Quality Management Research Paper Guidelines

While developing your papers, attempt to identifyDeming’s14 Points for Quality Management. Not all the pointswill relate to all businessesorcorporations.

1.        Analyzethecompany’shistory,development,andgrowth

• Aconvenientwayto investigate howa company’s paststrategyand structure affect it in the presentis to chartthe criticalincidentsinits history – thatis, the events thatwerethemost unusualor themost essential forits development into thecompany it is today
• Some oftheeventshave to dowith itsfounding, itsinitialproducts, howitmakesnew-productmarket decisions, and howitdeveloped andchose functionalcompetencies to Its entryintonewbusinesses and shiftsin its main linesof business are also importantmilestones to consider

2. Identifythecompany’sinternalstrengthsandweaknesses–(Strength,Weaknesses, OpportunityandThreats)SWOTanalysis
   • Use allofthe incidentsyouhave chartedinthe historical profiletodevelopanaccountofthecompany’s strengths andweaknesses as they have emergedhistorically
   • Examine eachofthe value creationfunctionsofthe company,and identifythe functions inwhichthe company iscurrentlystrong andcurrentlyweak
     • Some companiesmightbeweakinmarketing;somemight be stronginresearchanddevelopment
     • Make listsofthese strengthsandweaknesses

3. Analyzethe external environment– identify environmental opportunities and threats
   • Hereyoushould applyallinformationyouhave learnedto analyzetheenvironmentthe company isconfronting. Which factorsinthe macroenvironmentwill appear salient dependson the specificcompanybeinganalyzed. However, use eachfactorinturn (for instance, demographic factors)toseewhetherit is relevantfor thecompany in question
   • Havingdonethis analysis,youwillhavegenerated bothan analysisof thecompany’senvironmentand a list ofopportunities andthreats
   • The SWOTchecklist listssome common environmentalopportunitiesand threatsthatyoumay lookfor, butthe listyougenerate will be specific toyour company
4. EvaluatetheSWOTanalysis– whatdo your findingsmean?
   • Balance strengthsandweaknessesagainst opportunitiesandthreats
     • Is thecompany inanoverallstrongcompetitiveposition?
     • Can it continueto pursueits currentbusiness-orcorporate-level strategy profitably?
     • What canthe company doto turnweaknesses intostrengthsand threats intoopportunities?
     • Can itdevelop newfunctional,business,orcorporatestrategiesto accomplishthischange?

5.        Analyzecorporate-levelstrategy

• First, define the company’s missionandgoals. Sometimes the mission andgoals are stated; atother times,youwill have to inferthem from available information
• The informationyou needtocollecttofindout thecompany’scorporate strategy includessuchfactorsas

• Its line(s)of businessand thenature ofitssubsidiaries andacquisitions
• An analysisof the relationshipamong the company’sbusinesses
  • Dothey tradeorexchange resources?
  • Are there gainstobe achievedfrom synergy?
  • Alternatively, isthecompany justrunning a portfolio ofinvestments?
• This analysisshould enableyou todefine thecorporate strategy that thecompanyispursuing (forexample, relatedorunrelateddiversification,or a combinationof both) andtoconcludewhetherthecompany operatesinjustonecorebusiness
• Other issues should be consideredaswell
  • Howandwhy has thecompany’sstrategychangedover time?
  • What is the claimed rationaleforanychanges?
  • Often it is a good ideato analyzethe company’s businessesor productsto assess itssituation and identifywhich divisionscontribute the most to or detract from itscompetitiveadvantage
  • It isalso usefultoexplore howthecompanyhas built itsportfolio over time.Did itacquirenewbusinesses,ordiditinternallyventure its own?
• All thesefactorsprovide cluesabout the company andindicatewaysof improvingits futureperformance

6.        Analyzebusiness-levelstrategy

• Can thecompanydealwith thesethreats?
• Howshould itchange its business-levelstrategyto counter them?
• Toevaluate thepotential of acompany’s business-level strategy,you must firstperform a thoroughSWOTanalysis that captures theessence of its problems
• Onceyou knowthe company’scorporate-level strategyandhave donetheSWOT analysis,thenextstep is to identify the company’s business-levelstrategy
• If thecompanyis a single-businesscompany, itsbusiness-levelstrategy isidenticaltoitscorporate-levelstrategy
• If thecompanyisinmanybusinesses,eachbusinesswillhaveits ownbusiness-levelstrategy
• Youwill need toidentifythe company’sgeneric competitivestrategy– differentiation, lowcost, orfocus – andits investmentstrategy,giventhe company’srelativecompetitive positionandthe stageof thelife cycle
• The companyalso may market different productsusing different business-level strategies
  • For example, it mayoffer a low-costproduct range and a line ofdifferentiated products
• Be sureto givea fullaccountof a company’sbusiness-level strategytoshowhowit competes
• Identifyingthe functional strategies that a company pursues to buildcompetitive advantagethroughsuperior efficiency, quality,innovation, andcustomer responsivenessandtoachieve itsbusiness-levelstrategyisThe SWOTanalysiswill have provided you withinformationon thecompany’s functionalcompetencies
• You should further investigate itsproduction,marketing, orresearch anddevelopment strategy togain a pictureofwherethecompany isgoing
  • For example, pursuing a low-cost or a differentiation strategysuccessfullyrequires a verydifferentset of competencies
  • Has thecompany developed the rightones?
  • If ithas,howcan itexploitthemfurther?
  • Can itpursue both a low-costand a differentiationstrategy simultaneously?
• The SWOTanalysis is especially important at thispointif theindustryanalysis, particularlyPorter’smodel, hasrevealedthethreatstothecompanyfrom theenvironment
• Onceyoucompletethisanalysis,youwillhave a full pictureof thewaythecompany isoperatingand be in a positionto evaluatethepotentialofits strategy.Thus,youwill beable tomakerecommendations concerningthe pattern of its However, first you need to considerstrategyimplementation,orthewaythe companytries toachieveitsstrategy

7.        Analyzestructureandcontrolsystems

• The aim of thisanalysis is to identifywhat structure and control systems the companyis using toimplement itsstrategy and toevaluatewhether thatstructureisthe appropriateonefor thecompany
• Differentcorporateandbusinessstrategiesrequiredifferentstructures
  • For example,does the companyhave the rightlevel ofverticaldifferentiation(forinstance,does ithavethe appropriatenumberof levelsinthe hierarchyordecentralized control?)orhorizontal differentiation(doesituse a functional structurewhen itshouldbeusing aproductstructure?)?
  • Similarly, isthecompanyusing the rightintegration orcontrol systemstomanage itsoperations? Are managersbeingappropriatelyrewarded?
  • Are therightrewards inplaceforencouraging cooperationamongdivisions?
• These areall issuesthatshouldbeconsidered. Insomecases therewillbelittleinformationontheseissues,whereas inothers therewill bea Obviously,inanalyzing eachcaseyoushouldgear the analysis towarditsmost salient issues.For example, organizational conflict,power, andpoliticswillbeimportant issuesfor somecompanies. Tryto analyzewhyproblemsin theseareasare occurring.Dotheyoccurbecauseof badstrategyformulation orbecauseof badstrategyimplementation?
• Organizationalchangeis an issueinmanycases becausethecompaniesare attempting to altertheir strategiesor structuresto solve strategicproblems. Thus, as a part ofthe analysis,youmightsuggest an action planthat the company in questioncould use to achieve its Forexample,you mightlistin a logicalsequence the stepsthe companywouldneedto followto alter itsbusiness-levelstrategyfrom differentiation to focus

8.        Makerecommendations

• The lastpartofthecase analysisprocessinvolvesmakingrecommendations based onyouranalysis. Obviously,the qualityofyourrecommendations is a directresultofthe thoroughnesswithwhichyoupreparedthe caseanalysis. Theworkyouputinto the case analysiswill be obvious fromthe natureofyourrecommendations
• Recommendations aredirected atsolvingwhateverstrategicproblemthe company isfacing andatincreasingitsfutureprofitability
• Your recommendationsshould bein linewithyour analysis;that is,theyshould followlogicallyfromthepreviousdiscussion
  • For example,your recommendationgenerallywill centeronthe specificwaysof changingfunctional, business,andcorporatestrategyandorganizational structureandcontroltoimprovebusinessperformance

The setof recommendationswill be specific to each case,and soit isdifficult todiscuss theserecommendations here.Suchrecommendationsmightinclude anincreaseinspendingonspecificresearchanddevelopmentprojects,thedivestingof certainbusinesses, achangefrom astrategyof unrelatedtorelated diversification,anincreaseinthelevelofintegrationamong divisions byusingtask forcesand teams, or a move to a differentkindof structure to implement a newbusiness-levelstrate

Last Updated on February 1, 2018