Republic of the Philippines

College of Education
CENTRAL MINDANAO UNIVERSITY
University town, Musuan
Maramag, Bukidnon

Chapter 14 Narrative Report

Controlling Productivity, Quality and Safety

By: Ronilo M. Ba-ang

In human resource perspective, productivity means efficiency. The term

productivity at work became the subject of business and government sponsored
seminars.

High US Productivity: Mid-1990s

On a global level, a country’s productivity shows how efficient the employees are;
they must be functioning effectively with the least waste of time and effort, as far as
human resources are utilized in producing goods and services. U.S. workers’
productivity level is higher than that of any other country workers. However, they also
suffer productivity stagnation during 1980s, but a dramatic turnaround in the 1990s. US
grab back the initiative. Build new facilities, upgrade technology and invested heavily in
employee training

Defining Productivity
Productivity means a measurement that compares output to inputs. It tells you
how efficiently a system is performing. Let’s take a look for an (FI) Fuel Injected
motorcycle as an example. Let us say that a liter of gasoline, the motorcycle achieves a
certain output which is 65 kilometers of travel. The figure of 65 kilometers per liter of
gasoline so this gasoline kilometrage is the productivity measure of the motorcycle’s
energy performance.

The figure is useful, it is the basis for comparisons of the some other vehicles as
performance is concerned. But on the other hand if that particular vehicle performance
may drop into 50 kilometers the owner may know that the performance had fallen thus,
he/she must try to determine the reason.

Why Productivity is Important

Productivity is important for some reasons. First, increased productivity translates
into lower prices longer market share and greater profits that makes business firm or
establishment’s financial position strong, able to increase wages, benefits and improve
working conditions and etc. productivity is also important to the small service oriented
business who are hiring contact worker.

Groups influencing productivity

There are four groups that influence productivity:
First is the management - it plays a major force in determining productivity. They are
the decision making body. To build more modern facilities, upgrade equipment, improve
processes and train employees.
Second are the individual workers – employees ability, motivation and commitment
strongly affect individual and team performance, age, education, background and work
experiences affect their skills.
Third is the Government – another important productivity player. The government
may extend tax incentives that may encourage business investment in new facilities and
technology.
Fourth are the unions – they also play a role in productivity by fostering technology
enhancements, new work methods and other employees probations, displacement of
inefficient jobs as well. However in some cases they inspire labor disputes.

The supervisor’s role in improving productivity

Supervisors are the one who direct; instruct the work task of the operating
employees. Thus they have the key role in controlling firms cost in labor hours,
efficiently maintenance of machinery, equipment’s and supplies, energy , etc.
Budget help supervisors control cost. It becomes a basis in evaluating a department’s
actual performance.

Some Recent Productivity Improvement Method

There are three relatively recent productivity improvement measures due to
advance in computer and machinery technology:
First is the robotics, often called the Metal Collar Workers. Second is the Just in Time
inventory (JIT) and the Third is the Computer assisted manufacturing (CAM).

Controlling Quality
There are reasons why the world today is quality oriented. First is the quality of
an organizations’ products and services and its productivity are relatively linked.
According to Dr. Philip Crosby a quality expert, estimates that non-conformance product
and services that don’t match up to the requirement cost, the typical manufacture cost
drop about 20% of sales and typical services from about 35% of sales. This includes the
cost of scraped materials, waste time, cost of re-work and costumers’ experience of
warranties, thus quality directly affects the bottom line. Another reason for quality
consciousness is the global competition.

Total Quality and Quality Control

Sometimes total quality and quality control are used interchangeably. This two
are not the same.
Total quality refers to an organization’s overall quality effort to achieve customer’s
satisfaction through continuous improvement of its products, services and processes.
In the other hand Quality control – is consisting of the measurement and analysis of
quality performance and action should be taken to correct quality problems.

Understanding Variance in Controlling Quality

Every product and services is the output of a process. The nature of processes is
to exhibit variation like items produced in a manufacturing process are not all exactly
alike. Some measurable dimensions such as length, diameter or weight will vary.

There are two types of variations exist:

First is a common cause. The classic example is your signature, variation is
visible even in your naked eye. The difference in each repeated signature is normal to
be expected. Second is the special cause in which variation us associated with specific
event, like can goods maybe the deformation of the packaging as variation occurs
during the handling of goods.

Tools for controlling quality

There are some tools introduced for controlling quality, these tools represents
actual performance data that must be addressed. These tools apply not only just to
quality of a manufacturing process but to services as well. This are: flow chart,
histograms, run charts, pareto chart and fishbone diagrams.
Flow Chart- a visual representation of the . . Histogram- a graphical representation of . .
. . . sequence of steps to complete the . variation found in a set of . . .
. process . performance data.

Run Chart- a data presentation that shows the. Pareto Chart- is a problem-analysis charts that .
. results of a process plotted over a . use a histograph to graphically
. period of time . illustrate the sources of problems.
Cause and Effect Diagram- Fishbone diagram Control Chart- a process free from special .
Represents a graphical display of a chain . variation is under control
. of cause and effect

The supervisor’s role in achieving quality

First line supervisors are the lower level managers, they have the critical role as
to them, lays the foundations of an organization to be able to achieve high quality work
through consistently communicating and installing its values, norms and creating rules
and procedures to the operating level personnel who directly perform the activities of
producing goods and services that addresses the costumers needs.
It is a mode of academic that supervisors must expect quality performance right from
the start and even during the training of new personnel’s within their wit. Like in large
bank trains new teller not only in technical aspects of the job, but also in how to interact
with customers.

Promoting Employee Safety

Employee safety is the final supervisory control discuss in this chapter. This have
been in the business timeline since 1970, primarily as a result, the government passed
the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Nevertheless, management has an interest in
employees’ safety, because safety, efficiency, and productivity are closely related.
Otherwise the firm will suffer losses.
According to the latest data released, an estimated $ 40 billion in wages and
medical payments were to US workers injured on the job during 1999 excluding
employees’ illness. Assume that the company has a 10% profit margin. An accident
costing $ 5000 in direct and indirect cost would translate into a need to generate $
50000 in sales, just to cover the cost of accident. Bare in mind “safety first” always.
What Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does?

OSHA is a federal agency that was created by the Occupational Safety and
Health Act in 1970. Basically OSHA ensures that the state governments, labor, and
management provide consistently safer and healthier working conditions for the
employees.

OSHA requires organizations to keep safety logs and records of illness incurred
on the job. They have also the right to develop standards and conduct inspections to
see that the standards are met.

Factors Influencing Safety

Several factors affecting job safety:

1. The size of the organization
2. The type of industry
3. The people

The safeties places to work are the smallest and largest organizations. Some types
of industry are safer than the others. Occupational injuries and illnesses for various
industries. The highest rates are for meat packing, ship and boat building and repair,
soft drinks and transportation firm. People as the third factor, employee attitude,
emotional and physical factors definitely impact their safety performance.

Causes of Accidents

Basically, job related accidents are caused by three (3) types of factors: human,
technical, and environmental. Human factors include carelessness, horseplay, fighting,
use of drugs, poor understanding of equipment, the thrill of taking risk, poor attitudes,
and fatigue. Technical factors include unsafe mechanical, chemical and physical
conditions, improper personal protective devices. Environmental factors are factors
around the job, such as poor housekeeping, inadequate lighting and ventilation
management pressure to increase output.

THE SUPERVISORY’S ROLE IN PROMOTING SAFETY

On the job injuries, supervisors have to fill up out accident report that may take up
much of his/her time. Supervisor as top management’ link with operating employees
play a critical role in employee safety. Good safety control by the supervisor begins with
a positive attitude. Furthermore, safety is linked to productivity; both are the supervisor’s
basic concerns.
 Skill Builder 14-3:

Increasing Safety Performance

Assume the role of a newly appointed store manager of a regional food chain
superstore. All stores in the chain have been pressured to turn a profit in this highly
competitive industry. And, while the former store manager achieved his profit goal, he
fell far short in another, the store’s safety performance. You are expected to do much
better.
Last year the store accident rate was twice that of other stores in the chain: 16
reportable incidents per employees, 9 of which involve lost workdays. This involve
cuts, burns, slips, and falls. Many cuts occurred in the meat and deli areas, two burns
occurred in the bakery area. One bagger sustained a fall in the parking lot while riding
his empty grocery cart, a clear violation of policy. But the most serious fall resulted
when a janitor left pebbles of wax in the aisle and failed to put up warning cones when
his work was interrupted to clean up a spill in another area. Another employee slipped
on the wax and fell, injuring his left leg and head. This injury resulted in nine months
(and counting) of disability cost, nearly $ 200,000 of medical costs, and a reserve of
about 150,000 for future rehabilitation payments. Analysis of injury-causing incidents
showed that all were cause by human error.
As the new store manager, you are expected to immediately address the safety
issue with your employees.

Instructions:

1. Outline a plan for bringing your employees’ safety performance next year up to
the average of other stores in the chain. You may assure your boss has
approved one-time $1000 safety budget allocation to spend as needed to help
you achieve this goal.
2. Meet with a group of other student to share your ideas. Your instructor may ask
you to select a spokesperson to summarize the ideas of your team members.

Reaction

Several countries like U.S., Canada, Japan, and Korea were able to have strong
productivity in goods and services production through their workers. They are the role
model in this subject. It is so good that these are shared to the Filipino people through
education. The fact that we are studying these in this particular course as part of the
program of graduate study curriculum, this subject is so pleasant and convincing,
however in some perspective; Filipinos are not easy to be convinced to adapt some
innovations. There are chances and opportunities offered on some government program
adapted from the booming foreign countries like rubber and palm oil of Singapore and
Indonesia which made these nations’ economy uplifted. With these the Philippine
government extends and grants loan assistances along with these industries, but it
doesn’t boom in this nation. Maybe it’s because of our several negative values like
Ningas Kogon, Manyana Habit, and etc. hopefully that this shared knowledge on this
course may eventually integrated in every Filipinos and in the system of management.
Thus we become productive and efficient in every field of work.