Core and Support Processes
A business engages in many activities in order to satisfy the customer. It is important for the company to distinguish between its core and support processes. The core processes are the basic activities that have to be carried out by the business to provide the good or service to the customer. They include activities such as production, order processing, marketing and selling the products to the customer. The support processes on the other hand refers to activities carried out by the organization to assist in carrying out the core processes. The support processes include activities such as human resource, accounting and information technology.
(Porter, 1985)
Internet Technology, Communication and E-business
The internet refers to the interconnection of computer networks at a global level through the use of electronic and wireless capabilities or technologies. The communication is made possible through complex hardware and software infrastructure. The internet technology provides internet protocol addresses to workstations which enable the users to access the internet. The internet has a lot of information which is accessed through inter-linked hypertext documents which are available in the World Wide Web. The information is accessed by the use of a web browser which is a software application.
The internet also has the capability to support electronic mail. Communication is enhanced as people send emails to each other through sites such as Yahoo and Gmail. Businesses are now using the internet for their business activities. They are able to set up websites where the customers query on the products and purchase them electronically. E-business allows transactions to be handled through the internet. A business may also use internet technology to set up an intranet which is a computer network that uses the internet technology within an institution. Only the employees of the organization can access the site. Employees are able to interact and communicate with each other.
Strategies to reduce variation in a business process
There are two types of variation in business processes. The common causes of variation are caused by the process of production. It is the responsibility of management to inspect the process by use of control charts, redesign the process and reduce the variability (Deming, 1982). Control charts provide a clear picture to management on the process methodology. The management should calculate the averages and the control limits. If the common causes of variation are below the control limits, the process is considered to be stable. The process is also considered to be consistent and predictable therefore offering high productivity and low costs. The second type of variation is known as the special causes of variation.
They are caused by abnormalities. They are caused by events that were not part of the process. It is not possible to predict the special causes of variation. It is the responsibility of the front-line staff to reduce the special causes of variation. It is easy to identify the special causes of variation which could be a particular machine, staff, raw material or changes in the external environment. When the company uses these strategies, it will find it is more effective than blaming staff or employees for inconsistent and ineffective results as this does not bear any fruit at all.
National and Regional Quality Awards
The chapter outlines the excellence awards issued in Australia, Canada, Singapore and UK to organizations which have achieved excellence. The Canada Awards for excellence are based on the Baldridge Model (Porter & Tanner, 1996). The award focuses on the private sector while the Canadian Public Sector awards focuses on public companies. The Australian Business Excellence Awards awards excellence in leadership, planning, people, processes and customer focus and business results which is similar to the Canadian Awards. In addition it assesses data information and knowledge, innovation and products and services. The Singapore quality award is based on the Baldridge model, the EFQM Excellence Model and Australian Business Excellence Framework. The UK Excellence Awards is based on the EFQM Excellence Model.
The Recognized for Excellence Programme Award is given to companies that were not finalists or winners in the UK Excellence awards and the UK Regional quality awards. The Quality Scotland Foundation honours the excellent companies in the country. Other awards in the UK based on the EFQM Excellence Model are the Wales Quality Centre, The Centre for Competitiveness, Northern Ireland, Midlands Excellence, East of England Excellence, Excellence Yorkshire, Excellence North West and the Common Assessment Framework which covers all countries in the European Union. The national and regional awards are very important as they promote excellence and quality. In the UK, there are three important awards, with the UK Excellence awards being the most important followed by Recognized for Excellence Programme Award and UK Regional quality awards. It is good to have the three categories of awards as they motivate companies to excel and have quality products and services.
References
Deming, E. (1982). Out of the Crisis. Cambridge: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Centre for Advanced Engineering Study.
Porter, M. (1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: Free Press.
Tanner, S., & Porter, L. (1996). Assessing Business Excellence. Oxford: Elsevier.