Page 123 - DMGT524_TOTAL_QUALITY_MANAGEMENT

Total Quality Management

Notes heart of each is the commitment to the Japanese concept of “kaizen” and how both rest on
the singular premise that continuous improvement can result if those involved in day-to-
day operations can be energized to become stakeholders.
The idea to facilitate employee participation in such a manner traces its history to an old
Japanese concept popularly referred to as kaizen (kai meaning change and zen implying
good). While Kaizen is a way towards generating operational efficiencies by continuous
improvement, the broader aim is to create a company culture that does not tolerate waste.
Kaizen efforts typically start on the “gemba”, which refers to the place where production
takes place or value is added and extend across the entire enterprise.

Kaizen and Outsourcing
The rapid growth of the Indian outsourcing industry is not a simple result of low prices
but a passion for quality wherein top-tier companies are continually looking at ways to
improve delivery. Taking a page out of the hugely successful kaizen implementations at
manufacturing units of the 1990s, Indian BPOs today are realizing that operational efficiency
even in a people-oriented industry can result from creating a kaizen approach.
A key facet of kaizen is that it starts ground up. Kaizen necessitates the enthusiasm and
contribution of the workforce to bring collective success. The objective is that every
organization requires the coordinated effort and participation of its employees to scale
new heights.
It is even more amazing to see what happens when the dynamism, youth and creativity of
a young workforce is unleashed. We have found that involving our employees to generate
new ideas can veritably result in an “idea factory” - a reservoir of ideas/best practices that
can be tapped to replicate success stories across the organization.
Of course, ideas can fall in any of the well-documented categories. They could be continuous
improvement or kaizen ideas, breakthrough/disruptive ideas and best practices that would
help increase productivity and reduce costs. The rationale is to tap the creative potential of
every single employee to continuously improve the particular activity, process or
atmosphere. Based on the premise that every employee has dozens of ideas on how to
improve the work processes and tasks that they are involved in, employees can make
these incremental changes themselves, rather than relying on some remote, bureaucratic
authority that may be solely looked upon as responsible for innovation or making those
changes. With the programme actively involving the idea generator in the implementation
phase, this brings a tremendous sense of empowerment and achievement. To say the least,
employees who contribute innovative ideas and see them being implemented own the
brand and build the organization.
Another aspect of the BPO industry that lends itself to the kaizen culture is the driving
need for differentiation. With global delivery models in place, and being completely
process driven, it is imperative for Indian BPOs to manage and retain huge scale and size.
With not too many differentiators forthcoming, innovation or kaizen can emerge as the
most important competitive advantage that enables a company to thrive in today’s business
environment. Some of the long-term benefits that would accrue as a result would be:
1. An innovative culture encourages people to put their thinking caps in place, make
the workplace a healthier set up and control attrition.

2. Long-lasting client relationships that create a differentiating edge for organizations
in the global marketplace.
3. Setting industry benchmarks and creating intellectual property creation in a new
business era.
Contd...

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