Improving Quality Management Systems - An Essay On Masafi.

A Quality Management Systems is a set of policies, procedures and practices that are used by the company leaders to plan and execute. The prime areas that are targeted are the ones that could directly impact the organization’s ability to satiate the needs of the customers. This system is considered as a precise collection of the business processes that are focused consistently in meeting the consumer requirements and satiating their needs in an enhanced manner. This system also defines how a company will achieve the creation and delivery of the products and services that are to be provided to the customers (Plura, 2000).

The following report has been written to suggest a plan that has a potential to improve the quality of the chosen company. The report will also unveil the precise role of the Total Quality Management elements in the allowing the company to achieve competitiveness and have a strong edge over the other rivals in the markets. To support the results a candid relationship between the ISO 9000 and Total Quality Management practices is also established. As consumers are the prime assets for any firm so the report has been designed to focus the strategies of the company that have been adopted to evaluate the changing needs of the customers (Rai Technology University, 2008).

Description of the company

Masafi is a beverage producer of UAE. The product range includes bottled water, natural water, juices and other drinks. It was established in the year 1976 with an initial capital of half million dollars. The company is known to produce fresh and pure products and due to this it has gained a lot of fame and popularity in local as well as international markets (Masafi Team, 2012). With its constant efforts, the company has managed to become the most popular brand of drinking water in UAE. A vast network has been established by the company which has definitely helped the firm in meeting the demands in the markets by adequately supplying the products in the given timeline.

This leading firm holds a total of 53% of the market share in Dubai and around 43% of UAE. At present, the company has expanded to the international markets of the Japan, Europe, Asia and Africa. The company is the first company in UAE to receive the NFS certificate by the NFS international (Team U. , 2017). 

Vision and Mission statement

SWOT Analysis

The vision of Masafi shows the firm’s adherence with the offerings of the premium products to the customers and provides them better standards of living.

The mission of the company is to provide premium quality of products and for this purpose; the company has adopted the concept of continuous innovation.

The company wants to gain leadership of the entire market by enhancing the quality of its products and services. The firm also aims to increase the quantity of the products delivered simply by incorporating a number of innovative practices. This brand has always looked towards future prospects in order to incorporate excellent strategies. Ever since the company is established, the company has believed in maintenance of strict emphasis on the business excellence and innovation elements while determining a precise growth strategy for the firm.

Strategic Objectives of the Company

• The company is all about providing natural goodness across the world and his prime objective is to provide nourished drinking articles to the customers.
• The company has always designed its policies and practices by simply adhering to the high quality global standards and due to such approach it has effectively accepted all the challenges and combated them successfully.
• The company also has an objective of serving the customers in a best manner in order to retain them for a longer duration and also generate a new customer base by simply offering a wide range of product and service varieties (Almutawa, 2017).
• With the changing scenario of the business world alongwith increasing complexities, the company aims to be ethical in its service deliveries and this has helped the company in gaining a great competitive advantage over the other rivals in the market.
• The company also aims to lead the FMCG industry both at the domestic as well as the international level. For this purpose, Masafi is already spreading awareness among the stakeholders about its product’s quality and CSR initiatives.
• The objective of the firm is also to expand the product range and also gain access into the new markets at the national as well as international level (GMR, 2017).

The SWOT analysis identifies various strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and the associated threats company posses or might face in the coming future. A detailed analysis of these factors is given below:

SWOT Analysis of Masafi
Strengths	· The company is highly acknowledged by the customers and suppliers in the UAE and also has a great brand identity. · At present, the company is exporting around 30-40% of the overall manufactured products. · Its bottled water has gained around 45% of the share in the UAE’s bottled water sector.
Weaknesses	· The company has not touched the markets of Abu Dhabi and Al Ain yet. · The company has been lacking in serving a wide variety of products and beverages. · The mineral water product is the leading product of the company and hence the company fails to concentrate on other products and subsequently is unable to establish as a comprehensive FMCG company.
Opportunities	· The global FMCG industry offers a great opportunity of international expansion to the company. · The strategic alliance practices could be adopted by the firm with other leaders in this industry so as to expand its customer base (Kurtus, 2007). · The company could perform better if the economic conditions in the target markets are stable.
Threats	· The poor output levels and the poor quality of the products could subject the company to negative publicity. · There is quite high competition in the FMCG industry because this sector entertains a wide variety of organization of different levels (Harman, 2010). · The substitutes in the markets also carry a great potential of posing a threat to the company in the coming future.

Role of TQM in Competitiveness achievement

The TQM philosophy has a prime influence on a business by lowering costs of the products and services by simply reducing wastes, helping the suppliers in providing quality products and meeting the needs of the end users by offering them high quality products and services. Companies, those are able to sell their products at a cost lower than the competitors simply have an advantage over the other producers in the market. Implementation of TQM practices and principles allows a firm to have an edge over the competitors in the markets (Pekar, 1995).

The competitors to the Masafi are present both at the domestic as well as the Global level. The main local competitors in the bottled water segment are: Al Ain Water Company, Arwa and Oasis. The prime global competitors in the same segment are Nestle, Volvic, Acqua Panna, Aquafina and Evian.

The company’s prime competitive advantage is seen in its flavored drinking water. While incorporating varieties in the product range the company has also adhered to the quality standards and has never compromised on it for the sake of profit making. Masafi assures that its executives provide the customers with prompt services and this has eventually become the key component of the TQM practices adopted by the company. The effective relationships with the customers have helped the company in attracting the customer bases of other competitors in the local and international markets. The innovated products and the high quality standards have allowed the company to capture the minds of the consumers and evaluate their actual needs alongwith the change in behavior (Zhang, 2000).

Rationale for adopting TQM

Core competencies and Competitive Strategies of the firm

The core competency of the company is to build strong relationships with the customers and the other stakeholders to the company. The company constantly works to gather feedbacks from the customers and implement them in the core strategies of the company. The active participation of the consumers allows the company to strive in tough conditions. Masafi assures that the customers are being provided with the best services of all time and even ensures that the employees are also dedicated towards their work (Bruyn, 2007).

In order to have a great edge over the competitors, the company executives also ensure that the best promotional strategies are included in the company’s marketing strategies. This approach also maximizes the scope of awareness in the market. Another strategy adopted by the company to stand away from the crowd is the product innovation and diversification. This strategy allows the company members to provide products and services that are tailor-made on the basis of precise needs of the customers. The most innovative action was taken by the firm by diversifying into flavored mineral water (Foundation, 1996). This step has not only retained the existing customer base but has also allowed new customers to have a quality experience by being a part of the firm. The normal drinking water product line has broadened by inclusion of a number of flavors like jasmine, peach, lemon, etc.

The latest equipments adopted by company are also quite innovative in nature and hence more customers are being attracted to the brand. Moreover, the fresh talents are curious to work with the firm as innovative ideas changes the perceptions of the employees towards the challenges and other sort of difficulties the company is likely to face in the coming future. As most of the competitors in the domestic markets are not so well versed with the technological elements, hence the innovative equipments are more than enough to capture the minds of the customers, investors and the suppliers.

Implementation of ISO 9000 in relation to TQM

Masafi has tactfully followed precise steps to readily implement ISO 9000 in relation to the prevailing TQM principles. These steps are:

1. Once the firm has registered, it is required to apply to QMS operations according to the standards and exactly as the QMS states (ISO Central Secretariat, 2009).
2. In the next step, the company is required to continually assess the effectiveness of the QMS and adopt the appropriate changes.
3. In this step, the executives of the company are required to conduct periodic internal QMS audits.
4. The registrars are then required to submit the surveillance audits to the third party on an annual basis (ISO Quality Management, 2017).
5. The registrar is also required to submit to a new registration audit in every third year.

Relationship between Strategic management and TQM

The strategic management and TQM provide a company with a number of tools that gives it s great competitive advantage over the others in the market. Total Quality Management ensures that a company’s goals are entirely focused on improving the quality of commodities (Kantardjieva, 2015). The Strategic management is an approach that prioritizes those efforts and practices of the organization that are required for the implementation of the TQM practices.

Core competencies and Competitive Strategies of the firm

Implementation of strategic management principles in TQM requires that the organization should evaluate the precise needs and requirements of the customers and determine the best approach to meet these precise needs. The final product of this union creates value for the consumers as they begin to experience quality of services from the brand in which they have placed their trusts and resources. This relationship also makes the quality a top priority for everyone in the company, from top managers to the subordinates working under them. The TQM approach uses strategic management tools while developing a quality plan for the firm. For instance, the priorities matrix provides a method to prioritize and evaluate quality options to meet the changing customer demands (Kelchner, 2017).  

 Mechanisms developed by company to adopt the philosophies

Masafi has developed a number of mechanisms to adopt myriads of philosophies and get prime benefits. The Juran’s quality philosophy or the Juran’s trilogy includes quality planning, quality control and quality improvements. This philosophy has allowed the firm to pace up with the changing environments and has also encouraged it to adopt innovation in the processes and products. The best example of this could be seen in the company’s activities that identify, prioritize and manages the environmental risks (Stephens, 2008).

Another philosophy given by Crosby proposes the nonconformance nature of the quality measurement. In this philosophy the concept of minimal defects is unacceptable. Although Masafi has managed to attain the target of maintain a good quality of its products but it has not been able to stick to the zero defects concept of the philosophy (Patel, 2016).

To effectively adopt and implement the philosophies, the firm has readily adopted a number of mechanisms. The company established entirely new standards of the environmental sustainability by introducing a number of recycling campaigns and also avoiding the excess usage of packaging materials.

Critical leadership factors for the success of quality program

In order to implement the elements of TQM in all the stages of development and across all the business units, the company has adopted its own style of leadership to guide the followers in a particular direction of development and success. The primary leadership style that has been adopted is the Transformational leadership which has effectively guided the followers by making them aware of the precise vision and mission of the company. The company leaders have also ensured that the subordinates must adopt such policies and practices which have no adverse impact on the environment and the society. Hence, by this approach Masafi has been able to exhibit enhanced corporate social responsibilities in the environment (Mrotek, 2014).

The impact of the company’s leadership style is also reflected in the continual product development activities and in the manner the firm has incorporated the ongoing environmental changes in its core working strategies. This approach has allowed the customers to remain loyal to the firm for a longer duration as a number of new and innovative products and services are provided to them on a periodic basis (Gatanas, 1992). The leadership practices have allowed Masafi to maintain a stiff competition level in the marketplace alongwith maintenance of high level of performance.

Culture adopted by the company

Masafi has followed best practices to effectively implement the quality across all its business units. The culture at the company supports the identification of the challenges and errors beforehand only. This approach has allowed the firm to reduce and prevent the errors in the working strategies of the company. The culture across the firm also promotes the maintenance of the documentation process so as to avoid redundancy and ambiguity of the data associated with the TQM processes and makes it readily available whenever required by the company. These approaches not only allow the company to effectively implement the TQM elements but at the same time are quintessential in cost savings. The saved money could be implemented in myriads of areas where resources input are drastically needed (Khaimah, 2015).

Policies adopted by company to operate ethically

Masafi has ensured that the quality of the products and services would be maintained while adhering to the ethical practices. In simpler words, the company would not adopt any ill practice just to maintain the top quality of the products it is serving. The firm has highly succeeded in abiding to the principles of sustainable development and has ensured that none of its policies should hinder the stability in the environment (Rogers, 2012). For instance, the company has highly reformed its packaging methodologies by minimizing the wastes produced during the packaging process and even using such packing materials that are biodegradable and have no associated hazardous influence on the environment.

Apart from this, the company executives have also ensured that the adopted quality measures pose a healthy competition to the rivals, both in the domestic and international markets. The competition should only encourage the companies to perform better than the others and should avoid the development of negative and ill thoughts about one another (Cohen, 2008).

Policies adopted to achieve motivated workforce

The company has employee strength of 1000 workers who are highly talented and strongly dedicated completely towards the achievement of the high standards and organizational goals. To communicate with the employees in a better manner, the company regularly conducts surveys and evaluates the actual needs of the employees. The firm also gathers feedback and conduct discussion sessions through which the employees are motivated to place their viewpoints in front of their leaders. To motive the workforce in a more effective manner, the executives ensures that the employees are duly compensated for the extra hours of working and also the policies and changes are readily communicated to them. These steps have allowed the employees to align their efforts with the precise goals of the firm (Roth, 2011).

Masafi has always considered the employees as its major asset and hence has provided them with adequate opportunities. The employees at this firm are highly trained and guided to achieve the relevant goals of the firm. To motivate the workforce, Masafi’s executives readily meet the needs of the employees and encourage them to contribute their thoughts and visions in the company’s policies. The evidence of the employees’ active participation is seen in the policies that allow the company to readily adapt to the environmental changes and deliver high quality performances (Government, 2011).

Mechanism adopted to analyze changing consumers’ needs

The consumers need in this business world are quite dynamic in nature and only those organizations succeeds which are able to evaluate such needs on time and align the products and services to these changing demands. To analyze the changes, the firm continuously gathers the feedback via different communication channels. This approach has encouraged the firm to maintain an enhanced consumer- friendly environment and allow the consumers to actively participate in the prime decisions of the company (OECD, 2010). The company has a 24*7 toll free number through which the executives deals with the issues and problems of the customers. The customers could also connect with the company via mails and letters that are periodically viewed by the customer-relationship in-charges. The feedbacks are also gathered through online surveys, feedback forms and the emerging social media platforms.

To evaluate the current customer trends and behavioral changes, Masafi conducts market analysis before and after exploring any new market. This helps the company to evaluate that whether the policies and practices of the firm are in compliance with the current needs of the company. Apart from this, the technological department of the company ensures that all the business units of the firm are highly equipped with new technological reformations so that the customers have not to seek other brands to satiate their demands, tastes and needs (CSSP, 2007).

Mechanisms adopted to build partnerships

Partnerships are quite crucial in business to withstand the market pressure in a long run. Masafi has also implemented a number of mechanisms to build and maintain strong partnerships in the domestic and international markets (Forum, 2006). The firm has tried to align its core practices and policies with that of its partners to avoid any future clashes of perceptions and opinions.

The company has ensured that whatever the policies are, the prime aim of the partnership should be delivery of customer satisfaction and adoption of quality across all the business units. For such an approach, the company has selected a handful of experienced leaders who communicate the ideas and suggestions to and fro between the partners and the host company. The firm has also ensured that in order to maintain the partnership for a longer duration, the viewpoints and perceptions of all the participants would be readily heard and if found appropriate then would be adopted in the core strategies of the company (Troutbeck & Troutbeck, 2002).

Relationship between ISO 9000 and TQM and their benefits

The ISO 9000 is a family of standards and guidelines related to the TQM system. Its prime aim is to inform a company about the requirements of quality assurance and improve the participation of the management and leaders in these practices. The ISO 9000 utilizes eight precise principles from the TQM, viz. the Customer Focus, Leadership, Involvement of the people, Process approach, Continual Improvement, System Approach to management, Factual approach to decision making and Mutually beneficiary supplier relationship.

The elements of ISO 9000 have a capability to improve operations of quality operations in traditional environments. Both the ISO 9000and TQM are not interchangeable and do not compete one another in any manner. Rather, ISO 9000 is compatible and can be considered as a peculiar fragment of Total Quality Management. Both of these concepts are not the same thing and come from different perspectives but it is easy for an organization, which has developed the TQM practices to certain level, to readily implement ISO 9000. Although the TQM is compatible with and may also help the organization to implement the practices of ISO 9000, but it would be not acceptable if one says that TQM is a precondition or the prerequisite of the ISO 9000 (Martínez-Costa, 2004).

Masafi has succeeded in implementing both the approaches as they have similar aims. As they both are complimentary in nature so there are a number of good reasons for using both in a single management system (Syed, 2008). The benefits of this relationship are quite candid. For instance, Masafi has benefitted from this association by enhancing its competitive position in the market, saving the time and resources, improving customer satisfaction level and confidence, increasing organizational transparency and improving the quality system.

The TQM practices could be implemented by following certain steps:

The above implementation plan is suggested while keeping in mind the prime aim of Masafi and the precise needs of the customers from the brand. The plan talks about creation of constancy of purpose which means that the executives must determine how constantly the purpose of this implementation will be incorporated in the core working practices of the firm. Moreover, as Masafi is highly involved in assuring better services to all its stakeholders, hence this plan also talks about ensuring quality maintenance at the supplier end (AHCA, 2012).

The plan has been suggested as it encourages the participants to consider the quality provision as the prime aim of the company. The employees’ benefits are also considered throughout the plan as they are the ones who could keep the implemented TQM plan workable for a longer duration. To yield better results, the plan has included a precise step of encouragement of self-improvement. If the participants have adopted the best practices at individual levels then it becomes quite easy to propagate them on a larger scale.

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