Efficiency and effectiveness in business quality

Summary

The following article is aimed at anyone who in one way or another is interested in the study of the economy and within it, the role played by business administration. It tries concisely, and not for this reason less important, to analyze the edges of the administration concept, reasoning about the close relationship that exists between some highly managed and significant terms such as the 3 E (Efficiency, Efficacy, Effectiveness) and quality.

Introduction

The word administration comes from the Latin ad (toward, direction, trend) and minister (subordination, obedience, at the service of), and means one who performs a function under the command of another, that is, one who provides a service to another, be at the service of another (of society, making it more productive (efficiency, for the fulfillment of its objectives (effectiveness)).

The administration is the social and technical science in charge of planning, organizing, directing, and controlling resources (human, financial, material, technological, knowledge, etc.) of an organization, to obtain the maximum possible benefit; This benefit can be economic or social, depending on the goals pursued.

According to several authors:

The Administration consists of achieving a predetermined objective, through the efforts of others. (George R. Terry)
The Administration is a social science that pursues the satisfaction of institutional objectives through a structure and coordinated human effort. (Jose A. Fernandez Arenas)
The Administration is the process whose objective is the effective and efficient coordination of the resources of a social group to achieve its objectives with maximum productivity. (Lourdes Münch Galindo and José García Martínez)

Based on the definitions given above, it can be summarized that administration is one of the most important and oldest human activities that exist in the world and is defined as the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which people, working in groups, efficiently achieve selected goals.

An extension of this basic definition would be:

As administrators, people perform administrative functions of planning, organization, integration of personnel, direction, and control.
The administration applies to all types of organizations because they constitute its object of study, it applies to private and public companies; public institutions and state agencies, and to different private institutions, for example, churches; universities; governments, and municipal, provincial, national organizations, hospitals and other health institutions, foundations, etc. and all types of private businesses including families and households.
It applies to managers at all organizational levels.
The goal of all managers is to create a surplus.
Management is concerned with productivity which implies effectiveness and efficiency.

It is essential to look at these last elements that complete the basic definition of administration, so their description will be made in the development of this article.

Development

The goal of managers is to create surplus, and productivity, which implies efficiency, effectiveness, and effectiveness.

Productivity is defined as the relationship that exists between the results (products or others) and the inputs (labor, materials, capital) within a given period, considering quality.

Productivity = Results / Inputs (given period, quality)

Productivity implies efficiency, effectiveness, effectiveness, and quality has always been considered in its formula, for good individual and organizational performance.

We then move on to the definition of the 3 E and the term quality.

1. Efficiency: it is to achieve favorable productivity, that is, to achieve the maximum result with a certain or minimum amount of inputs or resources, to achieve the predetermined or expected results with a minimum of resources.

The word resource is used broadly, not only referring to those that are needed economically to carry out the production process or the service that is provided but also to all those who come to play a fundamental role such as energy, and human efforts. , the time factor, quality, etc.

Efficiency is measurable either through an indicator or a set of them. It constitutes one of the bases to achieve competitiveness and marketing activity in the organization.

2. Efficacy: it is the degree to which the product or service satisfies the real and potential needs or expectations of the clients or recipients.

3. Effectiveness: degree of fulfillment of the planned objectives, that is, it is the result of the product of dividing the Real/Plan or what is the same: the results obtained between the fixed or predetermined goals. It is the degree of compliance with the delivery of the product or service on the date and at the time the customer needs it.

As it has been observed in the previously described definitions of the 3 E, the term quality that we will describe below is implicit.

Quality

Quality is a basic tool for an inherent property of anything that allows it to be compared with any other of its kind. The word quality has multiple meanings. It refers to the set of properties inherent to an object that give it the ability to satisfy implicit or explicit needs. On the other hand, the quality of a product or service is the perception that the client has of it, it is a mental fixation of the consumer that assumes conformity with said product or service and its capacity to satisfy his needs. Therefore, it must be defined in the context that is being considered.

Definitions from a Production Perspective

Quality can be defined as the relative conformity with the design specifications, commonly it is to find satisfaction in a product meeting all the expectations that a client seeks, thus being controlled by rules which must go to the market to be inspected and have the stipulated requirements. by organizations that certify a product.

From a value perspective

Quality means providing value to the client, that is, offering conditions of use of the product or service that are superior to those that the client expects to receive and at an affordable price. Also, quality refers to minimizing the losses that a product may cause to human society, showing some interest on the part of the company to maintain customer satisfaction. A current vision of the concept of quality indicates that quality is delivering to the client not what he wants, but what he never imagined he wanted, and that once he gets it, he realizes that it was what he had always wanted.

formal definitions

Other definitions from recognized organizations and experts from the world of quality are:

Definition of the ISO 9000 standard: “Quality: degree to which a set of inherent characteristics meets the requirements”.
According to Luis Andres Arnauda Sequera, the ISO 9000 standard is the “Set of quality standards and guidelines that must be carried out in a process”.
Royal Academy of the Spanish Language: “Property or set of properties inherent to a thing that allow it to be appreciated as the same, better or worse than the rest of its kind”.
Philip Crosby: “Quality is compliance with requirements”.
Joseph Juran: “Quality is suitability for customer use”.
Armand V. Feigenbaum: “Satisfaction of customer expectations” and also, “the result of a combination of engineering and manufacturing characteristics, determining the degree of satisfaction that the product provides to the consumer during its use.”
William Edwards Deming: “Quality is customer satisfaction.”
Walter A. Shewhart: “Quality as a result of the interaction of two dimensions: subjective dimension (what the client wants) and objective dimension (what is offered).

Quality should never be confused with higher levels of attributes of the product or service, but with the regular and permanent obtaining of the attributes of the good offered that satisfy the customers for whom it has been designed.

To achieve good quality in the product or service, three important aspects must be taken into account (basic dimensions of quality):

Technical dimension: encompasses the scientific and technological aspects that affect the product or service.
Human dimension: take care of good relations between clients and companies.
Economic dimension: tries to minimize costs for both the client and the company.

Other factors related to quality are:

Just and desired amount of product to be manufactured and offered.
Speed of product distribution or customer service.
The exact price (according to the supply and demand of the product).

quality parameters

Design quality: is the degree to which a product or service is reflected in its design.
Conformity quality: It is the degree of fidelity with which a product or service is reproduced concerning its design.
Quality of use: the product must be easy to use, safe, reliable, etc.
The client is the new objective: the new theories place the client as an active part of the quality qualification of a product, trying to create a standard based on the subjective point of a client. The quality of a product is not going to be determined solely by purely objective parameters but also includes the opinions of a customer who uses a certain product or service.

Basic Concepts in quality standardization

It pursues the following objectives:

Reduce and unify products, processes, and data.
Improve security aspects.
Protect the interests of consumers and general society.
Lower general costs.

Applicable fields of normalization

Materials, Products, Machines, Environmental Management, Risk management at work, Data, Testing,, and calibration activities, Provision of a Service, and Processes in general.

Internal management and quality assurance

Quality assurance could be defined as those actions that make a product or service meet certain quality requirements. If these quality requirements fully reflect the needs of customers, it can be said that quality assurance is met.

Quality assurance

Quality assurance can be defined as the total effort to plan, organize, direct, and control quality in a production system to provide the customer with adequate quality products. It’s just making sure the quality is what it should be.

Internal assurance system or internal quality management

The standards that include the guidelines for implementing internal quality assurance systems are:

UNE*EN*ISO 9000 “Quality systems. Standards for Quality Management and Quality Assurance”.
UNE*EN*ISO 9004 “Quality Management and element of a Quality System”.
LAQI 1000 “Latin American Quality Institute – The most important Institute for the Development of Quality Standards and Standards in Latin America” The Latin American Quality Institute certifies the Quality Managers of the main Latin American organizations with the “Quality Assurance Manager” certificate.

External assurance system

Reasons to ensure quality externally:

Internal improvement.
Commercial reasons “marketing”.
Supplier control and development.
Legal requirements or those of our clients.
As the first step towards Excellent Management.

Quality in design and product

To obtain quality products and services, we must ensure their quality from the moment of their design. A quality product or service satisfies the customer’s needs, therefore, to develop and launch a quality product it is necessary:

Know the customer’s needs.
Design a product or service that meets those needs.
Make the product or service according to the design.
Get to make the product or service in the shortest time and at the lowest possible cost.

Quality in purchases

It is necessary to ensure the quality of purchases to ensure that the products or services purchased meet the requirements. The best way to guarantee the quality of products and services is based on the responsibility of the supplier, to manufacture a good product and provide the corresponding quality tests.

Supplier Evaluation

The quality of an organization’s products or services depends to a significant extent on its suppliers. To develop new products and services with a high degree of reliability, the provider must collaborate from the initial phase of development.

It is important to bear in mind that a supplier that is well stimulated and supported by the organization can make an irreplaceable contribution of creativity and technological innovation in new products and services and can also actively work to continuously reduce costs.

Concerted quality

It is the agreement established between the buyer and the supplier, according to which, the supplier is attributed a certain responsibility for the quality of the batches supplied, which must meet previously agreed quality levels. This agreement should be signed in the form of a contract.

Production quality

It is to carry out the necessary activities to ensure that the required quality is obtained and maintained, from the time the product design is taken to the factory until the product is delivered to the customer for use. The main objectives of quality assurance in production are:

Minimize costs.
Maximize customer satisfaction.

Planning of quality control in production

The planning of quality control in production is one of the most important activities since it is where it is defined:

The processes and works must be controlled to obtain products without failures.
The requirements and form of acceptance of the product guarantees their quality.
The necessary measuring equipment to guarantee the correct verification of the products.
The way to collect data is to maintain control and take corrective action when necessary.
The training and training needs of personnel with inspection tasks.
The tests and supervision guarantee that these activities are carried out correctly and that the product is free of errors.

Product verification

The verification of the product, service, or process must be considered an integral part of production control, being able to find three types:

Inspection and tests of entry of materials.
Inspection during the process.
in finished products.

Quality management in services

One of the first actions in service quality is to find out who the customers are, and what they want and expect from the organization. Only in this way can the products and services, as well as the processes, be oriented toward their best satisfaction.

Quality customer service

It is the set of benefits that the customer expects, in addition to the basic product or service. To provide the best service, the set of benefits that the client wants must be considered:

The value added to the product.
The service itself.
The business experience.
The benefit granted to the client.

Basic customer needs

The main basic needs of a client are:

be understood.
Feel welcome.
Feel important.
Feel comfort.
Feel confident.
feel heard
Feel safe.
feel valuable.
Feel satisfied.

The importance of service quality management

The importance of quality in service can be understood for the following reasons:

Growth of the service industry.
Competition growth.
Better knowledge of customers.
Quality of service to the client, being satisfied according to their perspective.

Customer service

To provide adequate customer service, you must:

Identify who the customers are.
Group them into different types.
Identifying customer needs, as well as knowing where and how customers want it in addition to increasing productivity, is essential for any company.

conclusions

As has been seen in the definition of administration, the concept of productivity is implicit as one of the main goals to be achieved, which implies efficiency (favorable productivity), effectiveness (the degree to which the product or service satisfies the real and potential needs or expectations of customers or recipients), and effectiveness (degree of compliance with planned objectives), in turn, productivity in its formula considers quality (inherent property of anything that allows it to be compared with any other of its kind) to good individual and organizational performance.

The concept of quality, in addition to being considered in the productivity formula, is explicitly reflected in the elements that are implicit in it, such as efficiency, effectiveness, and effectiveness, since quality refers to the set of properties inherent to an object that give it the capacity to satisfy virtual or tangible needs, and it is also the perception that the client has of the product or service, or one could say mental fixation of the consumer who assumes conformity with said product or service and the capacity of the same to meet your needs.

Here is the close relationship that exists between all these terms and the valuation of the title that gives rise to this article: Quality, its close relationship with the 3 E (Efficiency, Effectiveness, Effectiveness.