A Systems Approach to Quality Improvement

(Hardback)

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Description

While many quality improvement programs in business have enjoyed initial success, most have eventually failed - not producing the required long-term results. And while many companies have quality improvement programs in place, few have developed comprehensive, systemic approaches which take into account the whole orgnization's immediate and long-range needs. This work presents a systemic whole, to discuss the results when such a comprehensive quality system is put into place, and to identify the key obstructions to the successful implementation of a quality improvement program. According to Roth, there are five necessary phases to any successful quality improvement effort: familiarization, team building, training, introduction of statistical measurement techniques, and long-range planning. In addition, communication lines must be open among all levels of the organization. Continuing top level management support is crucial. Roth takes the reader through these phases in a step-by-step approach, identifying problem areas, and in an in-depth case study, demonstrating how these quality improvement efforts can be successfully developed. This work should be of interest to quality improvement unit directors, human resource managers, manufacturing managers, top level executives and scholars and students of quality improvement.

Reviews

"Roth's uncommon sense advice in a number of areas will give you as elegant a solution to some of your problems as was Einstein's formula E = mc2 or a concept as concise as actress Mary Pickford's advice, You may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down.'"-Ned Hamson, Editor The Journal for Quality and Participation

Author Bio

WILLIAM F. ROTH, JR. is a management consultant specializing in quality improvement. He has written extensively on the topic in national and international journals, and has advised the U.S. Congressional Task Force on High Technology and Competitiveness toward the development of a nationwide quality improvement education effort. He is the author of two previous and related books, Problem Solving for Managers (Praeger, 1985), and Work and Rewards (Praeger, 1989).