Deep in Crisis: The Uncertain Future of the Quality Profession PDF Download

Author: Mohamed Zairi
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN: 9781720143826
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
The "Deep In Crisis" book describes the malaise that currently exists in the Quality Profession and examines in a rigorous way the emerging challenges, the characteristics of the new global business world greatly facilitated by the digital revolution.The quality profession is currently in turmoil. It is searching for a new form of impetus, whilst also trying to tackle the deep crisis it finds itself in. Indeed, immediately after celebrating a century of great impacts at all levels, in a consistent and highly innovative manner, the quality revolution seems to have dried up, and is struggling to cope with the various radical changes surrounding us at the political, economic and social level. The legacy of the quality revolution is undoubtedly extremely vivid in the minds of top executives, quality managers, scholars and experts in the quality field. The problem, however, has been the inability to challenge the relevance of specific tools and techniques, concepts and theories in light of the wider macro changes that have taken place at an unprecedented pace. Certainly, if one looks at the macro changes that are constantly redefining the business world and also our lives, none of the suppositions assumed by the quality professions have been evidently present in the new and modern world. Furthermore, none of the experiences which have been cumulatively delivered to a stellar standard in all walks of life can be made adaptable and relevant in the context of a digital world where the emphasis on value creation has radically changed. The obsession with products and services in terms of developing them, improving the processes for manufacturing or production and expediting delivery to the end customer, can now be viewed as a naive and narrow way of looking at value creation. The envelope for this value creation has been to minimize variation, optimize performance, tackle costs through lean and Six Sigma principles, and assume that the impact generated will lead to superior excellence standards and enable the organisations concerned to feel that they are competing at a high level. Product orientation has in fact been superseded by a significant focus on services and even service orientation has been superseded by customer orientation, where the emphasis on customer experience has become the norm. Furthermore, customer orientation is now being superseded by market orientation, where business models themselves are being redefined in order to adapt to significant changes taking place, particularly through disruptive technologies in the form of smart mobile and the advent of the internet. It is therefore relevant and appropriate to ask several questions about the lack of clarity of the quality profession, in terms of validating the relevance of the philosophies, principles and tools being advocated. Further questions relate to the kind of contribution that the profession is expected to make, can make, and will confidently deliver in light of the various transformations taking place, in particular within the industrial revolutions. Q1. To what extent has the quality profession managed to adapt its concepts and principles by placing the shift away from products to services? Q2. Has the quality profession realised that the pursuit of measuring customer satisfaction maybe futile and limiting at best? Q3. In light of the recent development in customer experience as the holy grail for focusing on customers, what has the quality profession developed in terms of concepts, philosophies and tools that will help organisations develop their capability to get closer to their customers and understand their needs and requirements in a much better way, and therefore, impact on them much more significantly than in the context of product or service orientated eras?