Quality Management Principles and TQM in Gerber Company - Assignment Example

Introduction

Gerber Company deals with baby foods and products. It was formerly owned by an American company with its headquarters in Fremont and is today a Nestle Group subsidiary. Daniel Frank Gerber established the company in 1927 in Fremont, Michigan. Daniel owned the Fremont Canning company that produced canned vegetables and fruits. Dorothy, Gerber's wife, started making hand-strained food belonging to their daughter Sally, who was seven months old after a pediatrician suggested so. Gerber saw a business opportunity and started making baby food (Hammond, 2009). He had already developed at least five products by 1928 designed for the market. They included carrots, prunes, spinach, strained peas and vegetable beef soup. His products were later distributed nationwide six months later. Eventually, the brand became the main company in the industry of baby food providing over 190 products in 80 different countries labeled in 16 languages.

Despite having some competitors like Beechnuts, Gerber still has the control of over 83% of the US baby food market. Many people believe that Gerber's wife was the inspiration behind the baby products. Legend claims that the wife returned home one day after visiting her daughter's pediatrician in the kitchen straining vegetables and fruits for her daughter. After the hard work, he suggested to Daniel, her husband, to produce the food in an industrial setting, relieving mothers the load as Daniels family owned Fremont Canning Company. Another version of the story is that Daniel got upset and frustrated after coming home only to find his wife strained and looked miserable in the kitchen. Daniel, therefore, was forced to invent the baby food company, as he did not want to exchange the beautiful wife for the kitchen chores.

Literature review

A lot of research has been done in the area of Total Quality Management (TQM) worldwide. After a consideration of the TQM literature, it comes out clear that different TQM definitions and systems are adopted by various researchers regarding their understanding of the TQM and their research objectives (Li, Chen & Cheung, 2000). TQM can be said to be a set of procedures and techniques to eliminate differences from a process of production or a system of service delivery to improve the quality, efficiency and reliability. It combines basic managerial techniques, improvement efforts available and technical apparatus through a disciplined method aimed at a continuous improvement.

TQM implies a constant improvement process for a group of people, individuals, and firms as a whole, and it contains four principles which are (management using fact, delighting the customers, a continued improvement, and management that is people-based) (Luburić, 2014). TQM is also termed as the outcomes of the applications of quality principles meant for the incorporation of all processes and functions in a particular firm. TQM should, therefore, be a management approach to organizations focused on quality, based on all members’ participation, and with an aim to satisfy the customers and to benefit all members of the society and the organization.

The quality of management process, strategic quality planning and human resource management can be used to study the TQM paradox. Black and Porter (1996) came up with the ten most important factors of the TQM that include: The culture of corporate culture, teamwork framework for development, measurement systems for improvement in the quality, the orientation of customer satisfaction, supplier partnerships, communication of information regarding improvement, customer management, planning for operational quality and external interface management (Black & Porter, 1996). In a study by Powell in 1995, following elements of TQM framework were outlined: Adopting the philosophy, benchmarking, closer to suppliers, closer to customers, executive commitment, open organization, training and a flexible manufacturing process (Winn, & Green, 1998).

Ho and Fung (1994) also outlined some ten total quality management elements including Training and education, total involvement, ownership, leadership, reward and recognition, error prevention, continuous improvement, cooperation and teamwork, customer satisfaction and commitment (Talib & Rahman, 2012).

Case Summarization

Quality management can be termed as the general function of the management that governs the objectives, quality policy, and responsibilities and later implements them through ways like quality assurance, quality control, quality improvement and quality planning within the quality framework

Total quality management (TQM) on the other hand can be defined as a managerial philosophy for constantly improving the performance of the general business based on vision and plan statements, leadership, product design, employee participation customer focus and education and training. As indicated above teamwork is one of the key elements of a total quality management. Gerber Company having gone through several improvements has used this element to better the company. This was confirmed by George Sheffler a 35-year old retired Veteran of Gerber

Maintaining an atmosphere of teamwork enabled Gerber to assist employees to adjust to changes and offered a head start to the company regarding the diversity issue. Gerber also made use of the training element of the total quality management when he realized there was employee's skepticism. The supervisors and the management at large were finding it hard adjusting to the team methodology, and Gerber decided to hire consultants to improve and teach facilitation skills to his employees. As a result, employees started being comfortable when working in teams and were free to report any problem with the system. Team atmosphere is, therefore, one of the major necessities in ensuring quality in every process in different companies.

Question 1

Quality can be defined as a group of characteristics and features that represent the desirability of a saleable good and is controlled by the manufacturer to attain some fundamental requirements. Most businesses producing goods for sale contains a product quality that screens the acceptability of consumers on friendly products

Gerber to enhance the quality of products ensures a team that makes a working environment that promotes the participation and involvement of the employees. The input from every employee in the company is always encouraged and expected. To ensure high goods quality, the employees should be treated with dignity and respect. Gerber ensures that job satisfaction is attained through the pursuit of the company goals, and all the energies are channeled towards ensuring the long-term success of the company and the Gerber employees (Mukherjee, 2006).

Gerber to enhance the quality of products also ensures that decision-making is at the closest levels to the implementation of the decisions. The employees that are not affected by the decision provide the best information that makes the basis of those decisions.

Effective communication and trust are also important components when it comes to the improvement of a product's quality. The consumers should have a platform to express their views concerning the product. Gerber enhanced communication to enhance the quality in many ways. For instance, the department of consumer relations in Gerber Company, which was developed and run by Dorothy Gerber, was receiving a constant flow of letters, but the system was not in a position to reply all of them. This leads to Gerber opening a telephone information service (800-4-GERBER) in 1986. The team members involved also needs to communicate freely and openly and to be in a position to rely on the information given to achieve their goals and objectives. A gesture of trust is always seen when supervisors seek the employees input and trusts them with major responsibilities. Gerber hired consultants to teach facilitating skills to the supervisors, the employees, and their supervisors started being free and discussed not only the team concepts but also how different changes can improve the quality of their products. Through this trust between the team members is enhanced and they will learn to reciprocate the trust. This improved the quality of Gerber’s product.

Question 2

Through the principles of TQM, businesses have the chance to increase the customer satisfaction, enhance teamwork, increase returns on sales and even reduce various costs. Companies producing quality goods and services have the right to increase their product prices because the consumers are satisfied with the quality (Bose, 2011).

When dealing with the customer and stakeholders, Gerber takes into consideration the fact that the people to conclude whether the services and products offered are of good quality or not are the consumers. This is why the company's department of consumer relations was developed to deal with consumer feedback .the department was later improved by Gerber when he introduced a telephone information service (800-4-GERBER) back in 1986. This made it simple for the company to include in the product development the consumer demands. The company even extended the departments operating hours to 24 hours a day to cater for the needs of all parents. The employees also received different pieces of training from hired consultants to make them comfortable when performing their duties. The company did all these because no matter how much the employees are trained or how much they upgraded their machines, the consumers at the end of the day had the final say in judging their products. TQM therefore, was implemented in all areas while considering the customers and the shareholders.

When it comes to participation and teamwork, the company ensured a total involvement of employees to achieve the company's goals and objectives. This led to the empowerment of employees, and the participation of employees made the process of decision making easier. Gerber enhanced the empowerment and involvement of employees through ensuring that the workplace is open. Gerber, for instance, hired consultants to teach the supervisors facilitation skills. This enabled them to hold meetings with their subordinates to not only enlighten workers with the concepts of a team but also to discuss changes, how the workers felt about the changes and what the company needed to do to make the work environment conducive to them. This lead to the workers being comfortable when working in teams and they were also in a position to air their concerns about any trouble they experienced while working. The company also introduced management incentives. For instance, the senior managers began to get compensations due to the maintenance of high levels of consumer trust through ensuring that the products are of high quality.

. When it comes to Continual Improvement, companies have the chance to improved and high-quality processes. The principle allows companies to find new techniques of producing products of high quality, to be competitive and to exceed the expectations of the customers. For instance, Gerber installed new software from the Institute of SAS that provided the employees with instant access to information concerning the effect of their final products I every station of each process. Gerber also introduced a system that allowed consumers to talk to the management directly in case there was any suggestion, question or even a complaint regarding Gerber products

Question 3

Quality enabled Gerber to overcome the crisis it faced in consumer tampering in many ways. For instance, from the introduction of the telephone information service in 1986, the operators were able to log the customer information on a database. This allowed for the conduction of trend analysis, which was later, included in the process of product development. The company also was in a position to exercise creative thinking and innovation by having plans to remove pesticides from its food. This increased the company’s competitive power, exceeded customers’ expectations and enabled the company to prepare itself for future requirements from the government. This dedication to always excel in performance served the company well. Thinking outside the box when it comes to pesticide control continued to put the company in front of its competitors due to the investigation of what the company terms as environmental quality. This entails the examination of the environmental factors that were not traditionally considered, such as pollutants, which are carried by the suppliers into the plant. A report in 1995 that highly criticized the industry of baby food for the continued use of fillers assisted the company to introduce sugar and starch-free formulations a year. Different companies have lessons to learn from Gerber. First, they should understand that innovation does not only have game-changing effects on their products but also is essential in remaining relevant a business environment that is highly competitive.

Question 4

According to my understanding of quality management, Gerber has it in mind that the market is now more competitive due to the opening of numerous opportunities to new competitors by globalization (Bolton, 1995). This, however, does not pose a risk to the survival of the local businesses to a challenge to be considered by the businesses. This challenge is the need for the company to develop greater loyalty from the consumers to their products and services, a high sustainability of their product to the needs of their customers and increased concern about the company’s social impact. The global scenario should also present an opportunity for Gerber to act and venture into new markets. This action will highly depend on the quality of their products and the services offered by the company. Therefore, Gerber needs to increase the quality of their products. For Gerber to achieve its set objectives and goals, and effective management of quality is required. The management also needs to have a continuous improvement of activities at every operational level of the company.

Secondly, because quality management blends discipline, commitment and an increased effort by every person involved during the production process with a goal of improving the processes, Gerber needs organizationally structured, have quality programs, establish different policies, evaluate consumer satisfaction and use improved methodologies and tools in the production process (Bolton, 1995).

Gerber should also ensure sustainability for consumer usage. This involves two aspects the characteristic leading to their product satisfaction and avoiding failure. The company needs to design their products in a way that meets their customer needs that will lead to satisfaction. The needs are not only related to the inside characteristics of their food products sensory characteristic, but also to the availability of their products in the market, with good packaging and compatible prices.

Lastly, the company should ensure that there are no faults relating to the characteristics of their food products going by their specification. This will make their customers get inspired by the reliability of their products. For instance, a customer will be sure that he or she is purchasing safe products, with the properties on the label and with no health risks

Question 5

Involved workers have a big difference from workers that are not engaged due to the efforts they always bring to their roles. Employees that are involved in their workplace management and decision-making processes works with passion goes an extra mile and have a profound feeling of connection with their company. They always move the business forward and drive innovation (Naagarazan, & Arivalagar 2005).

To increase employee involvement, Gerber can use the following. One is to utilize the accurate survey for employee engagement. Once the company asks for employee opinion on different issues, actions are expected to follow. Most companies have the tendency of using employee surveys to gather information that is irrelevant or even impossible to act on. Any information from a survey needs to be specific, actionable and relevant at any level of organization. The information should also be proven and feedback given to the employee to encourage them to offer more and more information

Gerber should also focus on engaging employee at local and organizational levels. This is because real change normally occurs at the local levels but only happens when the leaders set the pace from top. The company will realize many benefits from the engagement activities once its leaders weave workers engagement into managers' performance expectations and allow them to work on those expectations. There is a need to make the managers and employees have a feeling of empowerment to make differences in their environments (Charantimath, 2012).

The company also needs to choose the right managers. Best managers are always aware that the organization success is to the achievement of employees. Not every person can make a great manager. A great manager will care about the organization and the employee success and will seek to understand every person's strengths while offering employees every available opportunity to utilize their strengths in their different fields. Great managers always seek the opinions, ideas of employees and always values and acknowledge their contribution.

The company’s management should also be transparent. This transparency has a 94 % connection with the happiness of employees. Having trust with employees when handling sensitive information develops in them a sense of deeper investment in the business and assists in creating an atmosphere of cooperation as opposed to the perception of “us versus them” of the relationship between the management and the employee (Kanji, 995).

Lastly, Gerber’s management needs to be visible and flexible. Visibility should be manifested in two ways. First managers need to be available and approachable for assistance and guidance rather than being in some protected areas where employees cannot easily reach them. Secondly, the management should publicly recognize employees for any achievements. This will motivate them. Flexibility, on the other hand, offers freedom to the employees to change their schedules and working locations to suit their needs. The employers need to trust the employees to get their works done in time, and this will increase the employee involvement

Conclusion

A company’s competitiveness is a reflection of the adopted strategies as a way to adapt to the present standards of the markets competition. Quality is always a major factor for the food industry in a market that is highly globalized. Companies need therefore to develop competitive strategies and establish a suitable internal structure. It is also clear that the only secret to enhancing employee engagement is that there is no secret. If a manager wants to know the things that help his or her employees feel engaged he or she should ask them. This takes us to the golden rule of treating others, as we would like them to treat us. Managers also need to invest in kindness, respect, and compassion