Das Ziel dieser Dissertation ist es, einen umfassenden Blick auf die Qualitätsmerkmale von Unternehmen zu werfen. Dabei werden zwei verschiedene Ansätze verfolgt, verglichen und verbunden, um diese "Unternehmensqualität" zu erfassen. Es handelt sich dabei einerseits um ein in der Praxis weit verbreitetes Unternehmens-entwicklungsmodell, das EFQM Modell 2010 und andererseits um ein auf einer selbst durchgeführten Metaanalyse aufbauendes Modell. Diese Metaanalyse basiert dabei auf der wesentlichen wissenschaftlichen Literatur der letzten 10 Jahre im Bereich des allgemeinen beziehungsweise strategischen Managements. Dabei wurden insgesamt 249 Artikel analysiert und eingebracht. Aufbauend auf den Ergebnissen dieser Studie und dem EFQM Modell 2010 wurde eine quantitative Datenerhebung mit Hilfe eines Fragebogens durchgeführt (n=218). Die Ergebnisse dieser Erhebung zeigen, dass primär interne Faktoren die Performanceunterschiede zwischen Unternehmen erklären. Diese Aussage bezieht sich insbesondere auf komplexe Fähigkeiten wie organisationales Lernen, die Unternehmenskultur, die Flexibilität und die Ambidexterity des Unternehmens. Eine weitere Aussage dieser Arbeit ist, dass zwischen der wissenschaftlichen Literatur (den Ergebnissen der Metaanalyse) und dem EFQM Modell 2010 eine hohe inhaltliche Übereinstimmung besteht. Daraus lässt sich schließen, dass die Wissenschaft und die Praxis sehr ähnliche Ansichten betreffend den erforderlichen Qualitäten zur erfolgreichen Führung von Unternehmen vertreten.

The purpose of this study is to explore empirically the correlation of quality practices and environmental performance and suggest its applicability as a model for integrating the two fields.

The majority of studies concerning psychological sex and management style have indicated that people consider the masculine style of managing to be the most popular. However, such studies are out of date and/or were usually measuring the perceptions of surveyed college students. Few studies have focused on successful managers in successful organizations. A modified version of the Bern Sex Role Inventory was distributed to 52 managers in a Total Quality Management organization. This study hypothesized that successful managers would be androgynous managers. The results of the study indicated that successful managers are androgynous managers, and that there is no significant difference in the number of female and male androgynous managers.

M.Tech. (Operations Management) / This study entails and discusses Employee Involvement in Total Quality Management initiatives in a South African Bank. Total Quality Management programs are required within business to ensure that organisations seek continuous improvement in their operational capabilities. Total quality management refers to three foremost components, which has to be part of the organisational strategy namely; customer satisfaction, continuous improvement and employee involvement. This study pertains to Total Quality Management, and the link between Total Quality and Employee Involvement as the critical component based on the premise that operational efficiency must start internally, meaning that employee involvement should be the point of departure. In many instances employees find it difficult to adapt to the changes, people naturally find reasons as to why changes will not be successful, more especially if there is no employee involvement at their level and, hence their reluctance to see the benefits objectively will result in the failure of any Total Quality Management initiative. The objective of this study was to determine if TQM principles as prescribed by many authors are currently adopted by the organisation with the focus being Employee Involvement and also to ascertain if the organisational culture lends itself to the implementation of TQM initiatives. Survey questionnaires were used to obtain primary data, and interviews and document reviews were conducted subsequently to validate the results obtained from primary data collection. The literature review indicated the importance of Employee Involvement in the pursuit TQM and the results indicated that employees believed that the principles of TQM and Employee Involvement are relatively well established. With any organisation there is always improvement required and as a fundamental requirement of TQM continuous improvement is a must. Collaboration between employees and management, Empowerment of employees and Education and Training that is job specific are some key areas that were discussed.

M. Tech. Business Administration / This quantitative project investigated the organisational barriers to continuous improvement (CI) at a manufacturing plant. The objectives of the study were to determine the human factors that affect CI, to discuss how these factors affect CI, and to recommend how human factors can be used to promote CI in manufacturing plants. This is an investigation into quality improvement theory and models and the Toyota Culturey in a zmanufacturingy organisation. The study organisation is a well know International Corporation with presence in 175 countries worldwide, of which the manufacturing plant in South Africa was selected. At the time of conducting this research, the plant had 20 employees and all of them were recruited to participate in the survey. The organisational barriers to CI that had been unfolded are the employees, education and training, management systems, and strategic vision.

This study analyzes the perceptions of University administrators, faculty members, and students concerning total quality management (TQM). This is done by (1) identifying the key components of TQM for higher education, and (2) assessing the perceptions of university administrators, faculty and students toward adopting and utilizing the principles of TQM as propounded by the late W. Edwards Deming. The study is inclusive of elements of historical and descriptive research design. Primary and secondary data sources of information are also used for the establishment of data base. The theoretical framework guiding this research includes enumerative theory and analytic theory. More emphasis is placed on the analytic theory because that is the main statistical theory propelling Demings' s 14 principles of total quality management. The sample for this study was taken from Nigerian universities according to personnel status and type of university. Stratified random sampling is used for this research. Four universities based on the three former Nigerian regions were chosen: East, West, and North. These three regions represent a microcosm of the Federal Republic of Nigeria because of their geo-political significance. In all, 104 individuals drawn from 4 universities, spread across a total of 42 different campuses participated in this study. The individuals include 35 students studying in Nigerian universities, 35 administrators and 34 faculty personnel employed by Nigerian universities. The significant findings of the study appear to warrant the following conclusions: If Nigerian universities are going to implement total quality management, they must have to address: the use of tests and grades, the use of goals and slogans, the use of statistical assessment, employee evaluation/meritocracy, and finally continuous improvement.

För att möta kraven från en allt mer konkurrensutsatt och global marknad bedrivs någon form av förbättrings- eller förändringsarbete i dagens organisationer. En grundläggande förutsättning för att nå framgång i arbetet med verksamhetsutvecklingen är ett engagerat, synligt och tydligt ledarskap. Ledarens viktigaste roll i utvecklingsarbetet är att motivera, coacha och utveckla individer och team. Syftet med den här studien är att hjälpa till att skapa en större förståelse om hur coachning kan användas för verksamhetsutveckling. Detta genom att utföra en forskningsöversikt över olika coachningsmodeller och definiera vad en coachningsmodell är samt analysera hur de kan användas i arbetet med verksamhetsutveckling. Resultatet av studien visade att en coachningsmodell är vanligtvis fasindelad. Det handlar om en förtroendebaserad lärprocess som sker mellan coach och mottagaren av coachningen. En coachningsmodell bygger på en utveckling av människan och/eller processen. Detta sker via öppna, relevanta frågeställningar som ska vara baserade på situation och målsättning. Studien visar att det finns olika användningsområden för coachningsmodellerna. De kan hjälpa till att utveckla ett beteende, utveckla individen, processen eller hela systemet. Det finns även starka kopplingar mellan de studerade coachningsmodellerna och hur verksamhetsutveckling kan bedrivas. Exempelvis tas vikten av samspel mellan coach, ledare, medarbetare och kund upp. Att coacha varandra genom hela kedjan leder till processutveckling som i sin tur gynnar kunden. Anpassa frågorna i coachningssamtalet mot verksamhetens mål och använd coachningen för att arbeta med ständiga förbättringar i små steg, tänk i banor som PDSA-hjulet. / To meet the demands of an increasingly competitive and global market, today’s organizations operates some form of improvement or change management. A basic prerequisite for success in the work with business development is a committed, visible and clear leadership. The leader's most important role in the development process is to motivate, coach and develop individuals and teams.The purpose of this study is to help create a greater understanding of how coaching can be used for business development. This by performing a research on different coaching models and define what a coaching model is and analyze how it can be used in the process of business development. The results of the study showed that a coaching model is usually phased. It is about a trust-based learning process that takes place between the coach and the recipient of coaching. A coaching model is based on the development of the human and/or the process. This is done through open, relevant framing of questions which should be based on the situation and the objectives. The study shows that there are different uses for coaching models. They can help develop a behavior, developing the individual, the process or the entire system. There are also strong links between the studied coaching models and how organizational development may be pursued. For example, the importance of interaction between the coach, leader, employee and customer is mentioned. To coach one another through the whole chain, is leading to process development which in turn benefits the customer. Customizing the questions in the coaching conversation toward the organization’s goals and use coaching to work with continuous improvements in small steps, like PDSA cycles.

Syftet med denna kvalitativa fallstudie var att förstå vad som hindrar och/eller möjliggör för chefer i en kommunal förvaltning att bedriva ett systematiskt förbättringsarbete. Givet den omfattande ledarskapsforskningen avgränsades teoriavsnittet till litteratur och artiklar som ligger nära frågor om ledarskap med betoning på effektivitet och beteende; organisations-kultur, kvalitet, förändring etc. Sju chefer intervjuades om sin syn på ledarskap, sin arbetsdag och förbättringsarbete. En enklare analys gjordes därtill av chefernas kalendrar så de såg ut den vecka intervjun genomfördes. Struktureringen av intervjudata gjordes på hermeneutisk grund i en sexstegsprocess varigenom det initialt omfattande materialet kondenserades till studiens resultat. Utifrån detta genomfördes analysen med utgångspunkt från studiens frågeställningar och syfte. Författarens slutsats är att förutsättningarna för att bedriva ett systematiskt förbättringsarbete, i det aktuella fallet, tycks starkt begränsade. Resultatet indikerar att orsakerna står att finna på olika systemnivåer: det individuella planet (attityd, kunskap mm), på ledningsnivå (förvaltning och politik), på organisationsnivå (som klimat/kultur) och på den mer amorfa nivån ”omständigheterna”. Måhända uppfattar läsaren att rapportens senare delar, som resultat/analys, diskussion och slut-sats, är skriven i väl dystra toner. Författaren diskuterar detta kort i diskussionsavsnittet. / The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand what impedes and/or facilitates for some managers in a public administration body to deal with quality management. Given the extensive research on leadership, the chapter on theories was limited to literature and articles on leadership with a focus on i.a. effectiveness and behaviour; organizational culture, quality and change. Seven managers were interviewed about how they perceive leadership, their working day and quality management. A basic analysis was made of the managers’ calendars as they looked the week of the interview. The structuring of data was done on hermeneutical grounds in a six-step-process by which the initially voluminous material was condensed to the result of this study, from which the analysis was made with the questions and purpose of the study being the point of departure. The author concludes that the conditions for executing quality management, in this particular case, seems greatly confined. Data suggests that reasons for this are found on different system levels such as the individual level (attitudes, knowledge etc); the leadership level (administration and politics); the organizational level (climate/culture) and on the more amorphous level of “circum-stances”. It may be that the reader of this report perceives the conclusion to be rather “dark”. The author comments briefly on this in the discussion chapter

Background and problem Previously, management has focused on cost, lead time reduction and quality improvement for competiveness in the market. However, most researchers agree that in today´s highly competitive business environment quality is a necessity but not sufficient. For companies to survive it is also imperative to also continuously innovate. These two activities are both important. Achieving a balance between the two, the objectives of improved quality and increased innovation, is not a straightforward exercise. Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how innovative companies manage continuous innovation and continuous improvement. Furthermore, it aims to extend the understanding of the relationship between continuous innovation and continuous improvement in innovative companies - the balance between these two activities. Method The primary research in this study has been collated through semi-structured interviews with leaders involved in innovation. The primary research is analysed and a comparison is made between primary research and secondary research. Similarities and differences are outlined in terms of the relationship. Results and conclusion The findings suggest that the innovative companies are fully aware of the importance of continuous innovation and continuous improvement. Moreover, there is a constant balancing act going on between these two activities in the companies. These activities are organised in different ways in the innovative companies. Continuous improvement is often prioritized due to for instance urgency and cost reduction. The companies support these activities through for instance recognition, rewards, KPIs, long term view, purpose and sustainability

Orientador: Glaucia Aparecida Prates / Coorientador: Antonio Francisco Savi / Banca: Luiz Veriano Oliveira Dalla Valentina / Banca: Lesley Carina do Lago Attadia Galli / Resumo: O objetivo geral desta pesquisa foi identificar em que grau os princípios de gestão da qualidade estão inter-relacionados. O primeiro objetivo específico foi identificar o nível de implementação dos princípios de gestão da qualidade na organização. O segundo objetivo específico foi reduzir o conjunto inicial de vinte e uma variáveis para poucas variáveis que expliquem como esses princípios de gestão estão inter-relacionados. O terceiro objetivo foi direcionar a organização para a implementação de ações de melhoria sobre os princípios de gestão que minimizem esforços e recursos necessários. Foi realizado um estudo de caso em uma organização industrial certificada ISO 9001 envolvida na cadeia de suprimentos sucroenergética. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi elaborado tendo como referência a norma ISO 10014. Inicialmente o questionário foi aplicado para um grupo de doze respondentes de perfis distintos para verificar o nível de dificuldade no entendimento das questões. Foi calculado o coeficiente de Cronbach sendo obtido um valor de ∝=0,94, demonstrando forte consistência interna no questionário. Foram obtidas 98 respostas completas que foram analisadas por meio de técnicas estatísticas descritivas e multivariadas, como a análise de fatores por componentes principais e análise de agrupamentos. Para as análises estatísticas foram utilizados os softwares Excel® 2016 e Statistica® 7.0. Por meio da análise de fatores as vinte e uma variáveis iniciais foram reduzidas a dois fatore... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The general objective of this research was to identify to what degree the principles of quality management are interrelated. The first specific objective was to identify the level of implementation of the principles of quality management in the organization. The second specific objective was to reduce the initial set of twenty-one variables to a few variables that explain how these management principles are interrelated. The third objective was to direct the organization to the implementation of improvement actions on the management principles that minimize the efforts and necessary resources. A case study was carried out in an ISO 9001 certified industrial organization involved in the sugarcane supply chain. The data collection instrument was developed with reference to ISO 10014. Initially the questionnaire was applied to a group of twelve respondents from different profiles to verify the level of difficulty in understanding the issues. The Cronbach coefficient was calculated and a value of α = 0.94 was obtained, showing a strong internal consistency in the questionnaire. A total of 98 responses were obtained, which were analyzed using descriptive and multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal components factor analysis and cluster analysis. For the statistical analysis, the software Excel® 2016 and Statistica® 7.0 were used. Through the factor analysis, the twenty-one initial variables were reduced to two factors, which were called process management and people... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Mestre