Strategic Quality Planning

In order to understand the concept of strategic management, first we need to understand the literal meaning of the word “strategy”. The definition is mentioned below:

1. The science and art of using all the forces of a nation to execute approved plans as effectively as possible during peace or war. The science and art of military command as applied to the overall planning and conduct of large-scale combat operations.

2. A plan of action resulting from strategy or intended to accomplish a specific goal. 

3. The art or skill of using stratagems in endeavors such as politics and business

What is the relation of Strategic Planning and Total Quality Management?

When an organizations chooses to make quality a major competitive edge (differentiation), it becomes the central issue in strategic planning. This is especially reflected in vision, mission and policy guidelines of an organization.

An essential idea behind strategic quality planning is that the product is customer value rather than a physical product or service. This feat cannot be achieved unless an organization creates a culture of quality and no strategy and plan can be worthwhile unless it is carefully implemented.

What do you understand by the term quality statements?

Quality statements are part of strategic planning process and once developed, are occasionally reviewed and updated.

There are three types of quality statements:

1.Vision statement
2.  Mission statement
3.  Quality policy statement

The utilization of these statements varies from organization to organization. Small organization may use only the quality policy statement

1. Vision Statement: The vision statement is a short declaration what an organization aspires to be tomorrow. A vision statement, on the other hand, describes how the future will look if the organization achieves its mission.

Successful visions are timeless, inspirational, and become deeply shared within the organization, such as:

·         IBM’s Service

·         Apple’s Computing for the masses

·         Disney theme park’s the happiest place on the earth, and

·         Polaroid’s instant photography

2. Mission Statement: A mission statement concerns what an organization is all about. The statement answers the questions such as: who we are, who are our customers, what do we do and how do we do it. This statement is usually one paragraph or less in length, easy to understand, and describes the function of the organization. It provides clear statement of purpose for employees, customers, and suppliers.

An example of mission statement is:

Ford Motor Company is a worldwide leader in automatic and automotive related products and services as well as the newer industries such as aerospace, communications, and financial services. Our mission is to improve continually our products and services to meet our customers’ needs, allowing us to prosper as a business and to provide a reasonable return on to our shareholders, the owners of our business.

3. Quality Policy Statement:  The quality policy is a guide for everyone in the organization as to how they should provide products and services to the customers.It should be written by the CEO with feedback from the workforce and be approved by the quality council. A quality policy is a requirement of ISO 9000.

A simple quality policy is:

Xerox is a quality company. Quality is the basic business principle for Xerox. Quality means providing our external and internal customers with innovative products and services that fully satisfy their requirements. Quality is the job of every employee.