Case Study: In the 1970s, a General Electric task force studied consumer perceptions of the quality of various GE product lines. Lines with relatively poor reputations for quality were found to de-emphasize the customer's viewpoint, regard quality as synonymous with tight tolerance and conformance to specifications, tie quality objectives to manufacturing flow, express quality objectives as the number of defects per unit, and use formal quality control system only in manufacturing. In contrast, product lines that received customer praise were found to emphasize satisfying customer expectations, determine customer needs through market research, use customer-based quality performance measures and have formalised quality control systems in place for all business functions, not solely for manufacturing. The task force concluded that "Quality must not be viewed solely as a technical descipline, but rather as a managerial discipline". That is, quality issues permeate all aspects of business enterprise: design, marketing, manufacturing, human resources management, supplier relations and financial management, to name just a few. As companies came to recognise the broad concept of quality, the concept of total quality emerged. The principles of total quality at General Electric become an essential part of the organisation's culture. The strategies and leadership philosophies of major companies reflect these principles. Total quality philosophy at General electric that focuses on delivering superior customer satisfaction through the four principles. The first principle is to know your customers and consumers really well and then meet and exceed their expectations. The second principle is to do right things in the right manner. The third principle is to concentrate on improving systems continuously and improve the capability of the basic business systems and sub systems. Finally the fourth principle is empower people by removing barriers and providing a climate in which every employee of the organisation is encouraged and trained to make his or her maximum contribution to business objectives. From GE perspective, Total Quality Control is an effective system for integrating quality development, quality maintenance and quality improvement efforts of the various groups in an organisation so as to enable marketing, engineering, production and service at the most economic levels which allow for full customer satisfaction. Hence at GE, When the quality problem in an organisation is severe and pervasive enough, major quality improvements are necessary from shop floors to board rooms. Such efforts have an organisation-wide view of product quality and enable the organisations to achieve positions to compete with their competitors who offer superior quality products to the consumers. Hence in this way, total quality control is implemented. General Electrics (GE), tries to eliminate the practice of competing internally and instead promotes team work. To counter internal competition, GE developed a system called 'Quality Network" made up of a joint union-management, Quality Councils at the corporate, division and plant levels. The heart of the Quality Network is a customer satisfaction model that encourages team work and co-operation. The plants hold periodic corporate analysis meetings during which entire plants shutdown operations briefly for thorough audits of the quality system. The plant-level work team and workers focus on ways to improve quality and productivity there by ensure continuous improvement towards customer satisfaction is supported. Above case highlights the importance of quality management practices and quality management systems in the organizations. As a quality professional select any one company or organization of your choice, apply the quality management fundamentals and concepts. You can approach towards the solution either by evaluating the the existing quality practices in the organization or recommending a quality management system or practices for the organizations. In this direction, critically analyze and solve the following tasks 2. Evaluate critically and discuss the quality views (Minimum 5) of the selected organizations. organizations. Provide necessary relevant examples for each discussions. (30 Marks) 3. With the help of illustrative diagram, critically analyze and discuss the quality systems / quality practices of the selected organization. (30 Marks) 4. As a Quality Management Professional, critically evaluate the ISO implementation in the selected organization or proposing the implementation of ISO standards by highlighting the key aspects of ISO standards.