Integrating quality management practices with knowledge creation processes

1. Kevin Lindermana, Roger G. Schroedera, Srilata Zaheera, Charles Liedtkeb, Adrian S. Choob Integrating quality management practices with knowledge creation processes M9401001 李華峻 M9401007 王碩鴻 M9401009 鄒錦銘 M9401010 葉宗昀

2. Outline • Introduction • Knowledge perspectives of QM • Integration of knowledge creation with QM • Conclusion P.S: QM= Quality Management

3. 1. Introduction

4. 1/2 Introduction • Quality Management field increasingly searches for new ways to improve organizational performance. • Propose that integrating quality management practices with organizational knowledge. • Most quality improvement activities require the creation of new knowledge for the organization. • Historic perspective suggests that knowledge played a critical role in the early development of quality management.

5. 2/2 Introduction • This paper provide a basis for understanding the connection between quality &knowledge. • Develop an integrated perspective of quality management practices and Nonaka’s theory of organizational knowledge creation.

6. 2. Knowledge perspectives of QM

7. 1/4 Knowledge perspectives of QM • Academic literature of quality and knowledge • Fine (1986) • The first studies that related quality and learning. • The optimal quality level increasesover timedue to learning. • Sitkin et al. (1994) • Traditional TQM hasoveremphasized quality control. • Underconditions of high uncertainty and task complexitytaking aTotal Quality Learning approachto improvementresults in higher performance than a TotalQuality Control approach.

8. 2/4 Knowledge perspectives of QM • Wruck and Jensen (1994, 1998) • Underlying processes leads to organizational knowledge creation and how quality management practices can support these processes. • MacDuffie (1997) • problems framed as learning opportunities had a positive effect on improvement activities. • Mukherjee et al. (1998) • Learning in quality improvement activities: conceptual learning (know-why) and operational learning (know-how).

9. 3/4 Knowledge perspectives of QM • Levine et al. (2000) • Quality depends not only on the production experience, but also on the intensity of ‘‘offline’’ quality improvement activities.

10. 4/4 Knowledge perspectives of QM • Dooley (2000) • ‘‘the ultimate value of the firm depends on knowledge that cannot be imitated, it is reasonable to assume that knowledge which is tacit and not easily imitated”. • It is important to develop theories of quality management that include both concepts of tacit and explicit knowledge.

11. 1/3 QM thought leaders & knowledge • Connection between quality and knowledge management • Taylor’s (1911) • selecting the best worker for a given task and using that worker’s methods as the standard to train all other workers. • Deming (1994) • The System of Profound Knowledge • four components: appreciation for system, knowledge about variation, theory of knowledge, and psychology • four elements were all interconnected and interact with one another.

12. 2/3 QM thought leaders & knowledge • Ishikawa (1985) • promoted the use of quality circles to improve performance. • Voluntarism, Self-Development, Mutual Development, Participation by All the Members, and Continuity. • teams working together and sharing tacit knowledge. • Crosby (1979) • ‘‘most human error is caused by our lack of attention rather than lack of knowledge’’ • emphasizes the importance of knowledge creation, and the importance of conforming to requirements and operating standards already known.

13. 3/3 QM thought leaders & knowledge • Pfeffer and Sutton (1999) • Differences in firm performance comes less from differences in what firms know, but more from their ability to translate knowledge into action. • considered the importance of knowledge creation. • explicit knowledge vs. tacit knowledge. • individual knowledge vs. organizational knowledge

14. Defining knowledge in quality • Definition of knowledge • knowledge is about beliefs and commitment, where ‘‘the power of knowledge to organize, select, learn, and judge comes from values and beliefs as much as,. . . from information and logic’’. • Nonaka (1994) • describes the transformations between tacit and explicit knowledge, the movement from individual to organizational knowledge. • provide a useful theoretical to understand how quality management practices result in creating knowledge.

15. 1/2 QM and firm performance • Dean and Bowen(1994) • Quality Management : Customer Focus, Continuous Improvement, and Team Work. • Sitkin et al. (1994) • Quality Management : Customer Satisfaction, Continuous Improvement, and Systems View of Organization.

16. 2/2 QM and firm performance • Quality management practices lead to knowledge creation. • Knowledge is a crucial resource for a firm and a source of competitive advantage that improves firm performance. Knowledge Quality

17. 3. Integration of knowledge creation with QM

18. 1/6 Theory of knowledge creation • Nonaka’s theory of knowledge creation:

19. 2/6 Theory of knowledge creation • Explicit knowledge • Codified and can be transferred through formal language or communication systems. • Tacit knowledge • Context specific and difficult to transfer. • Involves cognitive and technical elements.

20. 3/6 Theory of knowledge creation • Four different patterns of interaction between explicit and tacit knowledge • Socialization (tacit to tacit) • Externalization (tacit to explicit) • Combination (explicit to explicit) • Internalization ( explicit to tacit)

21. 4/6 Theory of knowledge creation • Socialization • the process of sharing experiences and thereby creating tacit knowledge such as shared mental models and technical skills. • requires that individuals interact with one another. • Nonaka described the output of this knowledge as sympathized knowledge.

22. 5/6 Theory of knowledge creation • Externalization • the process of articulating tacit knowledge into explicit concepts. • can be described as conceptual knowledge. • Combination • the process of systematizing concepts and combining different bodies of explicit knowledge. • can be described as systematic knowledge.

23. 6/6 Theory of knowledge creation • Internalization • the process of embodying explicit knowledge into tacit knowledge. • the knowledge is verbalized or diagrammed into documents, manuals, or oral stories. • Can be described as operational knowledge.

24. Integration of knowledge and quality • Customer satisfaction and knowledge • It involves the identification of customer needs, designing products and services to meet those needs, and measuring customer satisfaction to ensure fulfillment of their needs. • Quality-oriented organizations must establish a set of quality attributes that not only meet the basic requirements of the customer but also unexpectedly delight them.

25. 1/4 Theory of knowledge creation • Customer satisfaction and socialization • This helps establish a foundation for shared experiences and mental models between customers and the organization. • Socialization between employees and customers provides a basis for learning. • Proposition 1a. • Quality management practices that foster contact and interactions between organizational members and customers allow knowledge to be created through socialization.

26. 2/4 Theory of knowledge creation • Customer satisfaction and externalization • Information and knowledge acquired from customers then serve as a basis for designing new products and services. • Organizations can articulate or conceptualize customer needs promote externalization. • Quality-oriented organizations establish strong links between the ‘‘voice of the customer’’ and the design process • Proposition 2a. • Quality management practices that help articulate or conceptualize customer needs allow knowledge to be created through externalization.

27. 3/4 Theory of knowledge creation • Customer satisfaction and combination • Quality management approaches also require the generation of objective data that can be analyzed systematically. • the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ASCI) allows organizations to track their performance over time and make comparisons with the competition. • Proposition 3a. • Quality management practices that help analyze customer information allow knowledge to be created through combination.

28. 4/4 Theory of knowledge creation • Customer satisfaction and internalization • Quality organizations also continuously solicit feedback from customers about quality performance. • When soliciting customer feedback, organizations should establish effective measurement schemes that link improvement efforts to customer satisfaction. • Proposition 4a. • Quality management practices that promote monitoring and feedback of customer information allow knowledge to be created through internalization.

29. 1/3 Continuous improvement & knowledge • Continuous improvement refers to both incremental & breakthrough improvement in organizational performance. • Improvement can result in such things as improved customer value, reduction of defects and errors, improved productivity, improved cycle time performance, safety, and morale.

30. 2/3 Continuous improvement & knowledge • Real improvement requires that organizations translate learning activities into action. • The most likely method is PDCA. (Plan  Do  Check  Action)

31. 3/3 Continuous improvement & knowledge • For example: To begin with a team that capture the knowledge and creativity of the workforce. 1. How to plan? Ans: team generate the ideas for improvement. 2. How to do? Ans: through the use of rigorous QM tools. 3. How to check? Ans: through the use of data analysis techniques. 4. How to act? Ans: act the solution to help maintain & institutionalize the improvement.

32. Continuous improvement & socialization • Proposition 1b. Quality management practices that foster contact and interactions between organizational members in improvement activities allow knowledge to be created through socialization. ( the process of tacit to tacit )

33. Continuous improvement & externalization • Proposition 2b. Quality management practices that help articulate improvement ideas in the form of theories, concepts, or cause-and-effect reasoning allow knowledge to be created through externalization. ( the process of tacit to explicit ) • For example To use the “right brain thinking” tools that can help make tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. ( the tools like affinity diagrams )

34. Continuous improvement & combination • Proposition 3b. Quality management practices that help analyze information to promote problem understanding and diagnosis allow knowledge to be created through combination. ( the process of explicit to explicit ) • For example To use the “left brain thinking” tools that can help make explicit knowledge to explicit knowledge. ( the tools like Pareto charts or statistical design of experiments )

35. Continuous improvement & internalization • Proposition 4b. Quality management practices that promote process monitoring and control allow knowledge to be created through internalization. ( The process of explicit to tacit )

36. Systems view and knowledge • To attempts to understand and improve the organization as a whole rather than the individual parts. • However, system behavior cannot be fully understood without understanding the interaction between components.

37. Systems view and socialization • Proposition 1c. Quality management practices that foster contact and interactions between heterogeneous organizational members allow knowledge to be created through socialization. • A cross-functional orientation helps organizational members understand how the components of the system interact to influence overall performance, and how their role in the organization affects these interactions.

38. Systems view and externalization • Proposition 2c. Quality management practices that help conceptualize the purpose of aim of the system allow knowledge to be created through externalization. • Systems have properties that the individual components do not have. For example, an automobile is a system that might have the property ‘‘smooth ride’’. However if you examine the individual components, such as the body or steering wheel, you would not find the property ‘‘smooth ride’’.

39. Systems view and internalization • Proposition 3c. Quality management practices that help synthesize information from heterogeneous sources allow knowledge to be created through combination. • Leading quality organizations also develop a comprehensive set of measures that reflect customer requirements and the key factors that drive business success.

40. Systems view and combination • Proposition 4c. Quality management practices that help the organization consistently act in conformance with its purpose, aim, and strategy allows knowledge to be created through internalization. • To executing strategy ensures that all employees understand the business direction and are working according to the plan to make the vision a reality.

41. 1/4 Implications of knowledge integration • Organizations that effectively deploy quality management practices should have a set of practices that support each of the knowledge creation processes. • If not, that will get some loss. ( see the example on next slide )

42. 2/4 Implications of knowledge integration • For example An organization that does not deploy a Complaint Management System may not be encouraging enough socialization between the customer and the service provider. This results in a loss in customer knowledge and weakens the organization’s ability to understand the customers’ needs. The organization may be doing considerable data analysis on customer needs (e.g. customer surveys), which supports combination, but fail to create in-depth knowledge of the customer since they have not deployed practices that promote socialization.

43. 3/4 Implications of knowledge integration • Organizational leaders need to be cognizant of how quality management practices support each of the knowledge creation process in order to promote effective deployment. • Organizations deploying a set of quality practices that do not support all of the knowledge creation processes will be less effective at knowledge creation.

44. 4/4 Implications of knowledge integration • This perspective helps develop a more refined theoretical lens as to which combination of quality practices an organization might want to deploy.

45. 1/2 QM, knowledge creation, & firm performance • Proposition 5. Quality management practices that result in knowledge creation lead to improved organizational performance. • A knowledge management perspective suggests that effective deployment means the ability to create organizational knowledge.

46. 2/2 QM, knowledge creation, & firm performance • However, the knowing-doing gap in knowledge management provides a contrasting view of Proposition 5. This view says that differences in firm performance come less from what firms know, but more from their ability to translate knowledge into action.

47. 4. Conclusion

48. 1/2 Conclusion • The fundamental objectives of knowledge management and quality management are the same. • Creating more organizational knowledge so that improvement can occur. • Nonaka provides a useful theoretical lens since it considers not only individual and organizational knowledge, but also tacit and explicit knowledge.

49. 2/2 Conclusion • The knowledge-based view of the firm also helps understand how quality management practices lead to firm performance. • Future research should focus on testing and refining the proposed theory. • Future research could investigate the relative importance of different knowledge creation processes in different environmental.

50. The End Thank you for your attention!