Preparing Quality Mindset

Sustainable prosperity – at global or organizational levels – is not possible without a mass of people who prescribe to standard norms, have shared ideas, exhibit behaviors and customs of supporting mutual happiness, peace and well-being. It is possible to create such a quality culture through proper nurturing of the people to inculcate quality mindset. However, this arduous task needs a long term strategic educational direction. Students’ Quality Circles (SQC) – an adapted version of QCC (Quality Control Circles) principles – is used in academia to involve students at their early ages in collaboration, mutual learning, and developing positive skills in identifying, analyzing and solving recurring problems at home and schools. These students – the future policy makers, executives, managers and workers in different fields – will become total quality persons possessing good as well as smart characters. A two-dimensional model, TQP Character Grid is conceptualized to explain these two traits of a person. Moreover, a psychometric instrument for objectively measuring an individual’s TQP Index with validity, reliability and practicality is also developed. The annual Mansha Memorial TQP Award (MM-TQP-A) has also been established in Nepal since 2015.

Total Quality Person (TQP) is understood as a person with a leadership quality having mindset of inner-goodness who likes to serve the society as well as inner-smartness who always strives to excel in his profession. Students’ Quality Circles (SQC) is one of the innovative educational pedagogies which empower young students to be a total quality person. It is already proven and exercised in different parts of the world since more than a decade. This paper likes to rationalize the inevitability of SQC in academia and wants to present the experience of SQC promotion in Nepal focusing mainly on the institutionalization and resource development.

The article explores the development of Students’ Quality Circles (SQC) as a major contribution to education in Nepal. The principles of SQCs are introduced, together with a strategy for sustainable development of a national programme. The creation of collaborative advantage has wider educational and social implications.

Educational institutes are nurturing their students’ character by adding value to satisfy the societal needs. Students’ quality circles (SQC) activities in academia are believed to make a total quality person (TQP) having good and smart characters. In absence of any objective framework to study the structure of total quality person, it is now becoming difficult for the practitioners of SQC to identify its benefits and promote it to produce TQP in academia. This paper has conceptualized a framework called TQP character grid and constructed an objective scale to measure the total quality person index (TQPI) of a person. It has also suggested for future works on scale construction to make an universal TQPI scale for measuring personality character of a person in two dimensions of good and smart.

Radar Chart is one of the recommended SQC new tools which we may identify as a strong visual tool for observing multivariate information. Radar Charts may be applied by SQC team for interpreting data collected on multivariate nature. The major applications are mainly in two steps of SQC activities- (1) to identify the intensity of different features of problem and locate areas where the SQC has to concentrate to solve the problem and (ii) to present the status of the features or causes of the problem before and after the improvement process. A brief introduction of the tool by Prof. Dinesh Chapagain is published in the official electronic newsletter of QUEST-Nepal (e-communiqué) Issue 07, April 2012.

Affinity Analysis is one of the recommended SQC tools which we may identify as a strong visual tool for synthesizing large number of language data. The Affinity Analysis is formalized in an Affinity Diagram and is useful when you want to- (1) sift through large volumes of data, i.e., creating an affinity diagram might be helpful for organizing the data into groups, and (2) encourage new patterns of thinking, i.e., an affinity exercise is an excellent way to get a group of people to react on a "gut level" rather than mulling things over intellectually. A brief introduction of the tool by Prof. Dinesh Chapagain is published in the official electronic newsletter of QUEST-Nepal (e-communiqué) Issue 08, May 2012.

Arrow Diagram is one of the recommended SQC tools which we may identify as a simple visual tool for scheduling complex project activities for SQC team. The purpose of an arrow diagram is to create a visual presentation of the steps of tasks necessary to complete a project with special emphasis on the time taken for these activities. The diagram provides a clear understanding of the schedule of various steps in the process which helps one to monitor the process for ensuring its completion on time. A brief introduction of the tool by Prof. Dinesh Chapagain is published in the official electronic newsletter of QUEST-Nepal (e-communiqué) Issue 09, June 2012.

Relations Diagram is one of the recommended SQC tools which we may identify as a simple visual tool for digging out root causes of problem for SQC team. The purpose of the Relation Diagram is to create a visual presentation of the brainstorming exercise done to identify the causes in hierarchical orders so that the root causes can be identified. The diagram provides a clear understanding of different levels of causes of the problem by asking the same question several times “Why this is happening?” Also, it is applied when we need to understand hierarchical links between cause–and–effect relationships thereby identify an area of greatest impact for improvement. And, particularly this tool is used when a complex issue is being analyzed for causes. A brief introduction of the tool by Prof. Dinesh Chapagain is published in the official electronic newsletter of QUEST-Nepal (e-communiqué) Issue 10, July 2012.

Tree Diagram one of the recommended SQC tools which we may identify as A Simple Visual Tool for Identifying Required Specific Tasks for Problem Solving. The purpose of the Tree Diagram is to create a visual presentation of the brainstorming exercise done to identify strategies and specific tasks to be performed to achieve some objectives. The cause analysis is the prerequisite activities for using this tool and analyzing for thinking deeper and deeper into details and extracting specific tasks for developing plan of action. The diagram provides a clear understanding of different levels of objectives and its means to achieve this objective by asking the same question several times “How to achieve this objective?” A brief introduction of the tool by Prof. Dinesh Chapagain is published in the official electronic newsletter of QUEST-Nepal (e-communiqué) Issue 11, August 2012.

Matrix Diagram is one of the recommended SQC tools which we may identify as a simple visual tool for identifying strengths of relationship among different dimensions of characteristics for problem solving. The purpose of the Matrix diagram is to identify the strength of relationship, qualitatively by discussing among SQC team members. There are several shaped of Matrix Diagrams for different purposes. The most popular are: L–shaped matrix relates two groups of items to each other (or one group to itself). T–shaped matrix relates three groups of items: groups B and C are each related to A. Groups B and C are not related to each other. Y–shaped matrix relates three groups of items. Each group is related to the other two in a circular fashion. C–shaped matrix relates three groups of items all together simultaneously, in 3-D. A brief introduction of the tool by Prof. Dinesh Chapagain is published in the official electronic newsletter of QUEST-Nepal (e-communiqué) Issue 12, September 2012.

In Nepal, Students’ Quality Circles (Popularly known as SQC) was initiated in 1999 from Himalaya Vidya Mandir, Kathmandu. There are about hundred SQC master trainers who are involved in training hundreds of SQC facilitators who thereby facilitating thousands of students in practicing Students’ Quality Circles. In July 2011, a dozen of experienced master trainers had half day constructive dialogue among them in Kathmandu and came out with 20 queries on SQC which they termed as frequently asked questions (FAQs) that need clarifications to SQC practitioners. In the article Prof. Dinesh Chapagain tried to provide answers to these FAQs, which was presented in the International convention on SQC in 2011. The article may be helpful to other SQC practitioners, too.

Who are quality people? Quality people are those possessing both smart and good characters. How do we implant these characters into human beings who are owners, managers, regulators or employees of a company? The answer has always been a challenge to personality developers, motivators, facilitators, trainers or educationists of any country. The original version of industrial quality circles needs to be slightly remodeled and applied among young students in academia. The approach then is called Students’ Quality Circles (or, SQC in short). By definition, the primary purpose of adopting QCC in an industry is for continuously solving problems in the process and products. And, the secondary purpose of QCC is for self and mutual development of the team members involved in QCC activities. SQC emphasizes more on the self and mutual development as its prime purpose. Problem solving is the secondary purpose in SQC. Industrial QCC is re-engineered as SQC to be adapted in schools among students for their personality development. Adapting Quality Circles approach for students may need some fine tuning in the original form of Quality Control Circles developed five decades back in Japan for employee empowerment and problem solving. The paper is presented by Prof. Dinesh Chapagain as a success story of the Japanese Quality Management in Nepal to the Association of Overseas Technical Scholarship, Japan in 2008.

During the Students’ Quality Circle (SQC) activities in academics, students identify, analyze and solve their problems at school and at home by applying various QC tools in a QC team using QC story of systematic problem solving approach. This paper highlights the content analysis of the secondary information compiled from the proceedings of the recent national and international conventions on students’ quality circles using KJ method. The result depicts that students have developed several characters deemed necessary to build leadership quality. Students participating in Students’ Quality Circle activities have developed eleven types of leadership traits, skills and habits like self confidence, self discipline, interpersonal relations, boarder vision, creativity, social responsibility, communication skills, scientific and analytical skills, time management skills, empathy, and working habits in a team. The experiment of integrating Students’ Quality Circles in the class room as co-curricular activities together with regular curriculum seems very successful. However, some constraints and challenges still exist in implementation of Students’ Quality Circle in a sustainable manner. The paper also tries to highlight cautionary notes which are derived from the lessons learnt while introducing quality circles among young students at educational institutes in Nepal. The paper was presented by Prof. Dinesh P. Chapagain in the11th International Convention on Students’ Quality Circle, Istanbul, Turkey, 2008.

Educational institutes are character building organizations and students are products of these organizations. It is an axiom that only quality people can produce quality products and deliver quality services. It is the responsibility of educational institutes to inculcate quality mindset among students by introducing innovative teaching learning processes. Students’ Quality Circle is one such innovative and successful process. Since last decade, some educational institutes of Asian countries- Nepal, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, are conducting experiments to introduce Students’ Quality Circle in class rooms with the intention of preparing total quality people. During the Students’ Quality Circle (QC) activities in schools, students identify, analyze and solve their problems at school and at home by applying various QC tools in a QC team using QC story of systematic problem solving approach. This paper highlights the content analysis of the secondary information compiled from the proceedings of the recent national and international conventions on students’ quality circles using KJ method. The result depict that students have developed several characters deemed necessary to build leadership quality. Students participating in Students’ Quality Circle activities have developed eleven types of leadership traits, skills and habits like self confidence, self discipline, interpersonal relations, boarder vision, creativity, social responsibility, communication skills, scientific and analytical skills, time management skills, empathy, and working habits in a team. The experiment of integrating Students’ Quality Circles in the class room as co-curricular activities together with regular curriculum seems very successful. However, some constraints and challenges still exist in implementation of Students’ Quality Circle in a sustainable manner. The paper also tries to highlight cautionary notes which are derived from the lessons learnt while introducing quality circles among young students at educational institutes in Nepal. The paper was prepared and presented by Prof. Dinesh P. Chapagain at 4th Asian Network for Quality Congress, Seoul, Korea, 2006.

Only with Quality people Quality products can be produced and quality services can be delivered. Quality people are those with good and smart characters. Educational institutes are character building organization and students are the real products of the organization. The paper tries to describe the new approach of introducing quality circles among young students to develop their leadership personality who can produce quality products and quality services when they grow and work in the future. Since last decade, some educational institutes of Asian countries are conducting experiments to introduce Students’ Quality Circles in class rooms with an intention of preparing total quality people. During the Students’ Quality Circle exercise in schools, young students identify, analyze and solve their problems happening at school and at home in a QC team applying QC story of systematic problem solving and using the QC tools. The Students’ Quality Circle exercise ultimately develops the personality of young students. The analysis of the secondary information compiled from the proceedings of the international conventions on students’ quality circles depicts that students have developed several characters that can be termed as good and smart. The result showed that students have developed characters and skills like self disciplined, self confidence, interpersonal and public relations, empathy, social responsibility, time management skills, scientific and analytical skills, communication skills, creativity and lateral thinking habits, working habits in a team, broader knowledge than bookish knowledge by practicing Students’ Quality Circles at their class rooms. This experiment seems very successful and if applied by all educational institutes, Quality people will be produced in the future who will work as entrepreneurs, managers, or workers to produce quality products and deliver quality services. The paper was prepared and presented by Prof. Dinesh P. Chapagain at 3rd Asian Network for Quality Congress, Singapore, 2006.

Total quality persons are those who has both the character attributes of Goodness and Smartness. Good and smart are not in the opposite continuum of characters but these two characters of a person are two sides of a coin, or one can say that they are complementary to each other. Ten smartness attributes and ten goodness attributes are identified for a person to be a quality person. These characters can be developed when students practice Students’ Quality Circle exercises at their respective schools. A research finding is presented to convince participating young students for practicing the SQC exercise at their classes. The paper was prepared by Dinesh P. Chapagain for the 8th International Convention on Students’ Quality Control Circles, Lucknow, India, 2005.

An experiment is carried out using Kano methodology of quality evaluation to identify the voices of stakeholders of schools to categorize their needs regarding personality traits of a person and identify the gaps in understanding of the required personality traits of the student they have to nurture or produce. In this study, Kano methodology which has been applied widely for products and services is used for the first time to identify the voice of customers on the personality factors. The Five Factor Personality Model is used to describe the traits of a person. Experiment results showed that most of the personality factors namely ‘honesty and reserve in learning’, ‘thoroughness and easy taking at work’, ‘outgoing and friendly personality’, and ‘rational and creative’ are found as the ‘one-dimensional’ or ‘more-is-better’ quality. And, the personality trait ‘aloof’ is found as the ‘indifference’ quality indicating that stakeholders do not care whether a person has this personality or not, whereas, the ‘shy’ is found as the ‘reversible’ quality, meaning, stakeholders do not prefer a person having this personality traits. In addition to this, it is also observed that compared to the guardians, teachers prefer the creative trait more than the rational and logical trait of a person. The paper was prepared on the basis of research conducted by Prof. Dinesh P. Chapagain and was presented the paper at the 6th International Conference of Quality Managers, Tehran, Iran, 2005.

This paper discusses on the question “Can the mindset of a person be changed?” How it can be changed? Does a person possess certain behavioral attribute by nature or can they be nurtured? Researchers have indicated that if proper intervention techniques are followed, the mindset of a person can be changed. Few quality mindsets are identified and presented in the paper like, Respect humanity, Priority Consciousness, Management by Fact, The PDCA Wheel, Recurrence Prevention, Customer Orientation and Next Process is the Customer, Process and Dispersion Control, Quality First. The importance of Students’ Quality Circles is also discussed in the paper. The paper has made humble request to Government of Nepal to promote Students Quality Circle as the most important pro-social interventions at educational institutions, to Educational institutes to implement the practice of Students Quality Circle as an essential extra-curricular activity along with other general programs such as sports, arts and talent programs, and to parents and guardians to motivate their wards to participate in Students Quality Circle activities at their respective schools. The discussion paper was prepared and presented by Prof. Dinesh P. Chapagain in the 3rd Regional Quality Convention at Kathmandu, Nepal in 2004.

TQM Is not a foreign Subject, it is universal and can be applied in all society and culture.TQM in Nepal has a Continuity Problem. It is understood that TQM is rather a psychosocial substance and need to change the attitudes and behavior of the workers. Deskilling the adult workers is really an arduous task. It is identified that scripting TQM values in human brain is necessary and scripting in an adult brain is more difficult. The sustainable TQM in any organization thus need total quality people with TQM values on their mindset. Students’ Quality Circle is an approach to script the TQM values and mindset on a child who has clean board on their brain when they are still young. This paper highlights how the arduous task of scripting on a clean board can be successful if Students’ Quality Circle implemented in schools. The paper was prepared and presented by Prof. Dinesh P. Chapagain at the 7th National Quality Convention, Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2002.