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How to Improve Quality and Productivity in a Construction Company

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How to Improve Quality and Productivity in a Construction Company
How to Improve Quality and Productivity in a Construction Company
GM588 Final Project

Introduction
During eight years ABC Construction Company has normally focused in construction of buildings within the commercial, industrial and multifamily markets in the Southeast of the United States. Normally, the company was used to deal with small and medium companies requiring short-term work, taking from one day to a month to complete. In the last year customer composition has changed; ABC Construction has now large architectural, commercial and public utilities as customers, and some of them are requiring all contractors and subcontractors to set up a quality management initiative that meets their own quality management systems. Their contracts are medium to long-term work, extending over a year or longer. ABC Construction employs around sixty people, including temporary workers who work on a one-time project basis. With over $6 million revenues, ABC Construction is classified as a small business per the U.S. Small Business Administration (Table of Small Business Size Standards Matched to North American Industry Classification System Codes, Sector 23-Construction, Subsector 236-Construction Buildings, http://www.sba.gov/content/table-small-business-size-standards). After all these years without a formal quality management system, ABC Construction has started making plans to implement a quality management system that meets customer needs and expectations, as well as requirements of customer’s quality systems.
In today’s global economy, competition is becoming ever more intense. Many service companies are trying very hard not only to satisfy their customer’s needs but where possible to exceed them. This can only be achieved through cost reduction, improvement in service performance, increased customer satisfaction and a constant effort towards world-class service organizations. In order for ABC Construction to survive and grow in the future, it is essential



References: Evans, J.R., Lindsay, W.M. (2011). Managing for quality and performance excellence (8th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Baden-Hallard, R Beckford, J.L.W. (2010). Quality: a Critical Introduction (3rd ed.). New York: Routledge. Biggar, J Chung, H. W. (1999). Understanding quality assurance in construction: a practical guide to ISO 9000. London, UK: E & F Spon. Crosby, P.B. (1979). Quality is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain. New York: New American Library. Crosby, P.B. (1984). Quality without tears. New York: McGraw Hill. Deming, W.E. (1982). Quality Production and Competitive Position. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Center for Advance Engineering Study, USA. Feigenbaum, A.V Giles, R. (1997). ISO 9000 perspective for construction industry in the UK. Training for Quality, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp 178-181. Hertz, Harry S., Curt W. Reimann, and Mary C. Bostwick (1994). The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Concept: Could It Help Stimulate or Accelerate Health Care Quality Improvement?. Quality Management in Health Care, 1994: 63–72. Jablonski, J.R. (1994). Implementing TQM. Competing the Nineties through Total Quality Management. Albuquerque. Kerzner, H Love, P. E. D., Li, H., Irani, Z., and Holt, G. D. (2000). Rethinking total quality management: Toward a framework for facilitating learning and change in construction organizations. The TQM Magazine, 12(2), 107–116. Nwankwo, S. (2000). Quality assurance in small business organizations. International Journal Of Quality & Reliability, Vol Menon, A., Jaworsky, B.J., Kohl, A.K. (1997). Product Quality: Impact of interdepartmental interactions. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Summer 1997, Vol. 25 no. 3 187-200 Pheng, L and Teo, J

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