Quality Assurance, TQM, and 6 Sigma

Purpose – Recent operations management research suggests that adopting and implementing the right practices are essential to attaining “world-class” performance. The purpose of this paper is to report the leading operations management practices and the strategy deployment framework that emerged from a qualitative study that addressed the question of how managers implement strategy in an organisational excellence environment.
Design/methodology/approach – Group work with managers responsible for implementing strategic initiatives was followed by case studies of seven organisations via in-depth semi-structured interviews. A survey questionnaire strengthened the validity of the constructs of strategy deployment that were identified in the case analyses.
Findings – In total, seven strategy deployment constructs were identified and linkages between them are described. The 50 leading deployment practices indicate a mix of hard and soft management skills applied across the seven constructs.
Practical implications – The leading deployment practices have the potential to raise the performance of organisations by improving the implementation of strategic initiatives. The framework is relevant to the deployment of both corporate and business unit strategy such as manufacturing or operations, and should be of interest to managers in these areas.
Originality/value – Researchers have noted for more than a decade that no generally accepted framework of operations management practices has emerged for strategy implementation. Most strategy studies have focused on strategy formulation, content, or on project/programme management. There have been few multiple case studies of leading strategy deployment practices in diverse organisations from both private and public sectors.

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of cost escalation in transportation infrastructure projects. Based on a sample of 258 transportation infrastructure projects worth US$90 billion and representing different project types, geographical regions, and historical periods, it is found with overwhelming statistical significance that the cost estimates used to decide whether such projects should be built are highly and systematically misleading. Underestimation cannot be explained by error and is best explained by strategic misrepresentation, that is, lying. The policy implications are clear: legislators, administrators, investors, media representatives, and members of the public who value honest numbers should not trust cost estimates and cost-benefit analyses produced by project promoters and their analysts.

Considering the importance of the service quality and the position of banks in the global and national economy, the main objective of this study was to design a total quality model in Qavamin Bank to align the organization's strategies, improve performance, and improve customer satisfaction. In the first step, after reviewing various groups of the Qavamin Bank processes, accounting processes were selected by the managers of the bank as sample processes. Then, using the six dimensions of the balanced scorecard, some indicators were defined for selecting the strategic process. After collecting data of indicators using cross-efficiency model in data envelop-ment analysis, " replacing the customer account book " was selected as the strategic process. In the next step, using the five phases of the DMAIC cycle in the lean six sigma methodology, the sigma level of the process was measured. After implementing the six sigma methodology, the process sigma level was increased from 2.84 to 2.88 and the average process time was reduced from 3 to 2 min and 40 s. The results showed the successful design and implementation of the total quality model in Ghavamin Bank for the process of " replacing the customer's account book ". Finally,to measure the level of realization of the designed model’s objectives, the research
hypotheses were tested using one-sample t-test. The results of the hypothesis test
showed that all three objectives of the total quality model were met.

Total Management System or Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management system that focuses on the Customer by involving all levels of employees in upgrading or continuous improvement. Total Quality Management used data and effective communication to integrate his discipline into the culture and quality of company activities. In short, Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach to achieve long-term success through customer satisfaction. This study had two objectives. The first objective was to examine challenges when implementing TQM in public organisations. The second objective was to argues that TQM brings good implications to public services to enhance service quality.

Back cover text: Megaprojects and Risk provides the first detailed examination of the phenomenon of megaprojects. It is a fascinating account of how the promoters of multi-billion dollar megaprojects systematically and self-servingly misinform parliaments, the public and the media in order to get projects approved and built. It shows, in unusual depth, how the formula for approval is an unhealthy cocktail of underestimated costs, overestimated revenues, undervalued environmental impacts and overvalued economic development effects. This results in projects that are extremely risky, but where the risk is concealed from MPs, taxpayers and investors. The authors not only explore the problems but also suggest practical solutions drawing on theory, experience and hard, scientific evidence from the several hundred projects in twenty nations and five continents that illustrate the book. Accessibly written, it will be the standard reference for students, scholars, planners, economists, auditors, politicians and interested citizens for many years to come.

The article first describes characteristics of major infrastructure projects. Second, it documents a much neglected topic in economics: that ex ante estimates of costs and benefits are often very different from actual ex post costs and benefits. For large infrastructure projects the consequences are cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and the systematic underestimation of risks. Third, implications for cost–benefit analysis are described, including that such analysis is not to be trusted for major infrastructure projects. Fourth, the article uncovers the causes of this state of affairs in terms of perverse incentives that encourage promoters to underestimate costs and overestimate benefits in the business cases for their projects. But the projects that are made to look best on paper are the projects that amass the highest cost overruns and benefit shortfalls in reality. The article depicts this situation as ‘survival of the unfittest’. Fifth, the article sets out to explain how the problem may be solved, with a view to arriving at more efficient and more democratic projects, and avoiding the scandals that often accompany major infrastructure investments. Finally, the article identifies current trends in major infrastructure development. It is argued that a rapid increase in stimulus spending, combined with more investments in emerging economies, combined with more spending on information technology is catapulting infrastructure investment from the frying pan into the fire.

This report aims to uncover whether the four largest UK supermarkets; Tesco, ASDA, Morrisons and J.Sainsbury’s can gain a competitive advantage through the use of operations management, and whether any advantage gained from it can be transferred between organisations. The writer concentrates on the use of Just-In-Time (JIT) inventory management, Total Quality Management (TQM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as three models that may provide a competitive advantage if used, as well as the use of Benchmarking as a means to transfer the competitive advantage between organisations. The writer firstly reviews available literature on the four models previously mentioned, and then analyses their applicability to the four organisations under investigation through the questioning of managers, employees and customers of the four organisations. In addition, the writer also uses a method of statistically analysing the inventory levels of the four organisations as a means of analysing JIT. The results from the two data collection methods prove that the organisations can gain a competitive advantage through the use of JIT, TQM and/or CRM. However the results also provided evidence that a competitive advantage gained through operational management is often unique to the organisation and is thus non-transferable and may not prove effective if benchmarked again.

"Abstract
Continuous improvement initiatives are of increasing importance due to the high operating risks of engineering, procurement, and construction management (EPCM) firms in the oil and gas sector ($188 billion worth of oil and gas projects in 2008). This article describes a continuous improvement framework that translates performance problems into an action plan and helps to prevent their recurrence."
Key Words: ‪‎Quality‬, ‪‎improvement‬, ‪‎PDCA‬, ‪KPI‬, ‪‎EPC‬, ‪‎EPCM‬, ‪‎Engineering,‬ ‪‎Procurement, Construction‬

The Supplementary Green Book Guidance on Optimism Bias (HM Treasury 2003) with reference to the Review of Large Public Procurement in the UK (Mott MacDonald 2002) notes that there is a demonstrated, systematic, tendency for project appraisers to be overly optimistic and that to redress this tendency appraisers should make explicit, empirically based adjustments to the estimates of a project’s costs, benefits, and duration. HM Treasury recommends that these adjustments be based on data from past projects or similar projects elsewhere, and adjusted for the unique characteristics of the project in hand. In the absence of a more specific evidence base, HM Treasury has encouraged departments to collect data to inform future estimates of optimism, and in the meantime use the best available data. In response to this, the Department for Transport (henceforth DfT), has contracted Bent Flyvbjerg in association with COWI to undertake the consultancy assignment "Procedures for dealing with Optimism Bias in Transport Planning". The present Guidance Document is the result of this assignment.

"Over budget, over time, over and over again" appears to be an appropriate slogan for large, complex infrastructure projects. This article explains why cost, benefits, and time forecasts for such projects are systematically over-optimistic in the planning phase. The underlying reasons for forecasting errors are grouped into three categories: delusions or honest mistakes; deceptions or strategic manipulation of information or processes; or bad luck. Delusion and deception have each been addressed in the management literature before, but here they are jointly considered for the first time. They are specifically applied to infrastructure problems in a manner that allows both academics and practitioners to understand and implement the suggested corrective procedures. The article provides a framework for analyzing the relative explanatory power of delusion and deception. It also suggests a simplified framework for analyzing the complex principal-agent relationships that are involved in the approval and construction of large infrastructure projects, which can be used to improve forecasts. Finally, the article illustrates reference class forecasting, an outside view de-biasing technique that has proven successful in overcoming both delusion and deception in private and public investment decisions.

This article presents results from the first statistically significant study of traffic forecasts in transportation infrastructure projects. The sample used is the largest of its kind, covering 210 projects in 14 nations worth U.S.$59 billion. The study shows with very high statistical significance that forecasters generally do a poor job of estimating the demand for transportation infrastructure projects. For 9 out of 10 rail projects, passenger forecasts are overestimated; the average overestimation is 106%. For half of all road projects, the difference between actual and forecasted traffic is more than ±20%. The result is substantial financial risks, which are typically ignored or downplayed by planners and decision makers to the detriment of social and economic welfare. Our data also show that forecasts have not become more accurate over the 30-year period studied, despite claims to the contrary by forecasters. The causes of inaccuracy in forecasts are different for rail and road projects, with political causes playing a larger role for rail than for road. The cure is transparency, accountability, and new forecasting methods. The challenge is to change the governance structures for forecasting and project development. Our article shows how planners may help achieve this.

Do different types of megaprojects have different cost overruns? This apparently simple question is at the heart of research at the University of Oxford aimed at understanding the characteristics of megaprojects, particularly in terms of how they are established, run and concluded. In this study, we set out to investigate cost overruns in the Olympic Games. To do so, we examined the costs of the Games over half a century, including both summer and winter Olympics. We looked at the evolution of final reported costs and compared these to the costs established in the Games bids, submitted to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) up to seven years before the Games occurred. In so doing we established the largest dataset of its kind, and documented for the first time in a consistent fashion the costs and cost overruns for the Olympic Games, from 1960 to 2012. We discovered that the Games stand out in two distinct ways compared to other megaprojects: (1) The Games overrun with 100 per cent consistency. No other type of megaproject is this consistent regarding cost overrun. Other project types are typically on budget from time to time, but not the Olympics. (2) With an average cost overrun in real terms of 179 per cent – and 324 per cent in nominal terms – overruns in the Games have historically been significantly larger than for other types of megaprojects, including infrastructure, construction, ICT, and dams. The data thus show that for a city and nation to decide to host the Olympic Games is to take on one of the most financially risky type of megaproject that exists, something that many cities and nations have learned to their peril. For the London 2012 Games, we find that: (1) With sports-related real costs currently estimated at USD14.8 billion, London is on track to become the most costly Olympics ever. (2) With a projected cost overrun of 101 per cent in real terms, overrun for London is below the historical average for the Games, but not significantly so. (3) The London cost overrun is, however, significantly higher than overruns for recent Games since 1999. London therefore is reversing a positive trend of falling cost overruns for the Games.

I. INTRODUCTION A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Quality service delivery is the gap between the anticipated and the actual perceived service (Ababneh, 2017). According to Blythe (2013), quality service delivery is the capacity of an organization to match clients' expectations with perceived service. Many service companies attempt to deliver the best possible and excellent services to their clients unfortunately they still fall short of the clients' expectations because today's clients demand top-notch services (Ladhari, 2012). There is need for an adoption of a strategic management philosophy that can enable hotels to offer the best service to their customers and at the same time remain profitable (Reimer & Kuehn, 2015; Garcıa & Caro, 2013). Companies worldwide Abstract: TQM has had an immense impact on product and quality service delivery in the manufacturing and other service sectors and therefore hotels can consider adopting the same to make better their quality service delivery. The study sought to establish the effects of total quality management practices on quality service delivery in 3 to 5-star hotels in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study included; to establish the effects of customer focus, employee empowerment, management commitment, and continuous improvement on quality service delivery in 3 to 5-star hotels in Nairobi City County. The research employed a descriptive research design and a cross-sectional survey. The target population was 30 hotels rated 3 to 5-star as per the Tourism Regulatory Authority 2018 classification register and 117 head of departments from 13 departments and 30 managers. The study used purposive sampling for hotel managers and stratified sampling for head of departments. The head of departments were selected from; food & beverage production, security, front office, IT, safety & emergency, housekeeping, procurement, food & beverage service, finance & control, maintenance, human resources, banqueting, and sales & marketing. Research questionnaires were employed to gather primary data. The validity of the questionnaire was ensured through content validity and face validity while the reliability of the instrument was ensured through a pilot study. The collected data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics involving multiple linear regression analysis. The findings indicated that customer focus, employee empowerment, continuous improvement, and top management commitment had statistically significant effects on quality service delivery in 3 to 5-star hotels with 'R' and 'P' values of (R=0. 982; P=0.000), (R=0.946; P=0.000), (R=0.888; P=0.000) and (R=0. 857; P=0.000) respectively. The findings supported the theoretical foundation of TQM practices, which take note of the importance of continuous training of staff, giving priority to customer needs and the need for top management leadership in the adoption and execution of TQM. This study thus recommends that 3 to 5-star hotels should conduct an analysis of staff skills, build capacity through continuous training, reward employees commensurately, and involve employees in decision-making processes. Further, these hotels should use statistical methods to check on quality, have clearly defined policies on quality, conduct internal quality audits, use benchmarks and use quality tools to make decisions.

As megaprojects have become ubiquitous, their real benefits and costs have come under increased scrutiny. We interviewed Bent Flyvbjerg, who has extensively studied megaproject development. Flyvbjerg has found systematic problems in the development process: by intentionally misrepresenting information and deliberately disregarding risks, proponents instigate projects that result in fewer benefits and higher costs than promised.

Back cover text: This book aims to enlarge the understanding of decision-making on mega-projects and suggest recommendations for a more effective, efficient and democratic approach. Authors from different scientific disciplines address various aspects of the decision-making process, such as management characteristics and cost-benefit analysis, planning and innovation and competition and institutions. The subject matter is highly diverse, but certain questions remain at the forefront. For example, how do we deal with protracted preparation processes, how do we tackle risks and uncertainties, and how can we best divide the risks and responsibilities among the private and public players throughout the different phases of the project? - Presenting a state-of-the-art overview, based on experiences and visions of authors from Europe and North America, this unique book will be of interest to practitioners of large-scale project management, politicians, public officials and private organisations involved in mega-project decision-making. It will also appeal to researchers, consultants and students dealing with substantial engineering projects, complex systems, project management and transport infrastructure.

This paper focuses on problems and their causes and cures in policy and planning for large infrastructure projects. First, it identifies as the main problem in major infrastructure development pervasive misinformation about the costs, benefits, and risks involved. A consequence of misinformation is massive cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and waste. Second, the paper explores the causes of misinformation and finds that political-economic explanations best account for the available evidence: planners and promoters deliberately misrepresent costs, benefits, and risks in order to increase the likelihood that it is their projects, and not the competition's, that gain approval and funding. This results in the "survival of the unfittest," where often it is not the best projects that are built, but the most misrepresented ones. Finally, the paper presents measures for reforming policy and planning for large infrastructure projects, with a focus on better planning methods and changed governance structures, the latter being more important.

Risk, including economic risk, is increasingly a concern for public policy and management. The possibility of dealing effectively with risk is hampered, however, by lack of a sound empirical basis for risk assessment and management. This article demonstrates the general point for cost and demand risks in urban rail projects. The article presents empirical evidence that allow valid economic risk assessment and management of urban rail projects, including benchmarking of individual or groups of projects. Benchmarking of the Copenhagen Metro is presented as a case in point. The approach developed is proposed as a model for other types of policies and projects in order to improve economic and financial risk assessment and management in policy and planning.

O objetivo do presente estudo foi analisar e identificar o quanto os custos da não qualidade impactam sobre o faturamento de uma indústria de confecção situada na região sudoeste da Bahia. Tal tipo de análise é de fundamental importância para o bom posicionamento de qualquer negócio, independente do seu ramo de atuação, uma vez que lança luz a um aspecto usualmente pouco explorado. Sendo assim, quantificar o quanto a não entrega/execução de um produto/serviço com qualidade gera sobre as receitas do negócio é fundamental, ou seja, o custo da não qualidade é um importante indicador que deve ser observado a fim de conferir ações que gerem uma maior competitividade à empresa. Com o uso da bibliografia citada no presente estudo, o estudo de caso comprova de modo claro que os custos com a não qualidade impactam de maneira efetiva no faturamento das organizações, apesar do pequeno valor percentual, em termos monetários o impacto é significativo, na unidade fabril em análise pôde-se apurar um prejuízo na ordem de meio milhão de reais que deixaram de ser obtidos com a venda dos produtos produzidos por conta de o nível de qualidade das peças estarem aquém do esperado pelo cliente.

Out-of-control information technology (IT) projects have ended the careers of top managers, such as EADS CEO Noël Forgeard and Levi Strauss’ CIO David Bergen. Moreover, IT projects have brought down whole companies, like Kmart in the US and Auto Windscreen in the UK. Software and other IT is now such an integral part of most business processes and products that CEOs must know their IT risks, which are typically substantial – and overlooked. The analysis of a sample of 1,471 IT projects showed that the average cost overrun was 27% — but that figure masks a far more alarming “fat tail” risk.  Fully one in six of the projects in the sample was a Black Swan, with a cost overrun of 200%, on average, and a schedule overrun of almost 70%. This highlights the true pitfall of IT change initiatives: It’s not that they’re particularly prone to high cost overruns on average – it is that there are a disproportionate number of Black Swans. By focusing on averages instead of the more damaging outliers, most managers and consultants have been missing the real risk in doing IT. In conclusion, the article outlines ideas as to what can be done to avoid Black Swans.

I. INTRODUCTION A. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Quality service delivery is the gap between the anticipated and the actual perceived service (Ababneh, 2017). According to Blythe (2013), quality service delivery is the capacity of an organization to match clients' expectations with perceived service. Many service companies attempt to deliver the best possible and excellent services to their clients unfortunately they still fall short of the clients' expectations because today's clients demand top-notch services (Ladhari, 2012). There is need for an adoption of a strategic management philosophy that can enable hotels to offer the best service to their customers and at the same time remain profitable (Reimer & Kuehn, 2015; Garcıa & Caro, 2013). Companies worldwide Abstract: TQM has had an immense impact on product and quality service delivery in the manufacturing and other service sectors and therefore hotels can consider adopting the same to make better their quality service delivery. The study sought to establish the effects of total quality management practices on quality service delivery in 3 to 5-star hotels in Nairobi City County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study included; to establish the effects of customer focus, employee empowerment, management commitment, and continuous improvement on quality service delivery in 3 to 5-star hotels in Nairobi City County. The research employed a descriptive research design and a cross-sectional survey. The target population was 30 hotels rated 3 to 5-star as per the Tourism Regulatory Authority 2018 classification register and 117 head of departments from 13 departments and 30 managers. The study used purposive sampling for hotel managers and stratified sampling for head of departments. The head of departments were selected from; food & beverage production, security, front office, IT, safety & emergency, housekeeping, procurement, food & beverage service, finance & control, maintenance, human resources, banqueting, and sales & marketing. Research questionnaires were employed to gather primary data. The validity of the questionnaire was ensured through content validity and face validity while the reliability of the instrument was ensured through a pilot study. The collected data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics involving multiple linear regression analysis. The findings indicated that customer focus, employee empowerment, continuous improvement, and top management commitment had statistically significant effects on quality service delivery in 3 to 5-star hotels with 'R' and 'P' values of (R=0. 982; P=0.000), (R=0.946; P=0.000), (R=0.888; P=0.000) and (R=0. 857; P=0.000) respectively. The findings supported the theoretical foundation of TQM practices, which take note of the importance of continuous training of staff, giving priority to customer needs and the need for top management leadership in the adoption and execution of TQM. This study thus recommends that 3 to 5-star hotels should conduct an analysis of staff skills, build capacity through continuous training, reward employees commensurately, and involve employees in decision-making processes. Further, these hotels should use statistical methods to check on quality, have clearly defined policies on quality, conduct internal quality audits, use benchmarks and use quality tools to make decisions.

This paper focuses on problems and their causes and cures in policy and planning for large-infrastructure projects. First, it identifies as the main problem in major infrastructure developments pervasive misinformation about the costs, benefits, and risks involved. A consequence of misinformation is cost overruns, benefit shortfalls, and waste. Second, it explores the causes of misinformation and finds that political-economic explanations best account for the available evidence: planners and promoters deliberately misrepresent costs, benefits, and risks in order to increase the likelihood that it is their projects, and not those of their competition, that gain approval and funding. This results in the ‘survival of the unfittest’, in which often it is not the best projects that are built, but the most misrepresented ones. Finally, it presents measures for reforming policy and planning for large-infrastructure projects with a focus on better planning methods and changed governance structures, the latter being more important.

A major source of risk in project management is inaccurate forecasts of project costs, demand, and other impacts. The paper presents a promising new approach to mitigating such risk, based on theories of decision making under uncertainty which won the 2002 Nobel prize in economics. First, the paper documents inaccuracy and risk in project management. Second, it explains inaccuracy in terms of optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation. Third, the theoretical basis is presented for a promising new method called "reference class forecasting," which achieves accuracy by basing forecasts on actual performance in a reference class of comparable projects and thereby bypassing both optimism bias and strategic misrepresentation. Fourth, the paper presents the first instance of practical reference class forecasting, which concerns cost forecasts for large transportation infrastructure projects. Finally, potentials for and barriers to reference class forecasting are assessed.

Information system plays an important role in the higher education process. However, there is always a need to provide better services to the primary customers. Therefore, Total Quality Management (TQM) is critical in the information system domain. TQM is a philosophy of modern management that is recently entered the educational field after it has proved its success and effectiveness in other fields such as a business field. Thus, higher education institutions continue to invest heavily in ensuring the TQM of their information systems. This paper aims to highlight the importance of TQM in higher education as a whole, as well as in the field of e-learning. The paper offers an elaboration that may help those who are interested in the quality assurance and evaluation of information systems specifically in e-learning systems of higher education. Since a considerable effort has been made in the TQM at higher education. However, overall e-learning was not enough. Therefore, this paper will address this by providing recommendations to guide the successful quality management implementation.

Dan Lovallo and Daniel Kahneman must be commended for their clear identification of causes and cures to the planning fallacy in “Delusions of Success: How Optimism Undermines Executives’ Decisions” (July 2003). Their look at overoptimism, anchoring, competitor neglect, and the outside view in forecasting is highly useful to executives and forecasters. However, Lovallo and Kahneman underrate one source of bias in forecasting—the deliberate “cooking” of forecasts to get ventures started. My colleagues and I call this the Machiavelli factor.

Results from the first statistically significant study of the causes of cost escalation in transport infrastructure projects are presented. The study is based on a sample of 258 rail, bridge, tunnel and road projects worth US$90 billion. The focus is on the dependence of cost escalation on: (1) the length of the project‐implementation phase, (2) the size of the project and (3) the type of project ownership. First, it was found, with very high statistical significance, that cost escalation was strongly dependent on the length of the implementation phase. The policy implications are clear: decision‐makers and planners should be highly concerned about delays and long implementation phases because they translate into risks of substantial cost escalations. Second, projects have grown larger over time, and for bridges and tunnels larger projects have larger percentage cost escalations. Finally, by comparing the cost escalation for three types of project ownership - private, state‐owned enterprise and other public ownership - it was shown that the oft‐seen claim that public ownership is problematic and private ownership effective in curbing cost escalation is an oversimplification. The type of accountability appears to matter more to cost escalation than type of ownership.

The dynamic changes in today's world have made countries of the world masters of their own destinies. In this light, it has become noted today that 'the affluence or penury of nations depends largely on the quality of higher education'. This is informed by the fact that higher education systems of a nation is the 'machinery of manpower creation' of the nation and as a result nations have to embrace quality on a continuous basis to be able to be in touch with the realities of today's change in technological, sociological and economical dimensions. Quality higher education system will produce quality skills and quality human capacity. Therefore, in adjustment to needs for development countries such as Nigeria should embrace and implement Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), Total Quality Management (TQM) in the universities and Higher Education administration for the purpose of all-round Human Resource Development. TQM and CQI implementation in the university system will go a long way in expanding the skills and capacity of the academic staffs and consequently that of the students. In effect, there will be increase in Human Capital Development across the nation and the attendant economic growth, technological growth, innovation and general Human Resource Development towards National Development. Thus, this article reviewed the literatures on quality administration and management in higher education in Nigeria with the aims of highlighting the implication of human resource development.

This paper explores how theories of the planning fallacy and the outside view may be used to conduct quality control and due diligence in project management. First, a much-neglected issue in project management is identified, namely that the front-end estimates of costs and benefits – used in the business cases, cost-benefit analyses, and social and environmental impact assessments that typically support decisions on projects – are typically significantly different from actual ex post costs and benefits, and are therefore poor predictors of the actual value and viability of projects. Second, it is discussed how Kahneman and Tversky’s theories of the planning fallacy and the outside view may help explain and remedy this situation through quality control of decisions. Third, it is described what quality control and due diligence are in the context of project management, and an eight-step procedure is outlined for due diligence based on the outside view. Fourth, the procedure is tested on a real-life, multibillion-dollar project, organized as a public-private partnership. Finally, Akerlof and Shiller’s recent discussion in economics of “firing the forecaster” is discussed together with its relevance to project management. In sum, the paper demonstrates the need, the theoretical basis, a practical methodology, and a real-life example for how to de-bias project management using quality control and due diligence based on the outside view.

Introduces a practical approach to managing the quality of products and services throughout the entire value chain from design through delivery and service. Focusses especially on the needs of small-medium enterprise and short-run manufacturing or bespoke services.

Citation:
"Mellalieu, P. J. (1978). The Management of Quality. Wellington, New Zealand: Productivity Centre, Department of Trade & Industry.

Related:
Mellalieu, P. J. (1978). Case study: Total Quality Control at W Graham Hitchins Ltd. Productivity & Technology, NZ Department of Trade & Industry, 1(78), 8–10. Retrieved from http://unitec.academia.edu/PeterMellalieu/Papers/1571203/Case_study_Total_Quality_Control_at_W_Graham_Hitchins_Ltd"

Mellalieu, P. J. (1976, November). Improving the quality of goods produced in New Zealand (Year paper for Policy Analysis, Master of Public Policy). Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand. Retrieved from http://unitec.academia.edu/PeterMellalieu/Papers/1579713/Improving_the_quality_of_goods_produced_in_New_Zealand

Is modern management relevant beyond the corporate boardrooms of developed economies?  This book boldly attempts to marry Total Quality Management strategies to social sector initiatives in emerging economies. The challenges of Indian school education are diagnosed vis-a-vis TQM application in USA and UK.  Is TQM adaptable as a generic model suitable to the diversity in Indian education & broad enough to encompass the multifarious needs for school reform? The book posits a model for TQM in schools, along with enabling conditions & possible pitfalls. TQM succeeds
best as a local school based initiative. Based on field research in India,a detailed blueprint for reform is evolved,incorporating the TQM way of thinking with the major requirements for school improvement. These include: systemic thinking with the school as unit, a decentralized structure, teacher development, teamwork & collegiality, school-level leadership, community involvement, focus on learning processes and nonthreatening assessment. The book summarizes its findings & recommendations in a must-have ready-reckoner for education administrators and social entrepreneurs in developing contexts.

Quality improvement has been concerned by both healthcare providers and patients; however, researches on the issue has been inadequate. This study was aimed to identify major research questions which should be conducted to benefit the whole system. The focus was put on: 1. issues that cause problems and/or obstacles to all healthcare professionals or 2. issues that have conflicting opinions among healthcare professionals. Multistage cluster sampling was used to sample 767 healthcare professionals in 39 hospitals from 13 provinces. The key items in the questionnaires were extracted from the Hospital Accreditation Standard (Golden Jubilee Edition). The questionnaires were distributed and collected on sites from November 2003 to February 2004. The response rate was 94.9 percent. The respondents thought that more than 90 percent of major problems and/or obstacles include quality improvement activities, integration and utilization of information, participation in quality improvement, communication among departments, clinical practice guideline development, and efficiency of maintenance system. However, there are 14 items in the standard that received significantly different responses from various healthcare professionals. These include budget for quality improvement activities, integration and utilization of information, and clinical practice guideline development, for example.

Great importance was given in the past decades to the education curricula especially to those leading to a professional degree. Paralleling that, but in an independent move, the culture of teachers’ evaluation and quality assurance in the pedagogical community was evolving. Consequently, a question related to this development needs to be addressed. How much does such assessment take into consideration the initial formation, its impact and the role of the school’s administration in imposing its pedagogical choices?

The aim of this presentation is: (i) to show that a large gap exists between the way teachers are trained and the way they are asked to perform and that this gap backfires on the teachers’ performances, and (ii) to prove that the absence of a link between the pre-service education and the continuing in-service one, is hindering the efficiency of many pedagogical efforts.

We will base this presentation on a case study of ten teachers working in different pedagogical situations. The study will take into consideration different aspects of the school life: leadership, pedagogical approaches, educational material, teamwork, and the leading role of the school in the community. The study will use an interview-oriented process along with some audiovisual material to illustrate some aspects of the school life. The presentation will conclude with some propositions to better link the pre-service and the in-service teacher education programs and will be mainly addressed to the decision makers, and will suggest policies for adoption.


أُعِيرَت البرامج التعليميّة أهمّيّة كبرى خلال العقود المنصرمة، لا سيّما تلك المُعِدَّة لنيل شهادات مهنيّة. في الوقت نفسه، كانت تبرز حركة موازية في المجتمع التّربويّ، وهي ثقافة تقييم الأساتذة وجودة التعليم. من هنا، يمكن طرح السّؤال التّالي: إلى أيّ مدى يأخذ تقييم كهذا بعين الاعتبار التّأهيل الأساسيّ وتأثيره ودوره إدارة المدرسة في ما يخصّ الخيارات التربويّة؟

تهدف هذه المداخلة، أوّلاً، إلى إظهار وجود هوّة كبيرة بين طريقة تدريب الأساتذة والطرق التي يُطلَب منهم استعمالها في أدائهم التربوي، وإبراز تأثير هذه الهوّة السلبيّ على أداء الأساتذة؛ وثانيًا، إلى إثبات أن غياب الرابط بين التعليم قبل الخدمة والتعليم المستمرّ خلال الخدمة، يؤثّر سلبًا على فعاليّة الجهود التربويّة المختلفة.

ستبنى هذه المداخلة على دراسة حالة لواقع 10 أساتذة يعملون تحت ظروف تربويّة مختلفة. ستأخذ هذه الدراسة بعين الاعتبار مختلف مظاهر الحياة المدرسيّة، مثل القيادة التربويّة، المقاربات التربويّة والمواد التعليميّة، العمل الفريقي، دور المدرسة الريادي في المجتمع. ستلجأ الدراسة إلى تقنيّة المقابلات بالإضافة إلى بعض التقانات السمعيّة البصريّة لتصوير لضبط مظاهر الحياة المدرسيّة. أخيرًا، ستنتهي المداخلة باقتراح بعض سبل تأمين ارتباط أفضل بين برامج تأهيل الأساتذة قبل الخدمة وخلالها، إلى جانب بعض السياسات العامة، وستكون متوجّهة خصوصًا إلى صانعيّ القرار.

This is a presentation on Change  Management made to MBA students & faculty
The topics covered are as follows;
1. About Change Management
2. Diagnostic
3. About  Brigade Group 
4. Convert Challenges into Goals
5. WaRRooM
6. Multi Pronged Approach
7. Tracks
8. Structure
9. Six Sigma
10. Inventory Management A Six Sigma Case Study
11. i create
12. Good Management Practice
13. Business Process Management
14. Knowledge Management
15. Quantum Change – Strategic Imperative
16. The Focus
17. Achievements & Benefits
18. What does employee gain???

Determinating of rheological properties of milling products is important because the standard and uniform quality of baking products are provided using flour with optimal quality.
The aim of this study is to to establish significant relationships and to define a correlation model between maximum viscosity expressed in amylograph units obtained using traditional rheological Amylograph device and the γ slope obtained by Mixolab device flour analysis.
In the breadmaking process, the baking properties depend on the gelatization of the starch in the flours. Amylolytic enzymes have been also proposed as active contributors towards fresh bread quality and staling behaviour during storage. Functional properties of flours greatly depend on the enzyme activity (α-amylase), therefore calculating and predicting the amylase activity of T-400 flour is essential for the bread quality.
The result of this research is the larger number of laboratory testing at the same time, to meet the Miller’s main need  to anticipate end product quality and to predict the products quality in the baking process.