THE QUALITY AUDIT: AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20,1993 128 THE QUALITY AUDIT: AN EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS Daryl L. Kerr, University of North Carolina at Charlotte ABSTRACT This article presents an experiential exercise designed to assist students in understanding and implementing one of the many tools of total quality management. The exercise involves utilizing focus groups to assess the needs and concerns of an organization’s customers. BACKGROUND Total quality management is a business philosophy with global appeal (McCormack, 1992). Some say it is the key to competitiveness in the global market. It improves productivity and reduces costs in an organization by increasing the employees’ awareness of quality and changing their attitudes. The goal of TQM is for an organization to provide better quality for its customers (Donnelly, 1992). An integral part of TQM is the quality audit, “a careful study of every factor that affects quality in an activity or a process” (Donnelly, 1992). Here’s a step-by-step experiential exercise that can be used in business classes for demonstrating and implementing this TQM tool. THE QUALITY AUDIT Students in business courses typically learn about primary and secondary research methods for gathering information to use in oral presentations, case discussions and written reports. They usually employ secondary research methods for these assignments. However, some professors may assign or encourage such primary techniques as personal interviews or informal surveys. This article describes how the focus group technique, a very popular primary research method used in business and industry, can be introduced to business students when discussing the implementation of a quality audit. Focus groups are a primary research strategy used for understanding audience attitudes and behavior. Seven to twelve people are interviewed simultaneously, with a moderator leading the respondents, in a relatively free flowing discussion about a specific topic. Even though this technique grew out of the group therapy method used by psychiatrists, it is widely used in business. They are used by corporations, non--profit organizations, and government agencies. The information obtained from focus groups assist decision-makers in these organizations with business planning and policy making. Why choose focus groups to discuss in your class as a TQM tool research project? Focus groups matured to become the most widely used type of market research in the 1980s (Greenbaum, 1990). In addition, there are some Interesting predictions about focus groups for the 1990s. First, focus groups will be used in more unique and innovative ways. Traditionally, information from focus groups was used to help define and refine issues before undertaking a quantitative research project. Now companies are beginning to use focus groups to provide additional insight into the results from quantitative studies, therefore using focus groups after the fact. Greenbaum (1990) also suggests that human resource personnel will use focus groups to obtain information on “the overall needs, wants, and attitudes of their employees” In this instance, valuable information can be obtained and morale could be increased when the employees see that management wants their input in order to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and overall quality. THE ASSIGNMENT Before assigning the research project, it is useful for the students to discuss focus groups in detail. Types of information to include could be: (1) define what focus groups are and describe how they can be used in a quality audit, (2) discuss the advantages and disadvantages of focus groups compared with other quality audit techniques, and (3) discuss how focus groups are conducted. This specific experiential exercise involves the students developing a term project using focus groups as the primary means of gathering information. Students interview other students in their department or at the university on a variety of issues relating to their major, their department, course and curriculum issues, or university facilities. To begin the process, the students obtain a list of possible participants and contact these individuals to set up group interview times and dates. The next step is to prepare a script for the focus group sessions. A script contains the procedures for the group discussion and the questions that will be asked. Each moderator should have a copy of the script. This ensures that each moderator asks the same questions and in the same order to all participants in each group. A variety of information can be obtained from the students at your college or university by utilizing this exercise. This information could then be summarized and delivered in a report or presentation by members of your class. These reports can also be shared with department chairpersons, college deans, or other university administrators. REFERENCES Donnelly, J. H., Jr., Gibson, J. L., & Ivancevich, J.M. (1992) Fundamentals of management (8th ed.) Home- wood, IL: Irwin. Greenbaum, T. L. (1990, January 8). Focus group spurt predicted for the ‘90s. Marketing News. pp. 21-22. McCormick, S. P. (1992, June). TQM: Getting it right the first time. Training and Development Journal pp. 43- 46 Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program