"Inspection Culture " to "Quality Assurance Culture" - Upcoming Job Interview

[George.Temperley]

As part of a big job interview I have to give a 15 Minute Presentation

How would you move a organisation from a "Inspection Culture" to a "Quality Assurance Culture"

Ie move away from over inspection ie put onus on operator critical dimension checks only etc

Getting long serving employees who are set in their ways to using the modern tools & techniques. 5S Kazien etc

Any documents or threads that might help me would be most appreciated even the odd comments from anyones experience in a similar situation Even more so some document or extract from a book ect ect

[Jennifer Kirley]

Well George, the first thing to understand--and I don't--is who your audience is.

Their positions matter okay, but more importantly you must understand why they asked for this particular subject. Are they trying to understand how well you understand QC vs. QA, your philosophy or are they in a mood for change and want a champion? Your message must be crafted with this understanding in mind. If you don't understand this company well enough to know the answer right now, you need to find out.

Here is a list of threads I searched out using the words "change culture".

As culture success stories go, here is a story that I like; you can refer to it.

How to get the old warriors to play? Make change non-threatening. Make it plain that in order for them to do well, the company must do well first. For those who need reward, define an appropriate reward. Then make sure the company follows through with whatever reward is promised.

I hope this helps!

[Stijloor]

In Reply to Parent Post by George.Temperley

As part of a big job interview I have to give a 15 Minute Presentation

Hello George,

Jennifer provided you with outstanding advice. I would like to suggest that you study this organization's background; its product, customers, reputation, successes, failures, etc. Keep an open mind while doing this. In the US, a lot of information about companies is considered public record, I do not know about the UK. The more you know, the better you can prepare. Focus on the main stakeholders' needs and how the organization could benefit from a change of course. Be clear on the terminology though, because "Inspection Culture" and "Quality Assurance Culture" may mean different things to different people. Your presentation should include a clarification of these terms.

Wishing you lots of success!

Stijloor.

[sridharafep]

Good topic. As every Quality Manager like to do this but....

I too would like to focus on this in our company. But very difficult to implement. Need culture, complete understanding - down the level. Strong Engineering design / integrity.

I suggest, a few process could be tested / implemented on this to gauge the success.

All the best for u r...

Sridhar

[Wes Bucey]

Just a thought:
Essentially you are being asked to say how you would move an organization from:

• trying to inspect Quality in

to

• Building Quality in

In other words, doing what Deming and most other modern Quality folk have been trying to do for forty or more years - instill a culture of
Prevention versus detection.

If you are familiar with the concept, it shouldn't be too difficult a story to tell. If you aren't familiar with the concept, talking about details like Six Sigma, Kaizen, reingineering, TQM, et cetera, will just confuse everyone. You'e got 15 minutes - use part of it to give the concept in plain language and the balance to tell how you would move to be the "Change Agent" who helps folks WANT to change to make their own lives easier and more efficient.

[Ajit Basrur]

Hi George,

In addition to the excellant responses so far, I would like to add some points. The QA culture in any organization mainly refers to -

Promotion of quality culture
Systematic approach to quality assessment
Coherent and transparent system structure
Commitment to quality improvement
Confidence building

And as Wes rightly said, its Prevention vs detection or, Proactive Approach vs Reactive Approach.

I managed to get a presentation on Total Quality Management which is a very good presentation. You could get some additional points from that too

Wish you the very best for the interview

[George.Temperley]

In Reply to Parent Post by Stijloor

Hello George,

Jennifer provided you with outstanding advice. I would like to suggest that you study this organization's background; its product, customers, reputation, successes, failures, etc. Keep an open mind while doing this. In the US, a lot of information about companies is considered public record, I do not know about the UK. The more you know, the better you can prepare. Focus on the main stakeholders' needs and how the organization could benefit from a change of course. Be clear on the terminology though, because "Inspection Culture" and "Quality Assurance Culture" may mean different things to different people. Your presentation should include a clarification of these terms.

Wishing you lots of success!

Stijloor.

Thanks very much for your comments

[wmarhel]

In Reply to Parent Post by Wes Bucey

If you are familiar with the concept, it shouldn't be too difficult a story to tell. If you aren't familiar with the concept, talking about details like Six Sigma, Kaizen, reingineering, TQM, et cetera, will just confuse everyone. You'e got 15 minutes - use part of it to give the concept in plain language and the balance to tell how you would move to be the "Change Agent" who helps folks WANT to change to make their own lives easier and more efficient.

Wes makes a great point. There is no "magic" wand that can create this change, it is something that takes time and discipline....lot's of discipline. By the same token, I would stress how it is necessary for the entire organization to be disciplined in this approach as defects can be created by an administrative function as quickly as one from manufacturing. Think about the number of times that a work order or job routing sheet was incorrect and created defects/rework.

Let the interviewers know that as the champion, you would be the main resource and talk about your ability to create a level of trust with your co-workers. If they don't trust you, they will be less likely to follow your lead.

Best of luck.........

Wayne