a buzzwords). The problem with this practices is the same than other things that becomes buzzwords: some people do not understand that a whole organization transformation is needed. And by the way, lot of people talk about that principles and practices without really understand it.
That's a good point. Companies adopting these for buzzwords really struggle and it is important to understand that there is a lot of hardwork and commitment behind these and not just buzzwords.
And completely agree with your point that there are too many self professed experts who only understand things at a superfluous level and do not clearly understand the issues involved. Saving Changes...
Lyndon SmilingProgram Manager| Lockheed MartinCorpus Christi, Tx, United States
I enjoyed reading your blog and agree that the culture of the workforce will play a big part in the success of a quality process/program. I believe the tone at the top and the commitment of the management team also plays a big role in success of any such program. I have successfully employed some of these so called "buzzwords" by portraying my commitment to its success to my team/directs and getting the buy in of my senior management. We were able to reduce our error rate from 15% to less than 0.1% over the course of a year. I believe we were able to do this because I convinced the influencers of my group of my commitment and belief in the process and they in turn convinced their peers to make it work. With that we changed a little of the culture of the work force but retained the good old American work ethic. Saving Changes...
In the automotive world Japanesse quality concepts are the norm. It brings a leadn manufacturing system and a constant feedback loop for continuing improvement. None of the systems work properly unless there is a top down approach from senior management. Saving Changes...
I agree with Robin, none of the systems works if there isn't commitment from management. Some companies want to implement those practices but without understanting the philosophy and true commitment they fail to implement it. Saving Changes...
Primary concern is about culture and strive for quality. Every one irrespective of culture wants the end result well but not one wants to go for a rigorous process of achieving quality. I worked with Japanese teams and they follow the rules strictly.
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1 reply by Andrew Soswa
Mar 23, 2020 2:45 PM
Andrew Soswa
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I agree with Pravin. Educational concepts and philosophical discussions are based on one type of employee, mainly because educational courses and book writers are basing their assumptions on the research that most of the time takes place in one location on a carefully selected sample.
Then, people try to uplift it and drop it on people who don't understand the underlying cultural and organizational values of own organization, as well as the system where it came from.
I am firm believer, on the other hand, that it is possible to make i.e. Kaizen work. It takes Champion (not a top-down hierarchy) to help people get there (so they make it their choice to adopt it).
