TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT
“Let’s consider this,” said the professor. “How is Process Oriented Management (PROM) different from Result Oriented Management (ROM)? Is it that in Process Oriented Management, you don’t bother about the result? No. That is not the case. Process oriented management is based on the paradigm (mindset) that the result is the effect of a number of causes, If we concentrate on the causes an ensure that the causes operate exactly as the way we want to, the result is bound to happen (barring a random element that is uncontrollable by its very nature, such as major earthquake.) Since results are bound to happen when the causes are perfected, Process Oriented Management recommends that we stop worrying about the result. (Incidentally, the philosophy of ‘karmanye wadhikaraste ma phaleshu kadachana” implies the same thing; concentrate on perfecting the causes in the process and the result is bound to come since the result is bouondto be achieved, we can therefore, forget about it. This philosophy is often misunderstood as ‘keep working without caring for the result’) Process oriented management is deeply concerned about the result. An analogy might help. A student is told “Get good marks, I don’t care how.” What kind of management is it” Is it good? Another student is told, “You must get the marks, so find out the correct way to study, and study with regularity and diligence.” Would this policy work? Which kind of management would you like to use in your organization? Western management has gone too far with result oriented management; managers find that they have to produce result by hook or by crook. Naturally they find that producing result is a marathon exercise every time. In Process Oriented Management, you first study the process. What is the difference between a process and an operation? A Process is summation of activities such as operations, inspections, delays, storage, transports, and every thing else that happens between the beginning and the end of the process. In contrast, an Operation does not include inspection, delays an all the other aspects. There are two types operations: ‘Do’ and ‘Make ready’. For instance, warming up an electric iron till it reaches the desired temperature is a ‘make ready’ operation, while ‘ironing’ is a ‘do’ operation. There are tow types of activities: Value Adding Activities (VA) and Non Value Adding Activities (NVA). By definition, Value Adding Activities are those that add value to product as seen from the customer’s point of view. All others are Non Value Adding activities. Even ‘make ready’ operations are NVA’s. Process oriented management first classifies all activities performed as VA or NVA and attacks Non Value Adding activities first! This is because if you conduct actual studies on any process, you are most likely to find that the amount of time spent of Non Value Adding activities exceeds the amount of time spent of Value Adding activities. Typically, result oriented management attacks Value Adding activities and tries to make them more efficient in the belief that it is only the VA activities that matter. They often end up making VA more efficient and losing more than what was gained because the NVA, that were ignored, increased enormously.
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