Management Reports form The Center for Quality Improvements
UW4
Managing Our Way to Economic Success: Two Untapped Resources
by William G. Hunter, February 1986).
American organizations could compete much better at home and abroad if they would learn to tap the potential information inherent in all processes and the creativity inherent in all employees.
UW5
My First Trip to Japan
by Peter R. Scholtes, (February 1986).
American visitors to Japan can learn much about what it takes to successfully implement quality improvement.
UW6
Total Quality Leadership vs. Management by Control
by Brian L. Joiner and Peter R. Scholtes, (February 1988).
To survive in increasingly tough markets, top management in American companies will have to forsake their desire to "control" their employees, and instead learn what it means to provide Total Quality Leadership.
UW13
Doing More with Less in the Public Sector: A Progress Report from Madison, Wisconsin
by William G. Hunter, Jan O'Neill, and Carol Wallen, (June 1986).
The new quality improvement ideas can help public officials combat the effects of decreasing budgets just as they help private businesses increase productivity. Publication(s): Quality Progress, July 1987, pp.19-26.
UW14
Drastic Changes for Western Management
by W. Edwards Deming, (June 1986).
This report is a compact summary of the most important points that Dr. W. Edwards Deming has been making about changes that must be made by American businesses if they are to be competitive.
UW15
How to Apply Japanese Company-Wide Quality Control in Other Countries
by Kaoru Ishikawa, (November 1986).
This report highlights the experiences of Kaoru Ishikawa, a leader in Japan’s QC movement, who has spent the last 20 years visiting countries all over the world to give lectures and guidance on QC implementation. Publication(s): Quality Progress, September 1989, Vol.22, No.9, pp.70-74.
UW16
Analysis of Fractional Factorials
by R. Daniel Meyer, (June 1986).
Statistically designed experiments, particularly fractional factorial designs, are key tools to use when the object is to screen a large number of variables in order to identify those with the most influence.
UW17
Eliminating Complexity from Work: Improving Productivity by Enhancing Quality
by F. Timothy Fuller, (July 1986).
Increasing quality does not increase costs; in fact, it is poor quality that increases "complexity," which in turn increases cost and decreases productivity. Publication(s): National Productivity Review, Autumn, 1985.
UW18
The World Class Quality Company
by William A. Golomski, (December 1986).
Through a long history of consulting with companies around the world, William Golomski has found some themes common to companies capable of achieving world class quality.
UW21
A Process for Consulting for Improvement in Quality and Productivity
by Spencer Graves, (November 1986).
A process that consultants can use to improve their effectiveness.
UW27
On Quality Practice in Japan
by George Box, Raghu Kackar, Vijay Nair, Madhav Phadke, Anne Shoemaker, and C.F. Jeff Wu,
(December 1987).
This report contains a summary of impressions from a study mission to Japan by a researcher from AT&T Bell Laboratories and the Center for Quality and Productivity Improvement, University of Wisconsin. It describes important quality initiatives seen in Japan and provides a comparative analysis between the United States and Japan. Publication(s): Quality Progress, March 1988, pp.37-41.
UW34
When Murphy Speaks – Listen
by George Box, (February 1989).
Every operating system supplies information on how it can be improved but this information is often not acted on because people believe they are powerless to alter the system. The needed change in management philosophy and the necessity of input from those closest to the system is discussed. Three strategies for system improvement – corrective feedback, preemptive feedforward and simplification are described. Publication(s): Quality Progress, October 1989, pp.79-84.
UW49
Design of Standards and Regulations
by Søren Bisgaard, (February 1990).
This report outlines how statistical terminology, concepts and methods can help in the design of better specifications of laws and standards. Publication(s): Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 1991, Series A 154, Part I, pp.93-96.
UW59
Teaching Quality Improvement by Quality Improvement in Teaching
by Ian Hau, (February 1991).
In response to disturbing challenges ahead, leaders at the University of Wisconsin – Madison are committed to transform the institution to a Total Quality University. As a pilot project in the transformation, this paper describes how students and the instructor worked as a team to improve the quality of teaching in a class. Treating students as customers, the team identified 50 areas that affected the quality of teaching. A class survey revealed six areas where most students indicated problems. The instructor then implemented changes which dramatically reduced the defect rate as viewed by the customers in these areas. For example, the defect rate dropped from 78% to 22% for computer instruction, 56% to 8% for blackboard presentation, and 82% to 20% for overhead presentation. The team also developed a system to transfer their knowledge to the next team to ensure never-ending improvement in the future.
UW68
A Simple Rule for Judging Compliance Using Highly Censored Samples
by P. M. Berthouex and Ian Hau, (April 1991).
A special case of judging compliance is when the effluent limit is set at a level below the method limit of detection (MDL) of the substance being monitored. In many such cases, almost all measurements on the effluent are reported as "not detected." A simple rule is proposed for judging compliance of the effluent in this situation. It makes allowance for random errors in measurements on the effluent and it recognizes that an effluent can be in compliance and still produce a proportion of values above the MDL.
UW69
Quality Improvement at the Design Stage – A Cyclic Incremental Approach
by Søren Bisgaard, (May 1991).
Quality control based on inspection and segregation is uneconomical and inefficient. To be effective, quality needs to be considered and planned at the product design stage. In this article we put what seems like detailed problem solving, troubleshooting and statistical experimental design work into the larger context of the design and product development process. To do this we have developed a conceptual model for the design process based on the idea of cyclic incremental improvement. Publication(s): Proceedings of the 17^th NSF Design and Manufacturing Systems Grantees Conference, January 1991, University of Texas, Austin.
UW74
Quality Improvement – The New Industrial Revolution
by George Box, (October 1991).
Beginning from Bacon’s famous aphorism that "Knowledge Itself is Power", the underlying philosophy of modern quality improvement is seen as the mobilization of presently available sources of knowledge and knowledge gathering. These resources, often untapped include the following: (i) that the whole workforce possesses useful knowledge and creativity; (ii) that every system by its operation produces information on how it can be improved; (iii) that simple procedures can be learned for better monitoring and adjustment of processes; (iv) that elementary principles of experimental design can increase the efficiency many times over of experimentation for process improvement, development, and research. Publication(s): International Statistical Review, Vol.61, No.1, pp.3-19.
UW81
A New Design for Quality Paradigm
by Mikkel Mørup (April 1992).
Product development and design has a tremendous influence on the final product quality and the cost of quality. This paper presents a critical look at the position of Design for Quality in western industry and academia. It is suggested that Design for Quality should be enhanced in the context of design methodology in order to better fit the way that products are actually designed. Finally, the paper presents new concepts, models and a structured procedure for Design for Quality that have evolved by looking at quality from the viewpoint of design methodology. Publication(s): Journal of Engineering Design, 1992, Vol.3, No. l. pp.63-80.
UW102
Role of Statistics in Quality Control
by George Box (June 1993).
The role of Statistics in Quality Systems depends on certain philosophical issues which the author believes have been inadequately addressed. Three such issues are the role of statistics in the process of discovery, the extrapolation of results from the particular to the general, and the management climate in which quality improvement needs to be conducted. Statistical methods appropriate to discovery are discussed as distinct from those appropriate only to the testing of an already discovered solution. The manner in which the tentative solution has been arrived at is shown to determine with what assurance the experimental conclusions can be extrapolated to the practical application in mind. Whether or not statistical methods and training can have any impact depends on the system of management. A vector representation of management strategies is discussed. This can help to realign policies so that members of an organization can work together for its benefit. Publication(s): appeared as "Statistics and Quality Improvement" in the Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 1994, 157, Part 2, pp.209-229.
UW104
Compensation and Employment Security
by Spencer Graves (June 1993).
Research by economists supports a couple of Japanese management practices that seem to have been under-emphasized in many Total Quality implementation efforts in the US – lifetime employment and linking pay to the accomplishments of the team. This paper illustrates the value of these policies with a few examples from consulting experience, then describes research by economists that suggests that the effects noted in the examples are commonplace and not isolated incidents. The focus is primarily on the link between management policies and productivity and profitability; this should make the conclusions largely independent of an understanding of the role of quality in organizational performance.
UW105
Total Quality Management and D*A*T Model
by Joe Van Matre (June 1993).
Total Quality Management (TQM) is the current embodiment of the quality movement that began at AT&T in the early 1930’s. Although initiated by Americans such as Walter Shewhart, W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran, it has been the Japanese who brought the quality movement to international attention. Japanese success in the global marketplace led their competitors to adopt similar strategies. In the United States, firms leading the way in TQM during the 1980’s were primarily manufacturers such as Motorola, Ford and Xerox. Their experiences coupled with the success of "Japanese management" employing American labor in Ohio (Honda), Kentucky (Toyota), Tennessee Nissan), and California (Sony), further increased the credibility of TQM as a major managerial development. Now many firms, service as well as manufacturing, are experimenting with and adopting the new philosophy. This paper reviews the essential elements of TQM (i.e., attitudes, tools and data) and proposes a conceptually simple but effective framework, the D*A*T model (Van Matre 1992), which focuses on those core elements and their interrelationships. Examples from the health care industry are used to show the role of TQM implementation in service industries. Publication(s): Journal of American Health Information Management Association, 1992, Vol.63, No.11.
UW108
Changing Management Policy to Improve Quality and Productivity
by George E.P. Box (August 1993).
It is generally accepted that the effectiveness of a quality improvement program often depends on changing the management culture in which it operates. Contemplated changes of policy affect different parts of an organization in different ways. A geometric representation of viewpoint on policy is introduced which makes it possible to compensate difficulties in making changes and finding effective ways to overcome them. Publication(s): Quality Engineering, 1994, Vol.6, No.4, pp.719-724.
UW109
Total Life Models – An Important Tool in Design of Quality
by Mikkel Mørup (December 1993).
Product quality is far more than "fitness for use" and robustness in the manufacturing process. This paper discusses the phenomena of product quality in the entire product life. It presents a total life model which serves several purposes, such as expanding the design teams' understanding of quality and adding structure to total life scenarios in the specification phase.
UW110
Quality and the Bottom Line
by Suren Bisgaard (December 1994).
Over the long term, Total Quality Management techniques must be validated economically or they will lose the support of management. In this article, a fictitious example is used to demonstrate how quality improvement tools can be applied to accounting data. These tools allow managers to make informed decisions about where quality improvement efforts will be most effective and show the resulting improvement in the bottom line. Publication(s): Quality Engineering, 1994-95, Vol.7, No.1, pp.223-235.
UW115
Common Principles of Quality Management and Development Economics
by Spencer Graves (May 1994). Report In Progress
UW120
Assuring Product Success with ISO 9001?
by Gunhild Dalen (July 1994).
Several research projects have been conducted, and several reports and books have been written with the hope of finding the factors important for successful new product development. This article compares the portions of ISO9001 related to new product development with relevant research results. The conclusion is that ISO9001 is mainly concerned with the formal written documentation of the development process, the adherence to these documents, documentation of the result, and qualification of personnel and resources available to the project. But 1809001 does not include all the elements necessary for assuring a successful product development, such as customer contact, teamwork, consistent project team, authority of the team leader, or design for manufacturability.
UW140
Nonstatistical Skills That Can Help Statisticians Become More Effective
by Ronald D. Snee (March 1996).
The T new economic era we live in has resulted in a variety of new work situations for statisticians. Many are asked to be a member of a team that involves several different functions of the organization. Statisticians are also asked to work with groups in non-technical areas. These groups tend to have less experience with data-based problem solving methods but, nonetheless, are working on problems critical to the success of the organization. Many statisticians have the opportunity to work with mid-and upper-level managers. All of these opportunities that require new skills and methods that can help statisticians become more effective are discussed. It is also shown how these new skills have much in common with statistical thinking.
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