TOTAL QUALITY AND ETHICS AND QUALITY CULTURE

ETHICS

Ethics is the study of human behaviour within a moral context. Morality refers
to the values that are subscribed to and fostered by society in general and by
individuals within society. Ethics attempts to apply reason in determining rules of
human behaviour that translate morality into everyday behaviour. Ethical behaviour is
that which falls within the limits prescribed by widely accepted moral values. The
concepts of trust, responsibility, and integrity are part of the value system of total
quality.

Ethical question are not always black and white; they often fall into a gray area
between the two extremes of clearly right and clearly wrong. This gray area may be
clouded by personal experience, self-interest, point of view and external pressure.

TESTS OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR

Morning-After Test

How will you feel about this behaviour tomorrow morning?

Front-Page Test

How will you like to see this behaviour written up on the front page of your
hometown newspaper?

Mirror Test

How will you feel about this behaviour when you look in the mirror?

Role Reversal Test

How would you feel about being on the receiving end of this behaviour?

Commonsense Test

What does everyday common sense say about this behaviour?

THE FIVE P’S OF ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR

Purpose. Individual see themselves as ethical people who let their conscience be their
guide and in all cases want to feel good about themselves.

Pride. Individual apply internal guidelines and have sufficient self esteem to make
decisions that may not be popular with others.

Patience. Individuals believe right will prevail in the long run, and they are willing to
wait them necessary.

Persistence. Individuals are willing to stay with an ethical course of action once it has
been chosen and see through to a positive conclusion.

Perspective. Individuals take the time to reflect and are guided by their own internal
barometers when making ethical decisions.

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR:

TRUST AND TOTAL QUALITY

Trust is a critical element of ethics, which, in turn, makes ethics critical in total
quality. Many of the fundamental elements of total quality depend on trust and ethical
behaviour, including communication, interpersonal relations, conflict management,
problem solving, teamwork, employee involvement and empowerment, and customer
focus. Trust can be built by being loyal to those not present, keeping promises, and
sincerely apologizing when necessary.

VALUES AND TOTAL QUALITY

Values are those core beliefs that guide our behaviour. Individuals and
organizations apply their knowledge and skills most willingly to efforts in which their
believe. Managers should work to establish an environment in which values that lead
to ethical behaviour and values that lead to peak performance are the same.

INTEGRITY AND TOTAL QUALITY

Integrity requires honesty, but it is more than just honesty. Integrity is a

combination of honesty and dependability. People with integrity can be counted on to
do the right thing, do it correctly, and do it on time.

RESPONSIBITY AND TOTAL QUALITY

 Accepting responsibility is part of ethical behaviour. People who pass blame are
not behaving ethically. In a total quality setting, people are responsible for their
performance. When speaking of their organization, ethical people say ‘we’ instead of
‘they.’

MANAGER’S ROLE IN ETHICS

Managers have three main responsibilities: (a) they are responsible for setting
an example of ethical behaviour, (b) they are responsible for helping employees make
ethical choices, and (c) they are responsible for helping employees follow through and
exhibit ethical behaviour after the appropriate choice has been made.

APPROACHES TO ETHICS:

BEST-RATIO APPROACH

The best- ratio approach is a pragmatic approach based on the beliefs that
people are basically good, that in the right circumstances they will behave ethically,
and that under certain conditions they can be driven to ethical behaviour. Therefore,
managers should do everything possible to create conditions that promote ethical
behaviour and try to maintain the best possible ratio of good choices to bad choices
and ethical behaviour to unethical behaviour. When hard decisions must be made,
managers should make the choice that will do the most good for the most people. This
approach is sometimes called situational approach.

BLACK –AND- WHITE APPROACH

With the black- and- white approach, right is right, wrong is wrong, and
conditions are irrelevant. The manager’s job is to make ethical decisions and carry
them out. It is also to help employees behave ethically regardless of circumstances.
When difficult decisions must be made, managers should make fair and impartial
choices regardless of the outcome and do the right thing without concern of short-
term circumstances.

FULL-POTENTIAL APPROACH

With the full-potential approach, decisions made are based on how they will
affect the ability of those involved to achieve their full potential. The underlying
philosophy is that people are responsible for realizing their full potential within the
confines of morality. Choices that can achieve this goal without infringing on the
rights of others are considered ethical.

ORGANIZATIONAL’S ROLE IN ETHICS:

CREATING AN ETHICAL ENVIRONMENT

An organization creates an ethical environment by establishing policies and

practices that ensure that all employees are treated ethically, and then by enforcing
those policies. One effective way to create an ethical environment is to develop an
ethics philosophy with specific guidelines for putting the philosophy into operation, to
put it in writing, and to share it with all employees. Managers can play a key role in
promoting ethical behaviour on the job by encouraging upper management to develop
written ethics philosophies, credos, or guidelines and then by modelling the behaviour
they encourage.

SETTING AN EXAMPLE

Organizations that take the ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ approach to ethics will not
succeed. Managers must be able to trust their employers to conduct all external and
internal dealings in an ethical manner. Companies that are not pay their bills on time,
companies that are pollute, companies that are fail to live up to advertised quality
standards or stand behind their guarantees, and companies that are not good
neighbours in their communities fail to set a good ethical example. Such companies
can expect employees to mimic their unethical behaviour. Finally, in addition to
creating an ethical internal environment and handling external dealings in an ethical
manner, organization must support managers who make ethically correct decisions-
not just when such decisions are profitable but in all cases.
QUALITY CULTURE

A quality culture is an organizational value system that results in an

environment that is conducive to the establishment and continual improvement of
quality, It consists of values, tradition, procedures, and expectations that promote
quality.

LAWS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE:

Understand the History Behind the Current Culture. Organizational cultures don’t just
happen. Somebody wrote the policy that now inhibits competitiveness. Somebody
started the tradition that is now such a barrier. Times and circumstances change.
Policies, traditions, and other aspects of the existing culture that now seem
questionable may have been put in place for good reason another time and under
different circumstances.

Don’t Tamper with Systems –Improve Them .Tampering occurs when changes are
made without understanding why a given system work the way it does and without
fully comprehending what need to be changed, and why. To improve something, you
must first understand what is wrong with it, why, and how to go about changing it for
the better.

Be Prepared to Listen and Observe. It is important to pay attention to both people and
systems. Try to hear what is being said and observe what is not being said. Employees
who are heard are more likely to participate in changes than those who are not.

Involve Everyone Affected by Change in Making It. The most effective way to ensure
that employees will go along with changes is to involve them in planning and
implementing the changes. Give them opportunities to express their concerns and
fears. Getting problems into the open from the outset will allow them to be dealt with
forthrightly and overcome. Shoving them aside or ignoring them will guarantee that
even little problems become big ones.

STRATEGIES FOR HANDLING AND OVERCOMING RESISTANCE TO

CHANGE:

Involve Potential Resisters

At some point in the process, those affected by changed (potential resisters) will have
to take ownership of the change or it will fail. By involving them from the outset in
planning for the change, organizations can ensure that potential resisters understand it
and have adequate opportunities to express their views and concern about it. This type
of involvement will help potential resisters develop a sense of ownership in the
change that can, in turn, convert them to advocates.

Avoid Surprises

Predictability is important to people. This is one of the reasons they resist change.
Change is predictable: it brings with it the spectre of the unknown. For this reasons, it
is better to bring potential resisters into the process from the outlet. Surprising
potential resisters will turn them into committed resisters.

Move Slowly at First

To gain the support of potential resisters, it is necessary to let them evaluate the
proposed change, express their concerns, weigh the expected benefits, and find ways
to alleviate problems. This can take time. However, if advocates are perceived as
rushing the change through, potential resisters will become distrustful.

Start Small and Be Flexible

Change will be more readily accepted if advocates start small and are flexible enough
to revise strategies that are not working as planned. This approach offer several
benefits.

Create a Positive Environment

The environment in which change takes place is determined by reward and

recognition systems and examples set by managers. A reward and recognition system
that does not reward risk taking or that punishes employees for ideas that don’t work
will undermine change. Sincere attempts to make improvement should be recognized
and rewarded even when they fail. Managers should do their share of the work
associated with change. This approach will create a positive environment that is
conducive to change.

Incorporate the Change

Change will be more readily if it can be incorporated into the existing organizational
culture. An example might be using an established equipment maintenance schedule
to make major new equipment adaptations.

Provide a Quid Pro Quo

This strategy could also be called require something, give something. For example,
change will require intense extra effort on the part of selected employees for a given
period of time, offer these employees some paid time off either before or immediately
after the change is implemented. Using a quid pro quo can show employees that they
are valued.

Respond Quickly and Positively

When potential resisters raise questions or express concerns, advocates should

respond quickly and positively. A quick response can often eliminate the concern
before it becomes a problem, and it will show employees that their concerned are
consider important. It is also important to respond positively.

Work with Established Leaders

In any organization, some people are regarded as leaders. The support of leaders is
critical. Other employees will take cues from them. The best way to get their support
is to involve them in planning for the change from the outset.

Treat People with Dignity and Respect

This strategy is fundamental to all aspects of total quality. It requires behaviour that
acknowledges the human resource as the organization’s most valuable asset. Without
this strategy, the others won’t matter.

Be Constructive

Change is not made simply for the sake of change. It is made for the sake of continual
improvement. Consequently, it should be broached constructively from the
perspective of how it will bring about improvements.

ESTABLISHING A QUALITY CULTURE:

Put the Planned Changes in Writing

Changes should be listed without annotation or explanation. For example, if the
assessment reveals that customer input is not part of the product development, cycle,
the change list would contain an entry such as the following. The product
development cycle should be changed so that it includes the collection and use of
customer input.

Develop a Plan for Making the Changes

The plan for effecting change is developed according to the who-what-when-where-

how model. The plan should contain all five elements, and each element should be
dealt with comprehensively. However, the plan should be brief. Be comprehensive
and through, but keep it as brief as possible.

Identify Key People and Make Them Advocates

Key people are those who can facilitate and those who can inhibit implementation of
the change. These people should be identified, brought together, and given the plan.
Allow advocates and inhibitors opportunities to state their cases. Records all concerns
and deal with them.

Take a Heart and Minds Approach

It is important to take the time to deal with the inevitable emotional response that
occurs in the early stages of implementation. Open communication is the best
strategy. Advocates should allow opponents to voice their concern objections in open
forums. When the majority of employees accept the change, critical mass will set in
and peer pressure will begin to work on the side of the advocates.

Apply Courtship Strategies

Courtship is a phase in a relationship that moves slowly but deliberately toward a

desired end. During the courtship, the partner hoping to move the relationship forward
listen carefully to the other partner and patiently responds to any concerns expressed.
This partner is on his or her best behaviour. If advocates think of their relationship
with potential resisters as a courtship, they will be better able to bring them along and
eventually win them over.

Support
This final strategy is critical. It means that the material, moral, and emotional support
needed by people undergoing change should be provided. It will go more smoothly if
you have someone to help you get started, someone waiting at the other end to
encourage progress, and a safety net underneath in case you fall. Support is essential.

MAINTAINING A QUALITY CULTURE:

Maintain an awareness of quality as a key cultural issue. This is accomplished through

the regular dissemination to all personnel of quality goals and the corresponding
results relating to these goals.

Make sure that there is plenty of evidence of management’s leadership. Managers

should provide leadership in strategic planning for quality, serve on quality councils,
and be actively involved in the implementation of quality initiatives.

Empower employees and encourage self-development and self-initiative. Managers

should make sure that jobs are designed for as much self-control as possible,
continually seek and use employee input, and encourage self-directed teamwork.

Keep employees involved. This means making employees fully empowered members
of the quality council, maintaining a system that makes it easy, convenient, and
nonthreating for them to recommend improvements, and involving employees in areas
such as product or process design review.

Recognize or reward the behaviour that tend to nurture and maintain the quality
culture. Recognition involves various forms of public acknowledgment. Rewards are
tangible benefits such as salary increases, bonuses, incentives, and promotions.