Tqm – Total Quality Management

Available online at http://www. journalcra. com INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CURRENT RESEARCH International Journal of Current Research Vol. 3, Issue, 3, pp. 149-153, March, 2011 3 ISSN: 0975-833X REVIEW ARTICLE TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT IN EDUCATION 1Jayakumaran, M. and 2Manoharan, C. 1Department of Management Studies, Kalasalingam University, Virudhunagar (Dt. ) Tamil Nadu, India 2Department of Education, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India ARTICLE INFO Article History: Received 18th December, 2010 Received in revised form 21st January, 2011 Accepted 29th February, 2011 Published online 13th March, 2011ABSTRACT After Second World War the United States of America was forced to improve the production of Quality of goods and services. Total Quality Management (TQM) concept was developed by an American W. EDWARDS DEMING. Still 1980s the Japanese only were concentrating in TQM concept where they dominated in world markets. There is a myth the use of TQM which is applicable o nly in Business and Industry where the production process are being made but the new concept of TQM is also applicable to Academics. Many educators strongly believe that the Deming concept provides guiding principles to make reform in educational system.Also Mr. John Joy Bonstingl, an educationalist out lines the TQM principles. Hence the authors of this paper strongly believe the TQM principles are most relevant to education.  © Copy Right, IJCR, 2011, Academic Journals. All rights reserved. Key words: Business and In Educational system Total Quality Management INTRODUCTION In any organization when the term â€Å"Quality Management principle† first it must focus on its suppliers and customers. In a TQM organization, everyone is both a customer and supplier; this confusing concept emphasizes â€Å"the systematic nature of the work in which all are involved†.In other words, teamwork and collaboration are essential. Traditionally, education has been prone to individual and departmental isolation. However, according to Bostingl, this outdated practice no longer serves us: â€Å"When I close the classroom door, those Kids are mine! † is a notion too narrow to survive in a world in which teamwork and collaboration result in high quality benefits for the greatest number of people. The application of the first pillar of TQM in education emphasizes the synergistic relationship between the â€Å"suppliers† and â€Å"customers†. Corresponding author: [email  protected] com The concept of synergy suggests that performance and production is enhanced by pooling the talent and experience of individuals. In a classroom, teacherstudent teams are the equivalent of industry’s front-line workers. The product of their successful work together is the development of the student’s capabilities, interests, and character. In one sense, the student is the teacher’s customer, as the recipient of educational services provided fo r the student’s growth and improvement.Viewed in this way, the teacher and the school are suppliers of effective learning tools, environments, and systems to the student, who is the school’s primary customer. The school is responsible for providing for the long-term educational welfare of students by teaching them how to learn and communicate in high-quality ways, how to access quality in their own work and in that of others, and how to invest in their own lifelong and life-wide learning processes by maximizing 150 International Journal of Current Research, Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. 149-153, March, 2011 pportunities for growth in every aspect of daily life. In another sense, the student is also a worker, whose product is essentially his or her own continuous improvement and personal growth. Continuous Improvement and Self Evaluation The second pillar of TQM applied to education is the total dedication to continuous improvement, personally and collectively. Within a Total Qu ality school setting, administrators work collaboratively with their customers: teachers. The foundations of â€Å"Scientific Management† were fear, intimidation, and an adversarial approach to problem-solving.Today it is in our best interest to encourage everyone’s potential by dedicating ourselves to the continual improvement of our own abilities and those of the people with whom we work and live. Total Quality is, essentially, a win-win approach which works to everyone’s ultimate advantage. According to Deming, no human being should ever evaluate another human being. Therefore, TQM emphasizes self-improvement process. In addition, this principle also laminates to the focusing on students’ strengths, individual learning styles, and different types of intelligences.A System of Ongoing Process The third pillar of TQM as applied in education is the recognition of the organization as a system and the work done within the organization must be seen as an ongo ing process. The primary implication of this principle is that individual students and teachers are less to blame for failure than the system in which they work. Quality speaks to working on the system, which must be examined to identify and eliminate the flawed processes that allow its participants to fail.Since systems are made in the quality of those processes largely determine the quality of the resulting product. In the new paradigm of learning , continual improvement of learning outcomes replaces the outdated â€Å"teach and test† mode. Leadership The fourth TQM principle applied to education is that the success of TQM is the responsibility of top management. The school teachers must establish the context in which students can best achieve their potential through the continuous improvement that results from teachers and students working together.Teachers who emphasize content area literacy and principle-centered teaching provide the leadership, framework, and tools nece ssary for continuous improvement in the learning process. Evidences show same Business forms like American Express, ford, IBM, Motorola, Procter & Gamble, and Xerox hired university Graduates who are literate in TQM. They said in an open letter published in 1991 in the Harvard Business Review with bringing total quality to higher education. Contrary to instruction and research practices in the university. TQM is team-based. However, Faculty members, are notorious independents.So students are it’s dog-eat-dog in the classroom. Also, TQM calls for cross-functional thinking, planning, and doing. Faculties and curricula are highly specialized and professors avidly protect their turf. We might add that universities are tradition-bound, whereas TQM trumps for continuous change. Infact, TQM initiatives are appearing here and there in academia. There are a few good reasons why this may continue, though perhaps fitfully. They have to do with opportunities to innovate and explore new i nstructional and research horizons, which have strong appeal for most academics.Business, economics, engineering and related tool disciplines (information systems and mathematics/statistics), plus other professional schools, are particularly affected by total quality management. Business and Economics Colleges of business and economics include specializations in operations management, marketing, business policy and strategy, management accounting, corporate finance, financial accounting and auditing, human resource management, organizational behavior, and economics. TQM offers differing challenges and attractions for each. Operations Management TQM affects nearly all of the operations management agenda.A primary focus on modeling for efficiency gives way under TQM to planning and doing for and with the customer. The customer outlook in turn, calls for major overhauls in the operations management approach to scheduling, equipment selection, facility layout, maintenance, inventory man agement, and quality assurance. Briefly, schedules, equipment, layout, and inventory management must be geared for quick reaction to customer needs, not just to efficiency and utilization and process control must replace breakdown maintenance and delayed inspection.Operations Management professors have a special reason for heading the call of TQM. They had failed to stay abreast of an important operations management movement called Materials Requirement Planning (MRP) that emerged in industry in the 1970s. The MRP juggernaut had become OM’s leading edge in the real world of manufacturing, but for a decade OM text books and journals said little or nothing about it. To catch up and stay caught up, OM professors, in droves , joined the 151 International Journal of Current Research, Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. 49-153, March, 2011 professional societies, where they could keep an eye on fast –changing developments. And they began publishing heavily in practitioner periodicals, whic h they fought to elevate to tenure-class status. Then, when TQM and related topics made their appearance, Operations Management faculties where not far behind marketing. In TQM thinking, the customer is the object. Which university specialty has charged of customers marketing? TQM concepts load easily into topic outlines in marketing courses and into marketing research hypotheses.In practice, marketers and salespeople have carried the burden of having to cover up for their organizations defects, late completions, and other customer service failings. As TQM kicks in with continuous improvement quality, timeliness, and so on, the burden is lifted somewhat. Each improvement is marketable—in proposals, in advertising, in sales promotions. For example, Ford Motor Company’s slogan, now a decade old is, â€Å"Quality Is Job One†. Putting a more positive face on their function holds appeal for marketing professors and students as well as practicing marketers.Business po licy and strategy system favored filling stockrooms, even with wrong models and substandard quality, to absorb overhead costs. JIT, however, puts the damper on stockroom filling, and total quality shrinks the production of lesserquality goods. Such improvements show up perversely as bad performance(negative cost variances) in monthly cost reports. So ABC comes to the rescue. If done right, ABC will assign less overhead cost (rework, scrap ,stock management, and so on) to products undergoing continuous improvement – especially in cycle time.A few management accounting professors are finding still another challenge to pursue: working out ways of putting the cost of quality into financial statements. I have raised questions on the wisdom of this( Schonberger 1994). Corporate finance A related area ripe for research is how to give quality, responsiveness, flexibility, and customer satisfaction their due in capital budgeting instead of relegating such factors to the last page of t he capital expenditure proposal under the heading â€Å"Intangible†.Financial accounting and auditing Such important TQM-oriented topics as benchmarking, quality function deployement, and customer-centered strategic principles need an academic home. These topics seem general enough to find their way into instruction in several disciplines. However, they deal specifically with matters central to the business policy/strategy area: directing internal resources toward enhanced competitiveness and customer retention. To a certain extent, total quality becomes strategy—and perhaps should be taught that way.Management accounting TQM does not permit cost, efficiency, and resource use to remain as primary operational measures of its performance. Quality in all dimensions dominates. Because management accountants have been the guardians of performance measurement, the challenge of reinventing performance management is largely theirs. Thus, a decade ago leading management account ing professors. Notably Harvard professor Robert Kaplan, began arguing that performance should be measured in non-financial terms, including quality, inventory levels and deliverability.Although some academics in management accounting may not welcome the idea of non-momentary measures, most have been easily caught up in the excitement of activity-based costing(ABC). ABC arose because just-in-time (JIT) production—the quick—response component of TQM—throws conventional costing into a tailspin. The old costing In this TQM era, the financial side of accounting has not generated the same degree of dynamism as the management accounting side. This does not mean there is no awareness of deficiencies. Income statements and balance sheets have not served investors well.Too often yesterday’s buy list becomes tomorrow’s basket cases. The â€Å"financials,† as require by generally accepted accounting principles, simply do not distinguish between the fir m whose quality-related competitiveness is deteriorating and its continuously improving competitor Though many academics, and legions of securities analysts, continually seek better ways of assessing the strength of a business, breakthrough ideas that recognize quality-centered competitiveness are not yet forthcoming. Human Resource Management (HRM) Human resource policies have traditionally favored specialization.Their aim is to narrowly specify jobs through division of labour, then hire people to fill the jobs, give them scant training, and keep them in that specialty for life. HRM has been taught that way and practiced that way. On the other hand, TQM requires cross-training, job improve it, or even communicate about it. Labour, long blamed for protection of work rules, is generally proving no to be the obstacle to their removal. One reason is that cross-training and learning add lines to one’s resume, which is the key to work-life 152 International Journal of Current Rese arch, Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. 149-153, March, 2011 ecurity, (of greater concern today than mere job security). HR departments in superior companies are making the transition toward TQM-based practices featuring never-ending training and development for all employees. Organizational behavior (OB) At first, the community of OB scholars watched in amazement as TQM and floor distance. However, when TQM hit the back office and then the entire service sector the stampede began. Today, treatises on new TQM related topics have become common in OB academic journals. For example, Organizational Dynamics devoted its entire Spring 1992 issue to the theme.These topics include employee involvement and empowerment , non-hierarchical, non-functional organization structures, and debates about motivating continuous improvement. An additional pursuit is reformulation of conventional OB concepts suchas team building, conflict resolution, and equity theory for use in TQM implementation. Economics In the ea rly years of JIT, Economists thought it an anomaly that inventories kept falling instead of following the economic cycle. Now it is clear that the pattern is broken. Continuous improvement reduces the need for inventory protection, so inventories just go down.Economists have much to do to revise their models. More significantly, economists may need to expand their world view. In conventional economic thought management has no role, economic activity is a function of fiscal and monetary policies of government and business. Tinkering with taxation spending and a few other money-denominated factors explains everything. No more Economists must accept that management can make a difference. Japan’s fixation on quality management is especially convincing, and now the same story repeats itself in other countries.Tool Disciplines Information systems and mathematics/statistics, indispensable tools for the end of aforementioned academic areas are also affected by TQM. Information system s practitioners can play an important role in their employers’ partners-in-quality efforts with customers and suppliers. Cumputer-aided design networks, external bar-coding, point of sale scanning, electronic data interchange, automatic funds transfer and satellite communication with freight haulers are among the IS devices that help link firms with suppliers and ustomers. These expanded uses of IS will naturally interest information systems academics. Mathematics/Statistics Near the core of TQM is a set of tools known as statistical process control(SPC). AT the low end of the SPC methods are the â€Å"seven basic tools† easy to learn and essential in the daily work of every employee. For a time, universities looked the other way while the community colleges nearly 1400 strong in the US and Canada put together training courses in Statistical Process Control for business and industry.Now SPC is fully covered in operations management and industrial engineering textbooks, plus texts in management accounting, marketing and general management. At the high end drawing in the mathematics and statistics academics are advanced statistical methods, especially design of experiments and the related methods of Genichi Taguchi, an eminent statistician. Professional Schools All the professions from engineering to law have a mission to provide quality services. The management of the professions also must have quality as its mission.Engineering Quality control and reliability engineering are traditional teaching and research specialties. Industrial Engineering professors have their hands full propagating the old message (sometimes called little q) as well as expanded, new TQM concepts (big Q). Besides that, every department in the engineering school has the same twofold challenge: (1) teach team design, in which engineers work on project teams with other engineers, customers, suppliers, business functionaries, and the front-line employees who produce the engineer ed roducts; (2) teach the principles of design-for-quality and design-for-manufacture (DFM) and its derivatives. Related fertile research areas include design for safety, disassembly and the environment; quick design-tomarket and elimination of disruptive post-production engineering changes. Some engineering professors and graduate students are already absorbed in these topics. Conclusion Public administration, teachers college, medical school, dental school, veterinary school, library school, and law school in each of the other professional schools, quality is or should be the foremost concern.All of the professional schools in the university can benefit from adding TQM as an instructional and research topic. 153 International Journal of Current Research, Vol. 3, Issue 3, pp. 149-153, March, 2011 What about all the remaining academic areas? The opinion of the late W. Edwards Deming is instructive. Dr. Deming agreed to allow his name to be attached to Columbia university’s De ming center for quality management. However, a condition was that the center should be multi-disciplinary.The project proceeded when the school of engineering and applied science and the department of statistics joined the graduate school of business in the endeavor. Transforming schools through Total Quality Education in Phi Delta Kappan. – Michael J. schmoker, Richard B. Wilson. Total Quality Education: Profiles of Schools that Demonstrate the power of Deming’s Management principles. – Michael J. Schmoker, Richard B. Wilson. REFERENCES Total Quality Management in Education- Edward Sallis. Total Quality Management and the school – Stephen Murgatroyd, Colin Morgan. *******

Athlete Classification

Athletes: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly As a casual reader of the sports section of this newspaper, you come across many articles depicting the triumphs of local athletes. However, very rarely do these articles describe the actual athlete behind the success. Athletes come in all sorts of sizes and shapes. They range from the incredibly talented to the horribly uncoordinated. Some are great teammates while others would rather be a one man team. Certain athletes seek out attention from the people around them while others are modest and stay in the background.The fact of the matter is that there is a wide spectrum of different types of athletes that exist in this world and no two athletes are exactly the same. However, each can be put into one of nine general categories that they best fit. General Paton: the athlete who stands out as the captain of the team by helping their fellow teammates and managing their team. They are a well-rounded athlete, fairly skilled at their sport, but mo re importantly excellent at inspiring their team to perform to the best of their ability. This athlete is the backbone of the team and without them chaos could quite easily break out.The other athletes look up to this leader and follow their orders. When your team is losing, the leader is the one who gets everyone together and says things like â€Å"We can still win this† and â€Å"Don’t give up yet, we’re still in this one†. You can expect to see these athletes to do great things in their sports careers and in their regular lives. Effort King/Queen: the athlete who is known for doing everything they can to improve their game, from staying after practice to do extra to going to the gym every day before practice to workout. They are extremely motivated, determined and dedicated to what they do.These athletes are the ones that coaches very much want to be on their team. These players are known for being highly beneficial not only to the team’s succes s, but also to the other players around them. They set a great example for others around them and can leave a lasting mark on people. They may be referred to as a â€Å"gym rat†, but don’t think that’d a bad thing because when it comes to game time, don’t be surprised if they outperform the opposing team’s â€Å"star† player. The Natural: the athlete who was given the gift of natural athleticism. They are known as the â€Å"MVP† of their team.Most often, they are three sport athletes who do pretty well in each. They don’t have to work as hard as others to be able to have relative success as they are often naturally strong and talented. Many other people loathe these athletes because they have all the tools they need to succeed. There is no guarantee that these athletes will be good teammates or have good work ethic, but coaches can be assured that these people are a great place to build upon and make a team around. The Anti-ath lete: the athlete who was not given much natural ability. They are weak, uncoordinated, and clumsy.They can get by playing some sports, but they have limited options as most sports require decent athletes at a competitive level. They are the â€Å"benchwarmer† of teams, the weak link in the chain. Other athletes get easily frustrated with these players when they make mistakes even though it may not be entirely their fault. Although their athletic output may not be as high as some would like, no one can question their effort and dedication. They play sports not because they are good at them, but because they truly love them, and in some cases, that can bring someone further than natural talent. Timmy/Tina Tries Too Much†: the athlete who â€Å"overworks† and goes beyond what’s necessary in unimportant situations. Everyone has seen at least one of this type of person before, whether they know it or not. The most common place to find these types of people is in gym class. They are the ones that you see coming to every class and trying as hard as they can to win. Many people don’t like these people too much because they exert themselves in unnecessary situations. Many times, these people develop a poor reputation as a â€Å"try hard† among their friends.They may not be the most talented person there, but you can always count on seeing them breaking a sweat. â€Å"Sammy/Susie Suck up†: the athlete who does everything they can to suck up to their coach. They try to get all the brownie points they can in hopes of getting more playing time. They follow all directions given by their coach, they help out whenever possible, and they give full effort when the coach is looking. They are very similar to a teacher’s pet that you would most commonly find in elementary school. Much like the other students find these eacher’s pets to be annoying, a coach’s pet’s teammates often think that these people a re annoying and not fun to be around. â€Å"The Tornado†: the athlete who is overly aggressive when playing sports. They are known to push other players around and often get in trouble with the ref. Also, they are a coach’s nightmare as they are hard to control. The athletes aren’t always good to have on a team because they give the team a bad reputation and make it seem as though everyone on the team plays like they do. Also, they are much more prone to being benched and as a consequence, letting the rest of the team down.Many times, other athletes don’t like participating with people like this because these aggressive people take the fun out of competition. .The Crowd Pleaser: the athlete who likes to show off in front of their fans. They wear the flashy equipment, they perform the crazy stunts, and they are the cocky personality in the locker room. To give you a clear picture of this kind of athlete, just imagine the player that has the best gear, the flashiest jersey, performs the â€Å"coolest† moves, and seems to put on a show for their â€Å"fans†.It isn’t uncommon for their teammates to call them a â€Å"show boat† right to their face. But that doesn’t stop them from doing what they do best because they thrive on the attention. Garbage Can: the athlete who throws away their athletic abilities and coasts. They are lazy, unmotivated, and not dedicated at all. They may be one of the best athletes around but they don’t apply their abilities. Everyone knows at least one person who completely wastes the natural talent that was given to them.It’s a shame to see these athletes waste talent when there are other athletes with considerably less talent who work twice as hard. Many people don’t like these athletes because they take their abilities for granted and don’t realize that half of the battle towards being successful in a sport has already been fought for them. All th ey need to do is put in just the slightest bit of effort and they will start to see considerable success. In most cases, these athletes are looked down on by others and carry a negative connotation with them everywhere they go.There is a lot more to a team’s success than just the wins. The players involved are what really define a team and they ultimately determine how successful a team can be. You don’t always need a team full of superstars to win. This is where many sports coaches go wrong. They think they can build a championship caliber team from a bunch of players that would rather prove they are good than their team. It’s important to remember that it takes the right combination of these nine types of athletes to make the perfect team.

Information system capability and firm performance: contradictory findings and their possible causes Essay

Athal 1.0 Executive summary In broad spectrum, Athal is a service offering company that was established in 1980. Essentially, it offers inspection, testing, consulting as well quality control services. The company offers services to different companies in different industries through its 15 branches in Australia. The company used to offer these services in the past using manual quality assurance system but due to competition and emergence of new technologies in the industry, the company found it necessary to implement a new automated quality assurance system by integrating it with information systems. This would enable it to offer quality services that meet national and international standards in addition to ensuring that its clients operates within local and international standards (Ahuja &Khamba,2008, p. 720). The implementation of the new quality assurance system was faced with challenges from financial constraints to employees’ resistance. The company’s 110 employees were issued with questionnaires and five management staffs from the five departments were interviewed revealing the following: The employees were resistant on the new implementation was because of fear of losing their jobs and their relevance when the new quality assurance system would be adapted in the company. Hence, the implementation process heavily relied on the employees in the company. The company sensitization and trainings employees on the new quality assurance system saw the implementation process become smooth (Berry & Parasuraman, 2004, p.102) The company also faced challenge on the cost of the new quality assurance system in terms of infrastructures such as software, computers, and training employees and technical staff on running and marinating the process. However, the implementation of the new quality assurance system improved the services offered and increased its competitive advantage in the market. Through analysis, it was realise d that, the company use of new quality assurance system has limited clients’ bargaining power thus retraining and attracting more companies and businesses from unique quality services offered. The new quality assurance system cause increase in initial capital and profits margins for new companies that would like to venture to the industry and as a result few companies would invest in the industry. According to Ford & D’Amelio (2008), high initial cost of capital serves as a barrier for new entrants in the industry making the market less competitive. The new automated quality assurance system was found to be fast and giving effective services that attracted various client companies, which helped Athal Company to retain and attract new employees in the company thus helping it to regain its competitive position in the market (Chen, 2008, p. 53). Moreover, the ability of quality assurance that is integrated to information system to be monitored by different people results in services that are accurate and free from errors thus giving consumers’ confidence. The process is also cost effective in long term due to reduced time and human capital that can be utilized i n other constructive duties that would improve the productivity of the company. The system was recommended for both internal quality control for the company and external quality control for Athal company clients and other services offered. 2.0 Introduction Athal is a company was established in 1980 in Australia. Its main work is provision of services that vary from inspection, testing, consulting and quality control. They offer these services to different organizations (clients) to ensure that they offer quality services and that they are able to operate within local and international standards. The company offers these services in more than 15 branches in Australia. For the company to be efficient, it has linked all the 15 offices through information systems integrated quality assurance system. The company also manages to offer these services by employing 110 workers that are of various professional backgrounds.The workers are delegated duties based on five different departments that include public relations, finance department, technical, marketing and quality control. The finance department ensures that all the financial services are met for the company and that of the clients looking for consultancy services in the organization. 2.1 Research aim and objectives The overall aim of the study was to investigate the new quality assurance system that was implemented by Athal Company could be upgraded unlike the manual quality assurance system through update of information system software. The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of transformation from using quality assurance on manual system to automated system; to find out the difficulty of implementing quality assurance (QA) manually; the effects of transformation from using quality assurance on manual system to automated system; the company need to implement the quality assurance system internally as well externally for their daily business work; the effect of automated system compared to the manual system; important of implementing quality system for both the external and internal environment. 2.2 Research questions ïÆ'Ëœ What is the difficulty of implementing quality assurance (QA) manually? ïÆ'Ëœ What is the difficulty of implementing quality assurance (QA) manually? ïÆ'Ëœ What are the effects of transformation from using quality assurance on manual system to automated system? ïÆ'Ëœ Why the company need to implement the quality assurance system internally as well externally for their daily business work? ïÆ'Ëœ What are the effects of automated system compared to the manual system? ïÆ'Ëœ What is important of implementing quality system for both the external and internal environment? 3.0 Literature review With the development and the industrialization of the world, quality assurance system has become inevitable to business industries (Lanz, 2013, p. 6). Many businesses industries adapt technologies to increase efficiency and quality of services they offer. The quality services and efficiency serves as a strategy to compete in the market. Information system is one of the technologies that have been adapted by many companies and bushiness to improve on their performance (Ho-Chang, Chang, & Prybutok, 2014, p. 316). The information systems have been used in various areas of specialization for company such as records department, financial, marketing and quality control. The technologies are linked to the business strategies such that they fit the competitive strategies making the company to fit in a dynamic market and environment (Wang et al, 2012, p. 346). The information systems help to integrate business entities making it more manageable and efficient in delivery of its services ( Drne vich, & Croson, 2013, p. 488-489). Hence, the quality system that would incorporate information system will enhance the integration of the five departments and the external environment making the company more manageable and improve service delivery. Consequently, the business would be able to compete and improve its performance. The implementation of the new quality assurance system in Athal Company involved an organization change. Hence the company needed to prepare the employees for a new change because people tend to resist to changes and particularly to those that tend to affect their freedom (Ford, Ford, & D’Amelio, 2008, p. 370). The managers have the responsibility to initiate new changes and influence employees to develop positive attitude on the technologies for smooth adoption of new quality assurance system (Lilly, & Durr, 2012, p. 199). To avoid resistance managers and executive must provide employees with trainings and other support skills that will help them to adapt to new technologies (KumpikaitÄâ€" ,& ÄÅ'iarnienÄâ€", 2008, p. 93-94.). The case study involved the transformation of Athal Company from the manual quality systems to new automated quality systems that would be implemented using information systems. To implement the new quality assurance system using information system, the company needed to purchase new computers, information systems software to link various departments and branches (Porter, 2008, p.359). For testing, inspecting, and quality control consultant companies, it takes a lot of time o collect data manually for various tests and inspections. This results in decreased performance from reduced numbers of clients that can be served in a given day. In order to increase speed, efficiency, accuracy, and simplify data collection, analysis and collation, information system is important as part of quality assurance. Information system helps to automate the quality assurance system. In automation process, a microprocessor can be adapted for data collection, analysis, and collation for small companies like Athal. The process is cost effective and is able to handle varied number of data sets. However, a real-time microcomputer is more relevant and reliable for the company since it handle a varied number of companies and collects a wide range of tests and inspection data. In addition, statistical quality assurance would ensure that a continuous improvement is carried out on the whole process. Larger companies with large numbers of employees may require a complex information system for quality assurance such as agile system that would be able to handle complex testing and inspection processes and delivering high quality results. However, the system is expensive, require highly trained manpower and thus unsuitable for small companies such as Athal. The microprocessor and real-time microcomputer are suitable for Athal Company due to its small size that is evidenced by few employees and services turnover. The program required skilled labour that was costly and extra training for the employees so that they could be able to adapt to the new quality assurance system freely. In addition, the new quality assurance system needed change of organization behaviour from a manual system to an automated system, which many of the employees were not conversant. Therefore, the company had to change the behaviour of employees from manual to automated systems, which risked objection and resistant. Hence, the management had to use their leadership skills and organization development to implement the new change successfully (Mullins, 2013 p. 8). The new quality assurance system meant that the employees freedom, poor performance and missing of duties would end. Consequently, their level of services would be monitored and thus giving quality services. The implementation process involved installation of inspection, testing, and quality control infrastructures that were linked using information system software and hardware that would be used to disseminate information. Quality assurance can be automated through integration with information systems such as microcomputer and microprocessors with simple software or complex software such as agile systems. Some of the examples of automated quality assurance that was a possible choice for Athal Company include lint, find bugs, check-styles, fx-Cop, and coverity (Sroufe & Curkovic, 2008, p. 357). These systems can be used for multiple projects and can even detect defects that technical team may not be skilled in the language of detection either through testing or inspection. These syst ems are programmed software and coded in reference to various local and international standards. These programs are installed in microprocessor, microcomputers or computers in order to enhance the quality assurance process. The processes become fast, accurate and less laborious (Sroufe, & Curkovic, 2008, p.519). . Programs such as lint are installed in order to help in detecting errors that may occur in the course of analysis test and inspection data that is collected from various client companies. The check style helps in writing the java code that is required during automation process. Due to a wide range of configurations of the tools, it can be configured to various standards thus becoming an important program in quality assurance companies as they deal with varied tests with different standards. This is done through coding different standards using various classes of checks such as JavaDoc, Coding, and whitespace (Wang et al, 2012, p. 330). The change to new quality assurance system for Athal Company meant that it would increase its market share due to improved quality of services that it would offer. Its clients would receive quality inspection and testing that would guarantee the quality control. The new information system would be able to monitor external companies that serve as its client at constant rates thus enhancing efficiency of Athal Company. Moreover, the automated system has low errors as compared to the manual system thus, the right services will be offered. This will guarantee the company efficient services that meet the national and international levels. The new changes to the automated quality assurance system will enable the management in the Athal Company to be able to define their objectives and delegate to specific employees, which could not be possible with the manual system. Defined objectives and delegation of duties in the company will mean that the tasks would be accomplished in time. Moreover, less time is wasted using the automated quality systems thus the employees become more productive in spite of quality services that they offer. The result is the overall productivity of the company and better services to their clients compared to when they were using the manual system. The company decision to implement the new quality assurance system was because of increased competition and the deteriorating performance on its inspection, testing, and quality control services. The few companies in the industry had improved their performance, they had started to command the market, and therefore, the company had to look for means by which it could be able to compete with the other companies. The adoption of the new automated quality assurance system was seen as the only way that the company would be able to compete successfully in the market and thus a decision was finally reached to implement the new system. However, the decision was subject to employees support as they would be the one s that would use the quality assurance system for the benefit of the company. The decision process involved all the employees in the company where opinions were included in the new projects. Due to fear of most of the employees on their relevance when the new quality assurance syst em would be implemented, training of existing and recruiting of new employees was included as part of the implementation of the new system. When all the employees were comfortable with the new quality assurance system and sensitized on the need to shift to the new quality assurance system, the management went ahead to implement the new automated quality system in the company. Since the employees are growth oriented, they were able to adapt to the new system. The finance department must ensure that financial services given to consulting clients are accurate and up-to-date. This will ensure that no overcharging or errors that may affect clients’ access to services from Athal Company. Therefore, internal quality assurance system will be important in the finance department vis-à  -vis other departments to ensure harmony and quality services. The public relation department ensures that interpersonal relationship for all the clients and workers is maintained at high level thereby improving the performance of the employees, retain, and attract more clients. This will result in productivity of the company due good customer relation and high quality services that the company offers. Technical department ensures all the other department and technical services management meet the goal and mission of the company to offer quality services (Chen, 2008, p. 242). The quality control department ensures that all the services that are offered by the company and its internal managements are in line with the international and local standards (Hoyle, 2009, p. 244). Athal company manual quality control system was tedious since employees had to carry out inspection and testing services physically resulting to delayed and poor services. In addition, physical method is prone to error from workers due to fatigue and this may affect the services delivered to the clients negatively. The qualities of services that companies give help them to retain and attract more customers, making it more competitive by commanding a wider share of the market (Berry, & Parasuraman, 2004 p. 134).Therefore, for the company to improve its services and improves its market share, a competitive and efficient quality control systems had to be put in place. Despite the high cost of implementation, the service would ensure that quality services are dispensed through efficient moni toring services and this. The company adopted and automated a quality control system developed through information system to link all the five departments and the employees. Consequently, the company linked all the 15 branches such that all the services offered meet the customers need. The interlinked company departments and branches would ensure that inspection and testing process were efficient. The information systems ensure that quality assurance system updated on regular intervals thus allowing continuous improvement of the process. The technical department monitored and maintained all the systems. The marketing department created awareness of the services offered by Athal Company and disseminated information about the quality and the quality assurance system that they employ to give the clients confidence and increase clients influx in the company. Consequently, public relation department would ensure that a good relationship among all the stakeholders of the company by disseminating relevant informatio n and keeping the customers updated throughout. The questions categorized for questionnaires and interviews. The employees’ questions related to the effectiveness of the new process, their attitude on the change, and the transformation to the new system. Moreover, it also focused on employees’ involvement in the new process, and how monitoring changed comparing the manual quality assurance system. Concerning this question, some employees said that the new quality assurance system was more effective while few of them did not distinguish between the performance of the manual quality assurance system and the new quality assurance system that is integrated with the information system, saying that they viewed both systems as the same. On the issue of cost and monitoring, most of them said that the new quality assurance system on quality assurance was more costly and offered close monitoring of employees and projects on the course thus maintain a high performance rate in the company. On the issue of the attitude of the emp loyees, some employees had a negative attitude on the new quality assurance system as they said that the new quality assurance system would limit their freedom and might result to losing their jobs. Those with positive attitude argued that the new automated system would make work easier and improve the performance of the company. Few were confused on the though seemed interested with the implementation of the new quality assurance system. The implementation process was expensive from the response of the majority of the participants while few did not care about the cost and they said that it was cheap for the company since it had enough resources to implement the new system. According to the participant in this case study that were working for Athal company for the time of the research, the transformation process was faced with resistant as some employees feared losing jobs due to inadequate skills. According to GE Inspection Technologies, new quality assurance system would result to working overtime because some machines would require monitoring and thus resisted the change and made the transformation process difficult for the management. A number of the employees said that transformation was smooth as they cited that the management was able to deal with employees and assured them that nothing would change on the management of employees and their jobs were safe (Ho-Chang et al., 2014, p. 35). They also indicated that the management assured them that the transformation to automate quality assurance system would include training of employees in order to adapt to the new quality assurance system. The employees argue that method would be applicable to both internal and external monitoring, as the company required the monitoring of the quality of other companies that it offered services. To them, this was the best means by which the company would improve its services to its clients (KumpikaitÄâ€" & ÄÅ'iarnienÄâ€", 2008, p.93). On the part of the management interview, it emphasized on the performance of the new quality assurance system, employees and clients response, and the cost of the implementation. The interview involved five management employees under the five departments. The management unanimously answered that the performance of the new quality assurance system showed improvement. They cited that the system could process large information fast, accurately, and effective as compared to the old system. The management argued that the employees had a mixed reaction on the implementation while the clients were happy and welcomed the new system, as they believed that it could improve their services ((Ho-Chang et al., 2014, p. 306). The implementation process was costly according to the management but they did it as a way of improving their qualities. The organization experienced problems and poor performance in the marketing department thus caused reduced customers in the company. Similarly, poor performance of public relations department resulted to conflicts and poor employees’ performance that affected the efficiency and productivity of the company in delivering its services. In every company or business, good employees’ relationship is important since it minimizes conflicts and improves their working conditions and as a result, employees become very productive, which is the aim of every business. Consequently, employees are able to offer quality services to their clients thus retaining more clients for Athal Company despite high prices that may be attributed by increased cost of automated quality assurance system. Similarly, the slow monitoring and poor services in the finance department caused company poor performances and financial mismanagements. All the problems happened to Athal Company despite it having a manual quality assurance system that was mandated monitoring and ensuring that the company was able to operate within the local and international business environment (KumpikaitÄâ€" & ÄÅ'iarnienÄâ€", 2008, p.93). The manual system required employees to record and enter data manually in addition to physical monitoring and auditing thus spending a lot time and resulting in slowed processes thus caused Athal Company to perform poorly. The problems reflected that the manual system was ineffective. Therefore, the company needed to change its method of quality assurance so that it could ensure that customers received quality services. Finance department also needed good management as it ensured that the company operated with the international and national standards. The approach would not only improve the company’s quality systems but also improve its productivity and its competitiveness due to high quality services and standards that it would uphold. The target market for Athal Company is organizations and businesses that are in need of consultancy, inspection and testing services. The companies or businesses may be diverse and offering various services in the market but for them to provide quality services to their customers, they strengthen their managements through Athal consultation services (Wigand, 2003, p. 33). Therefore, Athal Company needs to provide high quality services and set international standards to its clients. Hence, it was important for it to adapt new quality assurance system in quality assurance services that would allow it give quality inspection, testing, and quality control services. Thus, adapting an automated information system would ensure that it would be able to carry out internal and external quality control. Athal Company offered effective services in the industry, which has maintained its productivity in the market in spite of its manual system. The company has also high skilled employees although the achievement of the company’s goals has been achieved through extra management and monitoring. In addition, the company operates in an industry where competition is not very much stiff. However, the emergence of the new quality assurance system that few companies are adapting, competition is becoming a business issue that management has to deal with. Moreover, the companies marketing strategies and new quality assurance system adaptation has been poor until the recent past when the company adapted the new quality assurance system on quality assurance. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the implementation process of the new quality assurance system and how best is suited in the company’s strategies to improve its productivity and growth in the industry. 3.1 Advantage of Athal Company on implementation of the new quality assurance system The implementation of the new quality assurance system by Athal Company will accrue various advantages over the old manual system. The advantages will be in terms of effectiveness, efficiency, cost, involvement, and result oriented. The automated system will be advantageous in that inspection and tests will be run fast and effectively thus saving time that can be used to do other constructive duties in the company. Automated system will mean that the same type of the information will be fed to the system for various clients at a very short time and giving results instantly (Mak, &Peng, 2008, p. 366). One can only repeat similar information for the automated system. However, on the manual system one would be forced to record similar information for various entry and different clients thus taking a lot of time for a given task and giving out delayed results. This can be distractive to clients making them to shift their services to other companies that can offer fast and effective servi ces. Hence, the automated quality assurance system will not only give effective services at a very short time, but also retain the customer making the company more competitive in the market as opposed to the manual system (GE inspections, n.d p. 1). Although the automated system installation and training of employees on the new quality assurance system is costly in the short term, in long term, the system will be cheap as there will be saving of time and decreased human involvement thus saving the cost of labour for the company. The time saved could be used to do other constructive and productive services for the company, which would in turn give returns that subsidise the cost incurred by the company. Since the new quality assurance system utilises decreased human labour, the company can opt reducing its labour, which may as well reduce its cost of operation and thus increase its profits margin (GE inspections, n.d, p.18). However, the manual quality assurance system required a lot of time to fill out the forms and extra human labour to attend different labour thus the process becoming expensive in the long term and but cheap in the short term since there are is no cost of installation. Hence, the automated system is less expen sive in the long term and thus more advantageous to the company compared to the manual system. Another advantage is that the choice of quality assurance system depends on the financial and services offered by a company. Information system would allow integration of inspection and testing services making the process less involving and saving time for employees. The automated system is results oriented and the results can be assessed by different employees since they will be available from the system thus minimizing errors being transferred to clients. Moreover, different employees can monitor the results in their various destinations so that a perfect final product is achieved. Hence, the system forms the best collaborative monitoring system (Wang, 2012, p.325). This is in contrast to the manual where results are only processed by an individual subjecting them to errors that may be transferred to clients and may affect the customer relation with the company and affect its performance and provision of services. Therefore, Athal implementation of the new quality system through information system presents it with advantage on accurate and quality services for the customer thus maintain customer relations and maintaining its market performance at improved level. However, the new automated system will be a challenge to the company as the informa tion system tool is expensive on purchase and replacement in cases of breakdown. Moreover, the process of maintenance and training of employees can be very expensive for the company thus accruing unplanned cost, which may make its services more expensive thus making it less competitive in the market. Customers are attracted by low prices in the market. Although the automated system performs various tests for the information fed for the machine, the system has limitations and some of the tests such as images, and colour are only tested using manual system. Hence, the system cannot operate fully independently. Thus the cost of operation is increased by additional services for manual system. 3.2 Conceptual framework 4.0 Methodology 4.1 Research (Case study) philosophy The case study used questionnaires to obtain information from the employees about the manual quality system and the newly implemented quality systems in the company (Appendix 4). All the 110 employees were administered questionnaires to feel that contained both the questions about the old and the new information systems. In addition, interviews were conducted with five members from the top management team to understand the monitoring of the two systems (Wigand, 2003, p. 45) The questionnaires were preferred for the employees because they were a large group in the company and other methods would take a lot of time. Moreover, it was possible to administer all the questionnaires at the same time thus saving time and getting the required information. However, the tool is not appropriate for getting details if a good guidance is not accorded to participants. Respondents may answer questions shallowly and avoid some questions that may be sensitive to company operating policies. Interviews were preferred for the management team because they were few and it could be managed with a short time. Interview also helps in getting details about the implementation process. However, it is time consuming. The interview involved the seven questions attached in the appendix for the management. Athal Company was chosen in this case study since it was one of the companies that had implemented a new automated quality system using information system in the recent past. This meant that employees could be able to provide the required information as opposed to those that implemented it long time ago. In addition, there was high likely hood that most of the employees working in the company were present during the implementation process thus accurate information. Moreover, the implementation of the new quality assurance system was faced with many challenges from employees’ resistance to financial support. In addition, the company size was manageable for this study since it had few employees, few departments and only five departments. Hence, finding information from the company would be easier compared to large complicated company, as well this company at the time of the research study of this thesis it was the only company that allowed the researcher to do this case study on their company. The region of study was chosen to be Australia because the location has been advanced in automated quality assurance system and so there was high likelihood of finding a company that had implemented a quality system using information system as the study had targeted. The studies show that the Australia has a number of companies operating in quality assurance industry, which made the study more appropriate within the country (Sroufe, & Curkovic, 2008, p. 517). 4.2.1 Data Analysis Presentation and Interpretation of Findings The data was coded and analysed using the software package for social sciences {SPSS} and MS Excel package as well. The data was then scored by calculating the percentages and means. The information collected from the respondents was interpreted. Information was compiled once the questionnaires were completed and collected. The information was analysed and presented using statistical methods that is, pie charts and bar graphs.The data on the case study was obtained through questionnaires and interviews and 110 questionnaires were distributed to the different employees. The findings were as follows. From the 100 questionnaires that were complete, 90% discredited the manual system saying it was faulty as it offered minimum monitoring. As a matter of fact, 70% of the employees had a positive attitude about the manual system, as it was not effective when monitoring employees. 30% had negative attitude on the system as they felt the system caused personal conflicts between them and the people in charge of quality control. 100% of the participants agreed that the automated system was more effective compared to the manual system since all the employees had to log in to automated biometric system. In addition, 43% of the employees were resistant to the process and felt that the manual system would continue while 57% of the employees felt that transformation to the automated quality system was necessary. 95% of the employees felt that it was important to implement the quality system for both the external and internal environment of the business to ensure that the overall performance of the company was monitored. Inherently, 5% of the participants were not sure if the quality system was supposed to be installed both inter nally and externally. 4.2.2 The Distribution of position in company of Respondents According to table 4.4 and figure 4.4 Majority of the respondents were managers as shown by 25% of the respondents, 20% of them were line managers, 5% of them worked in the human resource department, 20% of the respondents indicated that they worked in the engineering department, another 10% of them came from the marketing department, 10% of them were finance managers while 10% of the respondents were managers from customer care department. Table 4.4 Position in company of Respondents Frequency Percentage IT Manager 5 25.0 Line manager 4 20.0 Human resource manager 1 5.0 Engineer 4 20.0 Marketing 2 10.0 Customer care dept. 2 10.0 Finance manager 2 10.0 Total 20 100.0 Figure 4.4 Positions in company of Respondents 4.2.3 To determine the application of quality assurance systems using Information Systems within the Athal In order for the study to achieve its main objective the first specific objective of the study was to determine the implementation application of quality assurance systems using Information Systems. In this regard the respondents were required to indicate the extent to which implement the application of quality assurance systems using Information Systems within the Athal). The respondents were also supposed to strongly negative, negative, positive or strongly positive on variables of quality assurance systems using Information Systems and their effect on manual system. 4.2.4 Extent effect of manual system From the study, 70% of the employees had a positive attitude about the manual system, as it was not effective when monitoring employees while 30% had negative attitude on the system as they felt the system caused personal conflicts between them and the people in charge of quality control largely as indicated by table 4.6 and figure 4.6 below. The findings indicate that manual system has a very great influence on monitoring employees. Table 4.6 positive attitude about the manual system Distribution Frequency Percentage Agree 90 70.0 Disagree 20 30.0 Total 110 100.0 Figure 4.6 positive attitude about the manual system 4.2.5 Effect of effect of manual system on employees monitoring According to table 4.7 and figure 4.7 below 90% discredited the manual system saying it was faulty as it offered minimum monitoring while 20% strongly agreed. From the study therefore it is clear that manual system offered minimum monitoring. Table 4.7 Effect of effect of manual system on employees monitoring Distribution Frequency Percentage Disagree 100 90.0 Agree 10 10.0 Total 110 100.0 Figure 4.7 effect of manual system on employees monitoring The effect of automated system compared to the manual system The findings on the effect of automated system compared to the manual system in table 4.8 and figure 4.8 below reveal that 70% of the employees had a positive attitude about the manual system, as it was not effective when monitoring employees while 30% had negative attitude on the system as they felt the system caused personal conflicts between them and the people in charge of quality control. Table 4.8 effect of automated system compared to the manual system Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Disagree 20 30.0 30.0 30.0 Agree 90 70.0 70.0 80.0 Total 110 110.0 100.0 Figure 4.8 effect of automated system compared to the manual system Effect of automated system compared to the manual system According to table 4.9 and figure 4.9 below 100% of the participants agreed that the automated system was more effective compared to the manual system since all the employees had to log in to automated biometric system.. From the study therefore it is clear that effective compared to the manual system. Table 4.9 effect of automated system compared to the manual system Frequency Percentage Agree 110 100.0 Total 110 100.0 Figure 4.9 effect of automated system compared to the manual system 4.2.6 The difficulty of implementing quality assurance (QA) manually According to table 4.10 and figure 4.10 below 43% of the employees were resistant to the process and felt that the manual system would continue while 57% of the employees felt that transformation to the automated quality system was necessary. From the study therefore it is clear that employees felt that transformation to the automated quality system was necessary. Table 4.10 difficulty of implementing quality assurance (QA) manually Total no Percentage Disagree 40 36.0 Agree 70 64.0 Total 110 100.0 Figure 4.10 difficulty of implementing quality assurance (QA) manually 4.2.7 Important of implementing quality system for both the external and internal environment The findings according to table 4.11 and figure 4.11 below indicate that 95% of the employees felt that it was important to implement the quality system for both the external and internal environment of the business to ensure that the overall performance of the company was monitored. 5% of the participants were not sure if the quality system was supposed to be installed both internally and externally. From the study therefore it is clear that quality system was supposed to be installed both internally and externally. Table 4.11 important of implementing quality system for both the external and internal environment Frequency Percentage Disagree 10 5.0 Agree 100 95.0 Total 110 100.0 Figure 4.11 Important of implementing quality system for both the external and internal environment 5.0 Research (Case study) findings and conclusion From the data obtained and the results from the questionnaire, the company wanted to implement new quality assurance system as a sign of its improvement from the manual to the automated system. The automated system would allow the company to improve its services and the ability to upgrade and update the systems software will give the company ability to adapt to continued improvement of its services. Therefore, the new quality assurance system will be advantageous to the manual quality system that limited continued improvement throughout the operations. The case study can be analyzed using various porters’ five forces to determine its applicability of the new quality assurance system in Athal Company and the external business environment. The porters’ five forces help to analyze the business in terms of competition, threat of new entry, power of clients seeking inspection, suppliers of quality assurance software and other employees qualified to work on the new quality assurance system, and substitute’s services offered by other companies using manual system. Consulting industry in Australia is very competitive and thus companies in the industry must devise strategies that will make them more competitive and make them the leading companies in the market. Therefore, for Athal Company to remain relevant in the market, it must adopt the best technologies that will enable it to provide the best quality assurance services in the industry. In the industry, company adapt to manual systems due to their low operation cost (Ahuja, & Khamba, 2008, p. 745). Hence, Athal company shift to new quality assurance system gives it competitive advantages over the other companies in the industry. According to the research carried out on the company, 90% of the employees credited the automated system saying that it was effective compared to the manual system. Thus, the system would be able to deliver quality effective services to its target market. Quality services help a company to retain its customers and place it in a more competitive position in the market as customer or buyers tend to be attracted by quality and not the prices (Porter, 2008 p. 33). Therefore, the company’s choice on the automated system would be advantageous in the market despite the cost that is associated with it. The implementation of the new automated quality assurance system led to the improvement of the company’s performance and increase in customers seeking services from the company and thus improved incomes as shown in figure 1 below (Appendix 1). According to the interview carried out on the company’s income performance, the income is expected to rise to $ 900 million with the new automated system. The industry suffers from the presence of companies that are still using manual systems as a means of quality assurance system. The manual system forms the substitute services offered in the industry. These companies charge their inspection services at lower prices that threaten Athal automated services. Hence, Athal Company must offer good services beyond their clients’ expectations so that they will be able to shift from the manual to the automated. The company also needs to put in place marketing strategies that will advertise the new quality assurance system emphasizing on the quality of services that it will offer as opposed to their previous method of quality assurance. Moreover, the company needs to offer quality services that will meet the needs of the clients. Hence, the company needs to improve its management and staff training so that it will be able to cope up with the substitute services from the company. Quality assurance ensures that quality services that meet t he need of the consumers and international standards are offered (Wigand, 2003, p. 115). For this reason, employees are required to be trained in accordance with the quality assurance system in order to deliver the required services. For smooth learning of quality assurance in the Athal Company, the management should be conversant with the complete quality assurance system. Therefore, individuals, organizations, and groups are part of quality assurance system. In every market, companies maintain the large share of the market through limiting the bargaining power of the consumers. Initially, the company was offering manual services that were offered by other companies in the market. This gave consumers more bargaining power as they had a wide choice of obtaining services from various companies. However, the shift of Athal company from manual system to the new system that was adapted by few companies make consumers to have limited choices of seeking services from the automated companies. The presence of few companies with the automated quality control system makes it possible for Athal Company to limit the bargaining power of consumers. When the bargaining power of consumers in the market is limited, they will tend to buy or obtain services from a single business (Chen, 2008, p. 241). Therefore, Athal Company will limit the customers and thus they will tend to seek the new services from the company thus improving its productivity and making it more competitive in the market. Athal Company shifting to the new system meant that it would also shift its suppliers from those that provided the manual facilities to those that would suppliers it with facilities and infrastructures for the new system . Since many companies in the industry have not adapted the new quality assurance system, it means that the suppliers are few in the industry. Few suppliers mean that the suppliers provide their services with strict conditions and high prices due to lack of competition. Moreover, the suppliers have high bargaining power in the market. This led to high installation cost for the automated quality system and the maintenance cost. The high prices offered by suppliers in the market reduce the profits margins for the companies operating in the industry (Chen, 2008, p. 241). Therefore, the new quality assurance system was costly to the company and the consecutive maintenance costs remain high thus reducing the profits margin for the company. Hence, limited suppliers in the industry threaten Athal Company adaptation to the new quality assurance system for quality system. The decreased number of suppliers and the reduced profits margin in the industry discourage new entrants in the industry. The decreased new entrants in the industry result in decreased competition in the market and threats for the existing companies. Therefore, Athal Company is free from threats of new entry due to high cost of adapting new quality assurance system. The reduced competition creates favourable environment for the existing company to operate and improve their services in order to achieve their desired profit margin and growth in the market. According to the management, the initial cost of the new automated quality assurance system 40% more than the previous manual system. Hence, few companies in the industry can adapt it and especially those that are profit oriented making the industry less competitive. However, it requires low maintenance cost that can be compensated by the anticipated increase in clients’ influx due to high quality services and additional benef its of continuous quality assurance that will be offered by the quality assurance system implemented externally. According to Berry & Parasuraman, (2004), customers are attracted by quality services than low prices of the offered services. Thus, market share for Athal Company will tend to increase despite the increase in price of their services. The purpose of this research was to investigate the implementing application of quality assurance systems using Information Systems with a special focus on Athal Limited. Having identified the problem of study reviewed existing literature and shown gaps of knowledge in and explained the methods that the study used to collect data. This section presents analysis and findings of the study as set out in the research methodology. The results are presented on the implementing application of quality assurance systems using Information Systems and Athal Limited in particular. The data was gathered exclusively from questionnaire as the research instrument. The questionnaire was designed in line with the objectives of the study. 6.0 SUMMARY This study was descriptive in nature meaning it employed a descriptive survey design and was carried out at Athal Company. Stratified random sampling was used to ensure equitable distribution of managers and employees in the departments within the organization, from which 110 were selected for the study and all of them filled the questionnaires The data that was obtained from the management was as follows. According to the management, the automated quality system was more effective and efficient in monitoring and delivery of information across the company departments and branches. Moreover, the system was fast as compared to the manual systems. The management agreed that the automated quality system improved the performance of the employees and that of the company thus increasing attracting more customers. According to the company, quality assurance has ensured that all the testing and inspection services meet the requirements of the clients and international standards. In addition, the quality assurance has been ensuring that there is continuous collection of data that can be used in assessing the quality of services. The data collected compared to international standards allow the Athal Company to carry out improvements of the system in order to improve the services they offer. To facilitate this, an action plan that is d eveloped through policies monitoring and evaluation process allow the management and the technical team to carry out continuous improvement of the quality assurance. According to the management of Athal Company, customers had increased from 300 to 550 per month when the new quality assurance system was implemented as shown in figure 3 below (appendix 3). Similarly, it is expected that the income would increase from $ 450 to $ 900 million by the end of the first year the figure 2 below in appendix 3 analysis the change. The management said that the employees had mixed reactions on the new quality systems, with almost half number of the employees arguing against it. However, concerted trainings and sensitizations led to smooth implementation of the new systems. From the questionnaires, it was found that managers appreciated the new systems and saw it a good system for medium companies. The implementation process was expensive and the maintenance cost is high. The installation and maintenance cost is 60% more for the new quality assurance system than the manual system as shown in the figure below. 7.0 Conclusion The objectives of this case study were achieved in that the new quality assurance system that was implemented by Athal Company could be upgraded unlike the manual quality assurance system through update of information system software. The process of full implementation, handling, monitoring, operating the system for the Athal Company involved the employees and organization management. Therefore, the process of quality assurance is effective when coupled to individuals, groups and organisations. According to the management, the type of the information system adapted to be used by quality assurance system depend on the size of the organization, services offered, financial ability and availability of resources. Athal Company being a medium company chose the relevant information system that meets their size of the company, financial ability and ability for continuous improvement. The process of quality assurance automation involves installation of testing, inspection and quality control equipment’s that are interlinked with information system software and hand wares such as computers to record information and deliver results. Athal Company followed the protocol and successfully implemented a new quality assurance system using information system. 8.0 Recommendations The following recommendations would be most appropriate for the company and other that would take the initiative to implement the automated quality assurance system in their premises. The company should prepare its employees in advance through hiring the right employees who have the skills to prevent unnecessary cost from extra trainings. If there has to be a training, only few employees should be trained and not the entire workforce. This would prevent resistant to new quality assurance system and save the company unplanned costs. The company should asses the availability of suppliers of automated quality assurance system that is planning to adopt to prevent exploitation by suppliers as evidenced in this case study. Few suppliers in the market resulted to increased cost, which in turn led to reduced profits from high cost of initial installations. 9.0 Suggestion for Further Research The study was carried out on Athal organization only; therefore a similar study could be carried out in other firms to ascertain whether similar results are obtainable. References Ahuja, I. P. S., &Khamba, J. S. (2008). Total productive maintenance: literature review and directions. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 25(7), 709-756. Berry, L. L., &Parasuraman, A. (2004). Marketing services: Competing through quality. Simon and Schuster. Chen, Z. (2008). Defining buyer power. Antitrust Bull., 53, 241. Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W., &D’Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(2), 362-377. GE Inspections. Inspection Technologies: Productivity through inspection solution. N.d 1-19 Ho-Chang, C., Chang E., K., &Prybutok, V. R. (2014). Information system capability and firm performance: contradictory findings and their possible causes. MIS Quarterly, 38(1), 305-A14. Hoyle, D. (2009). ISO 9000 quality systems handbook. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann. KumpikaitÄâ€", V., &ÄÅ'iarnienÄâ€", R. (2008). New training technologies developing human resources. Economics & Management, 93-94. Lanz, J. (2013). Helping Small and Midsized Businesses Succeed in a system -Driven World. CPA Journal, 6-9. Lilly, J. D., &Durr, D. W. (2012). system changes at work and employee reactions: The role of leader behavior. Human Systems Management, 31(3/4), 193-201. Mak, K. L., &Peng, P. 2008. An automated inspection system for textile fabrics based on Gabor filters. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing, 24(3), 359-369. Mullins, L.J. (2013). Management & Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Porter, M. E. 2008. The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 86(1), 25-40. Sroufe, R., &Curkovic, S. (2008). An examination of ISO 9000: 2000 and supply chain quality assurance. Journal of Operations Management, 26(4), 503-520. Wang, N., Liang, H., Zhong, W., Xue, Y., & Xiao, J. 2012. Resource Structuring or Capability Building? An Empirical Study of the Business Value of Information system . Journal Of Management Information Systems, 29(2), 325-367. Wigand, R. T. 2003. Introduction to business information systems. Berlin [u.a.: Springer-Verl.

Definition of Addiction Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Definition of Addiction - Essay Example Actually, addiction is rampant challenge in the world especially among the young people and has adverse effects on human life. There have been many arguments and researches on addiction with various scholars and researchers drawing diverse definitions and explanations on the reference topic. Philip Stater is one of such scholars that seek to explain addiction. Indeed, in his article, â€Å" Want-Creation Fuels Americans Addictiveness,† Philip Stater argues that addiction is a state of wanting and that it is a condition in which the individual feels he or she is incomplete, inadequate, lacking, not whole, and only the addition of something external can solve satisfy it (Stater 391). Philip Stater argues his point by first drawing us to the probable effects of illegalizing cigarette smoking. He argues that even though tobacco would become expensive in America, people would still smuggle tobacco to the country via Miami and New York because they cannot live without it. Moreover, he argues that even if the federal government ban growing and advertising tobacco, many Americans would consequently try smoking cigarette for the first time since Americans love making laws but hate implementing them. He further argues that Americans are self-centred, restless, dissatisfied, and innovative and love trying new things that will give them comfort with speed and no hustles.

How has Lean Manufacturing Influenced the Service Industries Essay - 1

How has Lean Manufacturing Influenced the Service Industries - Essay Example In the paper, the benefits and challenges of lean manufacturing are analyzed with a goal of demonstrating how corporations within the service industry have employed lean manufacturing to provide consumer value for their services. The analysis also provides recommendations on how companies within the service industry would effectively employ lean manufacturing to enhance their competitiveness and performance within the market. The argument within the paper supports lean manufacturing as the prerequisite for effective and high-quality services and consumer value within the service industry. The implementation of lean manufacturing within the service industry has significantly influenced the quality of services that companies offer to their customers. It is through lean manufacturing that the quality of services is effectively improved. The quality of services is defined by the ability of a company to meet or exceed the expectations of a customer. Lean manufacturing has allowed service providers to offer services that are aligned with the unique needs, tastes and preferences of consumers. This is made possible through the role of lean manufacturing in ensuring that consumers get exactly what they want. The design of services within the lean manufacturing paradigm is based on the specifications of consumers. In this sense, companies are able to provide diverse services, which are aligned with the attributes of various market segments. More importantly, lean manufacturing has allowed companies to deliver services at the right time. It is through lean manufacturing that companies are able to deliver services and goods when buyers need them.

Critical Perspectives on HRM in Britain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Critical Perspectives on HRM in Britain - Essay Example Research shows that when an organisation is able to achieve a cohesive and unified organisational culture, it improves problem-solving capacity within a firm and leads to enhanced organisational performance (Yilmaz and Ergun 2008). Furthermore, a longitudinal study conducted by Kotter and Heskett (1992) discovered that having a cohesive organisational culture was correlated with a 765 percent improvement of business incomes for the investigated organisations occurring between 1977 and the year 1988. With such evidence of organisational improvement and enhanced problem-solving capacity as a result of developing a cohesive organisational culture, it would appear that it is, indeed, desirable for senior managers to seek to change their organisational cultures if it is determined that existing culture in insufficient for enhancing organisational performance. However, change resistance is commonplace in many organisations in which managers become the victims of illogical and irrational employee responses when organisational members are faced with change (Ford, Ford and D’Amelio 2009). Hence, it might not be feasible to seek change of culture as a result of the intensity of psychological retaliation imparted upon management when attempting to elicit cultural change. There appears to be significant evidence that seeking to change organisational culture maintains a variety of benefits for an organisation. O’Donnell (2006) asserts that when an organisation maintains a cohesive culture, culture can facilitate development of innovations that support an organisation’s goals. For many organisations, especially those that operate in saturated competitive markets, the capability of an organisation in achieving many innovative outputs serves as a predictor of competitive advantage and holistic organisational performance. Kalyanaram and Gurumurthy (2008) describe an example of being a first mover in a new market where a firm

Macroeconomics Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Macroeconomics - Research Paper Example The fiscal policy should be used because it leads to increase in disposable income that translates to increase in demand for goods. It also leads to creation of employment translating to increase in consumption rate. Increase in demand eventually leads to enhanced economic growth (Sullivan & Sheffrin, 2003). Expansionary Fiscal Policy entails the government efforts to raise the aggregate demand. It thus involves raising the government expenditure and lowering taxes. This will have the effect of increasing the Aggregate demand and eventually lead to increased rate of economic growth. This can be illustrated by the equation and the graph shown below: (AD=C+I+G+X-M). This policy will also lead to the multiplier effect. When the government spends more, this money is transferred to the people. This means that when a person receives some money, he will spend part of it and maybe save the rest. The money will be transferred to another person who also does the same. Lowered taxes will increase the levels of disposable income which translate to extra spending and eventually higher economic growth. The multiplier effect has significant advantages to the growth of the economy because it leads to creation of employment and increased consumption (Gavel, 2012). When the government increases its expenditure, it implies that there is more activity both in the private and public sector leading to creation of jobs. For instance, if the government decides to spend more on the construction of roads, it means that more employees will be required in offering skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labor (Gavel, 2012). It also implies that the new projects will require materials from different suppliers who have to raise their production levels. The raised production levels will need extra labor and more people will get jobs. As mention above, the multiplier effect leads to money reaching more people within the economy. These

Working conditions in Brooks Brothers Coursework

Working conditions in Brooks Brothers - Coursework Example Individual associates put our employees under a lot of pressure to make the required sales volumes during the period of economic recessions. An employee must make approximately 85% of all the net sales thus living no time for personal development. One has to work for a long number of hours with minimum overtime compensation. This is turning to be a problem because seem not to care about all the well being of the employees.  There is also no room for employees to develop professionally. Once employed in a creation sector of the business, either making the clothes or marketing or sales, a person is likely to stagnate in one position for a long time. Upper management does not offer the employees the required support. It is the dream of any employee in any work station to climb up the ladder in the job market. However, this seems not to be an issue in this organization. The amount of time given for breaks is very little. All we do is work and work the more. The healthcare provided is a lso limited. The employees are so busy such work is available even during holidays and all this work is done while one is standing up. Thus, it is very tiresome and the pay is just okay  Moreover, the management sometimes does not show up on time to open the retail stores. But when one is unable to make the required sales, then it proves to be a problem with the top management. Sometimes that required promotion from within is also very slow. One can be made to do something impromptu something that had not even been planned for.

Diabetes and Evidence Based Nursing Research Paper

Diabetes and Evidence Based Nursing - Research Paper Example As the discussion highlights dozens of methods exist for keeping staff nurses informed. In order for a nurse to be competent in diabetes nursing in general practice, he/she should have the necessary knowledge and skills required. A competent nurse should be able to identify whether the patient has a blood history of diabetes that has not been controlled by the administration of oral drugs, and or, if the patient’s blood glucose levels were over 300 for the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test or with the random plasma glucose test . The nurse should measure blood glucose and determine how much insulin is required, administer insulin according to the results of the blood glucose test performed, help patients commencing insulin develop management techniques within guidelines and access secondary care specialist services when needed. The nurse should as well demonstrate clear knowledge of the pathophysiology of diabetes. It is also important for the nurse to be able to monitor patie nt’s progress and management of their condition, appropriately help patients achieve self management of their diabetes condition, make proper clinical referrals within the practice, have enough and appropriate material for patient education, initiate discussion to provide necessary advice to the patient when required to, provide psychological support to patients and their families, have an organized objective approach for the diagnosis of diabetes according to protocols, use results of the diagnosis for the treatment and incorporating patient preferences in the process.

Nissan Skyline Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Nissan Skyline - Essay Example In 1954 the two companies were merged together. (http://history.jbskyline.net/). The Nissan Skyline is an intermediate-size automobile range sold in Japan and other countries. It is available in either coupe or sedan body styles, and is sold in North America, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Middle East as the Infiniti G35. The first Skyline under the Prince marque was marketed as a luxury car. It featured a 1.5 L (1482 cc) GA-4 engine producing 60 hp (44 kW). It used a de Dion tube rear suspension and was capable of 87 mph (140 km/h). The car weighed around 1,300 kg. Prince Skylines were produced as four door sedans and five door station wagons. Apart from the sedan the Skyline also spawned pickup truck and van lines called the "Prince Skyway." The model with quad headlights appeared in 1957, powered by the same 1.5L engine. Its production went on through 1961. After Fuji Precision Industries changed its name to Prince the S50 series was launched. This second generation car soon became one of the most popular cars in Asia. It was powered by the G-1 engine, a 70 hp (52 kW) version of the old GA-4. A 1,862 cm engine was also available, delivering 91 hp. In 1962, this model was restyled as the S21S series (Pinker 1990). New styling for S50 became available in 1963. In 1966 after the merge of Nissan and Prince the S50 came out with Nissan Skyline marking. This model lasted in production through 1967, featuring hand-built Michelotti bodies in elegant coupe and convertible versions. These cars used the 1.9 L (1862 cc) GB-30 engine, producing 83 hp (61 kW). In mid-60s Prince created a racing GT Skyline. It was basically a variation of the S54 featuring the larger 6-cylinder G-7 engine from the Gloria S40, though the engine compartment needed modification to fit that long engine. Prince had high hopes for winning the 2nd Japanese Grand Prix with their new vehicle. Competing against the Porsche 904, the Skyline managed 2nd through to 6th places. After the success of the GT Skyline another version, Prince 2000GT was released to the Japanese market. In February 1969 the first GT-R Skyline came out. Nicknamed the Hakosuka amongst fans, it used the new 2.0 L (1998 cc) S20 I6 engine which produced 160 hp (119 kW), being therefore equal to the top sports cars of the time i.e. Nissan R380 racing car with its GR8 engine. First GT-R's were sedans, but a 2-door coupe version came out in March of 1971. To make the cars as light as possible for racing purposes the designers have stripped them of unnecessary equipment thus showing prominent results on track such as 33 victories of the sedan in less than two years and the 50 victories of the coupe in 1972. This GT-R is said to have been a competitor of Mazda's third rotary engine machine, the RX-3, and it is said that the two cars performed a desperate effort for victory at the circuits. The GT-R was also a favorite of wild street racers who roamed the streets at night at that time. It is claimed that the art of drifting began among Japanese racers when they purposely engaged their emergenc y brakes as a way to counter understeer on their GT-Rs. One of the most famous Japanese drifters was the Drift King Keiichi Tsuchiya (http://history.jbskyline.net/). New GT-ES came out with a turbocharged engine, the L20ET, which was the first turbo engine to power a Japanese-manufactured vehicle. Turbo versions had no intercooler and no blowoff valve installed until the R32 powered with the

Property in South Korea Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Property in South Korea - Essay Example An investment requires a medium of exchange and that is usually money. Money is a deteriorating asset in itself and loses value constantly. It is, for this reason, it is exchanged for property which is expected to retain its value. Here is the fallacy that in fact, property achieves a higher value on the fall of the value of money, or rather its purchasing power. Therefore the value of the property is increased due to the fall of the value of money. It is illogical to believe that property has obtained a higher value. But such is the force of the human mind that this has become an accepted belief. The main reason for this belief lies in another fact; that due to the constant expansion of markets the needs of the people increases. While the money supply can be expanded, the supply of physical property remains the same. This mismatch is the real reason why property prices increase due to increase in demand. Morgan Stanley has decided on an astonishing investment in the commercial property previously owned by Daewoo. It has bid a handsome amount of $ 1 billion for this office tower located near the railway station in Seoul, S. Korea. The demand for quality space located in prime business districts is increasing and existing land parcels are extremely difficult to consolidate, leading to unimagined high prices. This deal is no big surprise as Morgan Stanley has a large portfolio of property investments of even larger figures, and has the intention to acquire more properties around the world for its valued clients. The movement of economic liberalization that commenced some thirty years ago is now maturing and covering vast areas and countries, previously considered under-developed, are fast catching on to this progress. This has had multiple effects all around the world. International barriers to trade, movement, and communication are being removed or eased to facilitate free movement of capital and human resources.  

Memory Cost Essay Example for Free

Memory Cost Essay Over the past 30 years the cost of Electronics has steadily decreased. The cost of electronic storage has decreased greatly over the past 30 years as well. In this paper I will be talking about the decrease in the cost of RAM and Hard Drive Storage, how much will a 100TB HDD will cost when it becomes widely available in the future, and how much memory I will be able to buy with $100 in 10 years. In 1956, IBM created the first commercial Hard Drive called the IBM 305 RAMAC which held 5MB and cost a whopping 50 thousand dollars! Electronic storage started being more widespread during the early 1980’s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that RAM and Hard Drive Storage begin to be cheap enough for the average person. Back in 1981 the price for one MB of Hard Drive storage space was $340! Most people couldn’t afford a computer back in the 1980’s because of the huge cost. Through the 1980’s the cost per MB fell from around $340 during 1981 then to $40 per MB in 1988, and finally to $9 per MB in 1990. The cost of one Bit of ram in 1981 was 0.000425 cents, in 1988 it was 0.000005 cents, in 1995 it was 0.000000158 cents, in 2000 the cost per Bit was 0.000000063, and in 2013 the cost per Bit was 7.910^-10 cents. To get an understanding of how much memory will cost in the future and when 100TB hard drives will become commercially available, we have to take a look at how the price for memory has gotten cheaper over the past 10-30 years, the ever increasing amount of storage space that can be squeezed onto a hard drive platter, and take in to account the rapid growth in the technology field. According to Chris Mellor in his article (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/01/hp_memristor_2018/) technology giant HP announced that 100TB hard drives could be available as early as 2018. I firmly believe that in 4 years by 2018 there will be 100TB drives for sale to the public but they will probably be very expensive till they go into mass production. In 10 years, we will be able to buy a hard drive with a phenomenal amount of storage space. From 1990 to  2014 the price has gone down exponentially from $9 per MB to under 150 MB per Cent! If we follow that exponential trend we are looking at hard drives that can hold over 100TB that cost fewer than 100 dollars, while the RAM will decrease in price slower. In conclusion, the cost of Storage such as RAM and Hard Drives has gotten very cheap, from over $500 per MB to 5 cents per GB! We will see a continual decrease in the cost of electronic storage and an increase in the amount of storage in smaller packages. Picture Citation: http://www.aei.org/publication/chart-of-the-day-the-falling-price-of-memory/ Citations http://ns1758.ca/winch/winchest.html http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/11/01/hp_memristor_2018/ http://www.jcmit.com/memoryprice.htm