TMQ

This second question is so huge I was able to find many interesting examples and ideas in addition to what the book provides for us, so I hope you enjoy my post.

Theory of 85% and 15 falls under the Theory of Knowledge section of my article I found online on the SkyMark website where Deming is considered The Father of Quality Evolution, unfortunately I could not find an author but at any rate it is still very informative. The theory states, “Expanded views and understanding seemingly individual yet truly interdependent elements that compose the larger system, the company (SkyMark, 2011)”. I agree with Deming’s views because it is better to focus on the positive instead of the negative because it is hard to work in a fear-based environment people become competitive and lose focus of what the goal really is. Deming believed that each person as an individual if placed in the right environment has the chance to excel at whatever tasks are put in front of them, it is not just about the bottom-line (SkyMark, 2011). I always hated when my managers use that phrase because it did not give me an opportunity to suggest a more open-minded way to achieve the same goal. With having an X manager at my last job I learned right away that we both had different ways of solving the same problem, but I had to give in and keep quiet in sacrifice to be status-quo.

Deming’s view of unlimited potential promoted that when workers are in a supportive environment and when education is greatly stressed upon that managers will lift up their workers by building confidence that allows the employee to have a sense of pride rather than feeling defeated (SkyMark, 2011). It is interesting to see that he believes that 85% of a worker’s effectiveness is determined by his environment and only minimally by his own skill (SkyMark, 2011).  Mangers that I have worked for in the past put the blame on the employee rather than stepping up and saying, “I know this is not right, let me see how I can change this”. Mangers at John Hancock followed strict guidelines and they actually printed them up and gave us different lectures on how to meet those goals. The fear was put into me when I was asked to take a walk with my manager and they always brought someone else along so that there would be a witness to what occurred in the meetings. We had a score card that we got graded on; we had to compete for our shifts after we came out of training which lasted a few months. They listened to our phone calls and would grade us based on what we did, I made a check off list so I would make sure I met all the requirements which sometimes were impossible to achieve. I worked at a call center so we had productivity that we had to meet, lengths we could be on the phone and if we had to put someone on hold we would have to give them a time frame when we would be back.

Deming advised managers to take a look at factors that would help improve work environments such as understanding the psychology of both groups and individuals, eliminating production quotas, divide the company up in teams to work on the same goal, spread profits to workers as teams and not individuals (SkyMark, 2011). Training is so important and receiving continual training will help the individuals become more skilled and the cost of training will pay itself off the gains will be higher than the cost and effort put into additional training (SkyMark, 2011).

4 Principles of Total Quality Management Are:

*Do it right the first time around to eliminate costly corrections

*Listen to and learn from customers and employees

* Make continuous improvement a daily matter

*Build teamwork, trust and mutual respect

This comes from our textbook (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).

The contingency approach to management encourages managers to open their minds and as a situation occurs they can base their plan of action on a case-by-case manner instead of a linear thought that this is the “one best way,” to solve all problems (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). This way of thinking helps managers to really solve a problem because not everything can be solved the same way my, X manager did not really get this point so I stopped admitting how I solved a problem I just did it. People at my last company really thought very differently than me so it was strange to think that some of the services we were supposed to offer that took longer to be processed where encouraged to be skipped altogether. I would offer to add banking information to someone’s account so their money would be available the next day if they called before 4:00pm, they had to fax over certain things correctly or we could not add the information. This could take many tries because the customer would only hear certain steps in the process and I would have to call them back and have them do it again. My productivity would go down even though I was helping a client; my co-worker told me two of the managers told her not to offer up this service it takes too long. Can you see why I did not fit in?

I like to work on projects and assignments on my own and once I know how to do something I prefer to work as an individual rather than a group. I prefer one-on-one training as opposed to a big group because sometimes the group moves quicker than I do and than I do not get the point when I could of excelled going at my own pace. In our book there is a list for both human and social capital below is a list of some that stand out for me (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).

Human capital:

Motivation and commitment

Adaptability and flexibility

Enthusiasm and persistence

Social capitol:

Shared visions and goals

Mutual respect and goodwill

Friendships and support groups

Teamwork and camaraderie (this makes me think about sports people like to be fit and have fun with others who have similar interests).

Some parts of my previous job I did tasks all day that required me to be independent sometimes we would have meetings that would give us further information it was great to get off the phones but sometimes it felt like meetings were a waste of time. I guess it depends on if you like the people you work with and that was questionable for me because some people at work were not very nice to me. They were more business minded when I was more customer service minded and let’s get it right for the customer rather than focusing on a few minor negatives.

I recognized the two psychologists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers because I took a few Anthropology courses at my local university a long time ago when I was in my twenty’s and I think it is interesting that some management practices are directly related to psychology. In our text book we learn that the Positive Organizational Behavior management style rely on human strength, psychological capacities that can be developed and managed and fine-tuned so that the production level meets and exceeds company standards (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).

Wellbeing, contentment and satisfaction with any job will be the determining factor if this is the right position for somebody or if they need to move on to another position that gives them a feeling of comfort and happiness. Managers who are aware of the POB will have a higher retention of workers; will have an optimistic outlook on what future goals for the individuals on their teams and for the future of company and what new products and services can be created because of the high level of skilled workers who are creative, smart and mindful.

Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R.  (2009). Organizational Behavior: Key Concepts, Skills & Best  Practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
SkyMark. (2011, Novemeber 24). Dr. W. Edwards Deming. Retrieved from http://www.skymark.com/resources/leaders/deming.asp