{{B}} PROCESS MANAGEMENT TO QUALITY IMPROVEMENT{{/B}}
The examples above illustrate the need for integrated process and quality management, based on well-structured procedures, sensibly applied. For an organization to function effectively, it must have visible and easily understood procedures that assist staff in carrying out their work and provide accountability for all operations. Providing such a system is not trivial, and it cannot be done without considerable thought and hard work. But the results will more than justify the effort.
Modern management must deal with degrees of complexity unheard of only a few decades ago. They must integrate many systems--for example, for purchasing, personnel, accounting, stock control, and computing--when each of these systems is itself highly complex. At the same time, they must ensure that they comply with a baffling variety of legal, safety, and regulatory and other requirements relevant to their organization. While struggling with these issues, the manager is under irresistible pressure from global competition to reduce costs to the minimum. With such pressure, we are obliged to provide structure and organization, which enable us to deal with such complexity. We group similar processes, collect similar information into records and classify the various activities that the organization must deal with. We organize staff and computer systems into units that deal with similar types of problems or situations.
In all disciplines, the provision of structure of classification is dealt with through a systematic method recognized by the practitioners. In engineering, architecture, medicine and other practical professions, the practitioners learn the relevant methods and then apply them to solve problems. Process and quality management have the same need to approach the problems with a systematic method, which facilitates structuring of problems and produces practical solutions. One of the key criteria for a satisfactory method is that it should be applicable to a wide range of problems and concerns dealt with by the discipline. Once a method is in place, it provides a language and a framework for doing works therefore, it must have the scope to deal with all problems that may arise. In quality management, the range of problems centers on "conformance to requirements". When this is interpreted most widely, as in TQM, requirements are not just those of the direct customer, but also those in internal departments and the wider requirement of the law and of regulatory agencies. Seen this way, all procedures and operations carried out are deal with all such issues uniformly which will provide an efficient and elegant solution to the problem of quality management.
In process management, the problem centers on definition of the objectives of the organization, and the design of processes that support them. Since efficiency and effectiveness are always major objectives, the organization will also require that processes make efficient use of resources, including human and material resources and provide effective results, in terms of meeting the requirements of customers and other stakeholders in the organization. A systematic method must also provide support for these essential process attributes. Finally, the method must support people as they carry out processes. It should enhance their working lives and help them to discover better and more interesting ways of doing their jobs. It should endow empowerment and an involvement in decision-making by everyone involved in the process.