Quality in Student Financial Aid Programs A New Approach (1993) / Chapter Skim
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2 Continuous Improvement: The New Quality Management Philosophy
2 Continuous Improvement: The New Quality Management Philosophy
Pages 26-34
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From page 26... ...
The value of this approach is exemplified in industry by the Baldridge National Quality Award, given for outstanding achievements in quality improvement. The federal government recognizes the applicability of the approach with the Federal Quality Institute's Quality Improvement Prototype Award and with the Presidential Award for Quality.
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From page 27... ...
A total quality approach to administering student financial aid seeks continuous improvement in important outcomes of the process, such as the accuracy of the award, customer satisfaction, and accessibility of aid for eligible students. Additionally, a total quality approach seeks improvements that may eliminate mistakes before they are made and strives to lower costs, provide faster processing, and reduce red tape.
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From page 28... ...
Thus, the process of quality improvement begins with identifying the truly important quality issues and then learning how to find and remove factors that cause poor performance. IDENTIFYING CUSTOMER NEEDS To identify appropriate quality issues, it is essential to create a greater focus on the customers the consumers or users of the product or serviceand to seek input from them on issues relating to quality.
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From page 29... ...
Frontline workers should be encouraged to work on quality improvement in their activities, but they cannot be expected to resolve quality problems that are the result of the system. In the case of a system as complex as student financial aid, the Department of Education must take the lead to accomplish many of the system changes that could improve overall quality.
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From page 30... ...
Fortunately, many organizations are learning that genuine improvements can occur when individuals work together and make decisions using sound empirical information. This approach requires more sophisticated methods of data collection, measurement, and interpretation than are typically found in long-standing management structures.
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From page 31... ...
If changes are to occur within an organization, substantial planning must take place and policies must be developed that encourage innovation and support change. For innovation to occur within the planning process, a culture of risk taking must be encouraged and supported by management and line workers, and the culture must include personnel policies that support and even reward risk takers.
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From page 32... ...
Indeed, over the past several years, the winners of the Baldrige National Quality Award, the preeminent national award for meritorious quality improvement efforts, have been organizations that undertook just such restructuring and changes in managerial styles. UNDERSTANDING VARIATION Measurement of any attribute in a system is subject to variation.
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From page 33... ...
Many organizations have found that compliance inspection systems are apt to create adversarial relationships and a far more effective approach is to teach the organizations how to recognize special causes of variation and how to analyze common causes of variation. Then, individuals and groups within the organization can monitor their own processes, thereby engaging the organization in an overall effort of continuous improvement.
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From page 34... ...
FOSTERING TOP MANAGEMENT LEADERSHIP Organizations that have been successful in implementing strategies for continuous improvement have done so with leadership from the top management in the organization. Successful leaders provide clear direction in an environment or culture that nurtures individuals and nurtures change.
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