Importance of Continuous Quality Improvement

1.Organizations are dedicated towards continuous improvement and recognised the relevance of such actions in order to improve the product quality, improving consumer satisfaction and for enhancing profitability, profits and efficiency. Through performance improvement implementation within the company the they will be able to maintain increased productivity, decreased costs, enhanced quality, lowered delivery times, enhanced employee morale and decreased staff turnover rate.

Organizations such as Specsavers Optics Superstores are focussed on being dedicated to continuous improvement and identifying the actions in order to strengthen the product and to improve the consumer satisfaction. Performance and continuous quality improvement are deemed important by this organization as it has the capability to enhance productivity, efficiency and company profits. Maintaining continuous performance and quality improvement facilitates it in managing performance of all its business transactions.[1] Moreover, Specsavers has made an agreement with Accenture for managing its technology as the high street optician and position itself successfully in the digital business. Such agreement for ensuring continuous quality and performance improvement is deemed to facilitate the company in decreasing operating costs, improving speed to market along with increasing product and service quality. Implementation of modern technology facilitates Specsavers in decreasing use of application and technology through offering continuous service improvement. It also facilitates the optical superstore in accelerating its move for digitalising its business. Continuous quality and performance improvement facilitate error reduction in offering services and optical products. The philosophy of continuous quality improvement also has the ability to make the business of Specsavers well equipped for adapting to the changes within the industry in which it operates. Processes in the organization that regularly follows continuous quality improvement and undergo incremental changes. In continuously implementing process improvement changes reduced turnover can be attained as the owners get capable in recruiting and training new workers.

2.The team of Specsavers Optical Superstores can be encouraged in adopting a culture of continuous improvement through motivating the employees in attaining organizational goals in a better manner. The ream within the organization can be encouraged to adopt the continuous improvement techniques through the following strategies:

• Encouraging a culture of identifying and taking lessons from the mistakes or errors that took place in the processes followed within the company
• Celebrating initiative taken by teams, risk taking and learning approaches from them
• Encouraging association from all the levels of the company
• Sharing results, learning points along with certain improvement areas with the team members or employees in the organization
• Following development plan made by the team members for ensuring ongoing improvements regarding the ways to lead, develop as well as manage people

The team can be encouraged to successfully implement the improvement techniques by means of offering them incentives those innovate. The team members are encouraged to implement continuous improvement system through implementing a standardised evidence system for assisting the learner to capture related activities in clear manner.

Specsavers Optical Superstores can also encourage its team members in bringing in development in the workplace practices along with developing a culture within itself which values process improvement.[1] The organization can also consider that the employees those are more efficient or learn new skills facilitate in improving the efficiency of the overall team. The company can also develop an active objective in encouraging improvement among the employees at all times that can facilitate in maintaining continuous improvement within the workplace. Specsavers Optical Superstores can also develop a culture of rewarding the team members for creative thinking and innovation. This can constantly develop new ways in which employees’ ca function better individually and as teams along with improving the ways in which organization operates its business as whole.

Specsavers’ Agreement with Accenture for Technology Management

3.Specsavers is positioned as an international organisation that offers trusted eye care services, affordable glasses, contact lenses as well as hearing care all over Europe. The company has also developed its future vision to position itself as a successful digital business. However, it has been observed that the company is facing issues related to continuous quality and process improvement that is affecting the performance of the organization. It has been observed that its disparate systems drastically affected its ability to change and to be highly agile. Consumers are looking for being able to purchase seamlessly from a retailer across any channel at any time.[1] Specsavers is dealing with the issues related with insufficient budget version control, lengthy process of consolidation that is leading to manual errors and lack of collaboration within its management teams in most of its cost centres. In addition, it is also dealing with inaccuracies in budget control that is human error and time-consuming process of business expansion.

 Focussing on such issue, the company is facing the issue of developing new capabilities that can facilitate in supporting its digital transformation. The company is lagging in developing its technology process and system reviews that can facilitate the team in bring innovation in their daily operations. Specsavers are also dealing with issues in developing innovation workshops focussed on attaining new business growth areas along with connecting them to new start-up companies. The company is also not that efficient in carrying out an IT readiness assessment for the strategic program initiatives that can further support Specsavers in solving all its business-critical issues.

4.Such continuous quality and performance improvement problems take place within the Specsavers Company because of two possible causes explained under:

• Difficulty to recognise the processes on which the improvement efforts are greatly prioterised. Though it is realised by the organization that there is no lack of good ideas regarding the aspects that can be improved within the organization, still the organization is observed to fail to prioterise them. The corporate strategy of the organization was not that clear and improvement initiatives are not properly implemented within its corporate strategy as well as business imperatives. A major contributor of this performance improvement problem is that the company is facing difficulty in agreeing on priorities for implementing improvement initiatives. Moreover, lack of employee engagement has also been observed in which no change by employees have been enforced in business process improvement with their commitment. Inefficient budget control issue took place in the company because of lack of monthly reporting along with absence of proper implementation of “what-if” scenario modelling fir decision making on investments and hiring process in the business expansion.
• Ill-suited process management tooling or inadequacy is resulting in the performance improvement problems in the Specsavers company. The IT department of the company did not follow the budget on bloated business process management applications that addressed their automation goals.[1] The company failed to realise that automation is a vital aspect of process improvement and also did not align such tools with its different business improvement needs. The process management tool used by this optical superstore failed to capture, analyse, improve and deploy its valuable knowledge assets with its best efforts. Focussed on such issue it can be stated that business process management tooling is required for the company operate effectively. Poor team coordination issue took place because of the reason that there is lack of adaptive planning in the company that leads to decreased visibility within all its major performance metrics.

5.In order to deal with the business process and quality improvement issues faced by Specsavers certain recognized business improvement technique is recommended to be implemented in the company. Operational excellence Group development by the company is recommended as business improvement technique in which specific task force is developed to enforce the business improvement process. The business is also recommended to set up regular meetings along with integrating the right team members that will also make sure that the team will engage the necessary changes to bring about improvement. “Operational Excellence Group” must be implemented by the optical superstore for maintaining effective process and flow technologies. In implementing this business improvement technique, the company must also realise that their challenge is practical as well as cultural because of which it is important to develop a team that in turn develop an effective business process improvement action plan.

Encouraging a Culture of Continuous Improvement

For dealing with the issue of improper budgeting the company can implement self-service financial reporting technique that can be utilised by senior decision makers within the company. Moreover, the corporate-wide planning must also be increased that can facilitate the company in making decision with confidence within the data. In dealing with the issue faced by the company in team collaboration for its business expansion process, Specsavers must consider developing an operating model that can support its omnichannel approach through which it can develop new business partnerships.

Focussing on this business process improvement technique certain changes that must be implemented by the company are explained under:

• Implementation of an effective management system must be considered that includes policies, processes and procedures which will be common to all the operating units
• A single accreditation (LRQA) implementation in the business improvement process of the organization must be considered

A common business process management platform is also important to be implemented in “Operational Excellence Group” business improvement technique

6.An effective method is used that can be used for measuring the effectiveness of the selected improvement technique or tool is Quality Management System (QMS). This technique can be implemented by Specsavers in measuring the implemented performance improvement technique. It might also consider measuring the effectiveness of improvement tool through analysing its effectiveness in maintaining its high quality and affordable optical and hearing care. This system also facilitates in auditing the effectiveness of proposed improvement technique. This system will review the process of all quality objectives that are to be met as a sub-component of the improvement process initiative. Moreover, in this approach of TQM, the in-store infrastructure of the company will include “Consumer Relationship Management” through which information regarding consumers eye and ear test data along with their purchase data will be maintained for future use in making process improvement decisions in future.Employee performance in the workplace and quality records are to be analysed in order to observe any positive changes after implementation of the performance improvement initiatives. Internal quality audits can also be conducted under this measurement technique that will facilitate in analysing how better-quality department system or quality management system of the company operates. Third party inspections can also be carried out by Specsavers Optical Superstore in which certification can be provided that will be attested with compliance to the ISO standards. This system can also measure improvement tool effectiveness through analysing the product error rate focussed on four elements such as materials, workers, machines and methods. Effectiveness of the proposed improvement tool is deemed to be effective in case product error rate decreases gradually or else the improvement tool is observed to be failed in resolving process improvement issue faced by Specsavers.

7.“Operational Excellence Group” is selected as the best business process improvement technique for Specsavers for it is effective enough in identifying the problem, recognising the need to change and recognising the aspects that the company needs to consider in making such change a success. This improvement process is selected for the reason that it facilitates the company simplifying all its improvement action along with generating a culture that can support the improvement initiative. Such improvement recommendation of implementing “Operational Excellence Group” can be good for selecting as it is user-friendly for the team members of the company in easily mapping their consumer journey.This improvement process can also facilitate in finding information based on processes, policies, scripts and forms that is need in enhancing business process or assigned jobs to employees.  The improvement system will carry out testing and quality assurance at Specsavers through employing onshore and offshore teams in the business process. This test team can carry out system and large-scale integration testing through multiple legacy systems. This made sure that a particular version of product data might be developed in the product data hub that can facilitate in distribution in all downstream legacy systems. This can also facilitate in making sure that a single version of product data might be maintained that can analysing zero functional defects from system testing and user acceptance testing of spectacles.

Specsavers’ Challenges in Continuous Quality Improvement

8.The benefits from the identified improvement initiative can be attained through implementation of suitable reporting technology. Focussed on the same, writing a memo or report on the improvement initiatives taken by the Specsavers will facilitate in explaining the improvement of the business processes. The use of concise, active and engaging language for preparing the report. The report for explaining the benefits of recognised improvement initiatives taken by the company can be will be presented through clear as well as concise writing. Business process improvement can also be ensured through writing a business memo that can facilitate in getting the point across quickly regarding the business improvement process followed in the organization. Reporting of the business improvement techniques by the organization is conducted through representation of charts and tables.

Continuous quality and performance improvement facilitate error reduction in offering services and optical products will be reported in the annual report produced by the company. The philosophy of continuous quality improvement also has the ability to make the business of Specsavers well equipped for adapting to the changes within the industry in which it operates. Processes in the organization that regularly follows continuous quality improvement and undergo incremental changes and solutions regarding this might be reported through seminars and meetings of employees. In continuously implementing process improvement changes reduced turnover can be attained as the owners get capable in recruiting and training new workers. Such benefit can be reported by the company through providing circulars all through the organization among the team members.

The benefits of the identified improvement can be recorded based on format, audience needs and different audiences all over the world. Consumers of the company expect to be able to purchase from a retailer seamlessly across its any channel. Speeding up digitization through business collaboration can facilitate the company in attaining benefit of grabbing attention of different consumers all across the world. 

References

Appuhami, R, “Exploring the relationship between strategic performance measurement systems and managers’ creativity: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and organisational learning.”. in Accounting & Finance, , 2017.

McCuiston, V, & A DeLucenay, “Organization Development Quality Improvement Process: Progress Energy’s Continuous Business Excellence Initiative.”. in Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS), 6, 2010.

[1] Appuhami, R, “Exploring the relationship between strategic performance measurement systems and managers’ creativity: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and organisational learning.”. in Accounting & Finance, , 2017

[1] McCuiston, V, & A DeLucenay, “Organization Development Quality Improvement Process: Progress Energy’s Continuous Business Excellence Initiative.”. in Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS), 6, 2010.

[1] McCuiston, V, & A DeLucenay, “Organization Development Quality Improvement Process: Progress Energy’s Continuous Business Excellence Initiative.”. in Journal of Business Case Studies (JBCS), 6, 2010.

[1] Appuhami, R, “Exploring the relationship between strategic performance measurement systems and managers’ creativity: the mediating role of psychological empowerment and organisational learning.”. in Accounting & Finance, , 2017.