VİKO-QUALITY STRATEGY
Sector Analysis
1.1The Contribution of the Sector to GNP
The sector in which the company is operating is the electric materials production &construction sector. This sector is one of the industry’s leading sectors, producing a batch size every year in its operating environment. The production sector in the fourth quarter of the 2005 has made an improvement of 6,7% in the government sector, and 8,1% in the private sector. Taking into account the overall growth rate of the 2005, the sector take a growth rate of 5,4% in the government sector, and 5,3% in the overall private sector. Below, a graphic is given to highlight the improvement including the sector and the GNP.
The sector seems to slow down in the years 2001 and 2002, but the main reason of this is the economic crisis of 2001 in Turkey (DİE). After the year 2002, the number of buildings constructed, and the number of electrical parts produced has increased sharply. For instance, the growth rate of the construction sector has been 19,7% in 2005, which is higher than many other leading sectors in the country(www.kobifinans.com).
1.2. Exportations
The Electric & Construction Sector has made exportations of 4.002 billion dollars in the year 2004 and 4674 billion dollars in 2005. In this sector, VIKO is exporting 45% of its products to 47 countries. For purposes of meeting the demands relating to the transmission, utilization, distribution and the offering of an environment facilitating the provision of the electrical energy both in domestic and international markets, VIKO is committed to attaining the highest level of quality to its customers in all stages, from designing to production and throughout the service periods of its products.
1.3.Capital Accumulation
When the sector is analyzed, it is recognized that from the year 1996 to 2004, the sector has made a growth from 2.1billion dollars to 4 billion dollars. Among these numbers, the electronic circuits, house domestic products and other circuit pieces take the biggest portion in which the analyzed company also produces. These are the members of the sub-circuit pieces. In the year 1996, the total amount produced and some of them exported was 662,300,279$. Coming to present time, we can observe that this number has increased to 723,250,977$. The production capacity, number of operating firms and exportations has increased steadily; if we do not take the 2001 economic crisis. After the year 2001, both the sector and VİKO has made efforts to recover from the hazardous effects of the crisis.
1.4.Labor Structure and Employment
In the electric&components production, the labor structure was mainly labor intensive, since there are many electrical components which should be assembled by hand. However, with the rapid pace of technology, production became automated and the labor structure began to change. In the year 1997, the total number of employees working in this sector was 546,452. This number decreased by the passing years, and in the present time has fallen to 400,000 employees considering all the private and governmental enterprises (DİE).
By the rapid pace of the technology, production lines became standardized for many of the products, which reshaped the organizational structure of the firms from labor intensive to capital intensive. Among these employees, the ratio of the unskilled workers to the skilled foremen or engineers has been declining over time as a result of the intense competition. Intense rivalry in the market urges the firms to train their employees better, and employ new and more skilled ones. Moreover, the educational level of a society serves as a proxy for the development of human capital. An increase in the educational level has a positive effect on economic growth (Güngör, 1997). In other words, an educated labor force will be more productive on the job by requiring less supervision and possessing greater initiative in handling job-related problems.
As a result, the number of the engineers and experts working in the operational and managerial levels of the organizations in the sector increased. This also caused the learning curve of the organization to slope upward.
1.5 &1.6 Technological Development and R&D Potential Since we are at the information age, the products of information and technology gain importance every day. The ratio of the high-technology products’ slice of the big cake of the world trade grows every day steadily. This makes the companies even more focused on developing new technological products as fast as they can.
These developments in the world trade also affect the companies in the Turkish electric market, and new products which are better than the previous ones take their place in the market rapidly. For instance, a few years ago, when a person walked into a building, he/she had to push on the electric button to open the electricity. Also, people had difficulties in finding their way in the building when the lighting period of the bulbs (differs between 30 sec and 2 min), because everywhere was dark. After some time, new power buttons which included small bulbs on their surface took place and made it easier for the people to find them. Another example can be given including the electric current meters. In the near past, these meters were analog, which made it easier for them to take wrong measurements, causing the electric-bill to boost. Now, these meters are electronic; which means that the probability of failing is lower. Many other examples can be given such as sensors capable of recognizing movements and putting on the lights, or electrical circuits capable of opening the door of the garage when the brain catches sight of the car, or new designs of lamps that enable the light to reach to the furthest points of a room.
Electric-Electronic sector in Turkey began as an assembly sector, but later on, especially after 1990s gained acceleration in improvement. The principal technological developments and research efforts are in the electronics branch of the sector, since electronic circuits are far more complex than electrical ones, but the technology also urges the companies operating in the electric side of the market to foster new products and differentiate them. New electric cables, extension cables, electronic fuse circuits and electronic current regulators are all the products of latest years’ developments.
Quality Strategy
SWOT Analysis
When we analyze the SWOT analysis, the firm should improve strategies to protect itself from the outer threats, and empower its weak points in order to use the opportunities. Firstly, the company should use its market position to overcome its strong rivals. In the market, there are 3 other big rivals, so the company should act proactively using its product variability, export capabilities and other competitive capabilities such as product innovation, special design, and suitable location enhancing the firm with cost advantages.
Also, the process of becoming a member of EU should be considered both as a threat and an opportunity. It is a threat; because custom walls will be broken down and new firms will enter the competition. In the same time it can be an opportunity because the demand towards quality products may increase, and VİKO is focusing on producing quality products.
When we consider the shortening life-cycle of the products, the company should improve its flexibility and capabilities in order to satisfy the rapid changing demand. Otherwise, being too slow may result in losing both new and old customers to competitors.
With the opportunities on the other side of the balance, VİKO should empower its weak points and benefit from these opportunities. The disadvantages of multi-floor manufacturing, and the long conveyor line at the present time slow the production process, but when the plant will change its location, these disadvantages will be overcome. Also, as soon as the regulations towards producing quality products expand, the firm will have a chance to expand its market share. In order to do this, VİKO should work with its suppliers in coordination, which will increase its products’ and processes’ quality.
2.2.1.2 The Nature of the Company’s Products and Services& Principal Customers
The main products of VİKO are switches and sockets with accessories, armatures, fuse boxes, electricity and electronic meters and stairs automatics. These products are sold to the internal (%55 of their products) and external (%45) markets. Most of the selling is done via distributors. Distributors are the main customer of the firm both in the internal and external markets (47 countries).As it is easily recognized, the main raw material for this kind of company is plastic, copper and bakelite.
2.2.3Major Markets to be Operated
VİKO sells a big portion of its products to Turkish market. Also, Russia and Middle-East countries are the major markets that VİKO exports its products. In addition, it sells its products to the employees directly twice in the month. As a result of the narrowing profit margins and intense rivalry, companies should expand their work to various markets, which VİKO also does.
2.2.4Key Customer Quality Requirements and Success Factors
According to the top management, quality assurance and sustainability are the key success factors of the firm. The main purpose of VİKO is to provide the best quality for satisfying customers of internal and external market by the way of serving easier usage of transferring, using and scattering electricity. The firm aims to serve safe, quality reflective, attractively designed and appropriately priced products to the customers, since these are the key customer requirements for the firm.
Customers also require product variety, standardization, responsiveness, customer complaint service, interactive and skilled personnel, and a factory acting responsibly towards the environment. Just to satisfy this, VİKO buys its raw materials from foreign suppliers because it causes less dirt than the domestic raw materials obtained from Turkey.
2.2.5 Position in Market and Competitive Environment
VİKO,GÜNSAN, MAKEL and EL-Bİ are the main players in the market. These four companies together take the 90% of the total production of circuit switches and illumination. As a result of this situation, the foreign enterprises can not keep up with the competition in the domestic market. When the other companies which sell their products to Europe and other foreign markets try to gain some share in the Turkish market, they fall into deep desperation; because the domestic companies follow most of the offensive strategies of heavy advertisement, price cutting, finding and stealing the unsatisfied customers of foreign firms. In addition to this, the firm also focuses on the foreign markets.
2.2.6 Overall Strategy for Quality and Market Leadership
If a company wants to achieve quality leadership in an industry, increase its market share, and sustain customer loyalty, it should not only focus on the product quality, but also on the employees, leadership and processes. First of all, a qualified firm should have a mission and a vision, and clearly pinpoint its future targets. An appropriate vision for VİKO can be as follows:
1-a Vision: Developing reliable and good quality products with technological investments, while being appropriate with the innovative and global trends, targeting absolute customer satisfaction with special product design and service, and aiming to be the leader in the domestic market and effective in the world markets with social responsibility and proactiveness.
1-b Mission: The aim is to satisfy customer’s technical ad aesthetic needs with by continuously improving products, finding realistic solutions to the transportation, usage, and distribution of the electrical energy along with the developments in the world, taking care of the firm targets, values and strategies, improving all the shareholders’ satisfaction, acting responsibly towards the public and government.
In order to act suitably with the mission and vision, a process management model should be maintained. In this model, the systematic steps of the process management approach can be used. What is important here is that, all the leaders should attend the installation, management, and control phases of this model.
Than the leaders should focus on three general issues; first, they should work cooperatively with the third party enterprises and nongovernmental organizations, they should strengthen the culture of perfect operation among the employees, foresee the needs of corporate change and lead this change.
2-Politics and Strategy
In order to secure its position both in the domestic and foreign markets, VİKO should focus on decreasing its production costs, and differentiate its products in the high-end of the market by using its quality prestige. While doing this, present and future operation environments should be defined and data should be collected to analyze the current situation. In this process, the table below can be a guide for making future plans and develop strategies including the firm in electrical industry.
In addition to this, the main suppliers of the company should be considered as business partners. In the market conditions, exact satisfaction of final consumers can not be sustained just by focusing on the sales or marketing efforts. One step further, the firm should make its suppliers improve, and develop its relations with these companies. Supplier visits, supplier check, supplier-producer brain storming meetings should be held seriously at this phase.
Lastly, the shareholders must be included in the decision making process. Strategic planning meetings, top management decision sessions will help the process work better. At this point, if the company wants to compare itself with its competitors and other foreign best practices, benchmarking efforts may be used to search what works in the market. However, the firm should not swerve from its culture, vision and mission while adapting to best practices.
3-Employees:
The company should follow the preceding instructions if it plans to compete more effectively;
*Right man should be appointed to the right job, in which he can show his skills, be effective and useful for the company.
*All the employees should be treated fairly. No one should be patronaged and every single worker must be given equal opportunity to show his/her performance.
*Educational programs should be arranged to improve the skills and abilities of employees.
*In order to motivate the employees, prize mechanisms may be used to reward the good performers.
*In order to evaluate both white and blue collars fairly and appropriately, a performance management system should be developed, new targets should be defined and distributed along the company. These targets should be specific, measurable, accountable, though and timely.
*Carrier maps and promotion regulations should be defined accurately.
*Project management teams can be organized consisting of employees from different disciplines.
*Lastly, human resources planning must be made considering the firm aims, strategies and resources.
4-Cooperation and Resources:
a-Strategic Partnerships are managed. In order to achieve this, long term business plans covering the skills and abilities of the partners can be planned. Teams consisting of the partner enterprise’s employees must work in coordination with the employees of the company. The partnership’s main aim should be increasing the perceived value of the customers; not the value of the processes alone.
b-Financial Resources are managed. Aims of this process are creating liquidity for the rehabilitation of the ineffective work phases, developing the total asset turnover, improve the collecting of credits, make effective investments to new business units, manage the profits for the firm improvement, and decrease the financial risks of the company such as days-sales-outstanding, cash flow and liquidity rate.
c-Technology is managed. The forming of technology should support the targets of the operational missions of the company. Also, new technologies which harm the environment less than the previous ones should be installed, taking into consideration the ROI ratios. In addition to this, information technologies should be used to satisfy the inbound communication of the firm and increase the operations’ effectiveness. In short, technology should be used to support the overall development.
d-Information and Knowledge Management. In order to make the decision making processs easier, every user should be given timely, up-to-date, easily reached, cost-effective, reliable and accurate information.
5-Processes:
Main purpose here should be to include operative usage of firm’s resources to match customer requirements and to forecast demand correctly, to supply necessary raw materials, to produce best products and to store and distribute goods safely. In addition, processes arrange to satisfy stakeholders and shareholders. If we detail these, the first stage is to design processes systematically that includes finding the solution of subjects between processes in the firm and with the collaboration, using other system standards such as quality management, environment management and work safety, determine performance targets and check processes productivity. Secondly processes restore to satisfy customer and shareholders and create value for them by using receptive approach. In this stage, recovery opportunities must evaluate individually and with team work according to performance results. Creativity, leadership, synergy, etc. are main elements of this stage. If the pilot application has a positive result, this should be widened among the firm and suppliers. Thirdly, products and services should design and develop due to customer requirements. This will provide competitive advantage for firm. In detail, revision of product scale should be done due to information from marketing research, customer satisfaction questionnaire, etc. Especially, customers must be added in new product idea stage. In the fourth stage, goods produce and serve according to procedure above. Products are planned and budget is arranged due to target market, image of the mark and customers. Many factors evaluate in this period such as shortening the transport time, using vehicles effectively, recycling the failures and gathering call backs. Lastly customer relationship is managed and improved. Communication is very most important in relationships. Procedures that how products must be used and which specialties products have explain to the customers. Free customer call service, customer relationship management, supply chain management are examples of data collection and data improvement techniques.
6-Evaluation of Results About Customers
Leading firms use performance and perception indicators about customers and take successful results from them. If we give examples of performance criteria, we focus on general image, products and services, selling and support after selling and customer loyalty. Firm can see how its general image is perceived from customer by the way of looking how many awards that firm takes or being shown as a candidate and how often firm is mentioned in the press. Expressing in power of compete, defect-error-rejection rates, complaint numbers, product lifecycle, time to market, logistic facilities and innovative design are criteria of how much firm is successful for products and services. Demand for training, evaluation of complaints and feedback ratio shows how firm manage its selling and support after selling services. If we think that in which ways firm can provide customer loyalty, answer is clear; continuity of relationship, frequency of order, lifetime value, gaining/losing works and ratio of retaining customers give information about how well the firm performs.
7-Results About Employees:
Like the implementation of results about customer, performance and perception indicators should be used to gain success. Two important subjects are taken to care in perception: motivation and satisfaction. Employees can be motivated by giving opportunity to build career, by giving authorization, by leadership, by determining targets and evaluating performance, by training and improvement and by vision and mission. Satisfaction is about which possibilities firm should present its employees. These possibilities include employment conditions, facilities and service, health and security conditions, job quarantine, fees and other payments and lastly working area. For performance, successes are important again with motivation and satisfaction. Feedbacks are main elements of motivation-joining and satisfaction. What are the success’ indicators? Productivity, success ratio of training and improvement and awards.
8-Results About The Public
The other subject that firm must control performance and perception indicators are about public. Four measurements have importance in perception: general image, honesty to public, joining the public and prevention and decreasing of discomfort. Answers how firm give to applications are most effective factor for general image. Well-managed firms join, work and support in local public foundation and support sports and entertainment facilities. Generally, how firms effect the environment is the most common question all over the world. People are interested in dirtiness, toxics, noise, odor, using the recyclable resources, etc. Firm must not be indifferent about these subjects. Performance results are about how firm manage the perception indicators. Additionally, reputation and awards have important impression on public.
9-Fundamental Performance Results
Two indicators determine the basis performance: financial and non-financial results (Value Chain Analysis). These results give a hint about the future of firm. Cash flow, sells, profitability, return on investment, return on equity, profit margin, credibility are the most commonly used indicator of financial results. On the other hand, market share, time to market, process performance, technology, collaboration with suppliers, inventory turnover rate are the most important non-financial indicators that firm have to improve.In conclusion, firms that follow and try to improve these above factors have well-managed quality strategy.
1.1The Contribution of the Sector to GNP
The sector in which the company is operating is the electric materials production &construction sector. This sector is one of the industry’s leading sectors, producing a batch size every year in its operating environment. The production sector in the fourth quarter of the 2005 has made an improvement of 6,7% in the government sector, and 8,1% in the private sector. Taking into account the overall growth rate of the 2005, the sector take a growth rate of 5,4% in the government sector, and 5,3% in the overall private sector. Below, a graphic is given to highlight the improvement including the sector and the GNP.
The sector seems to slow down in the years 2001 and 2002, but the main reason of this is the economic crisis of 2001 in Turkey (DİE). After the year 2002, the number of buildings constructed, and the number of electrical parts produced has increased sharply. For instance, the growth rate of the construction sector has been 19,7% in 2005, which is higher than many other leading sectors in the country(www.kobifinans.com).
1.2. Exportations
The Electric & Construction Sector has made exportations of 4.002 billion dollars in the year 2004 and 4674 billion dollars in 2005. In this sector, VIKO is exporting 45% of its products to 47 countries. For purposes of meeting the demands relating to the transmission, utilization, distribution and the offering of an environment facilitating the provision of the electrical energy both in domestic and international markets, VIKO is committed to attaining the highest level of quality to its customers in all stages, from designing to production and throughout the service periods of its products.
1.3.Capital Accumulation
When the sector is analyzed, it is recognized that from the year 1996 to 2004, the sector has made a growth from 2.1billion dollars to 4 billion dollars. Among these numbers, the electronic circuits, house domestic products and other circuit pieces take the biggest portion in which the analyzed company also produces. These are the members of the sub-circuit pieces. In the year 1996, the total amount produced and some of them exported was 662,300,279$. Coming to present time, we can observe that this number has increased to 723,250,977$. The production capacity, number of operating firms and exportations has increased steadily; if we do not take the 2001 economic crisis. After the year 2001, both the sector and VİKO has made efforts to recover from the hazardous effects of the crisis.
1.4.Labor Structure and Employment
In the electric&components production, the labor structure was mainly labor intensive, since there are many electrical components which should be assembled by hand. However, with the rapid pace of technology, production became automated and the labor structure began to change. In the year 1997, the total number of employees working in this sector was 546,452. This number decreased by the passing years, and in the present time has fallen to 400,000 employees considering all the private and governmental enterprises (DİE).
By the rapid pace of the technology, production lines became standardized for many of the products, which reshaped the organizational structure of the firms from labor intensive to capital intensive. Among these employees, the ratio of the unskilled workers to the skilled foremen or engineers has been declining over time as a result of the intense competition. Intense rivalry in the market urges the firms to train their employees better, and employ new and more skilled ones. Moreover, the educational level of a society serves as a proxy for the development of human capital. An increase in the educational level has a positive effect on economic growth (Güngör, 1997). In other words, an educated labor force will be more productive on the job by requiring less supervision and possessing greater initiative in handling job-related problems.
As a result, the number of the engineers and experts working in the operational and managerial levels of the organizations in the sector increased. This also caused the learning curve of the organization to slope upward.
1.5 &1.6 Technological Development and R&D Potential Since we are at the information age, the products of information and technology gain importance every day. The ratio of the high-technology products’ slice of the big cake of the world trade grows every day steadily. This makes the companies even more focused on developing new technological products as fast as they can.
These developments in the world trade also affect the companies in the Turkish electric market, and new products which are better than the previous ones take their place in the market rapidly. For instance, a few years ago, when a person walked into a building, he/she had to push on the electric button to open the electricity. Also, people had difficulties in finding their way in the building when the lighting period of the bulbs (differs between 30 sec and 2 min), because everywhere was dark. After some time, new power buttons which included small bulbs on their surface took place and made it easier for the people to find them. Another example can be given including the electric current meters. In the near past, these meters were analog, which made it easier for them to take wrong measurements, causing the electric-bill to boost. Now, these meters are electronic; which means that the probability of failing is lower. Many other examples can be given such as sensors capable of recognizing movements and putting on the lights, or electrical circuits capable of opening the door of the garage when the brain catches sight of the car, or new designs of lamps that enable the light to reach to the furthest points of a room.
Electric-Electronic sector in Turkey began as an assembly sector, but later on, especially after 1990s gained acceleration in improvement. The principal technological developments and research efforts are in the electronics branch of the sector, since electronic circuits are far more complex than electrical ones, but the technology also urges the companies operating in the electric side of the market to foster new products and differentiate them. New electric cables, extension cables, electronic fuse circuits and electronic current regulators are all the products of latest years’ developments.
Quality Strategy
SWOT Analysis
When we analyze the SWOT analysis, the firm should improve strategies to protect itself from the outer threats, and empower its weak points in order to use the opportunities. Firstly, the company should use its market position to overcome its strong rivals. In the market, there are 3 other big rivals, so the company should act proactively using its product variability, export capabilities and other competitive capabilities such as product innovation, special design, and suitable location enhancing the firm with cost advantages.
Also, the process of becoming a member of EU should be considered both as a threat and an opportunity. It is a threat; because custom walls will be broken down and new firms will enter the competition. In the same time it can be an opportunity because the demand towards quality products may increase, and VİKO is focusing on producing quality products.
When we consider the shortening life-cycle of the products, the company should improve its flexibility and capabilities in order to satisfy the rapid changing demand. Otherwise, being too slow may result in losing both new and old customers to competitors.
With the opportunities on the other side of the balance, VİKO should empower its weak points and benefit from these opportunities. The disadvantages of multi-floor manufacturing, and the long conveyor line at the present time slow the production process, but when the plant will change its location, these disadvantages will be overcome. Also, as soon as the regulations towards producing quality products expand, the firm will have a chance to expand its market share. In order to do this, VİKO should work with its suppliers in coordination, which will increase its products’ and processes’ quality.
2.2.1.2 The Nature of the Company’s Products and Services& Principal Customers
The main products of VİKO are switches and sockets with accessories, armatures, fuse boxes, electricity and electronic meters and stairs automatics. These products are sold to the internal (%55 of their products) and external (%45) markets. Most of the selling is done via distributors. Distributors are the main customer of the firm both in the internal and external markets (47 countries).As it is easily recognized, the main raw material for this kind of company is plastic, copper and bakelite.
2.2.3Major Markets to be Operated
VİKO sells a big portion of its products to Turkish market. Also, Russia and Middle-East countries are the major markets that VİKO exports its products. In addition, it sells its products to the employees directly twice in the month. As a result of the narrowing profit margins and intense rivalry, companies should expand their work to various markets, which VİKO also does.
2.2.4Key Customer Quality Requirements and Success Factors
According to the top management, quality assurance and sustainability are the key success factors of the firm. The main purpose of VİKO is to provide the best quality for satisfying customers of internal and external market by the way of serving easier usage of transferring, using and scattering electricity. The firm aims to serve safe, quality reflective, attractively designed and appropriately priced products to the customers, since these are the key customer requirements for the firm.
Customers also require product variety, standardization, responsiveness, customer complaint service, interactive and skilled personnel, and a factory acting responsibly towards the environment. Just to satisfy this, VİKO buys its raw materials from foreign suppliers because it causes less dirt than the domestic raw materials obtained from Turkey.
2.2.5 Position in Market and Competitive Environment
VİKO,GÜNSAN, MAKEL and EL-Bİ are the main players in the market. These four companies together take the 90% of the total production of circuit switches and illumination. As a result of this situation, the foreign enterprises can not keep up with the competition in the domestic market. When the other companies which sell their products to Europe and other foreign markets try to gain some share in the Turkish market, they fall into deep desperation; because the domestic companies follow most of the offensive strategies of heavy advertisement, price cutting, finding and stealing the unsatisfied customers of foreign firms. In addition to this, the firm also focuses on the foreign markets.
2.2.6 Overall Strategy for Quality and Market Leadership
If a company wants to achieve quality leadership in an industry, increase its market share, and sustain customer loyalty, it should not only focus on the product quality, but also on the employees, leadership and processes. First of all, a qualified firm should have a mission and a vision, and clearly pinpoint its future targets. An appropriate vision for VİKO can be as follows:
1-a Vision: Developing reliable and good quality products with technological investments, while being appropriate with the innovative and global trends, targeting absolute customer satisfaction with special product design and service, and aiming to be the leader in the domestic market and effective in the world markets with social responsibility and proactiveness.
1-b Mission: The aim is to satisfy customer’s technical ad aesthetic needs with by continuously improving products, finding realistic solutions to the transportation, usage, and distribution of the electrical energy along with the developments in the world, taking care of the firm targets, values and strategies, improving all the shareholders’ satisfaction, acting responsibly towards the public and government.
In order to act suitably with the mission and vision, a process management model should be maintained. In this model, the systematic steps of the process management approach can be used. What is important here is that, all the leaders should attend the installation, management, and control phases of this model.
Than the leaders should focus on three general issues; first, they should work cooperatively with the third party enterprises and nongovernmental organizations, they should strengthen the culture of perfect operation among the employees, foresee the needs of corporate change and lead this change.
2-Politics and Strategy
In order to secure its position both in the domestic and foreign markets, VİKO should focus on decreasing its production costs, and differentiate its products in the high-end of the market by using its quality prestige. While doing this, present and future operation environments should be defined and data should be collected to analyze the current situation. In this process, the table below can be a guide for making future plans and develop strategies including the firm in electrical industry.
In addition to this, the main suppliers of the company should be considered as business partners. In the market conditions, exact satisfaction of final consumers can not be sustained just by focusing on the sales or marketing efforts. One step further, the firm should make its suppliers improve, and develop its relations with these companies. Supplier visits, supplier check, supplier-producer brain storming meetings should be held seriously at this phase.
Lastly, the shareholders must be included in the decision making process. Strategic planning meetings, top management decision sessions will help the process work better. At this point, if the company wants to compare itself with its competitors and other foreign best practices, benchmarking efforts may be used to search what works in the market. However, the firm should not swerve from its culture, vision and mission while adapting to best practices.
3-Employees:
The company should follow the preceding instructions if it plans to compete more effectively;
*Right man should be appointed to the right job, in which he can show his skills, be effective and useful for the company.
*All the employees should be treated fairly. No one should be patronaged and every single worker must be given equal opportunity to show his/her performance.
*Educational programs should be arranged to improve the skills and abilities of employees.
*In order to motivate the employees, prize mechanisms may be used to reward the good performers.
*In order to evaluate both white and blue collars fairly and appropriately, a performance management system should be developed, new targets should be defined and distributed along the company. These targets should be specific, measurable, accountable, though and timely.
*Carrier maps and promotion regulations should be defined accurately.
*Project management teams can be organized consisting of employees from different disciplines.
*Lastly, human resources planning must be made considering the firm aims, strategies and resources.
4-Cooperation and Resources:
a-Strategic Partnerships are managed. In order to achieve this, long term business plans covering the skills and abilities of the partners can be planned. Teams consisting of the partner enterprise’s employees must work in coordination with the employees of the company. The partnership’s main aim should be increasing the perceived value of the customers; not the value of the processes alone.
b-Financial Resources are managed. Aims of this process are creating liquidity for the rehabilitation of the ineffective work phases, developing the total asset turnover, improve the collecting of credits, make effective investments to new business units, manage the profits for the firm improvement, and decrease the financial risks of the company such as days-sales-outstanding, cash flow and liquidity rate.
c-Technology is managed. The forming of technology should support the targets of the operational missions of the company. Also, new technologies which harm the environment less than the previous ones should be installed, taking into consideration the ROI ratios. In addition to this, information technologies should be used to satisfy the inbound communication of the firm and increase the operations’ effectiveness. In short, technology should be used to support the overall development.
d-Information and Knowledge Management. In order to make the decision making processs easier, every user should be given timely, up-to-date, easily reached, cost-effective, reliable and accurate information.
5-Processes:
Main purpose here should be to include operative usage of firm’s resources to match customer requirements and to forecast demand correctly, to supply necessary raw materials, to produce best products and to store and distribute goods safely. In addition, processes arrange to satisfy stakeholders and shareholders. If we detail these, the first stage is to design processes systematically that includes finding the solution of subjects between processes in the firm and with the collaboration, using other system standards such as quality management, environment management and work safety, determine performance targets and check processes productivity. Secondly processes restore to satisfy customer and shareholders and create value for them by using receptive approach. In this stage, recovery opportunities must evaluate individually and with team work according to performance results. Creativity, leadership, synergy, etc. are main elements of this stage. If the pilot application has a positive result, this should be widened among the firm and suppliers. Thirdly, products and services should design and develop due to customer requirements. This will provide competitive advantage for firm. In detail, revision of product scale should be done due to information from marketing research, customer satisfaction questionnaire, etc. Especially, customers must be added in new product idea stage. In the fourth stage, goods produce and serve according to procedure above. Products are planned and budget is arranged due to target market, image of the mark and customers. Many factors evaluate in this period such as shortening the transport time, using vehicles effectively, recycling the failures and gathering call backs. Lastly customer relationship is managed and improved. Communication is very most important in relationships. Procedures that how products must be used and which specialties products have explain to the customers. Free customer call service, customer relationship management, supply chain management are examples of data collection and data improvement techniques.
6-Evaluation of Results About Customers
Leading firms use performance and perception indicators about customers and take successful results from them. If we give examples of performance criteria, we focus on general image, products and services, selling and support after selling and customer loyalty. Firm can see how its general image is perceived from customer by the way of looking how many awards that firm takes or being shown as a candidate and how often firm is mentioned in the press. Expressing in power of compete, defect-error-rejection rates, complaint numbers, product lifecycle, time to market, logistic facilities and innovative design are criteria of how much firm is successful for products and services. Demand for training, evaluation of complaints and feedback ratio shows how firm manage its selling and support after selling services. If we think that in which ways firm can provide customer loyalty, answer is clear; continuity of relationship, frequency of order, lifetime value, gaining/losing works and ratio of retaining customers give information about how well the firm performs.
7-Results About Employees:
Like the implementation of results about customer, performance and perception indicators should be used to gain success. Two important subjects are taken to care in perception: motivation and satisfaction. Employees can be motivated by giving opportunity to build career, by giving authorization, by leadership, by determining targets and evaluating performance, by training and improvement and by vision and mission. Satisfaction is about which possibilities firm should present its employees. These possibilities include employment conditions, facilities and service, health and security conditions, job quarantine, fees and other payments and lastly working area. For performance, successes are important again with motivation and satisfaction. Feedbacks are main elements of motivation-joining and satisfaction. What are the success’ indicators? Productivity, success ratio of training and improvement and awards.
8-Results About The Public
The other subject that firm must control performance and perception indicators are about public. Four measurements have importance in perception: general image, honesty to public, joining the public and prevention and decreasing of discomfort. Answers how firm give to applications are most effective factor for general image. Well-managed firms join, work and support in local public foundation and support sports and entertainment facilities. Generally, how firms effect the environment is the most common question all over the world. People are interested in dirtiness, toxics, noise, odor, using the recyclable resources, etc. Firm must not be indifferent about these subjects. Performance results are about how firm manage the perception indicators. Additionally, reputation and awards have important impression on public.
9-Fundamental Performance Results
Two indicators determine the basis performance: financial and non-financial results (Value Chain Analysis). These results give a hint about the future of firm. Cash flow, sells, profitability, return on investment, return on equity, profit margin, credibility are the most commonly used indicator of financial results. On the other hand, market share, time to market, process performance, technology, collaboration with suppliers, inventory turnover rate are the most important non-financial indicators that firm have to improve.In conclusion, firms that follow and try to improve these above factors have well-managed quality strategy.
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder