Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – March 2023 Edition

Welcome to March 2023 edition of the XI^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XI^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Our first topic for a detailed look at the theme is Short Term Competitive Advantage.

There are two basic types of competitive advantages: cost leadership and differentiation. When combined with the scope of a firm’s activities, they give rise to three generic business strategies:

• • cost leadership – where the firm seeks to become the low-cost producer in an industry.
  • differentiation – where the firm seeks to position itself uniquely along one or two dimensions that the customer values; and
  • focus – where a firm tries to optimize its strategy by selecting a segment or a group of segments in the industry, and seeks to achieve competitive advantage in the target segment(s).

The VRIO framework[1] is a tool for identifying the competitive advantages of an organization (if they have any). The VRIO (Value, Rarity, Imitability, Organization) is the four-question framework used to evaluate the resources and capabilities of an organization. The VRIO framework categorizes the organization’s tangible as well as intangible resources into one of the following groups: competitive parity, temporary competitive advantage, unused competitive advantage, or long-term competitive advantage.

The process of analysing organization’s  internal environment (internal analysis tools)[2] as well as the external environment (external analysis) is extremely important in the strategic planning process. Typically, the category that usually poses the biggest potential for improvement is the Unused Competitive Advantage Category.

The resources in the Unused Competitive Advantage category don’t have the support, processes, and culture in place to completely utilize their value. The next step is to develop a strategic plan that takes these unused competitive advantages into account and works to support these resources through strategic management will allow companies to transform their resources into sustained competitive advantages. A well thought-out and crafted strategic plan[3] will align the processes, people, and structure needed to support these resources and turn them into sustainable competitive advantages.

In a world where a competitive advantage often evaporates in less than a year,[4] strategy is still useful but not by sticking to the same old playbook. In order to seize the transient advantage, the organization needs a new playbook which positions the organization’s current working between two statements of assessment – Focused on extending existing advantages vs. Capable of coping with transient advantage.

Defining where you want to compete, how you intend to win, and how you are going to move from advantage to advantage is more critical than ever in the critical in the times of the digital revolution, a “flat” world, fewer barriers to entry, globalization, when the competitors and customers have become too unpredictable, and industries too amorphous.

That should keep organization always thinking about is it possible to restore a balance between durability and variability of the organization in terms of strategy?

We will take up the possible answers in our next episode. Till then, download a free guide and canvas to identify organization’s sustainable competitive advantage(es).[5]

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

• • The Importance of Continuous Improvement – David Cote, CEO at Honeywell, explains how continuous improvement must be channelled into the business to make difference, not simply measuring for measurement’s sake.
  • Measuring and Inspecting Leads to Consistent Growth – Charlie Lanktree, CEO at Eggland’s Best, explains how rigorous inspection and commitment to quality allows the company to continue business growth.

Till writing of the present episode, new additions to Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems.

So we take up the article ‘From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand:

• • • Riddle Me This – A man is walking down the middle of the street dressed in all black. There are no streetlights. No moon. At the same time, a car is driving down the same road with no headlights. At the last second, the car swerves to avoid hitting the man. How can this happen?

(Alert: Please do not read further till you have figured out the answer.)

The tactic deployed in riddle like this is called extraneous detail. The story overloads the reader with imagery of darkness and descriptions of things associated with night—streetlights, headlights, the moon—to distract the reader from what is not being said.

Most of the times, our knowledge and experience can potentially lead us to poor assumptions, and hence poorer outcomes. Poor assumptions are part of what is called a syllogistic fallacy.

Don’t feel bad if you have ever participated in a syllogistic fallacy, as the greats like Shakespeare have been called out for a syllogism that falls apart in the end. And don’t feel bad if you didn’t figure out the riddle. With millions of points of data, we can be overwhelmed by what is important and what is not.

By the way, answer to the riddle was: It is daytime.

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] What is the VRIO framework?

[2] Internal firm analysis: Understanding a firm’s resources and capabilities

[3] How to Write a Strategic Plan: The Cascade Model.

[4] Transient Advantage – Rita McGrath

[5] https://onstrategyhq.com/competitive-advantages-guide-download/

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – February 2023 Edition

Welcome to February 2023 edition of the XI^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XI^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Our first topic for a detailed look at the theme is Future Competitiveness.

Competitive advantage is the favourable position an organization seeks in order to be more profitable than its rivals, in the short as well as long run. To gain and maintain a competitive advantage, an organization must be able to demonstrate a greater comparative or differential value than its competitors and convey that information to its desired target market.[1]

“If a man…make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, tho’ he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.” Attributed to one of Emerson’s lectures in the nineteenth century, these words seem to have anticipated the exhortations of the twentieth: manage for uniqueness, develop a distinctive competence, create competitive advantage.[2]

Tweaking a management system based on old rules will no longer be effective. It is time to act now to start building an organization in accordance with the new principles.[3]

The three main types of competitive advantages are differentiation, cost advantages, and focus advantages.[4]

McKinsey outlines how companies can reimagine themselves for the future by asking: Who we are? How do we operate? How do we grow?[5]

Further reading: Future of work

We will continue in our next episodes with more detailed insight into the subject of competitive advantage.

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

• • Effective 21st Century Quality Leadership – Mike Turner, Managing Partner, Oakland Consulting, discusses the business challenges of the 21^st century, and how quality professionals should respond in order to meet them.

Till writing of the present episode, new additions to Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems and From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand have yet to come up. So, we take up

• • The Multi-dimensionality of Quality – Speaking of Quality | Duke Okes – People outside the qualify profession see it as a potentially negative, narrow focus on just trying to find things wrong. Meanwhile, those who have made it a profession are more likely to see it as one with endless opportunities to learn and contribute to the success of the organization and its employees, customers and suppliers. … Quality is not a single field, but in fact the integration of knowledge from many fields of science, technology and management. … At its foundation, quality is about managing organizational processes that will meet stakeholder needs and expectations. … This is complicated by the fact that each customer or player who encounters the product during its life cycle may have different definitions of quality.  .. This multi-dimensionality then allows each quality professional to find a niche that suits their level of interest in technology and/or management roles, enabling them to have satisfying work that will yield a more productive environment. …Evolution of industry will require adaptation of known quality principles and technologies to new products …Technology will help improve many aspects of quality management. …Like many other support functions, quality personnel not only manage several critical processes such as calibration and corrective action, but they play a technology transfer role that embeds quality philosophies and methods into core functions. …Whether one wants to be a technologist, facilitator or leader, the opportunities for contribution and growth are immense.

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] competitive advantage – Nicole Laskowski, Rachel Lebeaux

[2] Sustainable Advantage – Pankaj Ghemawat

[3] Organizing for the Future: Why now? – Elizabeth Mygatt, Richard Steele, Mitya Voloshchuk

[4] 3 Main Types of Sustainable Competitive Advantages

[5] Organizing for the future: Nine keys to becoming a future-ready company

 

Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs – Volume XI – January 2023 Edition

Welcome to January 2023 edition of the XI^th volume of Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs.

The theme for the XI^th volume of our Carnival of Quality Management Articles and Blogs is The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

The aim for the present episode to overview the major trends already identified in the first two years of the present decade that are expected to shape the working philosophy for the quality management professionals. We shall look at some of the critical trends in a little more details in the subsequent months.

In order to identify the first step is carry out the trend analysis.

The trend analysis can be carried out from either the perspective of past data or from the potential changes that can take place in the future.

The real, lasting, and positive change to happen from implementation of CAPA[1] (from the past trends) or from the actions emending out of strategic planning – based on appropriate risj management approach -may require rethinking on the organization’s approach to trend analysis w. r. t. the quality management philosophy. These three questions provide a good beginning before taking up new trend analysis areas or tools/ modifying the existing ones.

• What is the primary objective of the trend analysis? – One fundamental guiding principle is that a meaningful trend analysis should identify, evaluate and eliminate or prevent the issue that is having negative effect on product quality or customer expectations or to enable the organization to maintain / improve / sustain its competitive edge in the future.
• What method to choose? – Primarily this driven by the basic purpose of the trend analysis exercise.
• Is the data being analysed timely and adequate? – The timeliness of the data would mean that data neither should be outdated or should be irrelevant for the purpose and period of the trend analysis.

We now try to enlist major trends as identified in the presently documented literature:

1. 1. Changes in quality perceptions and approaches in terms of product and system quality as well as customer expectations.
   2. Evolving of management of risks under constantly changing business practices
   3. Knowledge sharing within and across the departments as well with outside stakeholders.
   4. Increasing significance of decision intelligence
   5. Improving the quality and reliability of the supply chain.
   6. Defining quality standards and related job roles in view of increasing need for seamless blending of technical and cross-functional skills.
   7. Increasing significance of integration of QEHS
   8. Increased importance of quality management approach with enterprise-level strategic planning

Apart from these generic issues, there are industry-sector specific trends analyses that can also help bring more generic issues under the radar.

The subject of trends analyses for very specific areas like  quality /environment /occupational and health and safety standards, geo-political-economical-social micro level and macro-level realignments, business performance measurement practices, micro- and macro-level racial and cultural changes etc.

There would be more trends identified in areas of Sustainability, Social relevance and Business continuity or Use of Quality 4.0 technology vis-à-vis Industry 4.0 technologies and IT technologies and the like.

Some of the Sources used as references:

• Trends in quality management
• Here are Eight Quality Management Trends to Look Out for in 2022!
• Top 7 Organizational Trends in Quality Management
• Major Trends in Quality Control

We will now turn to our regular section -.

We now watch ASQ TV episode on –

• Digital Transformation Now and Later – A very brief history of the term digital transformation and then into necessary resources to assist you and your organization along any point in the journey. Mentioned in this episode: Learn About Quality—Quality 4.0 https://asq.org/quality-resources/quality-4-0

We have taken up one article from Jim L. Smith’s Jim’s Gems:

• Motives Are Important in Everything We Do – The success of our endeavors depends not so much on the endeavors themselves but, rather, on our motive for doing them. …. The key to success of The greatest writers, the greatest quality professionals, the greatest companies – the greatest men and women in all walks of life –is to be found in the fact they were motivated more, at least in the beginning, by what was important to them, what society needed, or by what they felt they had to do, rather than the thought of profit. This is the actual secret – the key to success… True success comes from working on things we really care about.

From the Editor’ (of Quality Magazine) – by Darryl Sealand, we have –

• Knowledge is Power – From Sun Tzu to Chuck McGill – Why do we remember the past, and not the future? It is a perplexing question with no tangible, concrete answer. The question stems from, or at least often follows, Albert Einstein’s famous utterance, “Time is an illusion, although a stubbornly persistent one.”  …. We can even go as far as to replace the notion of memory with that of knowledge. Knowledge, after all, is facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education, i.e. the memories of that experience and education. So now the question becomes, “What if we had knowledge of the future?” … No matter your answer, the question points to the accuracy of an old, but particularly apt adage—Knowledge is power! ….As Sun Tzu states in the Art of War: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” … In the real world and on the “battlefields” of good business, particularly regarding the field of quality, knowledge lies in training. As contributing editor Genevieve Diesing writes, “As the pandemic and advances in technology impact the field, education and training remain paramount — especially for newcomers.”

I look forward to your views / comments / inputs to further enrich the theme of The Defining Trends of Quality Management – An Analytical Survey.

Note: The images or video clips depicted here above are through courtesy of respective websites who have the copyrights for the respective images /videos.

[1] Management of an Effective CAPA