Role of Stakeholder
Role of Stakeholder Jane C. Doe MGT/420 December 10, 2012 George Wells Role of Stakeholder The role of stakeholder in implementing a quality management process is one that has many facets. When an organization decides to embark upon a quality management process there are many people, internally and externally, dependent upon or affected in some way by the final product, output or process (“Tutorialspoint”, 2012). In order to decide who the stakeholders will be in the process, management of the stakeholder process is essential.
First, it is important to identify all those required to ensure the success of creating an efficient process; those involved are either inside or outside of the organization (“Tutorialspoint”, 2012). Second, an analysis to ascertain what the stakeholder’s needs, boundaries, expectations, locus of control within the process, and mutual relationships will be is necessary to make sure everyone involved understands his or her role (“Tutorialspoint”, 2012).
A third and also important step is the process of engaging all stakeholders early on in the project. Stakeholders must have the ability to engage with the leaders of the quality management process to familiarize everyone with each other and understand each person’s role within the process. When working conceptually with quality management, the three spheres of quality known as quality management, quality control, and quality assurance each have their own role but also overlap (Foster, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality, 2007).
In each of the spheres mentioned herein, stakeholders play various roles. In order for an organization to achieve, maintain, and improve the quality of its offerings, companies use quality control and quality assurance processes and procedures (“Tutorialspoint”, 2012). Organizations will define their internal quality standards, procedures, and processes as well as develop stakeholders who will be required to adhere to those standards when dealing with quality control. Stakeholders will monitor process apability and stability, measure process performance, develop and maintain control charts and more (Foster, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality, 2007). In terms of quality assurance, stakeholders are required to put forth a continuous effort to improve the quality practices within the organization. According to “Tutorialspoint” (2012), “Continuous improvements are expected in quality functions in the company. For this, there is a dedicated quality assurance team commissioned” (Quality Control & Quality Assurance).
The stakeholders of a quality assurance team are dedicated to and responsible for defining a process for achieving and improving quality; they are responsible for process improvement (Foster, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality, 2007). “The management processes that overarch and tie together the control and assurance activities make up quality management” (Foster, 2007, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality). According to Foster (2007), the mixed view of quality management up holds the notion that quality is the responsibility of all management, not just quality managers (Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality).
So in the case of implementing a quality management process, managers, supervisors, and employees are all stakeholder of varying degrees in implementing quality management activities such as planning, creating the quality culture, providing leadership and support, providing training and employee recognition, and facilitating organizational communication (Foster, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality, 2007). Two companies that utilized world-class quality control plans are General Electric (GE) and Federal Express (FedEx). To keep GE ahead, managers have devised an array of corporate strategies. They put exceptionally heavy reliance on the quality control program that far outstrips run-of-the-mill efforts” (Foster, 2007, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality). FedEx utilizes the value-added perspective on quality (Foster, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality, 2007). “To reach its aggressive quality goals, the company has set up one cross-functional team for each service component of the SQI” (Foster, 2007, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality).
The SQI is a 12-component index that FedEx uses that comprehensively describes how its performance is viewed by its customers. Each item in the service quality indicator is weighted to reflect how pointedly it affects overall customer service (Foster, Chapter 1, Differing Perspectives on Quality, 2007). References Foster, S. T. (2007). Managing quality. Integrating the supply chain (3rd ed. ). Retrieved from https://ecampus. phoenix. edu/content/eBookLibrary2/content/eReader. aspx#gloss01_357. TutorialsPoint. (2012). Retrieved from http://www. tutorialspoint. com/management_concepts/stakeholder_management. htm
