Assignment 2

1. Discuss the importance of quality partnering and strategic alliances.

First importance of quality partnerships and strategic alliances that clicks to my mind is exchange of each other’s expertise. For example Amazon and UPS, both brands are a perfect couple of supplier and customer, but there’s more to it, Amazon ships approximately 1600000 packages a day and it recognizes  UPS (United Parcel Service), as one of the oldest courier services (founded in 1907) and their excellency in the shipping industry  and in this way both make millions of dollars each year. Amazon has a trust on UPS to an extent that it ships all its prime members packages through UPS only!

Strategic alliances can also benefit by allowing sharing customers, pottery barn and Sherwin Williams (decor) serve a perfect example, pottery barn offers exclusive paint and decor by Sherwin Williams to complement their furniture, in this way customers are attracted to pottery barn and make business for Sherwin Williams too.

Strategic alliances help companies exploit their shared values and products, like in case of BMW and Louis Vuitton, both share their luxurious items and complement each others, presently Louis Vuitton makes travel bags exactly fitting in a BMW cars, this in a way increases luxury of both the brands.

2. Discuss the various forms of quality partnering and strategic alliances. Focus on the process model.

3. Discuss the importance of quality culture.

Quality culture may be defined as a set of values, beliefs, ethics, attitudes common to a group of individuals in an organization. If a company doesn’t have quality culture no matter how good technologies and methodologies is in use in the company it wont have a efficacy. Quality culture can be described as the efficacy with which the employees execute the process and methods decided by the management. A good quality culture is imperative to have continual development. Quality culture means that every worker should feel quality around them, should take actions and decisions for good quality, all this should be done by a worker in addition to maintaining the quality code of the organization. For example : If in a company machining mechanical parts, all the lathes are new and the workers are supplied with high quality tools but every time the machined part goes out of tolerance limits this means the worker doesn’t think quality is important and so does everybody around him and the company is useless with all the inputs is has put in!

 

 – BY ME

4. Explain the difference between traditional and modern quality cultures.

The most striking difference in the modern and traditional quality cultures is the integration of computer software packages:

In traditional quality cultures, quality reforms directly used to reflect on production lines and if the reform doesn’t work well they used to put all the products into scrap and do all the rework resulting in huge losses. Now due to evolution in computer technologies and software packages engineers are able to simulate the changes made in production lines. Example ENOVIA, a product life cycle management software allows a 3-D platform to see what would be the effect of change, even this software allows the engineers to see the ergonomics of the new plan introduced! So there is negligible chances of scrap and rework.

In modern quality cultures everybody till end worker is empowered, a production line worker has the power to stop the line if anything severe is happening on the line.

In modern cultures the focus is on long-term improvement by improving the quality whereas in traditions quality cultures the objective was to complete the order. The modern effect is more customer centric as compared to traditional since it aims to improve the company name and reputation in long term.

In a nutshell, modern work cultures are more collaborative in terms with relations to  the customers and suppliers, problems are addressed by taking action to solve them all these ethics have made modern work cultures to be more supportive of continual development.

-BY ME

5. How do you understand who is a customer?

In my words, A customer is like a grade sheet of an examination the grades received are feedback value and trust of the product/service supplied to them and the degree is the payment received from them. The trust, satisfaction and reputation earned are the most important outcome from customer they help in building goodwill of the company that can get the company through any kind of crisis!

6. Explain customer defined value, value analysis and retention.

1. Customer Defined Value

In marketing terms there are 4 types of values:

1. Functional Value : Extent to which the product or service is functional to the customer.
2. Monetary Value: The feasibility according to the customer of the product or service.
3. Social Value: The amount of connection the customer makes with the society by using the product or by having the service.
4. Psychological value: The value associated to the product by its name: Brand name.

All four of these features validate the value of a product or service of a commodity so an industrial engineer has to aim at increasing all these four features in a product to increase its value.

2. Value Analysis

As I discussed above customer sets a value of a product broadly in these four ways, so as to increase the value of a product to achieve a greater customer satisfaction the company has to analyze the current value of the product and any improvements possible. (all from a customer’s point of view)

3. Customer Retention

Customer Retention can be thought of how well has the company performed and how well has the company performed the customer value analysis, as the name suggest if a customer returns to the company for another purchase the company is said to have retained the customer. All the big names in any product/service based industry have a great customer retention Ex: We buy or trade in Apple devices every time a new product is launched!

-BY ME

7. Discuss product innovation models for customer retention.

Product Innovation models focusses on retaining the customer through innovation, this model is used by every company including technological giants like Apple, we look forward to products from Apple each year due to its innovation and pioneering technologies. If the customer is attracted by the distinction in the product quality from all others in the market they will compromise with their budget to get the project.

Mainly it involves seizing the opportunity by analyzing customer needs, this idea is now put forward to research for getting alternatives and then an optimum alternative is chosen out of them and then commercialization of the solution takes place.

8.    Discuss employee empowerment.

There are important differences between involvement and empowerment of employees. Involved employees are asked for their input, but they are not given ownership of their jobs. In the employee empowered organizations, managers provide an open, nonthreatening, creative environment and employees get involved physically, intellectually, and emotionally. In such situations, employees will be more willingly to observe, sense and ponder the following questions like is the procedure right is there a better way, will customer like this. These kind of questions aid continual development.

9.    Discuss leadership for quality.

Leadership for quality is the perspective of total quality. It is about applying the principles of leadership set forth in such a way as to continually improvement in the performance of people, processes, and products. Customer focus, Obsession with quality, Recognizing the structure of work freedom through control unity of purpose Looking for faults in systems teamwork, Continuing education and training, emphasis on best practices and peak performance.

10. How to lead for a better quality change?

Develop a compelling change picture next comes, communicating with the change in picture to all stakeholders and conduct a comprehensive roadblock analysis to plan ahead. The major thing for a better quality change is communication with customer and active feedback.

Social Networking

1.IKEA

Its nice that IKEA has thought of venturing in India as my friend Saravana pointed out India is the second most populous country in the world. I think IKEA will be successful in a couple of decades after looking after how it is mending its policies and implementing assembly team according to the choice of Indian people to not assemble their own furniture. Also IKEA is targeting cities new on their establishment like Hyderabad, with all these major strategies IKEA will definitely capture the Indian market and make a fortune.

 

2.McDonalds’ and Starbucks teaming up to create completely recyclable cups.

 

Both McDonalds and Starbucks cumulatively raised thousand billion cups each year these cups are either made completely of plastic or coated with plastic and most of these cups aren’t recyclable due to plastic separation or failure or mechanical devices to conveniently handle them, I agree with all my friends that this hazard needs to be limited and so appreciate 5 million dollars donated by both of these giants, forming a totally recyclable will take time and the initiative taken is a huge step!

3.Solar Calculator.

The solar estimate calculates the total irradiation on your house according to the longitude and latitude, it considers important factors like rooftop slope, tree cover insolation and makes up an appropriate calculation of how much the installation will cost you and how much it will save over the years, I have given the data for my house but and would definitely recommend it to my renter.