In the first article, Richard C. M. Yam, K. F. Pun, and K. S. Chin, of the University of Hong Kong, along with R. Gill of Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, discuss the transfer of quality management practices and policies from Hong Kong to China. As the doors of China have opened, there has been a tremendous amount of low-cost manufacturing relocated from Hong Kong to China, since Hong Kong is faced with constantly escalating land and labor costs. Although Hong Kong manufacturers were not exactly known as leaders in the quality management movement several decades ago, they have made significant progress since the early 1990s, particularly with the influence of ISO 9000. Compared with Hong Kong manufacturers, those in China had less emphasis on quality documentation, less training, and training that focused primarily on technical training at the operator level, less emphasis on staff development, and weak links between staff performance and reward systems. Yam, Pun, Chin, and Gill discuss how quality management practices were transferred from Hong Kong to Chinese facilities and propose a model for quality transformation.
James R. Detert, of Harvard University, and Roger Jenni of the Northfield (Minnesota) Public Schools, discuss the applicability of the Baldrige Award assessment for a public school environment. Although many school systems have performed Baldrige Award audits, they have found them excessively time-consuming and view them as a “one time deal,” because of the effort involved. Other problems with using a Baldrige Award audit in a school system setting is the lag between application and feedback and the perception that it doesn’t accurately reflect the practices and beliefs of all employees in the school system. This sentiment is echoed in other nonindustrial settings, including health care. Detert and Jenni describe the process by which they developed a quick and simple quality management assessment for public school systems. Through three studies, using elementary and secondary schools from across the country, they developed and refined a questionnaire that is quick and easy to administer and provides immediate feedback. Detert and Jenni have also paid detailed attention to issues related to reliability and validity of the instrument. Thus, they provide a questionnaire that school systems should find very useful in assessing their quality management progress on a regular basis.
In the third article, Pietro Romano, of the University of Padova in Italy, examines the impact of ISO 9000 on plant performance. His interests stem from his experiences as a former quality manager in a plant that achieved ISO 9000 certification. In looking at the experiences of plants in Italy, he is able to answer important questions related to the impact of ISO 9000 certification on plants of varying sizes, including very small ones. Previous research has found mixed results when relating ISO 9000 certification to performance, particularly in terms of cost and time performance. On some measures of performance, ISO 9000 certification has been found to have no influence or even a negative influence. Romano studied the experiences of 100 Italian plants. He studied before and after measures of a number of factors, including work-in-process defects, rework hours, returns for defectives, process reliability, time to market, delivery punctuality, and throughput time. He found that, in virtually every case, the plants achieved significantly better performance after certification. The exception was that inspection costs increased after certification; however, this is consistent with the notion of cost of quality: Although prevention and inspection costs will increase, the total cost of quality will decrease as internal defects and external defects decrease.
In Focus on the Classroom, Selwyn W. Becker, of the University of Chicago, describes his experiences teaching a course on business strategy and policy using the Baldrige Award criteria for performance excellence. Rather than using the traditional textbook and case-based approach, he asked students to form teams to develop strategic plans for client companies. In developing their plans, students used a strategic management textbook and the Baldrige Award criteria as guides. Although students struggled, at first, with the applicability of the Baldrige Award criteria to their task, it quickly became their primary source when they ran into problems. The client companies found the resulting strategic plans to be thorough and very well thought out. More important, they were impressed with the extent with which their recommended strategies were supported with data and analysis. Becker found that the use of the Baldrige Award criteria forced students to support their ideas with data and, in doing so, develop better strategic plans.
We close with an article on the often-misunderstood concept of six sigma. Mustafa R. Yilmaz and Sangit Chatterjee, of Northeastern University, focus on the conceptual foundations and implications of the concept, taking a conceptual, rather than statistical approach. In doing so, they develop the concept of process variability and describe the goals of six sigma in a readily understandable manner. They also draw on the foundations for six sigma provided in the work of Deming. Examples are provided from retailing, insurance, banking, and health care. They show how six sigma can help in the value creation process and discuss the importance of understanding variability and its sources in business processes.
I think you will enjoy each of these articles. Please send your comments to “Discussion, Debate, Dialogue,” in care of Kristen Johnson, American Society for Quality, P.O. Box 3005, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53201-3005.
Barbara B. Flynn
Editor
Quality Management Journal
EDITORIAL
EDITOR
Barbara B. Flynn
Wake Forest University
PAST EDITOR
George S. Easton
Emory UniversityFOUNDING EDITOR
William A. Golomski
University of ChicagoBOOK REVIEW EDITOR
James B. Kohnen
St. Mary’s College of CaliforniaDISSERTATIONS EDITOR
William O. Winchell
Lawrence Technological UniversityADMINISTRATION/PRODUCTION
PUBLISHER
William TonyMANUSCRIPT COORDINATOR
Kristen JohnsonCOPY EDITORS
Jane Crouse
Kris McEachernPRODUCTION
Cathy SchnackenbergDIGITAL PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS
Michael Andes
Jill ZimmermanHTML CODING
Michael AndesEDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
John Anderson
University of MinnesotaSelwyn Becker
University of ChicagoRobert E. Cole
University of CaliforniaJames W. Dean, Jr.
University of North CarolinaJames R. Evans
University of CincinnatiJohn P. Evans
University of North CarolinaFrank M. Gryna
University of TampaJohn Hamburg
APEX, Inc.David Luther
Luther Quality AssociatesRam Narasimhan
Michigan State UniversityRoger G. Schroeder
University of MinnesotaKalyan Singhal
University of BaltimoreMichael J. Stahl
University of TennesseeEDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD
Sanjay Ahire
Indiana University South BendSusan D. Amundson
Arizona State UniversityKimberly A. Bates*
University of TorontoMichael Beyerlein
University of North TexasPaul M. Bobrowski
Syracuse UniversityKenneth Boyer
DePaul UniversityKenneth E. Case
Oklahoma State UniversityInjazz Chen
Cleveland State UniversityBarrie Dale*
University of ManchesterRichard Deane
Georgia State UniversityJohn Delery
University of ArkansasKevin Dooley
Arizona State UniversityEdward Duplaga
Bowling Green State UniversitySusan West Engelkemeyer
Babson CollegeByron Finch
Miami UniversityMark D. Finster
University of WisconsinLaura Forker
Boston UniversitySoumen Ghosh
Georgia Institute of TechnologyGlenn H. Gilbreath
Virginia Commonwealth UniversityJohn M. Groocock*
TRW (Retired)Robert Handfield
Michigan State UniversitySandra J. Hartman
University of New OrleansMarilyn Helms
University of TennesseeMary Collins Holcomb
University of TennesseeAnn Jordan
University of North TexasGary Kern
Indiana UniversityJill Phelps Kern
Digital SemiconductorDavid Kerridge*
Aberdeen UniversityRay A. Klotz
Qualcomm Inc.Ronald D. Kurtzmann
Brewer and AssociatesKeong Leong
Ohio State UniversityA. Magid Mazen
Suffolk UniversitySatish Mehra
University of MemphisKim I. Melton
North Georgia College and State UniversityHenry R. Neave*
British Deming AssociationYoram Neumann
California State UniversityWilliam Newman
Miami UniversityGary Ragatz
Michigan State UniversityGipsie B. Ranney
Belmont UniversityRichard N. Rosett
Rochester Institute of TechnologyBrooke Saladin
Wake Forest UniversityHelmut Schneider
Louisiana State UniversityNirmal Sethia
California State Polytechnic UniversityJohn G. Surak
Clemson UniversityWilliam Tallon
Northern Illinois UniversityMichael D. Tveite
The Tetrad GroupPeter Ward
Ohio State UniversityL. David Weller
University of GeorgiaTed Weston
Colorado State University*International reviewer
