Index

Title Page
Introduction 2
Company profile and activities 3
Reasons for choosing the company 6

Introduction of Total Quality Management System 8

Applying TQM principles in HRM 10

Quality Management Principles in EASTMED company

10

The application of ISO 9000 standards in EASTMED

23

The Effect of TQM on HR Practices

31

1
 Introduction
Nowadays, Human resources is an increasingly prominent field that is taking shape
throughout industries and workplaces world wide. Recognizing the fact that people are a
company’s greatest asset, business leaders across the globe are coming to rely more and more
upon an effective management policy that applies specifically to the area of human resources.

Essentially, HR applies to the workforce managed by any employer. A business of any size
needs employees in order for it to run. As an important – the most important – asset for any
business leader, employees need to be properly managed in order to achieve optimal efficacy.

That’s why the application of human resources management focuses largely on a more
sensitive and human analysis to determine what really works with employees. One of the
major aspects of hr maintenance involves employee recruitment, training and development as
a function of human capital management.

In addition, human resources departments take care of a variety of concerns such as labor
relations – the crucial and highly sensitive negotiations between employees and management
– the production of job descriptions, the monitoring of interplay between workers in order to
design a more efficient employee management system, the compilation of benefits packages
as well as a variety of other vital functions that relate directly to the employee workforce of
the company.

Therefore, our research paper is about human resources management in

” EASTMED Egypt Group S.A.E “For Shipping and International Services S.A.E. and how
they have engaged in a major developmental change in the Total Quality Management.

2
 Company Profile

EASTMED Shipping and International Services S.A.E is a joint stock company established
in 1993 by Mr. Waleed Badr the present chairman and CEO of “EASTMED Egypt”, a group
of companies working in the fields of shipping and freight forwarding providing a wide scope
of logistic services serving some of the most distinguished multinational companies locally
and internationally through worldwide network of overseas partners. As a shipping agency,
East Med serves about 150 general cargo vessels yearly, handling about 900,000 tons of
general cargo.

East Med Group now employs over 150 full time personnel, all working together in perfect
harmony to supply their clients with the most comprehensive logistic solutions. East Med is
also a licensed ship agent, a licensed consolidator and a licensed customs broker since 1993
with 25 in-house customs brokers.

EAST Med has the ability to maintain some of the greatest names among their client lists for
so many years is good enough proof for the devotion of their staff in carrying out their
mission achieving a yearly turnover of 45 million Egyptian pounds in such few years.

EAST Med has a good reputation and long term relationships with senior officers at harbors,
airports and customs authorities paved the way for their long experienced and self motivated
staff to provide their clients and overseas partners with the utmost standard of integrated
logistic services ever provided in Egypt.

EASTMED uses the most modern communication systems tailored to suit the needs of its
clients and overseas partners; they have always regarded comprehensive up-to-date
technology and flexible information flow as one of the most important assets that perform a
major support to operation management meeting the integrated logistics challenges of today.

In 1993, EASTMED aimed to become the number one shipping and forwarding company in
Egypt, but now after they have firmly positioned themselves among the top ten leading
companies working in the field. Now, EASTMED aim is to become one of the leading
shipping and freight forwarding companies worldwide.

3
 Company Activities
Shipping Services:
• Agency Services.
• Suez Canal Transit.
• Feeder Services.
• Brokerage and chartering.

Forwarding Services:
• Sea Freight.
• Airfreight.
• Consolidation.
• Packing and Household Removals.

Logistics Management:
• Value addition.
• Just in time inventory management.
• Cost effective handling, storage and distribution services.
• Handle all customs documentation and formalities.

Inland Transportation:
• Providing drivers and transport supervisors with mobile phones for instant contacts.
• 24 hour supervision for all pick-ups & deliveries.

Customs Clearance:
• 24 hour service for clearing both sea & air export shipments.
• Free customs consulting, tariff and commodity interpretation.

Perishable Goods:
• Professional handling of frozen products, fresh vegetables & highly sensitive fruits.

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• 24 hour services for fresh produce export by sea and air.
EASTMED’S Objectives:

1. Fulfilling all clients’ requirements is the main intent of the company.

2. Achieve a clear competitive edge in both the Egyptian and international markets.
3. Providing customers with more and more recent, efficient services is particularly rigorous.
4. Promote a solid permanent development and expand a wider range of activities.
5. Broaden investments and obtain a substantial share of the aggregate investments of the
Egyptian, international market.

EASTMED’S Policy:

1. Incorporating a set of policies and keeping them up to date with the whole of recent
developments pertinent to various activities of the company.
2. Be aware of customer's requirements & fulfilling their demands by applying a customer
pursuing system.
3. Apply the whole of recent technology to accomplish the company objectives.
4. Provide a healthy professional working environment which enables the company’s staff to
offer outstanding services.
5. Formulate both administrative, financial plans on long and short time scale, to accomplish
and pursue the company’s objectives.

EASTMED’S Vision:

EASTMED is to be a premium of choice and a recognized high quality world-class brand,

providing outstanding service to customers with best in class economics.

5
Reasons for choosing EASTMED:

• In a few years, EAST MED was able to achieve a yearly turnover of 45 million Egyptian
pounds and employs now over 150 full time personnel working in perfect harmony
throughout its five branches in coordination with our partners abroad.

• A few years ago, EASTMED applied the Total Quality Management system and was
certified by the ISO9000 (The International Organization of Standardization).

In our research, we will focus on the following area:

The introduction of total quality management (TQM) in EASTMED and its effects on HR
practices.

6
7
 Introduction of Total Quality Management System
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management strategy aimed at embedding awareness
of quality in all organizational processes. TQM has been widely used in manufacturing,
education, government, and service industries.

Total Quality Management is a method by which management and employees can become
involved in the continuous improvement of the production of goods and services. It is a
combination of quality and management tools aimed at increasing business and reducing
losses due to wasteful practices.

Total Quality provides an umbrella under which everyone in the organization can strive and
create customer satisfaction at continually lower real costs. The simple objective of TQM is
"Do the right things, right the first time, every time".

QM improves service delivery by striving to continuously improve customer satisfaction by

improving the service delivery process. TQM is not a single technique or a collection of
techniques; rather TQM is a philosophy of management. There are numerous techniques
developed and extensively implemented in private business, but one important component of
TQM is that it provides a vision that makes each member of the firm focus on improving
customer service.

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TQM is composed of three paradigms:

Total: Which means that it involves the entire organization and it integrates all organization
functions (marketing, finance, design, engineering, production, customer service, supply
chain, product life cycle and human resources management).

Quality: Is defined as the value, conformance to specifications and requirements, fitness for
use, loss avoidance or meeting and exceeding the customer expectations.

Management: Involves managing with steps like Controlling, and Leading. As defined by
the International Organization for Standardization (ISO): TQM is a management approach
for an organization, centered on quality, based on the participation of all its members and
aiming at long-term success through customer satisfaction and benefits to all members of the
organization and to society. It is also a description of the culture and attitude of a company
that strives to provide customers with products and services that satisfy their needs. The
culture requires quality in all aspects of the company’s operations, with processes being done
right the first time, defects and waste eradicated from operations.

9
 Applying TQM Principles in HRM
The current emphasis on quality as a competitive strategy has produced many views
regarding the actions necessary to achieve it, so EASTMED proposed several approaches
which share certain themes. These themes can be summarized as five basic principles:

1. Focusing on customers' needs.

2. Focusing on problem prevention, not correction.

3. Making continuous improvements by: Seeking to meet customers' requirements on time,

the first time and every time.

4. Training employees in ways that improve quality.

5. Applying the team approach to problem solving.

Quality Management Principles in EASTMED Company

Qualit
Quali
10
1) Customer Focused Organization:
EASTMED Company tries to understand current and future customer needs in order to
meet customer requirements and exceed expectations. Being customer-focused means
gathering facts, data and knowledge about customers – current and potential – to develop
an awareness of what they want and how they perceive the business’s products and
services. This awareness enables EASTMED to continuously strive to meet their
customers’ requirements and secure their long-term survival, growth and profitability.
This process can be done through:
1. Understanding and surveying customer needs and expectations.
2. Looking at all activities and outputs from the customer's point of view.
3. Focusing on every level, every function and every role in the organization.
4. Applying this practice internally as well as externally.

EASTMED knows that the real "boss" of all progressing organizations is the customer as
they deal with the real issues confronting managers and employees trying to focus on their
customers, issues such as

• What are the key expectations and "care about" that customers have today?
• How are other organizations keeping up with the customer demands for "better,
faster and cheaper shipping services?"
• How to stay focused on "the customer" when there are several types of customers,
constituents and many of them want very different (or even contradictory) things?
• When they are overwhelmed and can not meet all customers needs how to decide
which to handle (without getting blasted by the others)?
• How to continually improve customer service and quality, without encouraging
customers to raise their expectations to unrealistic levels?
• What to do when political realities pressure the company to take actions that do not
support customer needs?

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2) Leadership:

"Leadership is a process where an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a

common goal". The purpose of leadership is to ensure that EASTMED’S objectives, goals
and targets are fully met. Leadership establishes unity of purpose and direction of the
company. They need to ensure that employees are fully involved in achieving these
objectives by creating the environment for them to do so. In order to meet these
requirements, EASTMED established five skills of leadership:

1-Getting and Giving Information: Getting and giving information is probably the number
one competency required of leaders. If a leader can not communicate effectively, then no
other leadership skill will compensate for this lack. First and for most, a leader must be able
to exchange information effectively and accurately.

2- Controlling the Group: Control is the throttle on the group's engine--the energy that gives
him direction. As a leader exerts control, he balances what the group is working towards and
keeping the group happy and satisfied.

3- Setting the Example: No matter how good a leader’s work is, if he does not match it with
appropriate behavior, he will enjoy no respect and find it increasingly difficult to get the
group work with him.

4- Problem-Solving: The effective use of problem-solving will do more than any other
competency to advance both getting the job done and keeping the group together. It is an
"umbrella" competency in its effect on a variety of issues. Problem-solving is useful both in
group situations and one-on-one.

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5- Sharing Leadership: Sharing leadership is a key function of leadership as it distributes the
functions of the leader among the group. This strengthens the employees' involvement in
achieving the company's goals.

3) Involvement of People employed:

Employees' involvement (EI) is a management and leadership philosophy about how
people are most enabled to contribute to continuous improvement and the ongoing success
of their work organization.
Since the success of the organization depends so much on the people employed,
EASTMED ensures that its employees are fully involved so that their abilities are used for
the benefit of the company; therefore their purpose is to involve people as much as
possible in all aspects of work decisions and planning.
This involvement increases ownership and commitment, retains their best employees, and
fosters an environment in which people choose to be motivated and contributing.
Employees' involvement seeks to increase members influence into decisions that affect
EASTMED's performance and employees' well being, this can be described in terms of
four key elements that promote worker's involvement:
Power: this element includes providing people with enough authority to make work
related decisions covering various issues such as work methods, task assignments,
performance outcomes, and customer service and employees selection.
Information: timely access relevant information is vital to making effective decisions.
Organizations can promote (EI) by insuring that the necessary information flows freely to
those with decision authority. This can include data about operating results, business
plans, competitive conditions, new technologies and work methods, and ideas for
organizational improvement.
Knowledge and skills: employees' involvement contributes to organizational
effectiveness only to the extent that employees have the requisite skills and knowledge to
make good decisions. Organization can facilitate EI by providing training and
development programs for improving member's knowledge and skills.

13
Rewards: rewards can have a powerful effect on getting people involved in the
organization. Meaningful opportunities for involvement can provide employees with
internal rewards such as feelings of self worth and accomplishment. External rewards such
as pay and promotions can reinforce EI when they are linked directly to performance
outcome that result from participation in decision making.

Those four elements: power, information, knowledge and skills and rewards contribute to
EI success by determining how much employee participation in decision making is
possible. So the further that all four elements are moved downward throughout
EASTMED, the greater the employees' involvement.

14
4) Process Approach:
The process approach is a management strategy. When managers use a process approach,
it means that they manage the processes that make up their organization, the interaction
between these processes, and the inputs and outputs that glue these processes together.
EASTMED management manages its resources and activities as a process to ensure most
effective and efficient use of resource.
Effectiveness: Do the right thing.
Effectiveness can be achieved by ensuring that the property or service being sought will
make the maximum possible contribution to the relevant outcome.
Efficiency: Do the thing right.
Efficiency relates to the productivity of the resources used to conduct an activity in order
to achieve the maximum value for the resources used.
In EASTMED company a quality management system is a network of processes, and a
process is made up of people, work, activities, tasks, records, documents, forms, resources,
rules, regulations, reports, materials, supplies, tools, equipment, and so on - all the things
that are needed to transform inputs into outputs. In general, a quality system includes all
the things that are used to regulate, control and improve the quality of products and
services within the company.
A Process Approach assists the organization in converting their existing quality
management systems of documentation into systems of managed processes that deliver
business benefits. The 2000 version of ISO 9000 requires a different approach to be taken
towards the achievement of quality, an approach that delivers customer satisfaction not
simply compliance with documented procedures. By using a process approach to the
development of a management system, the significant time and expense invested should
be utilized in a way that will help an organization achieve real business benefits.

15
Pro
16
5) System Approach to Management:
The systems approach to management is based on general system theory – the theory that
says that to understand fully the operation of an entity, the entity must be viewed as a system.
This requires understanding the interdependence of its parts.
The effectiveness and efficiency of the company is improved by identifying understanding
and managing a system of interrelated processes needed to achieve
Four major concepts underlie the systems approach:

•Specialization: A system is divided into smaller components allowing more specialized

concentration on each component.
•Grouping: To avoid generating greater complexity with increasing specialization, it
becomes necessary to group related disciplines or sub-disciplines.
•Coordination: As the components and subcomponents of a system are grouped, it is
necessary to coordinate the interactions among groups.
•Emergent properties: Dividing a system into subsystems (groups of component parts
within the system), requires recognizing and understanding the "emergent properties" of a
system; that is, recognizing why the system as a whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For
example, two forest stands may contain the same tree species, but the spatial arrangement and
size structure of the individual trees will create different habitats for wildlife species. In this
case, an emergent property of each stand is the wildlife habitat.

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6) Continual Improvement:
Continuous Improvement is a policy of constantly introducing small incremental changes in a
business in order to improve quality and/or efficiency. EASTMED uses this approach
assuming that employees are the best people to identify room for improvement, since they
see the processes in action all the time. Using this approach therefore has to have a culture
that encourages and rewards employees for their contribution to the process.

Continual improvement of the company’s overall business performance (EX: improve

products, services or processes) is a permanent objective of EASTMED where Continuous
improvement, in regard to organizational quality and performance, focuses on improving
customer satisfaction through continuous and incremental improvements to processes,
starting by removing unnecessary activities and variations.

Among the most widely used tools for continuous improvement EASTMED uses a four-step
quality model known as Deming Cycle or Shewhart Cycle:

• Plan: Identify an opportunity and plan for change.

• Do: Implement the change on a small scale.

• Check: Use data to analyze the results of the change and determine whether it made a
difference.
• Act: If the change was successful, implement it on a wider scale and continuously assess
your results. If the change did not work, begin the cycle again.

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7) Decision-Making:
Effective decision making in EASTMED Company is an essential skill for career success
generally, and effective leadership particularly. If you can learn to make timely and well-
considered decisions, then you can often lead your team to spectacular and well-deserved
success. However, if you make poor decisions, the team risks failure and your time as a
leader will, most likely, be brutally short.
Making a decision implies that there are alternative choices to be considered, and in such a
case EASTMED wants not only to identify as many of these alternatives as possible but to
choose the one that best fits with their goals, desires, lifestyle, values to make the best
decision for the good of the company
EASTMED has several components that affect decision making process within the
company:

1-The Decision Environment:

In EASTMED Company every decision is made within a decision environment, which is
defined as the collection of information, alternatives, values, and preferences available at
the time of the decision.
The decision environment includes all possible information, all of it accurate, and every
possible alternative.
However, both information and alternatives are constrained because time and effort to
gain information or identify alternatives are limited. Since decisions must be made within
this constrained environment, we can say that the major challenge of decision making is
uncertainty, and a major goal of decision analysis is to reduce uncertainty. EASTMED
Company can almost never have all information needed to make a decision with certainty,
so most decisions involve an undeniable amount of risk.

19
Since the decision environment continues to expand as time passes, EASTMED Company
puts off making a decision until close to the deadline. Information and alternatives
continue to grow as time passes, so to have access to the most information and to the best
alternatives EASTMED does not make the decision too soon. Now, since EASTMED is
dealing with real life, it is obvious that some alternatives might no longer be available if
too much time passes; that is a tension they have to work with, a tension that helps to
shape the cutoff date for the decision.
Delaying a decision as long as reasonably possible, then, provides three benefits:
1. The decision environment will be larger, providing more information.
2. New alternatives might be recognized or created.
3. The decision maker's preferences might change.

2-The Effects of Quantity on Decision Making:

Many decision makers have a tendency to seek more information than required to make a
good decision. When too much information is sought and obtained, one or more of several
problems can arise:
(1) A delay in the decision occurs because of the time required to obtain and process the
extra information. This delay could impair the effectiveness of the decision or solution.
(2) Information overload will occur. In this state, so much information is available that
decision-making ability actually declines because the information in its entirety can no
longer be managed or assessed appropriately. A major problem caused by information
overload is forgetfulness. When too much information is taken into memory, especially in
a short period of time, some of the information (often that received early on) will be
pushed out.
(3) Selective use of the information occurs. That is, the decision maker chooses from
among all the information available only those facts which support a preconceived
solution or position.
(4) Mental fatigue occurs, which results in slower work or poor quality work.
(5) Decision fatigue occurs, where the decision maker tires of making decisions.

20
Often the result is fast, careless decisions or even decision paralysis--no decisions are
made at all.
The quantity of information that can be processed by the human mind is limited. Unless
information is consciously selected, processing will be biased toward the first part of the
information received. After that, the mind tires and begins to ignore subsequent
information or forget earlier information.

3-Decision Streams:
Decisions are made in a context of other decisions. Another way to describe this situation
is to say that most decisions involve a choice from a group of pre-selected alternatives,
made available to EASTMED from the universe of alternatives by the previous decisions
they have made. Previous decisions have "activated" or "made operable" certain
alternatives and "deactivated" or "made inoperable" others. We might say, then, that every
decision follows from previous decisions enables many future decisions and prevents
other future decisions.
Now finally, based on these components, EASMED sets procedures for decision making:
1. Identify the decision to be made together with the goals it should achieve.
2. Get the facts.
3. Develop alternatives.
4. Rate each alternative.
5. Rate the risk of each alternative.
6. Make the decision.

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8) Supplier Relationship:
Supplier relationship management is a comprehensive approach to managing an
enterprise's interactions with the organizations that supply the goods and services it uses
all successful companies build strong relationships with their suppliers.
EASTMED realized that they need to build bridges between their organization and the
vendors that they work with by establishing strong buyer/seller relationships and that the
goal of supplier relationship management (SRM) is to streamline and make more effective
the processes between the company and its suppliers.
Supplier relationships are different from simple purchasing transactions in several ways.
First, there can be a sense of commitment to the supplier.
Another element of these supplier relationships is advanced planning. Buyers don't just
communicate with suppliers when a procurement need arises; they also contact them in
order to discuss their future needs and to determine how best to satisfy those needs by
working together.
While both of those distinguishing features are easy to spot, a third element is also
important. The company's attitude and view of its suppliers matters a lot for business
success.

22
 The Application of ISO 9000 Standards in EASTMED

ISO 9000 is a family of standards for quality management systems. ISO 9000 is maintained
by the International Organization for Standardization and is administered by accreditation
and certification bodies. Some of the requirements in ISO 9001 (which is one of the standards
in the ISO 9000 family) include:

-A set of procedures that cover all key processes in the business.

-Monitoring processes to ensure they are effective.

-Keeping adequate records.

-Checking output for defects, with appropriate corrective action when necessary.

-Regularly reviewing individual processes and the quality system itself for effectiveness.

-Facilitating continual improvement.

Implementation of ISO 9000 affects the entire organization right from the start.
If pursued with total dedication, it results in 'cultural transition' to an atmosphere of
continuous improvement.

23
In order to implement the ISO quality management standards successfully
EASTMED followed 14 essential steps:

Step 1: Top Management Commitment

The top management demonstrates a commitment and a determination to implement an ISO 9000
quality management system in the company.
Without top management commitment, no quality initiative can succeed, it is defined as; the direct
participation by the highest level executives in a specific and critically important aspect or program of
an organization. Top management must be committed and must make this commitment highly
visible.

In quality management it includes:

(1) Setting up and serving on a quality committee.

(2) Formulating and establishing quality policy and objectives.

(3) Providing resources and training.

(4) Overseeing implementation at all levels of the organization.

(5) Evaluating and revising the policy in light of results achieved.

Top management commitment is indeed important to the success of many business ventures.
The phrase “top management commitment” has over 60,000 hits. These hits claimed that top
management commitment is essential for business initiatives as diverse as:

1-Improving Quality.
2- Improving Safety.
3- Accomplishing Environmental Initiatives.
4- Getting More Diversity in the Workplace.
5- Changing Technology Platforms.
6- Putting together a Knowledge Management Program.

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Step 2: Establish Implementation Team
ISO 9000 is implemented by people. The first phase of implementation requires the
commitment of top management, the CEO and perhaps a handful of other key people. Te
next step even with consultant assistance is creating a personal structure to plan and oversee
implementation. Then a top-level implementation team is created, this team is usually shared
by a management representative and consists of:
• The CEO.
• Top managers.
• Key functional managers.
• Top union representatives.
It means that The Implementation Team should be a cross-section of functional departments
(purchasing, customer service/sales, production, engineering, etc.) and authority levels
(managers, engineers, lead operators, etc.) to ensure a broad and detailed understanding of
the current quality system and any limitations that must be addressed by the Implementation
Plan. The ISO Implementation Team usually consists of (10 to 20 people).
The team's functions are:

• Gaining detailed understanding of the ISO 9000 standard and how to interpret it.
• Determining gaps in the current system versus the ISO requirements.
• Identifying existing activities and procedures which can be used for ISO.
• Developing a project plan for implementation (complete with due-dates & assigned
responsibilities for completion).

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Step 3: Start ISO 9000 Awareness Programs
ISO 9000 awareness programs are conducted to communicate to the employees the aim of the
ISO quality management system; the advantage it offers to employees, customers and the
company depends on how it will work and employee’s roles and responsibilities within the
system. Suppliers of materials also participate in these programs.
The awareness program emphasizes the benefits that EASTMED expects to realize through
its quality management system. The program also stresses the higher levels of participation
and self-direction that the quality management system renders to employees.
Such a focus goes far to enlist employee support and commitment.

Step 4: Provide Training

Training is a responsibility most often falling within the scope of the human resource department.
This responsibility is often shared with managers, supervisors and lead operators who have direct
contact with employees and can identify training needs and since the ISO 9000 quality
management system affects all the areas and all personnel in the company, training programs
for are structured different categories of employees - senior managers, middle-level
managers, supervisors and workers.
The training covers the basic concepts of quality management systems and their overall
impact on the strategic goals of EASTMED, the changed processes, and the likely work
culture implications of the system. In addition, initial training is also necessary on writing
quality manuals, procedures and work instruction auditing principles, techniques of
laboratory management, calibration, testing procedures, etc.

26
The management of EASTMED has provided performance review training. They provide a format
requiring mutual identification of at least three specific training needs related to both work and
personal growth.
Everyone in the company is subject to the requirements of this clause including the president.
Implementation provides several steps to be taken to achieve and maintain proficiency:

• Evaluating the general education, experience, qualifications and competence of the

personnel for the activities performed.
• Identification of the individual training needs against those required for satisfactory
performance.
• Planning, organizing and carrying out appropriate training or retraining either in-house or
by an external organization.
• Recording training and achievement so that records can be updated and gaps in training
can readily be identified and filed.
• Evaluating all changes in each process for any additional training requirements.

Step 5: Conduct Initial Status Survey

EASTMED has an over-all flow chart showing how information actually flows from order
placement by the customer to delivery to this customer. From this over-all flow chart, a flow
chart of activities in each department is prepared.
With the aid of the flow charts, a record of existing quality management system is
established.
Documents requiring modification or elaboration were identified and listed.
In introducing a quality management system, the emphasis was on the improvement of the
company.
The steps followed were:
-Reviewing what already exists.
-Analyzing what is needed.
-changing operational arrangements in accordance with the standard, develop documents,
records and described operations.

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Step 6: Create a Documented Implementation Plan
Once EASTMED has obtained a clear picture of how its quality management system
compares with the ISO 9001:2000 standard, all non-conformances were addressed with a
documented implementation plan. The plan was used for identifying and describing processes
to make the company’s quality management system fully in compliance with the standards.
The implementation plan included:
-Quality documentation to be developed.
-Objective of the system.
-Person or team responsible.
-Approval required.
-Training required.
-Resources required.
-Estimated completion date.
These elements were organized into a detailed chart, to be reviewed and approved. The plan
defines the responsibilities of different departments and personnel and sets target dates for
the completion of activities. After approval, the management representative control, review
and update the plan as the implementation process proceeds.

Step 7: Develop Quality Management System Documentation

Documentation of the quality management system includes:
-Documented statements of a quality policy and quality objectives.
-A quality manual.
-Documented procedures and records required by the standard ISO 9001:2000.
-Documents needed by the organization to ensure the effective planning, operation and
control of its processes.

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Step 8: Document Control
Once the necessary quality management system documentation has been generated, a
documented system was created to control it. Control is simply a means of managing the
creation, approval, distribution, revision, storage, and disposal of the various types of
documentation. A document control system has to be as simple and as easy to operate as
possible.

Step 9: Implementation
The implementation progress was monitored to ensure that the quality management system is
effective and conforms to the standard.
These activities include internal quality audit, formal corrective action and management
review.

Step 10: Internal Quality Audit

Internal quality audits are conducted to verify that the installed quality management system
conform to the requirements of the standard (ISO9001:2000) and to the quality management
system requirements established by EASTMED.

Step 11: Management Review

When the installed quality management system was operating for three to six Months, an
internal audit and management review was conducted and corrective actions were
implemented. The management reviews were conducted to ensure the continuing suitability,
adequacy and effectiveness of the quality management system.

Step 12: Pre-assessment Audit

When system deficiencies are no longer visible, it is normally time to apply for certification.
However, before doing so, a pre-assessment audit was arranged with an independent and
qualified auditor.

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Step 13: Certification and Registration
Once the quality management system operated for a few months and has stabilized, a formal
application for certification was made to a selected certification agency, if the certification
body finds the system to be working satisfactorily; it awards the organization a certificate,
generally for a period of three years.

Step 14: Continual Improvement

Certification to ISO 9000 should not be an end. The company continually seeks to improve
the effectiveness and suitability of the quality management system through the use of:
- Quality policy.
- Quality objectives.
- Audit results.
- Analysis of data.
- Corrective and preventive actions.
- Management review.

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 The Effect of TQM on HR Practices

TQM is primarily an organizational strategy considered as a change program to achieve

excellence and therefore HR has an important role to play in designing the interventions to
prepare the people and the organizations for the desired change.

A few years ago, EASTMED was a small company with few employees and a few
operations.
Internal communication between employees was verbal, there was no need for any
documentation and thus, there was no specific system used in operations.
As a result of the continuous growth in operations and the increased number of employees
EASTMED needed to implement the total quality management techniques to improve its
operations; increase its flexibility, efficiency, quality and performance and have a
competitive advantage.
As a result of implementing the TQM techniques, EASTMED Company was certified by the
ISO during 2006.
The application of TQM had a major effect on EASTMED’s HR department specifically in
areas like: employee development, training, performance appraisal management,
compensation and rewards and job design.

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Training:
During the preparation for the implementation of TQM, a 3-month training program has
been designed and assigned to all the company’s staff and a 6-month program for the
internal auditors to be credible to work based on TQM principles.
A new training system is used in the company, a training advisor sets a training plan for
each employee and this plan is to be approved by each department manager that an
employee should finish in a pre-specified period of time.
A training plan includes management training, financial training, soft skills and
languages.
Soft skills training includes: Professional report writing, Effective time management and
professional e-mail writing.
EASTMED was also registered in the international modernization center (IMC) that provides
the company with a budget of 100,000 Euro yearly to spend on employee’s training.
These additional funds helped EASTMED to provide its employees with more
sophisticated types of training such as:
-Dangerous goods training provided in accordance with EGYPTAIR.
-Online-Training, provided in accordance with Mind Leaders Company which provides
training in management and financial fields.

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Performance Appraisal:
EASTMED uses an evaluation system to evaluate the performance of each individual
employee.
The performance appraisal process is divided into 2 parts (self evaluation and management
evaluation) and normally, it takes place each 3 months.
Factors covered in the performance appraisal form include: quantity and quality of work,
job knowledge, leadership, initiative and innovation, accountability and reliability,
cooperation, motivation, ability to work and to train others, teamwork, quality management
system performance.
We noticed during our research that EASTMED has a deficiency in applying the 360 degree
appraisal correctly as it allows each employee to evaluate his own performance.
Although managers evaluate their subordinates’ work which is also reviewed by the
top management, allowing employees to evaluate their own performance hampers the
efficiency of the performance appraisal system.

Job design:
EASTMED uses a system of assigning work plans to each employee.
Work plans are set by the top management, delegated to middle management and next to
the employees.
Each employee has daily tasks such as sales reports and weekly tasks that he should
accomplish in order to achieve specific targets.
Each employee also has a yearly work plan on which he should report the results to
the top management on a monthly basis.

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Selection criteria:
As a matter of fact, the selection criteria used by EASTMED before and after the
implementation of TQM did not differ as they do a computer and language test to the
candidates and then interview them to know their soft and computer skills and then they
recruit them.
They don’t take into consideration in the selection criteria factors such as problem solving,
team work, decision making and the ability of quality culture to be developed. This does not
reflect the TQM practices.

Compensation and reward package:

Successful management and motivation of employees is clearly linked to employee reward
systems. There is much correlation between the company's success and effective reward
systems. EASTMED views rewards role as very important to business performance and work
culture since it reflects the internal and external value of work.
EASTMED managers ensure that roles are effectively differentiated and leveled within the
company, they also ensure that the internal equity of the reward program creates consistency
among and between employee groups and that their external competitiveness Provide a link
between performance management systems and how employees are paid.
Managers must be able to understand these new programs to increase the commitment and
engagement of employees.
Compensations are calculated based on the employee's performance appraisal and his
accomplishments in the work plans previously set by management.
Compensation system includes salary raises every 3 months or profit sharing at the end of
each year.

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 The Link Between TQM and Employee Empowerment
As employees are the most important part of the company and without them, the
organization is nothing and can do nothing. Empowerment works the best when
employees need their organization as much as the organization needs them and
this need is much more than a paycheck and benefits packages. The
empowerment process is successful when there is feedback in the organizational
culture.

Advantages Of Employee Empowerment Include:

1. Increased employee education and training.

2. Employees participate in setting their own goals.
3. Increased employee contribution.
4. Increased respect among employees.
5. Lower absenteeism and higher productivity.
6. More satisfying work for employees.
7. Employee competence increases.
8. Less conflict with managers.
9. Decreased cost to the company.
10. Employees will agree with changes to the company more easily.

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 EASTMED View Of Employee Empowerment
EASTMED described employee empowerment as giving employees the
responsibility and authority to make decisions about their work without
supervisory approval. Managers in EASTMED help employees refine their job
achievements by encouraging, instructing, guiding and giving them advice.
Employee empowerment can increase employees’ motivation, job satisfaction and
loyalty to EASTMED.

The power that managers of EASTMED have is shared with employees through
trust, assurance, motivation and support. Work decisions and the ability to control
an individual’s amount of work is relied upon at lower-level management positions. In
EASTMED, groups of empowered employees with little or no supervision are formed and
these groups are called self-managed teams. These groups can solve work problems, make
choices on schedules and operations, learn to do other employees’ jobs and are held
accountable for the quality of their jobs.

The Link between employee empowerment and TQM in EASTMED is looking into the
future. A TQM strategy will fail if empowerment of employees is absent from the
organization. Quality starts with empowering the people who know the processes of the
business best. That is why EASTMED includes a high level of participative management to
be successful in their TQM strategies and employee empowerment. In order for TQM to be a
factor in the empowerment process, managers of EASTMED have recognized the importance
of their employees and the jobs that they are doing. Employees, who are not treated correctly,
may have a risk of treating their customers in the same fashion.

Therefore, EASTMED achieved employee satisfaction through the following ways:

- Establishing high performance management.
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- Developing effective work groups.
- Creating a positive atmosphere within the organization.
- Giving-out power to all levels of the organization.

10 Steps Taken By EASTMED To Apply Employee Empowerment:

Step 1: Define the reason for change

Managers of EASTMED have explained to employees what empowerment is and how it
could have an impact personally. They explained that it include the ability to resolve
customer complaints, determine work and vacation schedules.

Step 2: Change senior-management behavior

the biggest challenge managers of EASTMED have overcome in creating an empowered
work environment is learning to let go.

Step 3: Determine what decisions employees can impact

One of the best ways for managers and employees to understand how their behavior must
change is by determining what kinds of decisions managers are willing to hand over and take
the transfer of decision-making authority slowly and that is exactly what EASTMED have
done. It took time for employees not only to learn how to make good decisions, but also to
trust that managers will abide by the decisions they make.

Step 4: Establish natural work teams

Every successful empowerment effort involves the extent use of teams where groups of
employees working together will usually come up with better ideas and decisions than any
individual working alone, and that is why EASTMED focuses on team works.

Step 5: Share Information

EASTMED believes that for employees to make better decisions for the company they need
better information about the company and that they should have access to information that

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helps them understand how their job or their team contributes to the company as a whole, so
it offers them the full accessibility to such needed information.

Step 6: Select the right people

EASTMED have selected employees who do best in an empowered, team-based environment
and those who possess initiative and the ability to get along with other people.

Step 7: Provide training

Since EASTMED does not expect employees to know how to make good decisions and work
closely with others where only few employees are naturally good at teaming activities,
EASTMED has offered its employees courses in decision-making, problem solving, conflict
management and effective meetings in order to enhance employee empowerment.

Step 8: Communicate expectations

EASTMED does not assume that employees will understand exactly what empowerment
means in terms of their individual job duties. Therefore, EASTMED communicated
expectations through performance management plans.

Step 9: Align reward and recognition programs

EASTMED does not pay on individual performance and expect employees to work well in
teams and does not reward employees for longevity when trying to increase work
performance because it believes that for empowerment to work, the activities employees are
being rewarded for should be similar to the goals of the company.

Step 10: Have patience and expect problems

One of the reasons empowerment fails is that managers give up too soon. But, EASTMED
has come over this as the managers of the company were able to view that empowerment will
not stick to an individual overnight. It will take time, patience, lots of mistakes and
arguments before empowerment works.

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Benefits from employee empowerment in EASTMED:
Employee empowerment has been a powerful tool for EASTMED. The leadership styles
have increased both efficiency and effectiveness inside the organization. Empowerment has
also increased productivity and allowed managers of EASTMED more time to work on more
important business matters.

Empowered employees have been able to make decisions and suggestions that have improved
customer service, saved the company money, and saved long, drawn out disputes with
customers.

Empowerment have also brought certain benefits to employees of EASTMED as it helped the
employees to give more inputs to the company as far as improvements, it promoted higher
productivity. It exercised employees’ minds to find better solutions to problems on the job
and increases the employees’ potential for promotions and job satisfaction.
It finally resulted in personal growth, feelings of confidence and control in EASTMED and
its employees.

Disadvantages from employee empowerment in EASTMED:

1. Employees can abuse the increase in power given to them.
2. It can be too much responsibility for some employees.
3. Employees may leave if they focus on their own success instead of the group success.
4. Managers must facilitate through sharing information, cooperation and referrals.
5. All employees must accept the concept first.
6. Increased training and educational costs to the company.
7. Increased time in groups which takes away from regular jobs.
8. Increased conflict or power struggle.

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9. Some employees may not be knowledgeable enough to make good business decisions.
10. Decisions may be based on personality.

Teamwork:
Participative Management has been applied in EASTMED with the application of TQM,
where it has become a keyword in empowerment. There is a positive link between
participation, satisfaction, motivation and performance. EASTMED relies on Self-managed
work teams and employee involvement teams to implement participative management.
These teams have proved effectiveness in resolving problems related to quality and
productivity, as well as job satisfaction and employee morale. Participative management
requires responsibility and trust within the employees of an organization.
In ESTMED, employees do not expect to be told what to do, but they know what to do. The
primary role of management is to support and encourage their employees to overcome
barriers, to work and to eliminate fear and discomfort in their teams.
On the other hand, there is a belief among managers that empowerment will lead them to
loosing authority and eventually their jobs. This resistance to change can be overcome by
setting, measuring and evaluating performance together with the teams of employees. Thus,
supervisors and managers should be trained to cope with organizational change.

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Focusing on results and work planning:

After the implication of TQM system, EASTMED started to focus on full potential
improvements not just incremental changes by emphasizing on practical recommendations
and how to make them happen. EASTMED celebrates impact, not intellectual elegance or
activity. The obsessive focus on results is apparent not only in how they run client
engagements but also in how they evaluate themselves as a firm and individual professionals.
EASTMED measures its success by their clients' results.

EASTMED also emphasized the concept of: Time Management as an important tool to
obtain desired results. They focus on results in order to manage time more effectively by
following these three steps:

• Decide what results are needed from a particular time period.

• Determine their focus for that time period.
• Practice focusing on the current task and working toward the desired results.

It is not about how much is done in a particular block of time; it is about getting the results
needed from that time. When dedicating a certain amount of time to a certain task, employees
can spend that time focusing completely on that certain task and they do not have to be
thinking that they should be working on something else.

Other practices:
One of the practices that were developed after the implementation of the TQM is the
documentation of any event or transaction that takes place within the company. This process
was held verbally before applying TQM.
In addition to that, there was no system for payrolls, it was all manually held. Now,
EASTMED uses a computerized archive system.

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 Main Reference
• ''Smart training'' , the manager's guide to training for improved performance.
By Clay Carr.
• ''Human resources management '' international edition. Tenth edition.
By Gary dessler, florida international university
• ''Strategic human resources management''. Third edition.
By Geffrey A.Mello, PH.D Towson university.
• ''How to build your strengths and the strengths of every person in your
organization'' .
By Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton.
• ''Managing human resources ''
By Monica Belcourt, George Bohlander and Scott Snell
• Main course readings.

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