Strategic Quality And System Management and Leadership
Edexcel Level 7 Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership
Unit 6 Assignment: Strategic Quality and Systems Management
General Note:
For this unit you will need to satisfy the criteria exactly as laid down in the Assignment Brief and as
described here, but you should, wherever possible, use examples from the strategic Quality
Management and IT activity taking place in your own organisation and business sector, as well as
showing evidence of having studied the unit topics in depth and breadth, by referring, where
appropriate, to relevant models, theories, and established best practices.
To enhance your understanding of these assignment issues, we strongly advise that you also discuss
them with senior managers and senior Quality and IT specialists in your organisation.
Each section should be approximately 375 words, flexible up to 450, not including graphics or
illustrations, so you will need to keep your responses focused on what is being specifically asked for
in each section.
Useful Websites:
www.asq.org
www.bsi-global.com
www.eoq.org
www.efqm.org
www.sportengland.org
www.benchmarkingnetwork.com
www.benchnet.com
www.dti.gov
www.european-quality.co.uk
www.iso9000.org
www.quality.co.uk
www.mindtools.com
www.hbsp.harvard.edu
Assignment
Section 1
Demonstrate your understanding of the role of operations management in an organisation
Explain the importance of effective operations management in achieving organisational
objectives
Here you need to explain/describe what “operations management” is – what it covers.
Operations managers in most organisations are managing routine activities and also
contributing to or managing strategic activities. You will need to explain why the management
activity at both levels is so important.
Diploma in Strategic Management Unit 6: Strategic Quality And System Management
and Leadership
evaluate the success of existing operations management processes in meeting an
organisation’s overall strategic management objectives
For this you will need to focus on a specific organisation (ideally your own, or that is not
possible, then a typical organisation in a specific sector) and its strategic management
objectives – identify and describe the operations management processes which are currently
in place, and evaluate the contribution of those to the achievement of the strategic objectives.
Section 2
Explain the importance of managing quality in an organisation
explain the importance of effective quality management in achieving organisational
objectives
Quality Management encompasses all levels of Quality activity – Planning, Assurance,
Management, Control, and Continuous Improvement – usually contained within a Quality
Assurance Management System, such as ISO9001, Business Excellence Model, or
PQASSO, and supporting policies. You will need to refer to these as you discuss how
effective “Quality Management” is in helping organisations achieve their operational and their
strategic objectives.
evaluate the success of existing quality management processes in meeting an
organisation’s overall strategic management objectives
For this you will need to focus on a specific organisation (ideally your own, or that is not
possible, then a typical organisation in a specific sector), then identify and briefly describe
what QM processes are in place, and then evaluate the contribution of those to the
achievement of strategic management objectives.
Section 3
Explain how you would plan a strategic quality change in an organisation
plan a strategic quality change to improve organisational performance
Again, focusing on a specific organisation (ideally your own, or that is not possible, then a
typical organisation in a specific sector) you will need to identify a strategic Quality change
that would improve organisational performance. The change must be a strategic one, such as
introducing an Integrated Management System, or adopting a Total Quality Management
approach. The plan should be in outline, showing Timescales, Stages, Resources, and
forecast Objectives/Outcomes.
define resources, tools and systems to support business processes in a strategic
quality change
Following on from the point above, here you need to provide details of the human, physical
and financial resources, the tools and techniques (think “project planning” here!), and systems
(IT, QM, HR, etc) needed to support your planned change.
evaluate the wider implications of planned strategic quality change in an organisation
Focusing on the change you have planned above, evaluate and discuss the wider
implications of that planned change – for example, in terms of overall performance, training &
development, morale and motivation, culture change, supplier relations, and so on.
Diploma in Strategic Management Unit 6: Strategic Quality And System Management
and Leadership
design systems to monitor the implementation of a strategic quality change in an
organisation
This requires you to design a set of mechanisms which collectively will enable you to monitor
the implementation and ultimate success of your planned change. It should include both
internal mechanisms and procedures, and also externally sourced mechanisms.
Section 4
Explain how you would implement a strategic quality change in an organisation
explain how you would implement a strategic quality change in an organisation
Here you should draw on established Change Management best practices, focusing on the
Implementation stage, but taking into account the wider aims of a Quality change, such as
changing routine practices, changing attitudes, changing the culture, within an organisation.
explain how you would embed a quality culture in an organisation to ensure
continuous monitoring and development
Embedding a Quality culture into an organisation that has previously not had such a culture is
very difficult, but there are established processes and approaches which have proved to be
successful. These are usually multi-layered, rather than a single approach or mechanism, as
is contained in one of the best-known approaches, that of Kaizen. You will need to discuss
this and other methods of embedding Quality into an organisation’s culture.
explain how you would monitor the implementation of a strategic quality change in an
organisation
For this you need to draw on the established change management and control techniques,
but slightly adapted to take into account the need for Quality to be embedded into the culture,
the way of working, the spirit, of the organisation, rather than the monitoring needed for a
more straightforward, less complex change.
Section 5
Explain how you would evaluate the outcomes of a strategic quality change in an organisation
evaluate the outcomes of a strategic quality change in an organisation
In a similar way to the last point in Section 4, here you will need to draw on the established
methods of evaluating outcomes after a change has been made or a project completed.
However, in the case of a strategic Quality change it is necessary to evaluate outcomes for
which hard evidence is available, such as improvements to the attributes of a product or
service, but also to outcomes which can be difficult to evaluate, such as enhanced customer
satisfaction levels, or a more positive, quality-focused culture. You will need to give examples
of how you would evaluate both types of outcome.
recommend areas for improvement to a strategic quality change that align with
organisational objectives
Ideally for your own, or if that is not possible, then a typical organisation in a specific sector,
here you will need to recommend improvements to the actual change itself – the way it was
identified, analysed, researched, the decision making process, the objectives, the planning,
the implementation, the monitoring (not the Quality activity that it has generated).
Diploma in Strategic Management Unit 6: Strategic Quality And System Management
and Leadership
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