1.

Quality partnering and strategic alliances are vastly important when applied
correctly. Partnering and allying with suppliers, fellow employees, customers
and even potential competitors can have multiple benefits. Partnering can
lead to continual improvements in key areas such as processes, products and
customer satisfaction. When added up, these individual benefits can very well
lead to enhanced competitiveness. Speaking from firsthand experience, I am
able to testify to the benefit of strategic alliances. My company, a large utility
contractor based in PA, has many competitors however we all realize that
there is more than enough work to go around at the moment. This being said,
we help each other out wherever possible and share in success. Recently we
were short on a specific material and rather than scramble for an alternative,
we simply reached out to a competitor of ours who happily loaned us the
items.

2. Quality partnering and strategic alliances between different entities can take
many different forms. Partnerships and alliances can be established among
suppliers, customers, employees and potential competitors. A bulleted
summary of each of the items is located below. I believe that each of these
different forms are useful, however it all begins with internal partnerships
when it comes to working within an organization.

3. By definition, a quality culture is an organizational value system that results

in an environment that is conducive to the establishment and continual
 improvement of quality. Quality culture consists of values, traditions,
procedures and expectations that promote quality. This is important due to
the simple fact that employees will assess how they feel like management
treats them with regards to trust, dignity and respect, and they will react
accordingly. If employees feel that they are being treated fairly, they are
more likely to treat their fellow employees fairly as well. Without trust, dignity
and respect as a constant within an organization, it will be exceedingly
difficult to form effective partnerships and alliances that are extremely
beneficial. I am able to speak on this topic with firsthand experience, as the
main reason for leaving my prior job stemmed from the feeling that I was not
being respected and treated honestly by my former boss. This feeling
subconsciously effected my work ethic and when I finally was able to fully
realize the source of my displeasure, I promptly left.

4. Organizations that successfully develop and maintain a quality culture will

differ significantly from those with a traditional culture. The areas which will
display the most noticeable differences include; operating philosophy,
objectives, management approach, attitude towards customers, problem
solving, supplier relationships and performance improvement approach. In all
of these areas, a quality culture is driven by a commitment to quality,
continual improvement and competitiveness. Traditional cultured
organizations on the contrary will focus more concern on areas unrelated to
quality, continual improvement and competiveness. Instead, the focus will
usually fall on short term profits. During my short tenure as a working
professional, I have seen first-hand the difference between these two
cultures. My previous employer was focused more on keeping schedule and
turning a profit than producing a quality product, so much that it showed on
customer feedback surveys and was only a cause for concern after the fact.
The company I am with now is based on quality and we do not do jobs
without first ensuring our ability to produce quality results. I can whole
heartedly say that working within the latter environment enables me to
produce better results and a higher sense of pride.

5. Traditional thinking within organizations that provide a product or service is

that all customers are outsiders who use a companys products, and all
suppliers are outsiders who provide the materials needed to produce
products. The difference between the traditional school of thought and the
contemporary view is that every organization has both internal and external
customers. An external customer is the one referred to in the traditional
definition, and an internal customer is any employee whose work depends on
that of employees whose work precedes theirs. I am able to provide a real
world example of an external customer as it relates to my current position.
The work that I do each day is sent to an office of ours located in Virginia,
where they refine and apply the data that I am responsible for collecting. In
this case, I am a customer of my co-worker.
6. In the real world, customer defined value is the sum of a customers
perceptions of the following factors: product or service quality, service
provided by the organization, the organizations personnel, the organizations
image, selling price of product or service and the overall cost of the product
or service. To understand what customers want from our organization, we are
able to perform analysis based on attributes and performance that the
customer values most. In my business, customer defined value is the name of
the game. On a regular basis, we provide customers with bid prices that they
evaluate not only based on price, but also on the same factors that
customers typically use to define value. We may not always have the low-bid
price on a specific job, yet we may still be awarded the project based on the
customers perception of items like personnel and service quality. Although
retention cannot be guaranteed, customer satisfaction is the only way to
have a chance. To retain customers over the long term, organizations must
turn them into partners and proactively seek their input rather than waiting
for a reacting to feedback provide after a problem has occurred.

7. The key to customer loyalty is consistently providing superior value, superior

quality, superior cost and superior service. To be able to provide these items,
innovation is crucial. Many of the customers that my company works for, are
the same ones we worked for 50 years ago. This relationship has been
beneficial to both parties, and the key has been innovating throughout the
years. Author Praveen Gupta has developed an innovation model that
organizations can use to keep products up to date, attractive, and relevant.
There are 5 process steps which are illustrated below

8. Empowerment means engaging employees in the thinking processes of an

organization in ways that matter. Having input that is heard and used, means
 giving employees ownership of their jobs. The rationale for improvement
consists of the logic that it is the best way to increase creative thinking and
initiative on the part of employees. The primary inhibitor of empowerment is
resistance to change. Personally, I experience this resistance to change on a
daily basis, and attempt to empower employees to hopefully reduce
resistance. The resistance in my case, stems from a cultural difference
between our union labor force, and the customer. Many of our labor leaders
are used to a time where regulation was way less prevalent and therefore
they find all change hard to cope with.

9. To achieve the concept of Total Quality within an organization, management

must practice leadership for quality. Leadership for quality is based on the
philosophy that continually improving people, processes and products will
lead to improvements in quality, value, productivity, service, market share,
longevity, business expansion and return on investment. To be successful in
the practice of leadership for quality, the following key elements must be
present; Customer Focus, Obsession with Quality, Recognizing the structure
of work, freedom through control, unity of purpose, looking for faults In
systems, teamwork, continuing education and training, and emphasis on best
practices and peak performance. From a firsthand perspective, I am lead by
quality through among other things; continuing education and training. The
company that I work for is covering the large majority of the cost associated
with me getting my Masters in Engineering Management. My company is
willing to do this because they view it as an investment that will pay off when
I apply the skills I am learning towards our business.

10.Change is something that all business segments will undoubtedly be forced to

face at some point in their life cycle. Typically, the change will involve
innovation and regulation increasing in the market segment in which the
corporation exists. For my current company, we have a older generation of
labor producing employees that are very resistant to change. To effectively
lead them through times of change, there are certain steps that need to be
taken. An illustration modeling this change process is posted below..
 Social Media Assignment 2:
Would-Be Toyota Prius Prime Buyers Reporting Problems With Ordering &
Dealers
In the case of Toyota, they are having a very specific problem regarding the release
of their new Prius Prime vehicle. Due to the fact that sales of this vehicle have
been very poorly measured; consumers are having a difficult time determining
whether or not the vehicle will be available to them. Management in different areas
of the country have produced differing reports, with some stating that the vehicle
will be available in only CA and NY, and others saying that it will be available
nationwide, but they are unable to provide a date or time period. For consumers,
the lack of an agreed upon answer regarding future sales of this vehicle is very
troubling. If the company was to attempt to correct their mistakes in
communication, it would not be unrealistic at all to think that they could solve their
issues in a very rapid amount of time. With social media and all of the other forms
of modern media, Toyota would be able to educate prospective buyers in little to no-
time as well. On the contrary, should Toyota allow this issue to carry on over time,
buyers will eventually give up on the Prius prime.
Details On Volkswagens Guilty Plea & $4.3 Billion In Fines + 6 Indictments
The Volkswagen case, as it relates to the idea of ISO quality objectives and SMART
goals, is well beyond the point of quality improvement. Just recently, VW has agreed
to plead guilty to 3 counts of criminal felony and accept 4.3 billion dollars worth of
criminal and civil penalties. The crimes responsible for this outcome relate to VWs
proven conspiracy to defraud the United States, defraud their US customers, and a
violation of the clean air act by making false representations to American
regulators. Thus being said, instead of improving quality objectives, VW may be
better off starting from scratch in effort to repair their image. The clear objective
that they must embrace going forward, is to convince consumers that they can be
trusted, and that their products are environmentally safe. VW will be able to
measure the success of their objective quite easily through the sales numbers that
they produce from conception of this process. It would be very unwise for any VW
employee from management down, to disagree that this process is necessary,
considering the massive penalties they are faced with. Doing something like this is
realistic as a company like VW has more than enough resources to achieve any
goal. As far as a time frame goes for this project, VW needs to get started ASAP.
Global Clean Energy Investment Is Down, But Solar Is Cheaper & Offshore
Wind Is Booming
According to research from Bloomberg energy finance, global investment in clean
energy fell by a rather large margin from year 2015 to 2016. Increasing this number
in 2017 and rerouting the trend is something that those in the environmental space
will be focused very closely on. According to the data which was measured by
Bloomberg, the specific drop equated to 18%. Despite the somewhat dramatic drop
in investment dollar, not everyone in the industry would agree that things are as
bad as they seem. Despite investment being down, solar power installations
reached a record high in 2016, and also in 2016; the US and China saw their first off
shore wind farms be constructed. Information like this makes the goal of increasing
the investment dollar in 2017 very realistic, as the breakthrough of projects of this
nature will surely attract investors from all over the globe. This specific goal is time
based, as the calculations are based purely on fiscal year 2017. Once 2017 is
complete, the date will be re-assessed and new goals will be formed for 2018. As an
aside, I am particularly excited for the prospect of more off-shore wind projects as
the company I work for is actively involved in the construction of them. To be
involved in projects like this creates a special sense of pride, as working to improve
the environment is very rewarding.

Sources:

Ayre, James. "Would-Be Toyota Prius Prime Buyers Reporting Problems With Ordering &
Dealers." CleanTechnica. N.p., 13 Jan. 2017. Web. 6 Feb. 2017.
<https://cleantechnica.com/2017/01/13/toyota-prius-prime-buyers-reporting-problems-
ordering-dealers/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A
%2BIM-cleantechnica%2B%28CleanTechnica%29>.
Ayre, James. "Details On Volkswagens Guilty Plea & $4.3 Billion In Fines 6 Indictments."
CleanTechnica. N.p., 13 Jan. 2017. Web. 7 Feb. 2017.
<https://cleantechnica.com/2017/01/13/details-volkswagens-guilty-plea-4-3-billion-fines-6-
indictments/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A
%2BIM-cleantechnica%2B%28CleanTechnica%29>.
Contributor, Guest. "Global Clean Energy Investment Is Down, But Solar Is Cheaper &
Offshore Wind Is Booming." CleanTechnica. N.p., 13 Jan. 2017. Web. 14 Feb. 2017.
<https://cleantechnica.com/2017/01/13/global-clean-energy-investment-solar-cheaper-
offshore-wind-booming/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed
%3A%2BIM-cleantechnica%2B%28CleanTechnica%29>.

Discussion With Partner (Harvir Sanghera) On the 3 Articles:

Would-Be Toyota Prius Prime Buyers Reporting Problems With Ordering & Dealers

I was once told by a business man that if you can no produce the goods you
make a reason why you cant. These ordering problems seems like a solution to
the problem of demand.

Some training might be needed to fix this problem. To me it feels like a

human error, problem.

Details On Volkswagens Guilty Plea & $4.3 Billion In Fines + 6 Indictments

I wonder if the same charges will be applied to Fiat when they go to trial.
 I didnt realize that major CEO are being taken down in this process. I
thought it would only be upon the company.

Global Clean Energy Investment Is Down, But Solar Is Cheaper & Offshore
Wind Is Booming

The Paris Agreement had 194 countries sign the agreement back in April of 2016

Solars innovation is still moving even without the investors.

Wind has finally worthwhile to produce energy

China might one day surpass US output on Wind power.