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Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
18-1
CHAPTER 18
Supervisory Control and Quality
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Outline the three basic steps in the control process.
2. Identify tools and techniques most frequently used by supervisors to exercise control.
3. Define what quality means to a supervisor, and list several reasons for maintaining quality.
4. Differentiate between product quality control and process quality control.
5. Define the concept of quality assurance.
6. Discuss total quality management (TQM).
7. Define the following terms: continuous improvement, quality at the source, lean
manufacturing, six sigma, and lean six sigma.
8. Summarize the focus of ISO 9000/ISO 9001 and ISO 14000/ISO 14001.
9. Explain the purpose of a zero-defects program.
10. Define a quality circle.
11. Cite several guidelines that supervisors can follow to help build quality job habits among
employees.
12. Relate the overriding purpose of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
SUGGESTIONS FOR PRESENTATION
Tie the chapter material to student experiences.
Ask if any of the students have been involved with creating any of the controls listed, such as a
budget or an inventory system. How did they use the 3 steps listed on page 375.
Tie the control steps to the classroom experience.
Have the students establish a control process for the operation of the class. Their response should
include:
1. Establishing standards—attendance, participation, evidence of knowledge gained, etc.
2. Monitoring performance and comparing it with standards—taking roll, asking questions
and submitting homework, getting a minimum score on tests, etc.
3. Taking necessary corrective action—counseling, using small group discussions, specific
questions of non-participating students, going over test questions to explain any
difficulties, etc.
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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Demonstrate how the same three steps can apply to any type of situation requiring control.
Discuss several different types of situations, which require controls, and see how each of the
three steps would be implemented. For example:
1. Production quality of ball-bearings:
2. Production for salesperson:
3. Dress standards for a waitress in a restaurant:
Possible correction: Reinforce by additional training or counseling; terminate the employee
LECTURE OUTLINE
Supervision Dilemma
John’s department is making errors and he is upset because it seems that he never finds out about
I. Steps in the Controlling Process
• Control is accomplished by comparing actual performance with predetermined standards
or objectives and then taking action to correct any deviations from the standard.
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A. Establishing Performance Standards
• A standard outlines what is expected.
• Standards are usually expressed in terms of quantity, quality, or time limitations.
o Performance standards attempt to answer the question “What is a fair day’s
work?” or “How good is good enough?”
o Although designed to reflect normal output, output standards take into account
more than just work.
o Figure 18.1 lists several types of standards.
• Many methods for setting standards are available. Which method is most appropriate
depends on the type of standard in question.
o A common approach is to use the judgment of the supervisor or other
recognized experts.
o The analysis of historical data, such as production data, is another approach.
o The most objective approach is the employment of industrial engineering
methods.
B. Monitoring Performance
• The overriding purpose of monitoring performance is to provide information on what
is actually happening.
• Monitoring must be done often enough to provide adequate information.
o If it is overdone, however, it can become expensive and can result in adverse
reactions from employees.
• Most control tools and techniques are primarily concerned with monitoring
performance.
o Reports, audits, budgets, and personal observations are methods commonly
used for this purpose.
C. Taking Corrective Action
• If standards are not being met satisfactorily, the supervisor must find the cause of the
deviation and correct it.
• If the performance meets or exceeds the standards, a supervisor might provide
positive reinforcement.
o When performance is below standards, an approach that works well in most
situations is for the supervisor to take increasingly harsh actions.
▪ Supervisors should avoid talking down to employees when taking such
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action.
▪ Supervisors should also fully explain why the action is necessary.
D. Preliminary, Concurrent, or Postaction Control
• Preliminary control methods, sometimes called steering controls, attempt to
prevent a problem from occurring.
• Concurrent controls, also called screening controls, focus on things that happen as
inputs are being transformed into outputs.
II. Tools for Supervisory Control
A. Budgets
• A budget is a statement of expected results or requirements expressed in financial or
numerical terms.
o Many different types of budgets are in use (Figure 18.2 outlines some of the
most common.)
• While budgets are useful for planning and control, they are not without their dangers.
o Inflexibility is a special threat to organizations operating in an industry
characterized by rapid change and high competition.
▪ Rigidity in the budget can also lead to a subordination of organizational
goals to budgetary goals.
o Another danger is that budgets can hide inefficiencies.
o Budgets can also become inflationary and inaccurate when supervisors pad
their budgets because they know they will be cut by their bosses.
• Zero-base budgeting requires each supervisor to justify an entire budget request in
detail.
o Every year or budgeting cycle the budget goes back to zero and any
expenditures must be rejustified.
B. Written Reports
• The Supervisor may be a preparer or recipient of reports.
o Supervisors often prepare reports for use by upper management, and employees
often prepare reports for use by supervisors.
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• Written reports can be prepared on a periodic or as-necessary basis.
o There are two basic types of written reports:
▪ Analytical reports interpret the facts they present.
▪ Informational reports only present the facts.
C. Personal Observation
• Personal observation is sometimes the only way for a supervisor to get an accurate
picture of what is really happening.
o Besides providing information, such observations can communicate the
supervisor’s interest in the employees.
D. Electronic Monitors
• Today a number of different types of electronic devices can be used to monitor a
work environment.
o Examples include:
▪ Electronic cash registers that keep a record of what items are sold and
when
▪ Video cameras that record employee and customer movements
E. Management by Objectives
• The development of an MBO system is part of the planning function.
o However, once such a system has been developed, it can be used for control
purposes.
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III. Supervisory Control in Practice
• Which specific types of control supervisor practice depends on their areas of responsibility.
o Quality assurance and inventory control are two types of control with which almost
all supervisors are concerned.
▪ Quality assurance includes everything that an organization does to ensure the
quality of its products and services, such as the steps taken to prevent quality
problems and to monitor the quality of products and services.
▪ Inventory control is concerned with monitoring inventory so as to maintain a
supply of inventory adequate to meet customer demand but not greater than is
necessary for that purpose.
IV. Quality and the Supervisor
• Quality is a relative term. Quality may not mean the same thing to the consumer and the
supervisor.
o The consumer is concerned with service, reliability, performance, and appearance.
o The supervisor is concerned with the achievement of product or service
specifications.
▪ The supervisor evaluates quality in relation to the specifications or standards
that are set when the product or service is designed.
A. Why Insist on Quality?
• Rising labor and material costs, consumer lawsuits, combined with the need to satisfy
more demanding customers, have motivated organizations to become more quality
conscious.
o Historically, many other reasons have existed for maintaining quality. Figure
18.4 lists some of these.
B. Who Is Responsible for Quality?
• Any number of people can be blamed for a supervisor’s quality problems.
o Purchasing, engineering, quality control people, and the human resources
department are prime candidates.
o It is a natural tendency to blame someone else.
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C. Types of Quality Control
• Quality control relating to things (products, services, raw materials, etc.) is referred
to as product quality control.
o Product quality control lends itself to acceptance sampling procedures.
▪ Under acceptance sampling procedures, the decision to accept or reject
an entire batch of items is based on a sample or group of samples.
o Statistical sampling techniques are often used with product quality control.
• Quality control relating to the control of a machine or an operation during the
D. Quality Assurance
• For years the focus of industry was to practice quality control through the inspection
process.
o Today the emphasis is on the prevention of defects and mistakes rather than on
finding and correcting them.
• The idea of “building in” quality as opposed to “inspecting it in” is known as quality
assurance.
• While there have been many individuals who have championed the prevention
approach to quality, W. Edwards Deming is perhaps most
o Deming was a statistics professor at New York University in the 1940s who
went to Japan after World War II to assist in improving quality and
productivity.
o The underlying philosophy of Deming’s approach is that the cause of poor
quality is rarely the employees but almost always the system.
▪ Deming believed that it is the managers’ and supervisors’ responsibility
to correct the system.
E. Total Quality Management
• Total quality management (TQM) is a management philosophy that emphasizes
managing the entire organization so that it excels in all dimensions of products and
services that are important to the customer. It can be summarized by the following
actions:
o Find out what customers want.
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o Design a product or service that will meet (or exceed) what customers want.
o Design a production process that facilitates doing the job right the first time.
o Quality at the source refers to the philosophy of making each employee
responsible for the quality of his or her work.
o Lean manufacturing is a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating
waste and non-value-added activities.
o Six sigma is both a precise art of statistical tools and a rallying cry for
continuous improvement.
▪ Six sigma was pioneered by Motorola during the 1980s and literally
means, in statistical terms, six standard deviations from the mean.
o Lean six sigma is a combination of lean manufacturing and six sigma.
▪ Reengineering is rather a one-time concerted effort, initiated from the top
of the organization, to make major improvements in processes used to
produce products or services.
F. Other Quality Standards
• ISO 9000 is a set of quality standards created in 1987 by the International
Organization for Standardization (ISO).
o ISO is currently composed of the national standards bodies of 164 countries
with the major objective of promoting the development of standardization and
facilitating the international exchange of goods and services.
o Regulation is left to national accreditation organizations such as the U.S.
Register Accreditation Board (RAB).
▪ RAB and other such boards then authorize registrars to issue ISO 9000
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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certificates.
• ISO 9000:2000 is a series of three interrelated standards.
o In ISO 9000:2000, there are three interrelated standards:
▪ Commitment to continual improvement
▪ Commitment to waste minimization and prevention of pollution
• A zero-defects program attempts to create a positive attitude toward the prevention
of low quality.
o The objective of a zero-defects program is to heighten awareness of quality by
making everyone aware of his or her potential impact on quality.
G. Quality Guidelines
• The key to the prevention of quality problems is employee involvement.
o The following 11 guidelines are offered as aids for building quality job habits
among employees:
▪ Guideline 1: Make sure employees have received proper training.
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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▪ Guideline 7: Encourage suggestions.
▪ Guideline 11: Set the example.
H. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
• The Malcolm Baldrige Award is named after the late Malcolm Baldrige who was a
successful businessman and a former U.S. secretary of commerce.
o The award is administered by the National Institute of Standards and
Technology and can only be awarded to businesses located in the United
States.
o The purpose of this award is to encourage efforts to improve quality and to
recognize the quality achievements of U.S. companies.
o A maximum of two awards are given each year in each of six categories:
▪ Manufacturing
▪ Service
▪ Small business (500 or less employees)
▪ Education
o Results
Solution to the Supervision Dilemma
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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SUPERVISION ILLUSTRATIONS
18-1: Unilever Uses Tight Controls in its Chinese Plant
18-2: Involving Everyone in the Quest for Quality
18-3: Lean Six Sigma in City Government
18-4: ISO 9001:2008 Certification for So Klose
18-5: Quality Circles Produce Results for Qatar Steel
18-6: Baldrige Recipients for 2012
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What is the major purpose of all supervisory controls?
2. Differentiate among preliminary, concurrent, and postaction controls.
3. Name and briefly discuss at least three tools used in supervisory control.
Three tools used in supervisory control are budgets, written reports, and personal
observation.
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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4. What determines the desired level of quality for the supervisor?
5. Define the following terms and explain what they have in common: continuous
improvement, quality at the source, lean manufacturing, six sigma, and lean six sigma.
Six sigma: The philosophy of six sigma is that in order to realize the very high level of
6. What is quality assurance?
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7. What is the basic philosophy underlying total quality management (TQM)?
8. Differentiate between ISO 9000/ISO 9001 and ISO 14000.
ISO 9000 is a set of quality standards created in 1987 by the International Organization for
of 2008.
9. Describe the zero-defects and quality circles approaches to quality.
A zero-defects program attempts to create a positive attitude toward prevention of low
10. What is the difference between product quality control and process quality control?
11. What is the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award?
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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improve quality and to recognize the quality achievements of U.S. companies. [p. 388]
SKILL BUILDING QUESTIONS
1. Why do you think that many supervisors are reluctant to take corrective actions when
people are involved?
2. Since quality is a relative concept, how does a supervisor ever know if the quality level is
optimum?
3. What do you think are the advantages of “building in” quality as opposed to “inspecting
in” quality?
4. Many people believe that ISO 14000 will have a larger impact on organizations than ISO
9000. Why do you think that might be true?
5. It has often been said that supervisory planning and supervisory control go hand in hand.
Elaborate on this statement.
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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planning is before the fact.
REFERENCES
ADDITIONAL READINGS
SKILL BUILDING APPLICATIONS
Incident 18-1: The Assuming Supervisor
This case illustrates the problems of installing an MBO system without effective communication
between supervisors and workers.
1. Who is most at fault for having allowed this situation to develop, Joan or Nancy? Why?
2. What do you think about Nancy’s understanding of MBO?
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3. What changes would you suggest to both Joan and Nancy?
future.
Incident 18-2: High-Quality Toys
This case illustrates the involvement expected of a supervisor in the quality control development
of a manufacturing operation.
1. Assume you are the supervisor of the painting department. What do you think your
responsibilities should be regarding the quality of the final product?
2. If you were a supervisor charged with inspecting the final products, what general type of
inspection system would you set up? Support your answer with justifications.
3. If you were supervisor of the production department, what concerns might you have
relating to raw material inventory?
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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1. Assuming that the vertical arrows indicate actual progress made to date, how would you
describe Cutee Toy Company’s present production situation? Is it ahead of or behind
schedule?
2. Assuming that the following events take place, what actions would you take?
a. The purchasing agent of the Top Mill Company calls and tells you that her order is not
should be drawn to reassess priorities over the next few days.
3. If you were the production manager for the Cutee Toy Company, what additional
information would you like for control purposes? Make specific recommendations for
getting this information.
The Gantt chart doesn’t show adequate detail on things such as whether or not the same
employees do all tasks, or what interdependencies exist among customer orders. For
example, do we have the facilities to handle more than one or two orders at once? Are all
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
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Exercise 18-2: Assessing Quality
were their ratings comparable? If not, why?
Exercise 18-3: How Important is Quality?
SUPERVISORY ANECDOTES
More on L. L. Bean’s TQM: In the mid-to late-1980s, L. L. Bean Inc. began to experience an
increasing number of cumulative trauma disorders. In response, the company implemented a
program of Total Quality Management (TQM) that changed the focus on high numbers of units
distribution divisions, respectively, from 1988 to 1993.
Source: “The TQM Approach to Ergonomics at L. L. Bean.” (no author listed) in Material
as Federal Express, IBM Corp., Merck & Co., and American Express Co., seem to be in the
Chapter 18 - Supervisory Control and Quality
RELATED VIDEOS
1. Quality. Productivity & Me, Rank/Roundtable, two parts, 29 mins. total. These are
animated films on individual and team efforts in productivity.
2. Managing for the 21st Century, Coronet, 28 mins. In this video, Deming’s work is
explained and documented and also includes Q & A with the master. (1992)
3. Managing Performance for Quality, CRM Films, 30 mins. (1993). This video takes a team
perspective to quality management.
offers videos featuring, by year, the stories of the annual Baldrige National Quality Award
winners.
