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Goetsch, David L., and Stanley B. Davis. Quality management for organizational excellence:
introduction to total quality. 7th ed. N.p.: Pearson, 2012. Print.
5. How do you understand who is a customer?
Traditionally, a customer is any person who may interact with a company after a product has been
produced. A more temporary view of customers also includes internal customers. An employee
whose job function precedes that of another employee is considered to be a supplier. The employee
who receives the product downstream is considered to be an internal customer (Goetsch 91-92).
6. Explain customer defined value, value analysis and retention.
Goetsch and Davis define customer-defined value as 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 the product or service
Overall cost of the product or service
Different customers will weigh each of these factors differently. Customers generally understand that
all of these factors add value to a product and will not base decisions solely on selling price.
Customer value analysis is a critical tool for the total quality organization. To get a better idea of what
a customer wants out of a product or from an organization, total quality organizations will know the
answers to the following questions:
What attributes does the customer value most?
How does the customer rate the attributes?
Are the products strongest attributes in-line with the customers most important
attributes?
How do our attributes stack up against our competition?
After a time, are the customers values or preferences still the same?
Customer retention is an important measure of success and is a better measure of customer loyalty
than customer satisfaction. In order to both satisfy and retain customers an organization must (over
the long term) turn [customers] into partners and proactively seek their input rather than waiting and
reacting to feedback provided after a problem has occurred. Customer surveys, hiring test
customers, and focus groups are tools that will allow an organization to proactively seek input
(Goetsch 96-99).
Empowerment also allows employees to make more decisions. When a problem occurs a traditional
management style would direct the employee to involve a supervisor or manager, with a modern
approach the employee is empowered to make a decision to fix a small problem. This keeps the
manager working to solve problems at a higher level, and away from relatively small problems that
can be handled by the empowered employee. Employee empowerment also allows for a gathering of
collective brain power. Instead of a manager making all the decisions and doing all the thinking,
employees are welcome to bring their ideas to the table. A difficult problem is almost always easier to
solve with more than one perspective (Goetsch 107-108).
Goetsch and Davis describe the key elements of leadership for quality as the following:
Customer Focus: The primary goal for the total quality organization is to exceed the
expectations of both internal and external customers
Obsession with Quality: Quality is pursued obsessively as the means to exceed
customer expectations
Recognizing the Structure of Work: The structural makeup of all operations must be
optimized and continuously improved.
Freedom Through Control: Work must be controlled through standardization.
Unity of Purpose: All employees must work together towards the organizations
mission. These must be clearly stated and understood.
Teamwork: Teams outperform individuals in almost all cases.
Continuing Education and Training: Employees must be empowered by education
and training to work smarter and harder.
Emphasis on Best Practices and Peak Performance: Leaders must encourage their
employees to continuously operate at the highest possible level through best
practices. Peak performance is critical in a total quality environment (Goetsch 121-
122).
Goetsch, David L., and Stanley B. Davis. Quality management for organizational excellence:
introduction to total quality. 8th ed. N.p.: Pearson, 2016. Print.
Article 1: US Coal Plant Closures Likely To Eliminate 30 Million Tons Of Annual Coal Demand
46 coal-fired generating units are scheduled to be closed before the end of 2018. The 46 units are
located in 16 states. It is estimated that these closures will reduce coal demand by 28.2 million tons
per year or $1.1 billion. The largest impacts on coal producers will be felt in the Powder River Basin
and Illinois basin. Peabody Energy and Cloud Peak Energy are the companies that will feel the
greatest impact by these closures. There is at least one coal-fired generating unit for scheduled
closure that will remain open for limited use due to grid reliability issues. Companies should poise
themselves use these closures as an opportunity to implement sustainable green energy production.
Workers in the coal industry need to expand their skill set to be prepared for a future with less coal
and more natural gas or renewables.
Article 2: Indian Railways Proposes 800 Megawatt Solar Park
State owned Indian Railways is proposing to build an 800-megawatt solar park after the success of
the 750-megawatt Rewa solar power park which will realize a levelized tariff of 4.9cents/kWh (the
second lowest tariff for solar power ever). Indian Railways long term plan is to be able to tap into 5
gigawatts of solar capacity by 2025. This will constitute roughly 25% of its total energy consumption.
The Indian climate is suitable for solar power production and will yield relatively high rewards for
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companies both public and private that are willing to invest heavily in it. Air pollution in India is the 13
worst in the world, with initiatives like this we are likely to see air pollution levels begin to trend
downward as the cost of building photovoltaic cells decreases and environmental regulations tighten.
Article 3: Saudi Arabia To Offer More Than 1 Gigawatt Of Solar & Wind In Second Tender Round
Saudi Arabia plans to offer 1 gigawatt worth of contracts for renewable electricity by the end of 2017.
This is part of their plan to supply 10% of the nations power via renewables like wind and solar by
2030. In order to achieve this goal Saudi Arabia will need to produce 9.5 gigawatts of energy from
renewable projects. In addition to this project , Saudi Arabia has also opened a project for bidding to
produce a 300 megawatt solar power plant and a 400 megawatt wind farm. Saudi Arabia has a good
climate for both wind and solar power initiatives. The desert is the ideal location for the capturing of
both wind and solar energy. The goal of reaching 10% power from renewables by 2030 is a high
profile decision coming from the worlds second largest crude oil producer [1]. There is some merit to
the idea that this initiative stems from the UAEs success in implementing 25% renewable power
generation and plans to increase that to 30% by 2030 [2].
Sources:
[1] http://money.cnn.com/interactive/news/economy/worlds-biggest-oil-producers/index.html
[2] http://www.alj.com/en/news/article/2016/07/middle-east-looks-renewable-energy-future
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