How can we build Quality Organisations?
There has to be balance of knowledge. What does balance of knowledge mean? The
demand for the products in the market may fall because of two reasons: decline
in product quality and over production. When one produces more, one cannot sell
it in the market unless some value addition is there. When quantity of
production is more, unit price will have to be reduced so that the overall
sales will go up. This would result in increased revenues for the organisation.
Likewise even the cost per unit will also come down because of increased demand
and economies of scale. Organisations should neither over produce nor under
produce. This is referred to as balance of knowledge.
How is this balance maintained? Managers want to get a good name, earn a high
salary and cut down quality. This amounts to ‘killing’ (misuse) of knowledge.
Instead, if managers put their knowledge into practice for beneficial outcomes,
then knowledge would be converted into ‘skill’. Should managers ‘kill’ or
‘skill’ knowledge? When one kills knowledge, balance is lost. Insight or
intuitive abilities will be lost if one focuses one’s senses towards the
phenomenal world outside. Everything is a matter of attitude when viewed from a
higher altitude (perspective). This will be known and understood only through
personal experience. When it comes to issues of quality, managers should be
unyielding. Quality comes as a result of positive attitude.
Suppose there is a chief engineer and a junior engineer of a lower rank and
designation in a construction company. What is the difference between the two
of them? An ordinary engineer constructs a building with INR 30 lakhs but the
chief engineer takes INR 40 lakhs for the same. People think that it costs INR
40 lakhs because he is a chief engineer. One should bother about the quality of
construction of the building and not the designation of the engineer. What
should the engineer do to reduce the expenses? The building should have a long
life, should be convenient for the purpose meant and should also be moderately
priced. One who ensures all the three would deserve to be appointed as a chief
engineer. When the expenditure is too low, the life span would also be short
and the building may be unsafe owing to the inferior quality of construction.
How can such a person with doubtful credentials be a chief engineer? So it is
the responsibility of engineers to make sturdy structures providing all
facilities and amenities at moderate costs and charges.
Likewise, in business also, we require quality production, quality raw
materials, quality workers and quality contractors to ensure overall quality.
One should first consider the quality of raw materials used in the production
process. After that, one should see to it that there is no wastage of raw
materials. If the quality of raw materials is not up to the expected standards,
it may lead to lot of wastage later. There should be quality everywhere. For
example, there is a mill where threads are made of cotton. This requires
humidity in the climate to maintain wetness in the thread. If the threads are
not wet enough, they cannot be used. In dry weather, threads become weak and
break. Despite its proximity to Ooty (a hill station in the state of Tamil Nadu
in South India), the climate of Coimbatore (a major centre for textile
manufacturing in India) is very hot. Therefore, they keep coolers in the
factory in order to guarantee the wetness of the threads. Product quality can
be improved by creating certain additional facilities even if it means extra
expenditure.
Textile Mills in Coimbatore
Educated youth should be aware of the importance of inner quality and should
pursue good quality processes and initiatives with a steady and single-pointed
mind-set. They should not work for money but should work for the welfare of the
company and the society at large. They should explain all the problems to the
key organisational people in the organisation in a polite manner.
After the completion of studies, some students may get jobs in various
organisations. When they meet their seniors in the organisation, they start
comparing their salaries with them. This is not correct. Nowadays, management
graduates are working for money and not for quality. When a management graduate
gets a particular amount of salary, he should not compare it with others.
Instead, he should examine his conscience and put the following question to
himself: “Is the work I am doing for the company proportional to the salary I
receive? Am I doing work worth a salary of INR A? If I do not work worth a
salary of INR A, how can I desire a salary of INR B? So, the current level of
salary is enough for me even if it is a smaller amount. However, I should never
compromise on quality of work.” In this manner, if one develops one’s own
quality, very soon one will become entitled for one’s expected salary.
Certainly one will get that much and even much more. But for this, one should
develop such confidence. He who has much satisfaction is the richest person.
So, with full contentment one must do one’s work and render service for
whatever salary one gets at that point in time.
A manager should not think that he is getting less salary and because of that
he should change his job as he has been in the present organisation for over a
year. Even if the salary is less, it is good to continue in the organisation
for a longer time in order to strengthen one’s work experience. But if one
indulges in ‘job-hopping’ for the sake of salary hike, one would lose trust of
organisations in course of time. The management would say, “Hello sir”, but
nobody would believe such managers considering them as unreliable candidates
for any important position. The management would not share important
organisational information with such managers. When managers win the confidence
of the senior management executives, they would share all the confidential
organisational matters. So, one should be loyal to the organisation wherever
one is employed.
Managers should always think of ways and means of improving the quality of
products in the factory. The workers and senior management executives will then
gain confidence in such managers. Managers should not sit for long time in the
office room in an idle manner. They must visit the shop-floor or undertake
field work (in case of marketing and other staff functions) often and observe
how workers are working. When everything is in balance, the manager will get
value.
Source: Total Quality Management: Insights from Ancient Indian Wisdom, Chapter
20, Man Management: A Values-Based Management Perspective
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