Feature Article

The Next Steps

Why auditors should become ASQ Certified Managers of Quality/Organizational Excellence

by Russell T. Westcott

As an auditor there are strong reasons for gaining and applying a broad knowledge of organizational management beyond quality management. To be beneficial to you, your organization, the system or process being audited, and your clients, I recommend that you commit to earning the American Society for Quality’s Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence (ASQ CQM/OE) credential. This certification allows you to make better-informed and more substantive recommendations for improvement.

Your auditing role may be to perform a quality management system (QMS) or environmental management system (EMS) audit to a given standard or a process audit, internally or with your supplier. Regardless, you have an implied—even if not explicitly stated—responsibility to assess the appropriateness, efficiency, and effectiveness of the system or process within the organization.

The CMQ/OE Body of Knowledge embraces the understanding of virtually every aspect of organizational life, for example:

• What is the structure and culture of the organization and the industry environment in which it operates?
• Are the roles and responsibilities of the organization’s management clearly delineated and deployed?
• How effectively is change managed? How are employees motivated and empowered? What overall values and ethics prevail?
• How are the organization’s vision, values, and strategic plans deployed into viable and timely actions?
• What is the predominant management style within the organization? What principles of management appear to underlie management actions? How effectively does management employ business management techniques, practices, and tools?
• Is the interdependence of all functional areas, marketing, sales, engineering, production, human resources, finance, and sub-functions, such as customer service, risk management, knowledge management, project management, etc., clearly defined? How effectively do they work together?
• How effective is interorganizational communication? How effective is communication with customers, suppliers, and other outside stakeholders? Where applicable, is global communication effective? Is the optimum communication technology effectively employed, commensurate with the organization’s type, size, function, and resources available?
• How effective are the systems and plans being audited? Where appropriate, do these systems comply with the intent and specifications of the applicable standard?
• Of the available and appropriate models and theories for excellence, how does the organization choose, employ, measure, evaluate, and continually improve its practices for the betterment of its stakeholders?
• Does the organization effectively choose and implement optimum assessment methods and metrics commensurate with the organization’s strategy and concern for operational efficiency, safety, productivity, quality, and environmental effects?
• Does the organization effectively identify its customers and segment them to provide optimum response to customers’ requirements and to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction and retention?
• How effectively does the organization manage its supply chain to ensure quality and timeliness of input?
• Is training and development of the organization’s employees a top-level strategy?

With this knowledge and orientation, you will have a much better understanding of the organizational environment in which you audit.

Introduction

An organization is a system of many processes. With your knowledge of how an organization should or could function and knowledge of how the organization being audited is presently functioning, you can bring a broader and deeper perspective to your work. With this enhanced focus on more than just minimum-level compliance you can add real value to the organization based on insights from your systems perspective, for example:

• The auditing function can make a viable economic case for more in-depth QMS/EMS auditing by incorporating the systems thinking espoused by the CMQ/OE Body of Knowledge.
• In addition to your auditing credentials, possessing a CMQ/OE credential can add more credibility to your report and recommendations especially to top management. The key is demonstrating that you think like a businessperson and understand the business as a system.
• In some industries and with some types of customers, an organization that touts the competency level of its quality and/or environmental auditing function as an organizational core competency can create a positive public image and a competitive edge.

The following seven sections highlight a few of the many issues and provide questions that could be used in a systems audit. These sections track with the seven elements of the body of knowledge, as outlined in ASQ publication B0070. The intention is to show how the knowledge from the CMQ/OE certification can add value to your auditing work.

I. Leadership

A. Organization structure and culture

Knowing typical organizational structures and how they function opens the opportunity to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the audited structure in serving the organization’s strategy and objectives. Regarding the entire organization and its stakeholders as one large system can lead to examining the interaction of processes as they flow through the many suborganizations. ISO 9001, properly applied, moves an organization toward process management. Systems thinking acknowledges that there may be need for sub-optimization in one part of the system to obtain optimization of the whole. Your insights about these concepts can lead to improvement suggestions and reduction in nonvalue-added activities. Your delineation of the factors that compose the organization’s culture can enable you identify the antecedents that trigger the behavior of the work force and the behavioral consequences of those factors.

B. Leadership challenges

Understanding the typical roles and responsibilities leadership and management and making comparisons with a registered organization can aid an auditor in assessing its strengths and weaknesses. How is change planned, introduced, implemented, measured, and evaluated? What is done to create a motivational environment? How effectively does management influence positive behavior and results? What is the prevalent approach to negotiating improvement and how effective is it? Does the organization empower employees? If it does, how effective is the empowerment?

C. Teams and team processes

Do the organization, its strategy, its products and services, and its culture support a team approach? If so, how effective is it now and how much more effective could teams become?

D. ASQ Code of Ethics

Does the organization’s auditing ethics, policy, procedures, and practices parallel the ASQ Code of Ethics?

• Strategic planning models. It would be desirable if the internal auditing function were represented in organization’s strategic planning activities. Whether or not this is possible, you need to understand the strategic planning models that are typically in use and be able to relate that knowledge to what the organization is doing or not doing. Are the strategic plans and the ultimate strategic objectives realistic, time-oriented, measurable, and achievable?
• Business environment analysis. Is strengths-weakenesses-opportunities-threats (SWOT) analysis being used? Is it effective? Is there ongoing analysis of market forces, the needs of stakeholders, the impacts of technology, the organization’s internal capability, as well as legal and regulatory factors? Are the data effectively captured, analyzed, and the information derived from the data fed into the strategic planning process?

II. Strategic plan deployment management elements and methods

Are action plans or project plans generated from the strategic planning process? Are these plans deployed and the actions tracked, measured, and evaluated? Will the resources necessary to meet the strategic objectives be available as needed? Do all stakeholders understand the plans and their responsibilities? Do the metrics used by the organization adequately support, measure, and aid in evaluating the results? Does the quality function address and support the strategic plan deployment and success?

III. Management elements and methods

A. Management skills and abilities

How effectively does the organization’s management apply basic management principles? What is the predominant management style used and how effective is it? How effective is the interdependence of the organization’s functions? Are the principles and practices of an effective integration of human resource, financial, risk management, and knowledge management functions evident?

B. Communication skills and abilities

Is the role of communication clearly delineated throughout the organization’s functions and processes? Is communication to and from offshore customers and suppliers effective? Does the organization employ the most effective and economically feasible technology for communicating both within and to outside the organization?

C. Project management

Does the organization use formal project planning and management tools and practices, if not why not? If so, how effectively are they used? Are projects usually completed on time and within budget? What is the track record? Does project documentation get entered into a formal knowledge management process for access by future project teams and for training purposes?

D. Quality system

Does the organization have a posted quality mission and policy that is readily accessible and understood by the work force? Is there an effective quality plan or plans in place? How well are they deployed and documented? Are the tools and techniques used to evaluate the effectiveness of the quality system appropriate for this organization? Do they support the need for continual improvement?

E. Quality models and theories

Does the organization use the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Criteria for Performance Excellence as a model for improving its operations? If not, should it? Does the organization use one or more International Organization for Standardization (ISO) or other third-party standards as a model for improving its operations? If not, should it? What other quality methodologies, theories, and philosophies does the organization follow? Is it effective in supporting continual improvement and the attainment of excellence?

IV. Quality management tools

A. Problem-solving tools

Which of the many tools and techniques for planning and managing quality initiatives, improving processes, making decisions, and solving problems have been chosen? Are the choices realistic and effective? Has the organization taken action to learn its cost of quality? If so, is the action taken proving to be cost-effective in supporting quality improvement?

B. Process management

How effectively are process goals established, monitored, and measured? How effectively is process analysis carried-out? Are the tools used the best for the organization? Are lean techniques and tools appropriately selected and effectively being used? If not, why not? Does the theory of constraints apply to the organization? If so, is it used and how effectively?

C. Measurement: Assessment and metrics

Of the many tools available for measuring projects and processes, which have been chosen? Is the choice logical, and, if so, how effectively is it used? Are sampling techniques applicable to the organization? If so, is the choice of technique logical and is it/they being used effectively? Is the theory of variation widely understood and applied among management and other key contributors? Does process capability apply to the organization? If so, is it properly used? Where applicable, is the concept of reliability and validity known, understood, and properly applied? Are the appropriate assessment tools used effectively in analyzing qualitative data? Are surveys used when applicable? Are the responses appropriately interpreted and correctly analyzed?

V. Customer-focused organizations

A. Customer identification and segmentation

Has the concept of internal customers been accepted throughout the organization, as well as the concept that internal customer service quality impacts external customer satisfaction and retention? Have external customers’ needs and wants been identified and the customers segmented for the balanced best interests of both the customers and the organization?

B. Customer relationship management

What techniques and tools are in use to capture and react to the voice of the customer, and have the most appropriate choices been made? How effectively are these techniques and tools used? Are customers’ perceptions and experiences captured, analyzed, measured, and acted upon to the extent most appropriate for the type of organization and its resources? Have principles of excellent customer service been determined, documented, deployed, and reinforced throughout the organization? Does the organization recognize and attend to the diverse priorities and requirements of customer base, especially in managing capacity and resources?

VI. Supply chain management

A. Supplier selection

Does the organization have a process in place for identifying and selecting qualified suppliers? How effective is the process?

B. Supplier communications

Are the communications with suppliers sufficient and effective in meeting both the routine and emergency needs of both the organization and the suppliers?

C. Supplier performance

Does the organization have an effective process for tracking, measuring, reporting, and acting relative to supplier performance?

D. Supplier improvement

Through periodic assessments, audits, and other means, does the organization identify and implement ways to improve supplier performance? How effective are these efforts?

E. Supplier certification, partnerships, and alliances

If appropriate, does the organization have a process for supplier certification? How effective is this process? Have partnerships and/or alliances been formed or considered?

F. Supplier logistics

Has the organization clearly defined the impact purchased products and services have on the organization’s final product or service? As may be appropriate, have available logistical techniques been implemented? How effective are they?

VII. Training and development

A. Training plans

Does the organization have formal training plans? How effective are they? Do the plans support the organization’s strategic plan?

B. Needs analysis

Does the organization select and use appropriate techniques and tools for determining training needs? How effective is their use?

C. Training materials/curriculum development and delivery

Does the organization evaluate and select the most appropriate and feasible training methodologies, curriculum development methods, and delivery methods pertinent to its industry, and company size, purpose, and resources? How effective are the selections that have been made relative to adult learning needs, diversity of the work force, company strategy, and return on investment?

D. Training effectiveness and evaluation

Does the organization measure and evaluate the effectiveness of all training, using the most appropriate techniques available, relative to the organization’s strategy, size, and resources?

Conclusion

Together, the seven parts of the CMQ/OE Body of Knowledge comprise an integrated treatise of the myriad topics, techniques, practices, and tools of an informed manager. The emphasis is on “Big Q,” an across-the-board perspective that treats the organization as a total system, rather than a lot of parts. The assumption is that because the auditor is advised to speak the language of management, the auditor needs to understand the management view. Preparing for and ultimately obtaining CMQ/OE certification is a logical step for the auditor to take to gain the insights into this view and develop personal acceptance by management.

About the author

Russell T. Westcott is an ASQ Fellow, certified quality auditor and certified manager of quality/organizational excellence. He edited The Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Handbook 3rd edition (ASQ Quality Press, 2005) and was a co-editor of The Quality Improvement Handbook (ASQ Quality Press, 2006). Westcott wrote Simplified Project Management for the Quality Professional, (ASQ Quality Press, 2005) and Stepping Up To ISO 9004:2000, (Paton Press, 2003). He is active in ASQ’s quality management division and in the society’s Thames Valley section.

Westcott instructs the ASQ Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence Refresher Course. He writes for Quality Progress, Quality Digest, The Quality Management Forum, The Auditor and other publications.

As president of R.T. Westcott & Associates, founded in 1979 in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, Westcott guides clients in implementing quality management systems, applying the Baldrige criteria, strategic planning, project management, and lean practices. Contact him at russwest@snet.net.

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