Learning Outcome : S.N List Learning Outcomes (LO) 1 Develop an appreciation of

Question

Learning Outcome:

S.N

List Learning Outcomes (LO)

1

Develop an appreciation of quality management theory, principles, and practices.

2

Identify and meet the needs of internal/external customers.

3

Implement Quality Improvement efforts using teams.

4

Use Quality Improvement tools and practices for continuous improvement.

5

Develop strategies for organizational change and transformation.

Assignment 1 – Case Study

The customer knows best: Atlantic are

TQM isn’t an easy management strategy to introduce into a business; in fact, many attempts tend to fall flat. More often than not, it’s because firms maintain natural barriers to full involvement. Middle managers, for example, tend to complain their authority is being challenged when boots on the ground are encouraged to speak up in the early stages of TQM. Yet in a culture of constant quality enhancement, the views of any given workforce are invaluable.

AtlantiCare in numbers

5,000
Employees

$280m
Profits before quality improvement strategy was implemented

$650m
Profits after quality improvement strategy

One firm that’s proven the merit of TQM is New Jersey-based healthcare provider AtlantiCare. Managing 5,000 employees at 25 locations, AtlantiCare is a serious business that’s boasted a respectable turnaround for nearly two decades. Yet in order to increase that margin further still, managers wanted to implement improvements across the board. Because patient satisfaction is the single-most important aspect of the healthcare industry, engaging in a renewed campaign of TQM proved a natural fit. The firm chose to adopt a ‘plan-do-check-act’ cycle, revealing gaps in staff communication – which subsequently meant longer patient waiting times and more complaints. To tackle this, managers explored a sideways method of internal communications. Instead of information trickling down from top-to-bottom, all of the company’s employees were given freedom to provide vital feedback at each and every level.

AtlantiCare decided to ensure all new employees understood this quality culture from the onset. At orientation, staff now receive a crash course in the company’s performance excellence framework – a management system that organises the firm’s processes into five key areas: quality, customer service, people and workplace, growth and financial performance. As employees rise through the ranks, this emphasis on improvement follows, so managers can operate within the company’s tight-loose-tight process management style.

After creating benchmark goals for employees to achieve at all levels – including better engagement at the point of delivery, increasing clinical communication and identifying and prioritizing service opportunities – AtlantiCare was able to thrive. The number of repeat customers at the firm tripled, and its market share hit a six-year high. Profits unsurprisingly followed. The firm’s revenues shot up from $280m to $650m after implementing the quality improvement strategies, and the number of patients being serviced dwarfed state numbers.

Answer The Following Questions (Short Answer):

With organizations to run and big orders to fill, why is it not a good practice to sacrifice quality for quantity? (2 - Marks)

By integrating a system of total quality management, can we make it possible to have both Quality and Quantity together? (2 - Marks)

What type of changes observed in AtlantiCare after implementation of Total Quality Management Strategies? (2- Marks)

What is the management decision to ensure that all new employees understood the quality culture in AtlantiCare from the onset?. (1-Marks)

1.

TQM is an effort to provide best feeling to customers by providing them highest level of value delivery. A customer might see the following changes in Atlantic are after the implementation of TQM,

1) Every people involved to provide best care to the patients.

2) An improved channel of communication

3) Patient satisfaction is key to success and it has been understood by this growing organization.

4) Employees at all levels will have some target and quality expectations to achieve.

     5) Customer are treated as key priority.

6) A movement for performance excellence.

7) Ethical orientation of a patient care/ An environment for business excellence.

S.N

List Learning Outcomes (LO)

1

Develop an appreciation of quality management theory, principles, and practices.

2

Identify and meet the needs of internal/external customers.

3

Implement Quality Improvement efforts using teams.

4

Use Quality Improvement tools and practices for continuous improvement.

5

Develop strategies for organizational change and transformation.

Explanation / Answer

1. By sacrificing quality for quantity, the organization is moving towards diminishing the value for customers, who might switch to the competitors once they are not satisfied with services, leading to the loss of business and loyal custoemrs.

2. Good quality enhances customer sasfaction, good word of mouth and increased business over the time, making both quality and quantity possible in the long run.

3. After implemetation of TQM, better customer focus, communication, enhanced customer touchpoints at the point of delivery led to enhanced customer satisfaction and increased repeat business , resulting in business growth, with firm's revenues clocking three times as high.

4. With the management's decision, all of the company’s employees were given freedom to provide vital feedback at each and every level, irrespective of their ranks. At orientation, all staff received a crash course in the company’s performance excellence framework that organised firm's processes in five areas viz. quality, customer service, people and workplace, growth and financial performance. Their emphasis on the quality increased as they grew in the rank within the organization.

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