Reference no: EM132199285

You are a Total Quality consultant hired by a manufacturing company that produces motorcycles. Manufacturing 3 million units in ten models, the organization has been exporting at least 50% of its products fairly successfully in the past five years. There are multiple supplier plants, and it is clear that communications and quality are critical components for any future change scenarios. Increasingly, competition from overseas manufacturers has tightened and the company is feeling pressure to innovate product offerings, improve quality, and cut wasteful processes. Data also suggest some business units, organizationally, are less profitable than is needed, and that this must change.

The CEO feels that the Total Quality Management approach and Lean Six Sigma tools are critical to helping the company become truly world-class. The CEO recognizes the need for an overall strategy to become a leading-edge motorcycle company with the likely possibility of launching multiple new products in the next five years, even while transforming the organization via downsizing and merging of various units/functions. You are also aware that the CEO has been highly successful, previously, by implementing “learning organization” strategies, and this must be a foundational philosophy embraced going forward—a key methodology to “groom” new leaders and address “cultural change” which he is confident is needed.

The CEO has given you an urgent assignment to assess whether/how his thoughts merit implementation. Prepare a report/proposal with special consideration to:

1. Identify companies that have succeeded and failed using the quality management principles that you choose to recommend. Explain what could be learned from your researched companies that can be applicable to your organization in adopting change strategies, tools and systems?

2. Reflect, as part of the report/proposal, an implementation plan with recommendations for how to effectively manage quality of new products, to help assure necessary market share and profitability well into the future.

3. Address realistic timeframes and approximate costs which must be generally identified and discussed as a key part of the plan.

4. Include an emphasis on innovative electronic communication strategies interfaced with quality functions, as one of the key change areas for improvement, relating how the organization must be transformed, culturally, in this area.

Please write a report of at least 1500 words.