Sustainable Management and Total Quality Management in Public Organizations with Outsourcing

The aim of this paper is to explore how Total Quality Management (TQM) can act as a foundation and key catalyst for developing Sustainable Management and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within Public Organizations. In the public sector we have too often experienced low quality services, which have generated and perpetuated low expectations. The result has been great dissatisfaction and frustration, but not much action (Gaster, 1995). As any other organization, the Public Organization can apply TQM and thereby accomplish some improvements.CSR is an emerging topic within organizational research and praxis. It has parallels to sustainable development, environmental protection, social equity and economic growth.This paper shows specifically how to incorporate sustainability into a quality system by using a model that shows the relation between investment in quality and the variables fame and reputation. The interest in the nature of the relationship between TQM and CSR is long-standing. The aim of the quality movement is to enable organizations to deliver high quality services in the shortest possible time to market, at minimum cost, and in a manner that emphasises human dignity, work satisfaction, and mutual and long-term loyalty between the organization and its stakeholders. As such, TQM has a strong ethical dimension, advocating the importance of considering the interests of stakeholders (Oppenheim & Przasnyski, 1999). In this paper outsourcing in Public Organizations is considered as an instrument for raising the qualitative level of services and thus for developing CSR. First, the definitions of CSR are discussed. Second, the ethics in quality are described, followed by a discussion on existing quality models with regard to CSR. Third, the relationship between TQM and CSR is considered. We have analyzed the strong similarity between TQM and CSR, and outsourcing analysis is used to illustrate the combined CSR/TQM approach in Public Organizations. Finally, we have highlighted the main factors of resistance to externalization in Public Administrations and how these can be overcome by developing a risk management approach.

OUTSOURCING STRATEGIES. HOW TO FORMALIZE AND NEGOTIATE THE OUTSOURCING CONTRACT.

In the globalized economy multinational firms have given rise to local firms able to produce at a low cost and at acceptable quality levels. A growing number of firms have outsourced production and manufacturing activities of all types to these firms, not only to reduce production costs but also to make their organizational structures more streamlined and flexible. Outsourcing decisions, which originally were limited to production which had a modest technological content and was of marginal importance for the business in question, is increasingly adopted for activities which, requiring core competencies or belonging to the core business, were considered inseparable from the organization and thus not outsourceable. Gradually an outsourcing strategy has developed which has found it convenient to outsource even core competencies and functions, such as specialized manufacturing, which require a particular technology, marketing, product design, and the search for know-how (Prahalad and Hamel 1990: 79-91).\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nSuch an outsourcing strategy has a number of advantages, among which quality improvement, a greater focus on managing other core competencies, a greater flexibility and leverage regarding resources, along with the possibility of entering new markets, even ones with a high rate of development.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\nThis article analyzes the fundamental stages for an outsourcing strategy. It will demonstrate how, in order to achieve an outsourcing strategy, it is necessary to include outsourcing in the general strategy, gather suitable information for choosing the outsourcer, negotiate the contract with the supplier, choose the type of relationship to have with the supplier, and, finally, plan the transfer of activities and functions from the outsourcee to one or more outsourcers or providers.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\r\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\noutsourcing, outourcing decision, strategic perspective, outsourcing contract, contract negotiation, outside information, organizational culture

Quality and outsourcing in Public Organizations

The aim of this research is to establish a link between the process of outsourcing and development of the process of Total Quality Management (TQM) with particular regard to public utilities. Outsourcing choices are one way to increase efficiency and quality in any type of organization, both public and private. The public sector can benefit from outsourcing in much the same way as the private sector. Indeed, the public sector is showing a greater impetus in its examination of outsourcing. Public organizations are facing the changes that have affected the economy and society to increase the welfare of the consumers. They therefore need to seek high levels of efficiency, ensuring better use of resources to meet needs that characterize this period of history: on the one hand the need for quality services for the economic and social development of the country in line with the international challenges, on the other the need to contain the public deficit as a fundamental condition for sustainable and balanced development. The search for better ways of the use of resources is especially important in organizations that do not deal with the market through the mechanism of the exchange, especially in those organizations that establish public services that are provided without exchange in an economic sense. Public organizations in the quest for efficiency, flexibility and innovation turn more frequently to outsourcing because the integrated service providers (Global Provider) are able to assume full responsibility for financial performance and quality of services provided. First, the definitions of TQM are discussed. Second, link between outsourcing and quality is presented. Finally, we have highlighted the main factors of resistance to externalization in Public organizations and how these can be overcome by developing a risk management approach

Design of sustainable outsourcing services for facilities management : critical success factors

The management problems of Facilities Management (FM) outsourcing relationships occur because of provision of low quality analytical, managerial, cooperative, and professional services. On selection, the ideal service providers for specific FM outsourcing contractual procurement needs is of paramount importance to achieve high quality FM services. This paper aims at reviewing the concept of outsourcing in relation to facilities management and dealing with the importance of outsourcing success. Factors of outsourcing strategies from the perspectives of clients and service providers are examined and analysed through the Delphi technique in Hong Kong. The results reveal four main drivers of FM practice through evaluation of thirty-five outsourcing critical success factors identified by clients and service providers. Evaluation of the critical success factors from FM drivers shows that there is an inclination towards FM competence, measurement of performance, cost effectiveness, etc. from clients, whilst there is an inclination to the core skills, measurement of performance, allocation of human resources, cost effectiveness, customers’ satisfaction, etc. from service providers. The result of the study reveals an interesting understanding that the impact of outsourcing critical success factors can be strategically implemented into the outsourcing strategies in Hong Kong’s FM practice

Nanostructured exchange coupled hard / soft composites: from the local magnetization profile to an extended 3D simple model

In nanocomposite magnetic materials the exchange coupling between phases plays a central role in the determination of the extrinsic magnetic properties of the material: coercive field, remanence magnetization. Exchange coupling is therefore of crucial importance in composite systems made of magnetically hard and soft grains or in partially crystallized media including nanosized crystallites in a soft matrix. It has been shown also to be a key point in the control of stratified hard / soft media coercive field in the research for optimized recording media. A signature of the exchange coupling due to the nanostructure is generally obtained on the magnetization curve $M(H)$ with a plateau characteristic of the domain wall compression at the hard/soft interface ending at the depinning of the wall inside the hard phase. This compression / depinning behavior is clearly evidenced through one dimensional description of the interface, which is rigorously possible only in stratified media. Starting from a local description of the hard/soft interface in a model for nanocomposite system we show that one can extend this kind of behavior for system of hard crystallites embedded in a soft matrix.Comment: 18 pages, 8 figures. To be published in the Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials. (To be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03048853

The activated torsion oscillation magnetometer

The activated torsion oscillation magnetometer exploits the mechanical resonance of a cantilever beam, driven by the torque exerted on the sample by an ac field applied perpendicularly to the film plane. We describe a model for the cantilever dynamics which leads to the calculation of the cantilever dynamic profile and allows the mechanical sensitivity of the instrument to be expressed in terms of the minimum electronically detectable displacement. We have developed a capacitance detector of small oscillations which is able to detect displacements of the order of 0.1 nm. We show that sensitivities of the order of 0.5(10-11 Am2 can be in principle achieved. We will subsequently describe the main features of the ATOM prototype which we have built and tested, with particular attention to the design solutions which have been adopted in order to reduce the effects of parasitic vibrations due either to acoustic noise, originating from the ac field coil, or to eddy currents in the capacitor electrodes. The instrument is mounted in a continuous flow cryostat and can work in the 4.2-300 K temperature range. Finally, we will show that our experimental set-up has a second mode of operation, named Torsion Induction Magnetometer (TIM).Comment: Invited Talk at the Moscow International Symposium on Magnetism, 2002 to appear in the J. Mag. Mag. Mat Revised versio