Innovative Quality and Productivity Promotions:

Selected Best Practices

Miflora M. Gatchalian, PhD
CEO, Quality Partners Company, Ltd.
APQO Secretary General Emeritus, Philippine

Abstract

In a dynamic global society, the winners are those who can innovate and then
promote ideas and best practices particularly in the quest for quality and
productivity improvement. For instance, innovations towards strengthening
relationships between suppliers and buyers provide a mutually beneficial
arrangement that allows both parties to achieve a common goal. The “solar
system program” or EBESE , developed by the ECOP Institute for Productivity
and Competitiveness provides an innovative means for both big enterprise (BE)
buyers and small enterprise (SE) suppliers to assist each other in their common
quest for quality and productivity improvement. This methodology is promoted
nationwide by the very nature of its innovative implementation mechanism.

To go deeper into how “people” can become active participants in innovative

programs like the EBESE, simple approaches to making “quality a way of life”
(QWL) was introduced as a starting point for promoting the quest for total
quality management (TQM). Success in making QWL a company-wide practice
provides the avenue for the manager-leaders to build the workplace partnerships-
council (WP-C). The latter is both a process and structure for sustaining TQM. The
EBESE program, QWL and WP-C are selected innovative approaches being
promoted to ensure effective and measurable quality changes.

Keywords: quality as a way of life, total quality management,, workplace partnership,

“EBESE”, solar system approach

Introduction

The competitive edge of any business today is its capability to develop and sustain successful
quality and productivity practices which should enhance profitability and competitiveness. Globally
shared information reveal that various approaches had been utilized to provide continuous
improvement in the company’s search for excellence. For every country situation, however,
approaches to be effective, need to be so designed to fit the country’s unique conditions. For
many developing countries, the urgency to achieve successes in quality and productivity
improvement encouraged innovations to be initiated and its approaches promoted nationwide.
Thus, to speed-up the promotion of increased profitability and competitiveness, various means
had been employed (Gatchalian, M.M. 2008). These were deemed necessary so that economic
development can be facilitated to enable developing nations to catch up with the very rapid
pace of economic growth in more advance neighboring countries.
Three approaches were selected to represent some best practices which were seen to be
effective in the development, promotion and sustainability in the quest for total quality
management (TQM) in the organization. These selected innovative best practices include: a)
the EBESE solar system program; b) promotion of quality as a way of life for everyone in
the company; and c) workplace partnerships as the process and structure to sustain the TQM
implementation. Promotion of these practices are on-going in different ways and places where
measures are utilized to determine levels of successes through time.

Selected Best Practices

In the Republic of the Philippines, many concerned groups have introduced various
innovative approaches which could facilitate the country’s growth and development
particularly that of the small and medium scale enterprises (SME). The Employers’
Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP), an organization of big scale companies then
created the “Quality and Productivity Division” (QPD) as one of its working arms. In the
year 2003, this Division was headed by ECOP Vice-President, Feliciano Torres, a multi-
awarded, philanthropic businessman whose major goal is to provide unselfish dedication to
development of SMEs. Among the many approaches he discussed with his personally
selected QPD members was the idea of expanding the concept of productivity across all
industries. This led to the formation of the ECOP “Institute of Productivity and
Competitiveness” (EIPC) with Mr. Raul Hernandez, a seasoned businessman and former
undersecretary of the government’s Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as President.
The officers and members of EIPC Board of Directors shown in Figure 1 include past
government officials, current industry leaders, quality gurus and respected internationally
recognized quality and productivity Consultants.

Ecop institute for Productivity and competitiveness

(EIPC) Officers and Members

Front: Marie Villar, Feliciano Torres, Raul Hernandez, Miflora Gatchalian

Marilou Calzado, Ranulfo Payos, Serafin Pantaleon,

Roberto Sison, Eduardo Rondain, Reylito Elbo
.
Figure 1. Officers and members of the EIPC Board of Directors (2003 to present)

The achievements of EIPC were facilitated by a hard-working Secretariat headed by Ms.

Jean Maligaya (Project Director) with support staff composed of project specialists Joan
Ignacio and GeePee Gonzales. With the Team’s unrelenting desire to properly implement
directions emanating from the EIPC Board of Directors, most projects saw immediate and
effective implementation. This was , in fact, one of the most important secrets of success
of the EIPC’s innovations for quality and productivity promotion and practice in various
industries.

The EBESE solar system approach.

Figure 2 shows a graphic presentation of the EBESE solar system approach. This innovative
program believes that quality and productivity improvement emanates from the “Sun” or the
Big Enterprise (BE) . This cascades to the 1st tier suppliers, which are small enterprises (SE)
servicing the BE, then cascades further to 2nd tier suppliers of the first tier SEs and
down to the 3rd tier suppliers. This is a modified approach to a multiplier effect where
each SE supplier in the higher numbered tier (i.e. 3rd tier) is linked to their respective SE
buyers in the lower numbered tiers (i.e. 2nd and 1st tiers). Eventually, as quality and
productivity improvement are sustained through time, the 1st tier SE may become new
“Suns” (BE) themselves and can create another solar system of their own

Figure 2. The EBESE solar system approach showing the sun BE and SE tiers

The approach follows the philosophy that the BE, a buyer or customer of respective SEs
has the moral obligation to persuade their SE supplier to immediately initiate activities that
would lead to quality and productivity improvement. Assistance in this direction would be
provided by the BE through the EBESE program. Generally, acceptance by the SE to
start the improvement process is facilitated by the fact that the request comes from their
own buyer which have themselves demonstrated improvement successes. Besides, the BEs
are known to already have technical capability, which the SEs still lack but which they may
later appreciate and then eventually adopt.

Expected benefits from program participation include: 1) the BE customer could, after the
program, expect from their SE partner to eventually become more efficient and quality-
oriented; 2) SE supplier could then, continue to provide the BE with excellent “on time-delivery
and quality” products at least cost; 3) SE partner becomes more competitive as their revenues
continue to increase through time; and 4) SE supplier develops more effective productivity-
oriented operations to become globally competitive and eventually serve as BE in another
solar system. These benefits start as a theoretical basis for cooperation and later, after 6 to
8 months or towards the program’s end,. most of the SEs find that these benefits are real.

The EBESE approach followed three major stages in the implementation of this
innovative program. The stages included: Stage I – Securing government support and
program pilot-run; Stage II- First trial run in Metro Manila ; and Stage III – Replication of
Stage II in the Visayan region with required modifications. For Stages I and II, financial
and moral support was obtained from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
and training and consultancy support from National Wages and Productivity Commission
(NWPC) of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE). For Stage III, the training
and consultancy support was obtained from the Center for Industrial Competitiveness(CIC)
of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI). Hand-in-hand, private and government
entities worked together for a common cause--- quality and productivity improvement of
the local enterprises. As part of this innovative approach, regular evaluation of results per
stage were done, public presentations of successes were shared with as many delegates as
possible and press releases and other forms of information-sharing were utilized to
facilitate promotion of the on-going program.

Figure 3 presents the processes employed in every stage of the EBESE program. With
support from the NWPC, an experienced training and consultancy arm of the government’s
DOLE, the process took about 6 to 8 months to complete. Through all the implementation
stages, the EIPC’s Secretariat kept their sustained vigilance in providing the necessary
follow-through and support to ensure program success. The EIPC Board also met regularly
to discuss progress and to resolve potential and actual barriers to success.

Figure 3. The EBESE program process for every stage of the EBESE
Some results of the EBESE program implementation in the three stages are shown in
Figures 4, 5 and 6.

Figure 4. Stages I and II showing respective number of BE and SE company participants

Figure 5. Public presentation of completed trainee companies (Stages II and III)

Figure 6. Stage III participants and sample productivity improvement output.

Latest data show the following EBESE program achievements:

EBESE GENERATED/INVOLVED…
• 30 Big Enterprise Partners
• 125 SME Beneficiaries and involved …
• 4 Regions (Regions: 3, 4, NCR, 7)
• 3 Government Partners (DOST-TAPI, DTI-CIC, DOLE- NWPC)
• 4 Industry Partners ( CFIP, CCCI, MCCI, Philexport- Cebu)
• 12 Industries (automotive, semi-conductor, plastic,
printing and packaging, chemicals, metal fabrication,
processed food, furniture and home furnishings, handicrafts,

Quality as a way of life.

In the quest for excellence, very often the important role that people play is forgotten. Yet
it is the human resource in the organization that determines its fate! It is, thus, imperative
that total quality management (TQM) must seriously start with building people’s capability
to be active participants in the progress of the business process. It may be recalled that of
the 5Ms of quality ( Manpower, Materials, Methods, Machines and Measurement) , it is the
first M (Manpower and womanpower) that controls the rest of the company activities.

Quality is a state of mind and is a very important vehicle in the search for excellence
in everything one does. State of mind is guided by values which are associated with beliefs
or ideas about what is good, right or true and it determines one’s attitude & behavior.
How a person acts and performs in an organization is, therefore, dictated by his/her state of
mind. Everyday of one’s life either at home or at work is guided by his/her mind-set
which in turn determines one’s way of life. The latter is defined as a habit or the way
one does things in his/her daily life such that the activity is done automatically or
performed without much thought. Examples of habits are activities like regular brushing of
teeth or taking a bath daily or eating meals three times a day.

In the company, when the desire to delight one’s customers becomes a habit, a way of
thinking or doing things, this could imply that quality has began to be one’s way of life
at work or at home. Collectively when everyone in the organization has made quality a
way of life, a quality culture will soon emerge, and a collective behavior can be observed
by people in and outside the company. Quality characteristics like cleanliness, promptness,
keeping promises, concern for others’ satisfaction, respect for others and other visible
manifestations of good behavior are easily seen in the organization.

How does one start to make quality a way of life? First, one must know who is his/her
most important customer! Have you ever analyzed yourself as the first person who must
receive your own services? Very often, “self ” is taken for granted and, as such, given the
least attention or even respect. Yet, unless there is quality in one’s own life there will
be no quality to share with others! In business, making quality a way of life must start
with the MANAGERS (Watson, 2004) Modeling is very important!!! Everyone needs to
work very hard to make quality a habit, an important part of one’s daily activities! This
becomes less difficult when the management shows the way.
Figure 7 presents the cycle of one’s personal responsibility for making quality a way of
life. It starts with knowing one’s most important customer. To ensure customer satisfaction,
it is necessary to define their requirements and how these can be provided. Analysis of
potential barriers to meeting customer satisfaction should be part of planning on how to
meet their requirements. It is very important to know how to overcome barriers to afford
the lowest risk of committing errors. Likewise, critical errors need to be identified at the
earliest time possible. Should the mistake be committed, a well-planned corrective action
must be immediately applied to speedily restore customer confidence. Then, another cycle
starts with determination of current customer level of satisfaction. Using past experiences
as the reference, the next cycle will have better ideas for improvement. If done as a regular
activity at home and at work, the cycle can progress on to making quality a way of life.

Figure 7. The cycle of one’s personal responsibility for quality .

There are simple ways to make quality a way of life, but this requires two important
personal characteristics --- honesty and self-discipline. Unless these are part of a person’s
state of mind, it would be very difficult to make quality a way of life. However, to accept
that a person has some specific functions to perform in order to initiate quality practices, will
already provide a good starting point for one to develop these two characteristics. The quality
functions include: planning, prevention and monitoring (PPM). Everyday in one’s life
planning is needed. As a starter, perhaps before going to bed, some time could be allotted to
write his/her plan of activities for the next day. Planning makes it possible to see potential
barriers to accomplishments of listed major tasks. This results to prevention of errors likely
to be committed. The plan ensures that activities are completed satisfactorily. Because tasks are
written, a brief review of accomplishments at the end of the day can be made with least
effort . Results of the review become a monitoring action that can be utilized for
improvement of activities listed for the next day. These simple PPM of quality functions can be
accomplished easily by an honest person ( does not cheat one-self) on a daily basis.
Ultimately, the habit will, in fact be a form of self-discipline. These are simple personal
commitments to one’s daily activities, which in due time will become a person’s way of life
with least amount of pain, yet with highest potential gains. This is a personal challenge
that can make a significant difference in one’s own life! . .
In the quest for making quality as a way of life, a simple approach to self-assessment can
be utilized. The 3Ps of quality --- performance, pricing, punctuality --- can be used to
determine the extent of success in one’s efforts to make quality a way of life.
Performance is a person’s output measured in terms of customer’s satisfaction, as seen
through their response to the products or services provided. Pricing is determined by the
cost of production which is basically the amount of time, money and effort expended to
produce the desired goods or services. Finally, punctuality is delivery of goods and
services on time or as promised. Any missing P implies lack of quality. The 3Ps of
quality, when used for self-assessment, provides a simple measure of your daily practice.

With leadership from management in the quest to make quality a way of life, it is
highly probable that a point will come when almost everyone in the company will be
participants in this activity. The approach to total quality management (TQM) can thus,
be facilitated since TQM is defined as “a management philosophy that builds a customer-
driven organization dedicated to total customer satisfaction through continuous improvement in
the effectiveness and efficiency of the organization and its processes” (Corrigan, 1995). The
integrated TQM principles expounded by various quality gurus (Juran, 1999; Henricks and
Singhal, 1996; Watson, 2004 ) are summarized in the acronym ACCEPT and presented in
Figure 8 ( Gatchalian, 1997).

. Figure 8. Integrated TQM principles in ACCEPT

Workplace partnership-council

For TQM to be sustained, a process and structure need to be employed to ensure

everyone’s involvement in the pursuit of customer delight. In an organization where
workplace partnership (WP) is in place, there is a Workplace partnership-Council (WP-C)
which acts as the “steering committee” made up of representatives from staff and
management. The WP-C steering committee is focused on problem identification (including
areas for improvement) and the formation of “task forces” or Teams. Each Team is
made up of two or more staff and at least one management representative which would
engage in joint problem-solving or quality improvement activities assigned to them by the
WP-C. Each task-force is disbanded after completion of their problem-solving activities
and the implementation of their recommendations. Members of the disbanded Team are
encouraged to form another Task Force with different members as recommended by WP-C.
This practice is repeated until everyone in the organization gets the opportunity to participate
in problem-solving and/or succeeded in quality improvement implementation. Keeping these
approaches continually alive sustains the quest for TQM.

Figure 9. Generic workplace partnership-council (WP-C)

To systematize TQM development in the organization, the approach follows a six Phase
cycle as shown in Figure 10. This is a repeatable process that promotes a never-ending

Figure 10. Six phases in the cycle of the TQM journey.

process of continual improvement that requires active participation from everyone in the
company. The WP-Council serves as the nerve center for the whole company. Its major
goal is to sustain joint activities between management and staff so that opportunities for
everyone to be involved in quality-improvement activities is maximized. As the organization
moves from one Phase to the next, some measurable changes are observed and every
cycle of six phases completed, implies a higher level of quality practice in the next cycle.

Figure 11 shows the International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI), one of the biggest
port services in the world that adopted the Workplace Partnership in their quest for TQM.

Figure 11. International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI).

Table 1 presents a parameter measured before and after the WP-C introduction at ICTSI .
Note the continual significant increase in sales volume after three years of WP-C in the

Table 1. Sales/Revenues trends before and after WPC introduction

First two Phases of the TQM approach. Table 2 show a parameter measured from EBI
Foundry Manufacturing Company before and after WP-C. The number of accidents
dramatically declined after the introduction of WP-C in Phases I to III.

Table 2. Total accidents at EBI before and after WP-C.

Figure 12. summarizes some of the outputs after “making quality as a way of life” part of
the quest for TQM. When quality becomes part of everyone’s life in the company, a
quality culture will emerge indicating that TQM may already be in place. Management
and staff singing and working together are indicators that quality is already in persons
as shown in their work relations and ultimately in the level of customer satisfaction of
their products and services.

Figure 12. Effects of quality as a way of life and WP-C in the TQM journey
Summary and Recommendation

There are various innovative approaches being continuously developed to facilitate

improvements in quality and productivity. Particularly in developing countries trying to
catch-up with their more advance neighbors, the EBESE solar system program showed high
potentials for productivity improvement. To provide a good foundation for TQM success,
making quality as a way of life has been promoted in many companies. To sustain the
efforts of TQM promotion, workplace partnerships was employed to allow for joint
management and staff problem-solving activities for quality improvement.. These innovative
approaches were shown to produce measurable positive quality changes. For those interested
to improve their company performance these innovative approaches are highly recommended.

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