Free Example of Performance Measurement Essay

House of quality is the main design tool in terms of management. It is also known as quality function deployment (QFD). It appeared in 1972 in the department of shipbuilding firm Mitsubishi in Kobe (Japan). Since then it was repeatedly refined by Toyota and its suppliers. House of quality is successfully used in Japanese electronics manufacturers industry, synthetic rubber, electrical appliances, integrated circuits, clothing, engineering equipment, and agricultural machinery. QFD allows to submit data on various characteristics of the product in the compact form as well as it allows to track its impact on the adopted solutions. Unfolded, the QFD includes four phases, and each of them built the house of quality. After conversion to technical characteristics of the consumer, the latter converted to characteristics of components, and further to characteristics of processes, and then to control characteristics of the product. House of quality shows the relationship between the actual performance quality (consumer properties) and auxiliary parameters (specifications). This method helps the company make informed decisions about quality management processes. It also helps avoid adjusting the parameters of the product after its launch, and, therefore, provides both: relatively low cost (due to minimizing non-productive costs) and high value of the product for the company.

A. Identify the product or service: the main product of Emirates Airlines is providing passenger and cargo routes service. The company provides travel services to different directions, however, the main flights are made in Africa, Asia, Europe, America, and Oceania. The company provides services to its passengers, therefore, it is concentrated on improving the flight experience for each person and making it better in comparison to other airlines companies.

B. Identify the customer: Emirates Airlines company is working for the passengers as well as for other companies. Therefore, it can be said that the company is using both: business-to-customer and business-to-business approach. Passengers of the Emirates Airlines are people who need to travel to another place in the world, and cargo routs are used by other companies to transport their products.

C. Identify the supplier: Emirates Airlines has different groups of suppliers. The first one is a group made of companies that supply planes for providing flying services and technical support. The next group of suppliers is related to fuel delivery, which is needed for the plane performance. The third one is people, who supply company with employees.

D. Identify the process: there are customers’ and employees’ satisfaction and company’s effectiveness. Customers’ satisfaction is determined by the quality of service provided by Emirates Airlines, which is highly dependent on employees of the company, and its output is company’s performance efficiency. Company’s effectiveness determines future development of the company, which in its turn impacts employees’ and customers’ satisfaction.

E. Mistake-proof the process: in order to simplify customer satisfaction process, it is necessary to develop clear steps of flying services provision. Each step should be developed carefully in order to provide high quality service. Employees satisfaction can be achieved by the creation of effective corporate culture of the company. Emirates Airlines' effectiveness can be achieved by increasing customer loyalty and profits.

F. Develop measurements and controls, and improvement of goals: in order to achieve any goal, Emirates Airlines should create an effective measurement system. This system, for example, can be based on the six sigma approach. The process of control in the definite company is performed by the quality control department. Goal improvement is an essential part of any business performance because some tasks can appear in the company’s performance process, however, others can be solved during the control performance.

There are a lot of different ways in which it is possible to reduce variation of business processes. One of the most effective and affordable ways to maintain and strengthen company’s position in the market is to optimize business processes at the level of industry value chains that the company participates in, and at the level of key internal business processes. Every company is involved in a number of business processes. These can be processes of sales, purchasing, a number of production processes, business processes, management processes, and many others. Business processes optimisation refers to partial improvement of existing business processes through the elimination of their obvious shortcomings (information loops, duplication of functions, etc.). Another effective tool is case management. Case system management is an innovative IT system used for coordination of all "manual" and automatic actions involved in performance of complex tasks of the same type (cases). This system is effectively used in the US Federal Reserve system and in the major airport in Europe - Heathrow. For example, Heathrow case includes all of the services from the moment the plane hits the responsibility of managers and the time when the aircraft leaves the airspace of the airport. Case management systems are usually used in order to significantly improve performance. For example, case management system of Heathrow has been implemented in order to drastically reduce the number of delayed flights.

I have worked many times in the team. I like this type of work because I think that it is highly effective. I think that a team is a group of like-minded people working together with each other to achieve common goals. As a result of this interaction, it is possible to achieve much better results in a relatively shorter period of time than it would take if working alone. In a well-functioning team, all responsibilities are clearly divided among members: there are members who generate ideas for further development, others are developing plans for expansion in the area not yet covered, some make contacts with potential partners or clients, and some encourage workers to "feats". In this way complementing each other, people create a single balanced team in which everyone does what he/she does best, and where lack of skills is compensated by joint efforts. There are different criteria to asses the quality of teamwork. However, the most important criteria are determined by satisfaction of personal interests of members of the team, successful teamwork performance, and solution of determined problems. The most effective ways to improve performance of the team are: to set clearly defined, realistic, and consistent expectations, ensure allocation of tasks that do not refer to personal preferences, be sensitive to the views and ideas of each other, be tolerant to team members, and constantly motivate team to perform tasks efficiently. Excellent team consists of members who are always ready to help and support each other, even in the most difficult situations.

Leadership is perhaps the most important element of TQM. It is present everywhere in the organization. I have worked with the person who is one of the best leaders I have ever met. His leadership was based on total quality management principles. Leadership in TQM requires the manager to have individual vision, provide strategic direction. It also requires him/her to understand everything and know how to make decisions that will guide his/her subordinates. He was interested in promoting his employees, and this idea highly motivated everyone in his team. This made it clear that good leader and effective manager should understand TQM, believe in it, and then demonstrate his/her faith and commitment to TQM by daily applying these principles to ensure that the policies, philosophy, values, and goals are transmitted through organization. This in its turn will provide clarity for action. Commitment and personal understanding requires the manager to create and deploy clear quality values and goals, which are consistent with company's objectives, methods, and performance measures to achieve these goals. The behaviour of a good leader strongly affects organisational performance because good leader motivates co-workers in the way that the organisational performance is improved, and professional growth development of its employees.

It is essential that managers can enforce not only the rules, but also the culture. This ability determines effectiveness of a manager as a leader. Organizational culture and climate created in the organization have a direct impact on work motivation of workers. Organizational culture is perhaps the most powerful catalyst and, if it fails, the biggest obstacle in the implementation of the strategic plan developed by management. Organizational culture is still too vague a term to describe all aspects that exist beyond the visible life of the organization, people's behaviour, their work, their relationships, and, in the end, financial and economic results. Therefore, effective managers have the biggest influence on company’s culture. They can convey policies, vision, and mission of the company by changing their own and their employees’ attitudes, behaviours, and thus influence the effectiveness of company’s performance. It is also important to note that mangers influence the culture. Those changes, however, start not from them but from the top or bottom of the company. Top managers actually have the power to do so, while bottom workers perform this culture.