total Quality Management assignment on apple inc quality control guidelines
Question
Task: how to analysis apple inc. quality control guidelines using total Quality Management assignment research strategies?
Answer
Executive Summary
The total Quality Management assignment report provides an overview about Apple Inc. and its total quality management. It shows that product quality has always been the strength of Apple Inc. As a result, total quality management (TQM) is extremely prioritised in the operations, procedures and products of Apple Inc. The quality management improves the overall consequence as well as develops the brand image and generates an exceptional identity for premium quality. Statistical process control and flowcharts are the quality management tools that are used by Apple Inc. to evolve its product quality over the years.
Introduction
This total Quality Management assignment highlights quality management as a very crucial aspect of an organisation. According to Aggarwal, Aeran and Rathee (2019), maintaining the quality of operations, products and processes is necessary for an organisation to sustain and successfully operate in a market. The quality can be ensured by an organisation when they align their operations with the expectations of their customers. In this report, Apple Inc. as an organisation would be considered for study. There are various aspects of quality management identified on this total Quality Management assignment like process monitoring, process improvement, service monitoring, product monitoring, product improvement, aspects of strategy, etc. which can be aligned to the needs of the target customers. The organisations have to look into these quality aspects. Apple Inc. preaches the motto of ‘Think Differently’ and they try to come up with innovative products to satisfy the needs of their customers (Kane, 2019). Product quality has always been the strength of Apple Inc. Therefore, this report will explore how as a company Apple Inc. aims at improving their product quality constantly so that they can retain their reputation as a premium quality products’ supplier. They want to maintain their products’ standard and consistently bring in new products and enhance the quality of existing products to maintain their market share. Quality management includes monitoring the present quality, taking feedbacks for improving the weak areas, executing the quality upgradation plan and finally measuring the outcome of the quality management plan. This total Quality Management assignment report will include a brief background about Apple Inc., its total quality management (TQM), benefits of TQM, the product quality management and enhancement and future prospects of product quality management.
Quality Management by Apple Inc.
About the Company
Apple Inc. is a multinational organisation of American origin. The company specialises in software, electronics and online services. Apple Inc. has its headquarters at Cupertino in California, U.S. Apple Inc. is the biggest technology based company in the world when ranked in terms of revenue (Mankin, Jewell and Rivas, 2022). Their revenue in the year 2021 amounted to 365.8 billion US dollars. As of now, in 2022, the company secures the position of biggest company in terms of market capitalisation. The total Quality Management assignment research also shows they are also the fourth largest vendors of personal computers (estimated in terms of unit sales). The mobile phones of Apple Inc., iPhones, are popular all across the world. The company is the second largest manufacturer of mobile phones. Out of the Big Five information technologies of America, Apple Inc. holds its position along with Microsoft, Meta, Amazon and Alphabet. The products of Apple Inc. include Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, Mac and Airpods. The services provided by the company include Apple Card, App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and Apple TV+. In the year 2021, the company had an operating income of 108.95 billion US dollars. Their net income was 94.68 billion US dollars, total assets summed up to 351.02 billion US dollars and total equity in the same year was 63.09 billion US dollars. During 2021, the total number of employees at Apple Inc. was 154,000 (Pinheiro, 2022). Thus, the company is also a good employment generator for the global economy. These financial records and achievements have come to the company against hard work, innovation and consistency. The company has managed to maintain their quality standards and brand image over the years, which has brought immense success to Apple Inc.
Quality Management by Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. as an organisation has always considered quality management to be the most important aspect of their business. Therefore, total quality management (TQM) is highly prioritised in the operations, processes and products of Apple Inc. There are various products and services offered by the company to its customers. In case of iPhones, the decision area and the operational management closely focuses on the quality standards and quality controls. The leaders or managers of different departments at Apple Inc. coordinate with each other to ensure that the quality is maintained across all processes, products and services and operations. As per the total Quality Management assignment findings, the production quality has to be synced with the service quality. For instance, the after sales service of iPhones should match the quality standards of the phone’s production, designing, packaging, etc. The entire organisation tries to meet the compliance requirements of quality management and quality control. According to Dahlgaard-Park, Reyes and Chen (2018), the quality management refers to the act of supervising over the products and services to ensure that they meet the desired level of quality standards. The quality management determines the internal standards of quality as well as follows the guidelines to reduce the flaws and errors. The basic aim of the quality management is to emphasize on the activities which encourage the organisational quality enhancement, improvement of outputs and internal operations. This quality management at Apple Inc. facilitates the company to meet the operational requirements and also maintain a good product quality for the customers.
Apple Inc. has always been popular for its high quality standards and its consistent management (de Souza et al, 2021). Their quality management permeates through different areas of their organisation and operations which comprises loom for control of product design, development, retail and market controls. The quality management of the company further emphasizes on inventory quality, resource management, industrial designs, etc. to assure a holistic approach to the improvement of the company’s quality standards so that they can offer good and high products for customers. Due to the high quality standards set by Apple Inc. in the market, the employees also feel the pressure of maintaining their level of productivity and excellence. The employees remain satisfied and motivated when they see their brand doing well in the market. Effective quality management upholds the organisational culture and work environment (Díez et al, 2020).
Total Quality Management assignment Benefits
There are various advantages or benefits of effective quality management identified on this total Quality Management assignment. For instance, by maintaining good quality for its products, processes and operations, Apple Inc. has been able to enhance their product reliability, improve their quality control, update their designs, improve their customer satisfaction, etc. Effective communication has a crucial role to play in case of quality management (Nurzannah, Ginting and Setiawan, 2020). The management of the organisation needs to convey the right message to the employees for better quality management. The quality management enhances the overall outcome, improves the brand image and creates a unique identity for premium quality. The management at Apple Inc. uses different quality management tools for assessing their quality standards time to time. These tools include Cause and Effect charts, Histogram, Pareto diagrams, etc. which highlight the quality management aspects of the company. Every employee and leader has to carry out their responsibilities sincerely to maintain the overall quality standards (Pambreni et al, 2019). Through quality management, Apple Inc. also tries to make their waste management effective and streamline their supply chain management. These enhance the overall responsiveness and efficiency. Through quality management, Apple Inc. can realise its corporate objectives. They can earn good profits, keep their shareholders satisfied and add value for the money paid by the customers for their products or services.
Apple Inc. tries to introduce innovative quality management and improvement solutions. The quality of leadership, quality of employees, etc. also impact the quality of the overall performance and outcome of the organisation (Aleksandrova, Vasiliev and Letuchev, 2018). The training of employees to deliver better performance and manufacture better products and services is important. Quality management provides deeper insight and in-depth understanding of market needs and quality standards, which fosters better organisational outcome. Apple Inc. keeps adding new features to their iPhones to attract customers and enhance their performance quality. From design to features everything about iPhones attract the teenagers and youngsters. In fact, in many developing nations iPhone is a status symbol. Apple Inc. ensures that everyone in the supply chain of Apple Inc. is aware and follows the Supplier’s code of conduct. The total Quality Management assignment findings also show the HR team ensures that the quality of the products, employees and overall organisation meets the quality standards laid down by the management of Apple Inc.
Product Quality: an area of interest
Apple Inc. intends as well as trades with electronic devices and computers and operates stores that vend content for each. Apple Inc. mostly takes care about their quality by selling high-quality hardware at huge margins. They hardly compete with pure-volume vendors in some selected segments. Implementing TQM by Apple Inc (Olson, 2018). helped the company to initiate a quality-driven strategy. In other words, the overall competitive advantage of Apple Inc. depends entirely on quality of their products. Through TQM, it has become easier for the company to accomplish elevated purchasing interface that in turn acted as a competitive advantage over the competitors. The margin that Apple Inc. achieves over dwarf competitors is not based solely on price, but the investment it makes on vertical integration. The control that Apple Inc. has over its software as well as hardware provides the company with incredible edge over competitors. The lack of unity among the competitors of Apple Inc. makes it difficult for them to provide a seamless as well as collaborative experience for customers. With the help of total Quality Management assignment methods, the products that has been introduced by the company represents the future of technology. The approach to innovation has been perfectly captured by Apple Inc (Ayu and Ketut, 2020). through TQM. The company has introduced products that is way beyond its time in terms of technology.
Quality evolving in the next five years
In the year 2001, Apple Inc. introduced iPod under the shadow of Microsoft that was known as MP3 hostile software offerings. But the program to push online music to Windows media by using Windows XP endangered Apple Inc. to pay a license fee to Microsoft for each device that was compatible with future music. Apple Inc. did not desire to see themselves in such a position. As a result, Apple Inc. introduced the iTunes Store that provided a defensive measure. In other words, it was not possible to play any other music on iTunes Store expect the one provided by Apple Inc. By the year 2008, Apple Inc. started operating the largest music store in the world. The iPhone by Apple Inc. also evolved over time that in its initial times did not have several innovative features like present day. In the year 2011, Apple Inc. introduced iPhone with a special feature in the form of a personal assistant named Siri. In the year 2012, iPhone 5 was introduced with a larger 4-inch display along with a 1136×640 resolution. This made iPhone an enormously polished Smartphone that oozes demand. As a part of TQM, touch ID was introduced by the company that provided an alternative way to unlock the phone as well as secured purchases from App Store. It evolved with each passing year and 2021 witnessed a whole new camera design as well as refinements that acted as a notch to the display (Acs et al., 2021).
Quality Management Tools
A several number of total Quality Management assignment tools are used by Apple Inc. to make sure about the high quality of its products. The tools that are used by the company are as follows:
SPC charts: It is also known as Statistical process control that is a type of application used in statistical methods. It helps to observe as well as regulate a particular procedure. It makes sure that the procedure operates according to the anticipations. The companies that are mainly into manufacturing uses this application. The major total Quality Management assignment tools that are used in statistical procedures are control charts that looks forward to recurrent improvements on products produced by a company. The control charts are used by Apple Inc. to recognise whether a particular procedure is under control. This in turn aids the company to forecast the anticipated performance. The company evaluates the control chart to establish the variation source in case the procedure does not perform well as anticipated. As a result, it becomes easier to put the procedure under control by facilitating considerable changes to be made (Addison and Adelaide, 2022). SPC charts are also used by the company to conduct quality awareness so as to avert the production of poor quality goods which do not imitate to customer requirements. The major focus is put on developing a new product that helps Apple Inc. to maintain competitive advantage over its competitors. Besides introducing new products in the market, the company commences the development of the existing products. The likely total Quality Management assignment risks that Apple Inc. might come across also gets managed by SPC while introducing a new product in the market. It also makes it easier for the company to detect any imperfections that interfere with product quality and remedy the recognized defects, introducing the new product beforehand to the market. Apple Inc. finds it requisite to involve customers before introducing a new product in the market as it helps to reduce risks (Addison and Adelaide, 2022). It believes in the fact that the only way to meet requirement of customers is by matching their expectations before introducing a new product in the market.
total Quality Management assignment Flowcharts: It indicates the illustration that is created in the form of an algorithm. This procedure is depicted in small boxes that are linked to each other through arrows. The flow chart provides the expected outcome to the issue identified. This particular quality management tool is used by Apple Inc. to evaluate as well as design diverse procedures within the company. The flowcharts are used by Apple Inc. to determine the existing development of the company and also its predictable performance. This in turn makes it easier for employees to comprehend as well as recognise areas that requires modification. This tool is also used by the team that are responsible for developing new projects in Apple Inc. (Addison and Adelaide, 2022). This makes it easier to comprehend the procedures and make changes where required. Apple Inc. deals with diverse procedures as a part of orientation where employees who has vast knowledge are involved. Use of total Quality Management assignment flowcharts, hence, aids to comprise even the less experienced employees in implementation of several procedures within the company.
Conclusion
It can be concluded from this total Quality Management assignment report that Apple Inc. considers their quality management very seriously. However, there is scope for more improvement of quality. The company has to incorporate certain measures into their operations and processes to enhance their quality control and management of their products (and services). iPhone is their most important product whose quality they need to update time to time to remain relevant in the market and hold their market position. The company stresses on their product quality improvement, layout design, customers’ need management, etc. The quality expectations and the quality commitments of Apple Inc. identified on this total Quality Management assignment should be clear to the suppliers and employees, and the customers respectively for better quality outcome.
References
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Dahlgaard-Park, S.M., Reyes, L. and Chen, C.K., 2018. The evolution and convergence of total quality management and management theories. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 29(9-10), pp.1108-1128.
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