The Quest For Continuous Improvement In A Malaysian Chinese Family Owned Company : An Interpretive Case Study
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Date
2011-12
Authors
Cheah, Soo Jin
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Publisher
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Abstract
This thesis is the result of an in-depth case study of the quest for continuous quality improvement in a Malaysian Chinese family-owned company. The study reveals that Confucian philosophical values can be accounted for the company’s phenomenal growth when it was relatively small in size. The emphasis on trust, diligence, flexibility and frugality enabled the company to maintain a competitive edge in low transaction costs and flexible production policy. Even though, the company was granted the ISO 9000 certification, it still maintained the same management practices by decoupling the ISO quality management system from actual practice. The company was in a state of inertia, and did not see the need to change its traditional practices.
However, when the company grew to a certain size, these traditional practices were found to be unable to cope with the increasing trading volume and competition. As a result, the company encountered a sharp decline in sales and profitability. The rude awakening of this reality has driven the company to enlist the help of a TQM consultant as well as the recruitment of more professionally qualified managers to its rank.
Consequent to the quality awareness training, the company began to embark on a quality journey of continuous improvement with the aid of quality tools, such as quality cost analysis, root cause analysis and problem-solving techniques. The use of quality tools helped the management to identify hidden quality costs and areas where both preventive and corrective actions are needed. This learning in turn acted as a catalyst for the implementation of a series of improvement initiatives. However, the implementation of which was not smooth sailing. It was beset by a myriad of resistance.
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Keywords
The quest for continuous improvement , Malaysian Chinese family owned company