Course Code: MGMT 4500
Academic Year: 2024-2025
As business moves into global marketplace, with free trade zones opening and trade restrictions being removed, competition is quickly increasing. Technology and communication systems are key, but to be competitive, a firm must have excellent total quality and be agile/lean. Quality management affects all functions of business (e.g. research and development (R&D), operations, finance, sales and marketing, human resources), and it is the degree of integration of these functions and related processes into the product life cycle that is the important differentiator for successful companies. The measurement of success is customer satisfaction leading to business growth, and the way to its achievement is through continuous improvement and people engagement. This course examines the concepts of quality management as a systems approach involving customer satisfaction, re-engineering, continuous improvement and quality management initiatives. Methodologies and tools, such as Six Sigma and Lean Systems, which enhance quality and competitiveness, are discussed. The role of standards in business, such as International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9000, other ISO standards (environmental, safety) and business excellence models (Baldrige, Canada Awards for Excellence), are critiqued.