Research Project: Quality Management Impact on Employee Productivity

This research project investigates the relationship between quality management and employee productivity, focusing on a case study at Volkswagen. The report begins with an outline of the research project, including factors considered for project selection and a critical review of existing literature. It then defines the research specifications, objectives, and questions, followed by a detailed plan and procedure for conducting the research, including the use of stratified sampling. The methodology section describes the research approach, which is inductive, and the resources matched to the research questions. The report also covers data collection, analysis, and interpretation, along with recommendations. The study aims to analyze how quality management tools and techniques impact employee efficiency and productivity, evaluating the effectiveness of quality management practices within the organization. The report concludes with findings and suggestions for enhancing employee performance through quality management initiatives.

RESEARCH
PROJECT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Outline of research project....................................................................................................1
1.2 Factors that are considered for selecting research project on quality management and
employees productivity...............................................................................................................1
1.3 Critical review of literature...................................................................................................2
1.4 Research project specification...............................................................................................2
1.5 Plan and procedure for agreed research specification...........................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1Match resources efficiently to the research questions............................................................4
2.2 Research methodology..........................................................................................................5
2.3 Record and collate data.........................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Research evaluation techniques............................................................................................8
3.2 Interpret and analyse data......................................................................................................8
3.3 Recommendations ..............................................................................................................10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Covered in PPT...................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................11

TASK 1
1.1 Outline of research project
In current time period competition among the firms become fierce and it is very difficult for
them to maintain market share and profitability in the business. Hence, number of firms are
focusing on cost control and effective utilization of resources. Quality management is the one of
the most important domain that refers to excellence that is achieved by evaluating tasks and by
implementing the quality planning and policies at the workplace (Sallis, 2014). There are
number of techniques of quality management that are performed to identify the best way that can
be used to perform business operation’s in better way. There is very close relationship between
quality management and employees productivity. In this research report, impact of changes that
comes in the employee’s productivity due to application of tools and techniques of quality
management will be examine. It has observed that by using quality management tools and
technique’s managers evaluate business operations and identify the wasteful activities. These
unproductive steps from business task are eliminated which help employees to complete assigned
task in short time period and make them more productive. Hence, it can be said that quality
management play significant role in making employees more productive.
1.2 Factors that are considered for selecting research project on quality management and
employees productivity
Before selecting a research project on specific topic it is necessary to identify the factors due to
which it is necessary to do study on specific issue. There are number of steps that are taken by
the firm to improve employee’s performance at the workplace. Most of the times it is identified
that management failed to generate desired results from effective implementation of its strategy.
Some entrepreneurs think that by making use of quality management tools employees can be
made more productive (Boyd and Tucker, 2012). On other hand, there are some who assume that
quality management is not any important tool whose implementation surely elevate employee
productivity. Such kind of entrepreneur’s think that increase or decrease in productivity depends
on employee discretion and their motivation level. Hence, it become necessary to conduct a
research and identify that what extent quality management play a very important role in elevating
employee’s productivity at the workplace?

1.3 Critical review of literature
Quality management is the one of the most important discipline that is used by the business firms
to enhance productivity at the workplace. It is the productivity that play an important role in
enhancing profitability of the business firm. Efficiency is another factor that play a key role in
earning of revenue in the business. By using quality management tools unproductive steps are
identified in business activities specially related to production. By eliminating those steps from
production process energy of employees is channelize towards useful activities and in this way
they are made more productive. There are number of aspects that are related to quality
management at the workplace (Sadikoglu and Zehir, 2010). One of them is the difficulty that
managers face in effective implementation of the quality management techniques like six sigma
and Pareto analysis etc. At the workplace most of the employees does not have deep knowledge
of statistical tools. This hampers effective implementation of quality management technique’s at
the workplace. There are number of quality management aspects that are undertaken by the
business firms at the workplace. Some of them are quality planning, assurance, control and
improvement. It is the quality planning by using which it is determined that in what areas
changes will be made. So that efficiency and productivity of the employees can be improved to
great extent. Apart from this there is a quality assurance strategies that are adopted to prevent
mistakes in performance of activities. Such kind of think make employees more productive and
efficient. It can be said that there is very close relationship between quality management and
employee’s productivity.
1.4 Research project specification
Currently, research is conducted on quality management and its impact on employee’s
performance at Volkswagen. Research aims and objectives are as follows.
Aim of research
The main aim of the research is “To analyze the effectiveness of the quality management and
degree of its impact on the employee’s productivity and efficiency at the workplace”. Entire
research work will revolve around this research aim. Further, on the basis of aim research
objectives will be prepared.
Objectives of research
 To identify the extent to which quality management play an important role in enhancing
employee’s productivity.

 To find out degree to which quality management elevate efficiency of the employees.
Research questions
 What role quality management play in making employee more productive?
 What is the contribution of quality management in enhancing efficiency level of the
employees?
1.5 Plan and procedure for agreed research specification
In order to take appropriate sample units for the research stratified sampling method will
be used. It is the sampling method under which entire population is divided in to different strata
and from same sample units are taken. In present study entire workforce of Volkswagen is the
population and same will be divided in to different departments which are strata. From these
departments sample units will be taken for the research.
Activity/Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Preparing research proposal to outline
research work briefly
Conducting literature review in order to
understand topic in better way
Preparing objectives for research study
Developing draft for the literature review
Gathering secondary data for research
Detail analysis of secondary data
Determining specific approach for
conducting a research
Preparing research methodology section
Preparing the questionnaire
Arranging interviews

Conducting interview
Analysis of gathered facts and figures
Findings of the Draft
Evaluation of the data
Finalizing other chapters
Draft findings chapter
Submission to tutor and awaiting feedback
Revising the final draft
Printing and binding
Submit
TASK 2
2.1Match resources efficiently to the research questions
According to Kern (2014) quality management plays a very important role in improving
employee’s performance at the workplace. This is because in quality management evaluation of
each and activity of the firm is done and in same unproductive steps are identified and removed.
This increase efficiency and productivity of the employees at the workplace. Contrary to this
Papp (2014) state that it is not necessary that always if quality management techniques are used
at the workplace then employee’s productivity and efficiency will improve. This is because
management can identify unproductive activities and can issue necessary guidelines. It depends
on the employees that to what extent they apply those guidelines at the workplace. If they will
not execute recommendations in proper way at the workplace then their productivity and
efficiency will not change substantially.
Agus (2011) claims that employee’s efficiency can be improved at the workplace by
making use of quality management techniques. This is because by making use of process re-
engineering not only unnecessary moves or actions can eliminated from production process but
new in which specific action must be performed can be determined. Hence, in this way

employees performance can be improved to great extent. Opposite to this Ali and Shastri (2010)
state that proper knowledge of quality management techniques and high intellect is must for
identifying unproductive tasks and replacing them by new actions. If firm does not have
individuals with deep knowledge of statistics it is possible that they may misinterpret results and
give wrong recommendations. Hence, due to this reason application of quality management
techniques can prove ineffective and employee’s efficiency level may elevate only to some
extent. Thus, it is very important to make use of quality management techniques with full
caution.
As per views of Kern (2014) quality assurance refers to the ways that are adopted to
prevent errors or defects that may come in existence in produced units due to mistake of
employees. It also refers to the ways that can be employed at the workplace in order to avoid
specific type of problem. By focusing on quality assurance employee’s performance can be
improved to maximum possible extent. In this regard some parameters can be determined and
order can be given to the employees in respect to strict adherence to that standards in respect to
quality of performance of business task. In contrast to this Sadikoglu and Zehir (2010) state that
even standards are determined then also cases of technical failure are seen in case of number of
firms. Toyota recalls 1.4 million cars due to air bag problem is the one of the incident that
happened this year. It is the company that is known for implementing number of TQM tools like
Kaizen and Six Sigma etc at the workplace then also such kind of incidence comes in existence.
It depends on the employees that to what extent they follow quality standards at the workplace.
Example of Toyota reflects that such a quality related mistake not happens at individual level
instead multiple employees were responsible for mentioned instance. Hence, merely by
implementing QM technique’s it cannot be ensured that employee’s productivity and efficiency
will surely improve.
2.2 Research methodology
Research approach- It is the one of the most important part of the research methodology section
of the report. In this section specific approach that will be followed for conducting a research
will be determined. There are two sort of research approaches namely inductive and deductive
approach. Both of them are inverse of each other. In case of inductive approach hypothesis is
prepared and then it is tested to arrive at specific results. On the basis of results theory is

prepared by the researcher (Alasuutari 2010). Inverse to this, deductive approach is very
different and in this there is theory and it is tested by collecting and analyzing the data. In present
study inductive approach will be used because on the basis of analysis of the data it will be
identified that QM put any impact on employees productivity and efficiency or not.
Research philosophy- There are two sort of research philosophies namely interpretivism and
positivism. Both these philosophies are entirely different from each other. Former philosophy is
used when research that one is going to conduct is nonscientific in nature. In contrast to this,
other research philosophy is positivism which is applied on those researches which are scientific
in nature. Tools like SPSS are used under this philosophy. Whereas, in case of interpretivism
philosophy thematic analysis technique is commonly used by the researchers. Under this method
data that is collected by distributing a questionnaire is used and charting of same is done to
identify varied response that is given by respondents. In this research interpretivism philosophy
will be used because it is nonscientific in nature.
Research design- In research there are four types of research designs namely exploratory,
descriptive, experimental and case study. All these methods are totally different from each other
(Eaton and Kessler, 2012). Exploratory research design is often used when scholar intends to
explore large number of things on research topic. Contrary to this, descriptive is used when one
have little information about topic and wants to know more about same. Experimental research
design is employed for scientific research. In case if it is not possible to collect data then in that
case study research design is used by scholar. In present case descriptive research design will be
employed because research on quality management is done from starting points from very basic
level.
Sampling- Out of all sampling methods stratified random sampling method will be used. This is
because by using same relevant people will be taken as respondent in the research by scholar.
Other methods like simple random sampling and cluster sampling are not relevant for present
research.
Data collection- Data will be collected from 5 employees that are manager’s different functional
departments of the Volkswagen. Interview of these managers will be taken and in this way data
will be collected for entire research (Psacharopoulos, 2014).

Data analysis- As mentioned above that interview of the managers of Volkswagen will be taken
and information collected from them will be analyzed to arrive at specific result. On this basis
finding and conclusion section of the report will be prepared.
Limitations of research- The main limitation of present research is that sample size is very
small. In present study sample of 5 managers of Volkswagen is taken. However, it is ensured that
managers that are selected as respondent have number of years of experience in the firm. Hence,
data that is collected for present study is reliable (Dix and Phau 2010). Due to availability of less
time in short duration this research is completed. Data is collected from the managers and this
ensure that same that is gathered for research is reliable.
2.3 Record and collate data
Here, scholar has been collected relevant information from the managers of Volkswagen
which are as follows-
Interview question for the managers of Volkswagen
Name-
Age-
Department-
 Quality management plays important role in enhancing employee’s productivity.
 Employee’s efficiency can be improved by making use of quality management
techniques.
 Do you think quality assurance which is important component of QM plays significant
role in improving employee’s performance.
 Do you think that parameters that are set for employees under quality control are
effective in enhancing their efficiency level at the workplace?

 If quality planning will not be done in effective way then employee’s productivity cannot
be enhanced to maximum possible extent.
TASK 3
3.1 Research evaluation techniques
It can be evaluated from carrying out the research evaluation techniques it helps scholars
to undertake effective in-depth analysis so that appropriate outcomes can be attained. Different
research evaluation techniques are as follows-
 Survey- It involves primary data collection method that helps in executing the research
through undertaking valid and reliable data so that suitable results can be attained. Here,
survey method has been adopted which assesses that interview questions has been asked
from the managers of Volkswagen. They plays a crucial role in order to provide relevant
answers regarding the questions so that study can be completed effectively.
 Systematic sampling- It assesses that appropriate sample has been undertaken with the
help of systematic sampling method (Bernard and Gravlee 2014). It undertakes
convenience sampling tool and 5 managers has been selected for participating in the
interview to obtain best outcomes.
3.2 Interpret and analyse data
Further, it is another part that assists in assessing the best outcomes through interpreting
and analysing the research data. Hence, scholar aims to adopt thematic analysis for identifying
best and reliable results.
Theme 1: Quality management plays important role in enhancing employee’s productivity.
It can be evaluated from the managers that quality management is considered as one of
the significant aspect that helps in improving individual's productivity. Management needs to
encourage individuals to identify their weaknesses so that they can overcome the same and thus
success can be attained. Further, it is essential for manager to implement appropriate quality
management tools so that it assists in improving employees productivity within firm. Through
such way it assists managers to implement appropriate quality management methods so that
workers performance can be increased up to significant level. However, through evaluating

quality management measures such as SERVQUAL it helps firm to attain business growth and
success.
Theme 2: Employee’s efficiency can be improved by making use of quality management
techniques.
It can be evaluated from the theme that using quality management measures such as
SERVQUAL helps in improving individuals efficiency and thus impacting upon the growth and
profitability of firm. Quality management aspects considers the best way through which
managers can attain high quality specification and growth aspects within economy. Further,
TQM is another approach that helps firm to enhance employees performance by providing them
appropriate training programs which raises business performance (Papp, 2014). Further, it
considers the appropriate measures of enhancing employees efficiency through attaining desired
success. All such measures are assessed as the best which helps in improving employees
efficiency so that growth can be attained effectively.
Theme 3: Do you think quality assurance which is important component of QM plays
significant role in improving employee’s performance.
It can be reviewed from the manager that quality assurance plays a crucial role within
firm and thus it helps in empowering consumers through improving individual's performance.
Manager assesses that implementing effective quality assurance techniques plays a crucial role in
enhancing individual's performance so that best services can be rendered to consumers. Hence, it
can be reflected that quality management needs to assure that it is the best way through which
individuals productivity can be enhanced up to a great extent (Alasuutari, 2010). Business helps
in creating effective use of quality management tools so that business productivity can be
increased.
Theme 4: Do you think that parameters that are set for employees under quality control are
effective in enhancing their efficiency level at the workplace.
It can be evaluated from the theme that business aims to use different parameters which
assists them to improve employees performance under quality control so that efficiency can be

attained. Further, using Six Sigma parameters assists in influencing employees performance and
improve their performance in regard to overcome issues and satisfy consumers needs. Managers
evaluates that the set parameters needs to be undertaken by each and every employees so that
efficiency can be attained significantly.
3.3 Recommendations
Volkswagen is the leading automotive company and it is necessary for the manager to
improve the functioning of their staff so that they can produce best of the cars and give stiff
competition to major competitors. From the scenario, it is found that the quality needs to be
improved efficiently. Some of the techniques need to be opted in form of performance appraisal
and six sigma which will improve the performance of workers as well as of the organisation.
Productive results will be enhanced when the best quality techniques will be implemented in the
organisation. Moreover, manager has to seek the individual's performance with the help of
undertaking the 360 degree appraisal method as this will tell manager exact output of each and
every employee in the organisation.
TASK 4
4.1 Covered in PPT