Deming's 14 Points of Management - Essay Example

The application of Deming's 14 points of management to athletics coaching 13 March 2006 This article on total quality management analyses the application of Deming's 14 points to athletics coaching. The field of athletics coaching has to adopt quality management techniques in order to compete in this competitive environment that is often dominated by the use of new technology. The athletics coaching field was one which was not standardised and quality varied greatly in this field. By applying Deming's 14 points to athletics coaching, this article demonstrates how implementing these points lead to major changes in the industry, which include accreditation, training and education as well as new philosophies. All these changes point to standardisation across the board for athletics coaches and athletes, and it is this standardisation which leads to the processes associated with quality. Introduction Total Quality Management is management philosophy that has been adopted and applied to various sectors of industry. Its popularity stemmed from the highly efficient and highly productive systems that most Japanese organisations used, for example, the Toyota and Nissan car plants in the United Kingdom. Total Quality Management was first introduced by Feigenbaum in 1957, but this notion has recently been developed further by incorporating ideas from other quality experts, for example, W.E. Deming (Slack 1998). Deming was considered to be the father of quality control in Japan as he stressed the importance of implementing quality from top management levels and ensuring it was a strategic activity. Deming's basic philosophy was that the quality and productivity would increase as the unpredictability of the process decreased. This was to be achieved through the use of statistical control methods, participation, education, openness and purposeful improvements (Slack 1998). Total Quality Management is basically a way of thinking and working in an organisation and is not a prescriptive philosophy, as it provides guidance on how to approach quality in an organisation. In fact Total Quality Management stresses the need to meet the needs and expectations of the customers, which is important as organisations exist to serve customers. For instance, in the sports establishment, athletes will often select facilities and coaches they think will provide a quality service in terms of advice, guidance and helping them reach their full potential. TQM must also cover all parts of the organisation and include every person working in that organisation as well. TQM is a holistic system, and is not dependent on just one or a few individuals, but on all individuals. Successful athletics coaches often have a highly developed and highly efficient management system behind them that monitors and assesses their performance. This assessment constantly assesses quality by setting benchmarks which the coaches have to meet or exceed. A TQM system also examines all costs related to quality, but more importantly it looks at the cost of failure. By looking at failure, an organisation is able to analyse the situation and identify the problem. It is quite easy to overlook quality if no records of failures are present, as an organisation always tends to get complacent. Emphasis is placed on getting things right the first time, but building in quality as opposed to inspecting it. This is important as there are situations where organisations cannot afford to get things wrong due to the cost involved, for example, space travel. This is also an important point to consider in athletics as athletes often have optimum ages were peak performance can be expected. The failure of recognising this and capitalising on it can result in a lost opportunity for both the athlete and the coach. The success of the TQM system is highly dependent on the development of systems and procedures that support quality and improvement as this philosophy is about developing a continuous process of improvement (Slack 1998). Athletics Coaching and Quality Management theory is an area of development that has been ignored in athletic training and coaching programs, even though the principles of these theories could be applied to athletic training and coaching (Peer & Rakich 2000). The current trend is for athletic programmes to develop accreditation standards as the concept of quality in this field becomes more prominent. However, accreditation involves the assessment of the service provision, which is really an assessment of quality of service. Accreditation also demonstrates that an organisation is involved in the promotion of continuous improvement, and that the organisation has control measures in place. . Accreditation is also a means of standardizing athletic training educational programmes that facilitate efforts to promote quality in the athletic training profession as a whole (NASBE 2004). Ruetten & Ziemainz (2003) identified crucial issues essential for the future development and sustainability of elite sport in a country. These issues are talent identification and development, and the quality of these issues are said to influence the international success of a nation's sport. The presence of quality in talent identification and development will also affect the retention rate by making it higher. High retention rates can also be affected by the quantity of potential talent available and the quality of the talent identification and development system (Ruetten & Ziemainz 2003). Quality in athletics coaching is becoming more important as international competition increases, and this puts pressure on resources by creating a demand deficit. This has an effect of the effectiveness and efficiency of talent identification and development. Quality management deals with the different measures of quality planning, control, assurance and improvement by specifying goals, attaining personal qualification and documentation and evaluating processes and outcomes (Ruetten & Ziemainz 2003). This further raises the importance of total quality management in the area of athletics coaching, as there is an emphasis on measuring outcomes, and not on how to improve these outcomes. This is the issue that quality management aims to address. Athletics coaching and Deming's 14 points Deming contributed to this philosophy by summarising quality in what he called his "14 points" (Austenfeld 2001). However, it should be noted that Deming's points are geared for a highly competitive environment, much like the athletics sector (SAGE 1999). Although TQM is mainly associated with manufacturing and product based industry, Deming's points have strengths that are applicable to other non-product based industry. For instance, it shall be demonstrated that Deming's 14 points provide a systematic and functional logic. This works in much the same way as athletics coaching, where the best athletes are trained to be systematic in their approach to training. Functional logic also has the beauty of being able to identify stages in quality improvement, which is the key end result most athletes are after. Apart from emphasising the role of statistical and quantitative methods, he also places importance on leadership and motivation. Coaching athletes is pretty much the same as managing a process or people. Quality is often associated with good leaders who are able to motivate their subjects, and good leaders must also be able to substantiate their claims or statements, hence the need for statistical and quantitative methods. It is difficult to motivate a workforce then they cannot quantify what their effort means for the whole organisation (Slack 1998). Deming's points are supposed to be a guide to the successful management of quality. Quality is an important issue in the current environment as it is becoming more and more competitive. Most organisations cannot differentiate themselves on the grounds of product or service they are offering. On the other hand the market is becoming more and more knowledgeable about the products and services being offered. This has resulted in rise of quality as a key selling point. This has affected all sectors of industry, as customers often judge an organisation by the quality of their service or product. This raises another issue, as organisations now have to find out how the customer defines quality and how they know they have received a quality service or product. This is where the usefulness and applicability of Deming's points come in. The first point involved creating a constancy of purpose towards the improvement of a product and/or service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business and to provide jobs. This involves developing a new long term strategy for athletic coaching bodies that address quality. Athletic management will need to develop new quality oriented policies that establish the core quality values and set long term strategic goals. These policies need to be filtered to all levels of the organisation. Athletics coaching has traditionally been one that has focussed on short term goals, and a move to quality would further reinforce the concept of total quality management, by forcing those involved in this field to assess the work they do, and to continually improve this work. Therefore policies for athletic coaching should incorporate training and further education programmes for coaches to help them assess the quality of their work. This may include implementing a policy where coaches have to renew their accreditation certificates at fixed intervals. The second point is about adopting a new philosophy. Athletic coaching has to move away from generalised and all-inclusive coaching sessions in order to achieve quality service levels for all athletes. This involves adopting a totally different way of coaching, which is essential as the environment and markets have changed. Athletes no longer have to put up with low quality coaching, as there are many more options available to them. The new philosophy that the athletic organisation implements must build quality into its processes and systems, by standardising processes to ensure that quality is consistent across the board. If accreditation is to be introduced, then it must be from the same accrediting body, if coaches offer individualised programmes for athletes then these must be standardised and follow a standard operating procedure. Regular assessments of these procedures and the level of compliance will enable management to pick up acceptable trends or unacceptable trends. By introducing these factors, a new philosophy is created by making sure that all coaches are following the same standard operating procedures. Therefore, athletics coaching may want to look into the development of standardised processes. The third point emphasises understanding the purpose of inspection to reduce the dependence on mass inspection, and switch to statistical evidence that has quality built into it. In athletics mass inspection is equivalent to the final deciding race, where athletes are selected on their ability to cross the finish line first. Deming is against this approach as it ends up assessing the results and not the actual process. This means that this approach does not assess the quality of the coach's methods. An assessment of the process and methods used is essential in a quality system as it weeds out any deficiencies and issues are highlighted quicker than they normally would have been, for instance, the fastest runner, may not always be the best runner in terms of endurance. This has been further proven through the use of statistical methods and scientific research centres for sports, where athletes can have their performance assessed and have a training programme that is specific to them. It is also important that coaches understand that the inspection process is not there to catch them out, but it is there as a continuous improvement tool that should guide them and ensure that they maintain high levels of quality throughout their work. The fourth point is about improving the quality of incoming materials. This means that coaches have an obligation to obtain training equipment and resources that have been proven and tested by approved statistical methods, and not by cost. Athletes are more likely to train at well resourced facilities that provide them with the best equipment that will actually help them achieve their goal. This point is also about the quality of advice given by the coach. Athletic coaching requires extensive scientific knowledge and regular updates to this knowledge, as athletes will be more motivated if their management is making an effort to support the athlete by providing the best possible information and guidance available at that time. The fifth point confronts the problem. By finding the problems, continuous improvements are possible which equate to a continuous rise in productivity. Success in athletics is dependent on overcoming and working through problems with certain techniques. It is the coaches' responsibility to identify any problems his athletes are facing, as they may not be aware that they are problems. By striving for quality management in athletic coaching, coaches' have the responsibility of keeping up to date on all aspects of athletics, sports science and the physical aspect of the human body. The sixth point illustrates point five and advocates the use of modern training and education. This involves the use of progress charts, that record information that can be statistically analysed such as heart rate, oxygen levels and optimum training. These serve the purpose of checking the quality of training an athlete has received and the information can also determine when it is appropriate to end training. The coach has to undertake education in these new training methods, so as to build in more quality into their training. By implementing training and education on the job, athletic coaches are directly participating in the process of continuous improvement, as quality is a learning curve that is essential in today's competitive environment. Training and education also makes coaches more attractive to athletes who are seeking high quality. The seventh point requests modern methods of supervision to improve productivity. Supervision is another form of coaching and this would involve the use of technology to enable coaching and training. Modern methods also have the ability to provide immediate feedback to both the coach and the athlete, which is essential when quality is included. This allows the problem to be identified almost immediately, and solutions proposed and suggested to improve the athletes performance, which is their quality. Supervision also deals with leadership, and a different leadership strategy of supporting coaches and athletes is definitely required. Point eight is about abolishing fear. Fear often prevents most people from realising their full potential. Coaches need to encourage and promote communication with the athlete, as they can also pick out problems and issues from basic communication, and changes in behaviour or characteristics. The athlete needs to feel comfortable when they are training, and this is largely the coach's responsibility, as serious athletes strive to please their trainers. But communication breakdown can occur when the athlete fears the repercussions of failure, which could lead to a reduction in attendance, which ultimately decreases productivity and performance. Athletic coaches must approach failure with a positive attitude and instil this way of thinking in the athletes, as improvements can only be made from failures. The ninth point focuses on the entire organisation, which is the entire athletics organisation by encouraging breaking down barriers. Barriers between departments and management levels need to be broken down, as this hampers and impedes communication. Quality often works better where the entire organisation adopts the same approach. By doing this, the organisation empowers the coach to communicate openly with the rest of the organisation, and this is essential for problem-solving as all involved can contribute to the solution by highlighting different aspects of the problem. As barriers are broken down in the athletic organisation, they are also broken down between the athlete and their coach and the organisation, which introduces a culture of openness and transparency, with incidentally are the hallmarks of an organisation that concentrates on quality management. The tenth point is one of Deming's most contested points, as it opposes obstacles to productivity in the way of posters and slogans that demand quality without specifying the methods with which to incorporate the quality. This is an important issue as athletic performance benefits greatly from scientific and statistic methods and solutions. It is no good requesting targets for athletes without providing the means with which to attain those targets, or without ensuring the systems and coaches are well-versed in the concepts of quality management. Coaches need to be providing specific information that is essential to gaining optimum performance and that helps the athletes understand the target and the best way to achieve it. The eleventh point is an important point as it has the potential to affect the athlete's perception of the coach and the organisation to which they belong. This deals with eliminating quotas for athletes and goals for coaches. Coaches are there to better the athletes and not themselves, hence introducing or assessing performance by strict targets can be very demoralising for the athletes, as there may be certain factors that could prevent them from reaching the required level of performance, and these targets tend to have negative impact, as they often seem far-fetched. Examples of this include, setting targets such as completing ten kilometres in fifty minutes. This means that the coaches have to adopt more interactive leadership styles and assess performance on proven methods, such as statistics. Quotas in the form of medals won by athletes must also be eliminated for coaches, as this reduces the quality of their coaching. For example, if coaches are given a target to obtain five Olympic gold medals in the next Olympics, then coaches will end up training those that are not fit for training, or those that are not interested in competitive events, resulting in a waste of time for the coach and the athlete. Point number twelve proposes the removal of barriers that rob people of their right to pride and workmanship which would include performance appraisal. This raises the issue of instilling a culture of quality in the organisation, which involves continuous improvement and assessment of quality. This can be achieved by the provision of weekly reports, and meetings that aim to discuss any problems identified and to present solutions to the problems. This goes hand in hand with an organisation that has two-way communication, and no barriers of communication. Likewise, coaches must also emphasise continuous improvement in the assessment of an athlete's performance, as this does not induce any feelings of failure for the athlete. The thirteenth point supports the implementation of a programme of education and one that encourages self-improvement for all involved. This involves continuous learning and knowledge management through the dissipation of knowledge to the athlete. Coaches have to continually update their knowledge and expertise, so as to enhance the quality of their coaching. The last and fourteenth point re-iterates the importance of getting management on board with the quality management system, by facilitating the development of a management structure that supports the athletic coaching system. This implementation must be visible to all those working for the organisation. Conclusion Although Deming's 14 points were not originally envisioned for the sports environment, their application is detrimental to the quality of their services. The coaching environment has become more competitive in the last few years, as more emphasis is being placed on sports by various nations. Sports is being viewed as an area that contributes to economies due to its income earning factor, that comes from athletes seeking quality coaching. As with most customers, athletes are willing to pay more for goods or services which they perceive as being of high quality. The quick analysis of Deming's 14 points highlighted some areas that keep recurring in the field of athletics coaching. Coaches need to well-prepared in order to deliver quality athletics programmes. This is achieved through education and accreditation, in much the same way as other professionals do, such as doctors, teachers and lawyers. This has the effect of building quality into processes, as only qualified athletic coaches are employed by an organisation. Qualifications also act as a guarantee that the coaches will be more adept to following further education and continuous improvement techniques. This need for accreditation has been further enhanced by the development of a quality programme called the "8 Domains of Coaching Competencies." (Appendix 1) This programme provides an explanation and the basis for incorporating quality into athletics coaching. This is an important point to consider as this may the first prototype for a standardised framework for athletics coaching that has incorporated most of Deming's 14 points. APPENDIX 1 8 DOMAINS OF COACHING COMPETENCIES Injury Prevention, Care, and Management The welfare and safety of players is the first priority of all coaches. Everyone wants sports participation to be an injury-free experience, and properly trained coaches can reduce the occurrence of injury and minimize the consequences of those that may occur. Good coaches create safe environments for practices and competitive activities, and are able to provide for appropriate emergency care when needed. Risk Management Risk management is the role coaches play in minimizing the potential risks inherent in sports participation. Coaches can prepare for their role by knowing the scope of their responsibilities, understanding how parents and players can provide informed consent, and conveying the need for appropriate insurance. Growth, Development, and Learning One of the most challenging aspects of coaching is dealing with the varying individual and developmental differences of young players. Players of the same chronological age can have widely different maturity levels. Knowledge about the typical course of physical, mental, and psychosocial development is critically important to the coach's job, and therefore a key component in coaching education. Training, Conditioning, and Nutrition The heart of successful athletic performance and athlete safety is proper fitness and sports conditioning. Therefore, coaches need to understand body systems and the science of conditioning for proper training of their players. One goal of sports participation is to benefit the overall health of the individual, in and out of sports. A coaches' proper understanding of training, conditioning, and nutrition can help players realize that benefit. Social-Psychological Aspects of Coaching A unique aspect of sports is how it highlights the strong tie between the social, emotional, and physical factors of human potential. Coaches play an important role in creating the right environment for nurturing both the human spirit and the spirit of competition. Good coaches understand the role of sports activities in developing a positive and confident person. They recognize the individual differences and needs of players and provide positive encouragement to maximize development of both athletic skills and sports character. Coaching education programs help coaches develop a positive coaching philosophy by identifying and encouraging leadership behaviours that will support players and the development of life skills for personal and social responsibility. Skills, Tactics, and Strategies Many studies show that most of us, especially young people, are motivated to participate in sports because it involves doing something that is fun. A large part of what makes sports fun is the player's ability to participate and experience feelings of competence and mastery of the skills involved. Thus, coaches must know the tactics and strategies of their particular sports in order to teach players the basic skills and give them a functional understanding of how the sports should be played. Winning is not nearly as important to players as being able to participate with a chance of success. Teaching and Administration Young people will not continue to play a sport if they cannot achieve a minimal level of success or show skill improvement. Coaches who appreciate the success of their players and help them to recognize their improvements instil a joy of participation and a positive attitude toward sports and physical activity. Professional Preparation and Development Continuing education opportunities for coaches may include networking with other coaches, clinics, workshops, professional organizations, college courses, and regular review of websites, periodicals, and related literature. Coaching education should increase awareness of the need for continued professional development and recommend resources for coaching, safety, sports science, and sports-specific information. Source: Athletics & Achievement: The Report of the NASBE Commission on High School Athletics in an Era of Reform. (2004). National Association of State Boards of Education. References Austenfeld, R. B. (2001). W. Edwards Deming: The Story of a Truly Remarkable Person. Papers of the Research Society of Commerce and Economics, 42(1), 49-102. Ishikawa, K. (1982). Guide to Quality Control. Tokyo, Japan: Asian Productivity Organisation. National Association of State Boards of Education. (2004). Athletics & Achievement: The Report of the NASBE Commission on High School Athletics in an Era of Reform. National Association of State Boards of Education. ISBN 1-58434-058-4, 1-43. Peer, K.S., & Rakich, J.S. (2000). Accreditation and Continuous Quality Improvement in Athletic Training Education. Journal of Athletic Training, 35(2):188-193. Ruetten, A., Ziemainz, H., & Roeger, U. (2003). A Quality Assured System of Selecting and Promoting Athletic Talents. BISp-Jahrbuch. University Erlangen-Nuremburg, Institute for Sport Science and Sport, pp345-352. Sage Notes. (1999). Quality Management: Deming's 14 points for Management. The Secret of Success is Constancy to Purpose. 1-33. Slack, N., Chambers, S., Harland, C., Harrison, A., & Johnston, R. (1998). Operations Management. (pp 761-790). London, UK: Financial Times, Pitman Publishing. Read More