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Methods And Techniques For Business Processes

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Businesses have a variety of tools and techniques available to improve and correct operations. Among those tools available for businesses to use is Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA), and Total Quality Management (TQM).

Plan – do - check – act, (PDCA) is a four-step problem solving iterative technique used to improve business processes. Shewhart introduced the concept in 1930. However it was Deming who came to represent the PDCA wheel (PDCA, n.d.). PDCA was developed as an analysis and measurement tool in order to identify deviation form customer demand. It can be used to improve both major performances as well as incremental improvements in projects and processes. The four phases involve, Plan - Identify and analyze the problem. Do – …show more content…

Communication between management and operators are not considered either. Also the PDCA cycle is limited and it applies more to improvement of individual processes than to a broader organizational change. It does not consider operational strategic objectives. These are just a few downsides with the PDCA cycle (Change management consultant, n.d.) Total Quality Management (TQM), is a management system that involves all organization functions, which focuses on meeting customers’ needs and organizational objectives which involve all employees continual improvement, and that seeks to improve the quality of products and services through ongoing refinements in response to continuous feedback (Rouse, 2005) There are requirements in order to implement TQM successfully. When an organization decides to implement TQM, top management needs to provide their total commitment. The person in the top management position would not only have to commit resources, but also a substantial amount of his or her own time. If others do not see the top leaders putting in the effort, they will think that it is not a priority. In their dedication to TQM their actions speak louder than words. It is important for the top management to lead and support the other employees. When TQM is implemented corporate culture change is needed, and people will resist the change. This makes it difficult, because people don’t like change. It has been proven that implementing change is difficult to

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