A comparison of business improvement methodologies Dissertation

A comparison of business improvement methodologies - Dissertation Example 19 3.RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 21 3.1 Research Philosophy 21 3.2 Research Design 21 3.3 Sampling 22 3.3.1 Sample Size 22 INTRODUCTION The world of business has become extremely competitive and survival and success of firms largely depend upon their ability to improve. The impact of globalization has made the world of business more competitive forcing them to come up with new methods and approaches to improve. The businesses today are marred by high cost of materials and services and there is an urgent need to seek new methods to make financial performance better, enhance market share and improve customer satisfaction and the contribution by employees. Technological advancements have made the customers more knowledgeable and have added to the complexity of business environment. Customers have more choice and options at their disposal and the demand for quality is increasing day by day. Because of the challenges thrown by globalization, businesses need a more scientific method to understand and analyze any information about their performances; this includes an approach that would reliably link inputs with outputs. Webb (2006) stated that in order to improve the outcomes of a process, the process itself needs to be improved; this is where business improvement methodologies like Six Sigma, TQM and BPR step in. These business improvement methodologies show the managers the precise changes they need to make in order to obtain the desired outcomes. This research study aims to evaluate the efficiency of the business improvement methodologies and the common and unique traits of each of these methodologies. The study also tends to identify if these strategies are converging towards one universal approach. 1.1 The Evolution of Improvement Methodologies: A Brief History Implementation of scientific management in businesses began in the 1900s with Frederick Taylor’s revolutionary time and motion studies to make factories more competent and resourceful. This initiated a se ries of quality management processes until in 1940 the principles of Total Quality Management were established by W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran (Webb, 2006). Deming’s statistical methods and management principles were adopted by Japanese engineers for building processes and quality control as they re-built their country after the devastating World War II. The TQM processes were so efficient and effective that by 1970s, Japan had gained control of a large portion of the US auto market, consumer electronics and camera market. This caused the US companies to become serious about improving the quality of their products and led to the promulgation of structured methods to improve the quality of products by improving the processes involved in their production. After years of research and experimentation, came the Six Sigma improvement model which was adopted by Motorola in 1986. In 1988 Motorola won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award and the Six Sigma improvement model was adopted by other big firms including IBM, GE, Allied Signal, Xerox and Texas Instruments. This study is concerned with looking deeply into these business impr