InitiationDescription of OrganizationHayward Japan Grill is a small family-owned casual dining Japanese restaurant and Sushi bar located in the downtown area of Hayward, California. We have been in business for over 10 years. We are positioned for a family-friendly casual dining experience for both people new to Japanese food and for people who are experienced with Japanese food staples. Our core offerings are Teriyaki, Tempura, Donburi, Udon, and other Japanese staples. Our other core offerings are American-style Sushi rolls, traditional Nigiri sushi, and Sashimi. We also offer a limited American food menu of sandwiches, burgers, and entrees, for guests who are still uncomfortable with Japanese food or who are transitioning into trying new things. We have two main lines of business: casual dining for guests in our restaurant and a brisk takeout business. Recently, we began a new line of business in live sushi catering for affluent dinner parties, where we make the sushi at the on-site--basically bring the sushi bar to them. However, this line of business is still very much developing in its infancy.

Our capacity for guests ranges up to 80 people and we offer both dine-in and takeout options. Our hours are Monday through Saturday, 11am-10pm, with lunch served until 4pm, at which point we switch to dinner menus. On Sunday we are open only for dinner 4:30pm to 9:30pm. We have both tables for groups and a sushi bar. We currently employ a total of 12 people.

Current Situation AnalysisCurrently, we do many things manually. We have no electronic POS system, we order from suppliers over the phone, and take visual/physical inventories. We have 3 cooks, 2 dishwashers (who double as bussers), 3 servers, 2 managers (who double as servers), and 2 sushi chefs. We have no consistent method of ensuring quality. Most of our processes and procedures are not documented in any written way and training is not standardized in any way. We do not have any employee meetings or any quality programs. Market research is very limited--a check on Yelp quite rarely.

Recent sales are slow, keeping in line with the general economic climate, with only a few busy days and times a week. We are breaking even most of the time and sometimes make a profit. Thus, keeping in line with demand, we have cut back on labor and orders for supplies. Our managers work in the day-to-day business, serving and interacting with customers in addition to managing. They are often too busy with the details of the business to put time into dedicated marketing, customer research, food development, analysis, etc. Skills and knowledge vary for every person, based on both experience and natural capabilities. The knowledge capture procedure is almost entirely based in the personal memory of managers. We do very little tracking of the data streams and metrics of our business, besides sales. No data based analysis is conducted--we forecast and analyze customer sentiments based on what we feel or intuit from customers. Nearly all of our information comes from observing and conversing with customers as we work.

The restaurant industry is highly competitive and requires adaptation, customer loyalty, high service levels, and excellent food in order to be successful. The implementation of a quality management program is what we believe will push our business to thrive.

PurposeOur objectives in this program are to:Increase customer satisfaction by continually improving our ability to serve customersPromote understanding, standardization and documentation of processesDecrease waste due to inefficienciesCapture and transform the many data streams we have access to into information we can use to improve our businessIncrease employee satisfactionPromote a culture of quality and continual improvement within the organization

Though outside of the scope of this plan, we assume that the achievement of these objectives will eventually lead to greater sales, reduced costs, and greater profits.

ScopeThis plan will implement quality management techniques at Hayward Japan Grill for all employees to use in improving business processes and is intended as a high level guide. The introduction, acculturation to, and use of the tools outlined in the Planning section will be the primary focus of this quality management plan. Thus, the scope of this plan is building the supportive framework and information-rich environment necessary for effective quality management. Looking at the Current Situation Analysis section, it is clear that our business will be able to benefit greatly from improved processes.

This plan assumes that, over the long term, a strong quality orientation will lead to increased sales, reduced costs, and greater satisfaction for our stakeholders. Thus, we must accept the risk of this plan failing to realize the intended benefits and achieve the established objectives. We must also accept the risk of management deeming the short term costs too great and long term benefits as taking too long to realize. The benefits of a successful quality management implementation are slow to realize. This plan also assumes that the culture of Hayward Japan Grill will be receptive enough to change that this plan will be a success. This plan also assumes that the tools and techniques outline here will be effective in their aims and in supporting the achievement of the objectives.Another assumption is that employees will not distort the data or the quality systems to make change seem to take place when behavior has not really changed at all.

A project manager with project management and quality management knowledge shall be designated to lead this quality implementation. The project manager will be responsible for ensuring the success of the quality management implementation and maintaining communication between management and the project team.Other employees as needed will be inducted temporarily into the project team as needed and involved in the implementation process.

StakeholdersCustomersDescription: Customers are the reason why Hayward Japan Grill exists and continues to exist. Customers provide us with the necessary financial exchanges for our services that allow us to continue serving them and all of our stakeholders. Role: No direct influence on the project team or funding. They do provide inputs for some of the quality tools so they have indirect influence on the project team. They are the ultimate beneficiaries of our quality efforts and thus the final judges of the effectiveness of this plan. They will express their perception of the projects degree of success to employees and managers.Sushi ChefsDescription: These staff are essential for the preparation of our sushi and related core offerings. They also clean and cut fish, mix ingredients, prepare sauces, and other prep work pertaining to the sushi bar. They also provide some customer service and interaction with guests who sit at the sushi bar. They are a mix of front and back of house (processes not directly seen by customers) employees.Role: Direct influence on project team dependent on whether their involvement is necessary at the time. They will be responsible for actually using and implementing many of the quality tools, providing feedback/ideas, and making improvements.ServersDescription: These staff are essential for the customer service experience and ensuring satisfaction as the guests move through the service processes. They talk to customers, seat them, take orders, ask them how their dining experience is, bring them food, clear tables, clean tables, calculate bills, etc. These employees have the greatest exposure to customers and to the front of house (processes directly seen by customer) business processes.Role: Direct influence on project team dependent on whether their involvement is necessary at the time. They will be responsible for actually using and implementing many of the quality tools, providing feedback/ideas, and making improvements.ManagementDescription: The managers work in the day-to-day business, primarily as servers. They also order supplies, conduct payroll, plan schedules, resolve problems, give instructions, request projects, etc. The managers have very limited time to spend on strategic planning.Role: Direct influence on project team, project existence, and project funding. They will be responsible for using and implementing managerial quality tools, empowering employees, providing feedback/ideas, and making improvements. They have the ability to terminate the project at any time, thus, special attention should be given to diplomacy in keeping them informed and satisfied.Kitchen CooksDescription: These staff are essential for the preparation of our cooked Japanese food core offerings. These employees clean, peel, and cut vegetables. They also cut and trim meats, marinate foods, devein/deshell shrimp, prepare sauces, prepare salads, and conduct other prep work for cooked food ingredients.These employees are completely in the back of house operations with no customer contact. Role: Direct influence on project team dependent on whether their involvement is necessary at the time. Note that all most of out current employees are primarily Spanish-speaking with limited English fluency so communication will require extra attention. They will be responsible for actually using and implementing many of the quality tools, providing feedback/ideas, and making improvements.DishwashersDescription: These staff collect soiled dish bins filled by servers. They clean the dishes in the back of the kitchen using a prewash sink and an automatic dishwasher. They also personally put the sanitized dishes back in their designated places.Role: Direct influence on project team dependent on whether their involvement is necessary at the time. Note that dishwashers have the lowest job involvement of all employees, likely due to low pay, tedious labor, and questionably meaningful work, thus, they may not be motivated to participate in quality efforts. Also note that all our current employees are primarily Spanish-speaking with limited English fluency so communication will require extra attention. They will be responsible for actually using and implementing some of the quality tools, providing feedback/ideas, and making improvements.SuppliersDescription: Our suppliers provide us with the raw materials to prepare food and with supplies to keep restaurant processes running smoothly. We rely on them to keep our business running smoothly. Quality initiatives will likely change how we order from them, among other things. Relationships with suppliers could also possibly be altered by quality management.Role: No direct influence on project team. They do influence some of the inputs and data streams that feed into the project. They will also be influenced by changes due to this quality management plan.Project ManagerDescription: The project manager has technical knowledge of project management and quality management techniques. The project manager will coordinate the team and plan from initiation to closure to ensure success of the quality implementation. As the leader of the project, the projects success is directly tied to the project managers success.Role: Direct influence on project team. The project manager will be directly responsible for making the project succeed, managing resources, and managing the team. The project manager will also be responsible for communications between the team and stakeholders.

PlanningOverviewThe quality tools and techniques that form the quality management plan are separated here into four phases. The phases are roughly ordered temporally, though it is certainly possible that some elements of phases will be implemented concurrently with other elements in other phases. Certainly, all of these tools will be continually used to improve the organization and not necessarily in the order denoted here. This section is meant to serve as a general guide, but whatever categorizations best contribute to improvement and quality success will have the final authority.

The Gathering information phase focuses on understanding our business, customers, and processes. We need to know what and how we are doing first before we can attempt to improve it. The Diagnosing Performance phase uses the information obtained to find out areas of possible process imrpovement. This phase focuses on measuring, quantifying, and capturing the data streams within our processes that track performance and that allow us to identify problems. The Engineering Improvement phase focuses on problem-solving methods to resolve the issues identified with tools in the previous phase. Finally, the Implementing Quality phase focuses on putting solutions into action, maintaining quality, and promoting quality within the organization.

Gathering InformationThe following are techniques and tools to help us discover information about our processes, problems, and customers.

Employee Information GatheringEmployees are experts in their functional areas, thus they are a rich source of information on the current state of the organization. We will gather information from employees through in-depth one-on-one interviews administered by the project manager. This is feasible because of the small size of the organization. The interviews will also allow us to evaluate the level of knowledge and readiness for each employee. We can also use these sessions to prepare, educate, answer questions, and address concerns before quality tools and techniques are implemented in the following phases, facilitating cultural change. The preliminary general outline for the questions will be as follows:What is your job?How do you do your work?Who are what do you depend on to do your work?What problems do you have with your work?How can your work be improved?How would you describe the performance of the organization as a whole?How can the organization be improved?What knowledge do you have of quality management?What concerns or questions do you have about the quality management plan that will be implemented?Do you have any other questions?

Process Identification and MappingBefore our business can be improved, we must first identify and understand our current processes. We need to identify and separate each process into logical components. We also need to map our processes using flow charting techniques so that we can understand how our business works and so that we can graphically analyze processes for possible improvement points. In addition, usage of many quality tools is dependent on having knowledge of our processes.

Our focus will be on identifying the key business processes which contribute to success in the market and achievement of our objectives. Each process will receive a detailed breakdown and analysis in order to be mapped accurately. The process will be mapped using a simple standardized structure. See Appendix 1 for an example. Identification and process mapping will be conducting using brainstorming techniques such as the tools listed in the Engineering Improvement phase.

BenchmarkingCompetitors are a valuable source of information on how we can better improve our own processes. The restaurant industry is highly competitive; we need to know what other firms are doing to ensure that we remain a strong choice relative to our competitors. In addition, we can see methods and techniques implemented in actual use situations and study how they succeed or how they fail. We can then improve on what we have observed by identifying problems and drawbacks with competitor implementations and resolving them. . Benchmarking also provides us with information to better conduct our strategic planning process.

Our primary benchmarking methods will be the following:Informal Benchmarking: benchmarking without a formal structure or relationship with a competitor. This consists of talking to customers about competitors, observing competitors as customers, using publicly available information for comparison, etc.Product Benchmarking: this consists of taking competitive products and services and analyzing them. For example, we could obtain a sample of a competitors menu item then analyzing it to learn how it was made, strengths, weaknesses, and possible improvements we could apply to our own offerings. The aim of this benchmarking is to design or improve or current offerings and services.Process Benchmarking: this consists of initiating a formal relationship with a target firm which we have identified as using best practices or is industry leading. We then study their business processes and systems to gain knowledge on how to improve our own processes.

In conducting benchmarking, we shall use the following general methodology:Decide what to benchmarkIdentify whom to benchmarkDetermine performance gap between us and target firmVisit target firm to observe best practicesImplement improved business practices in our firm

Market ResearchCustomer satisfaction is one the the foundational pillars of quality management. As such, the importance of market research cannot be overstated. We must know what customers want and how they perceive us in order to better serve them. Our market research will have three components: traditional research such as surveys, social media such as Yelp and Twitter, and informal methods such as daily customer interactions.

Once one formal research cycle ends, another should begin. This would keep our business constantly informed of current customer needs and feelings. A realistic estimate for cycle length would be quarterly or semiannually. In-restaurant status questioning and social media would be used during the gaps between the formal market research administration to monitor real-time customer feedback. Information would also be stored for future reference and summarized through historical graphical charts to keep management constantly aware of progress, status changes, impacts of improvements, and developments.TraditionalInterviews: we would use in-depth interviews with customers who agree to be interviewed. As an incentive, we could offer a discount or gift cards. We would start by conducting several interviews with regular customers since they form the bulk of our business. Overall goals would be to find out general preferences of customers--what is significant to customers when they eat at a restaurant, what they like, what they dislike, what we can do for them, gaps in our current offerings, gaps in our current service, and any other suggestions. The interviews would follow a format, but they would also be closer to informal flowing conversations to best capture the at-ease state of a customer.Focus Groups: We would use the exploratory research gained from the interviews to inform discussion guide development. This stage would be more focused with specific questions for discussion in a formal setting. Potential questions could address what makes a good restaurant a good restaurant, how important is the food variety, what do you look for in sushi, what do you look for in a Japanese dining experience, what do you want in a casual dining experience, how can we improve, etc. At the end of this stage, we would have a great deal of group consensus research into the dining experience in general as well as customer understanding of our restaurant in particular. Ideally, we would conduct multiple focus groups, with 5 being an ideal number, but limited resources and time would be constraints. Realistically, 2 would be an acceptable number, one with regular customers and one with new customers (to begin investigating any differences between the two customer groups). We would need to ask customers if they wanted to participate, qualify their availability, offer incentives if necessary, note relevant demographic information, remind them of their participation, schedule a time and place to meet, facilitate the group, take notes, debrief afterwards, and generate reports. Surveys: Special Purpose Surveys: The focus group reports would be used to develop surveys. The aim would be for the surveys to be short, concise, clear, easy to administer, and to provide useful data. No more than one double-sided page would be a reasonable goal to aim for. Ideally, we would obtain a high quality representative random sample of our primary market area to distribute surveys to. Due to the costs and difficulty of such an approach, especially for a small business, the most realistic method of surveying would be convenience sampling where we survey whoever is most convenient for us to survey. This would mean customers already in the restaurant and people walking on the sidewalks nearby. Though this would be an inaccurate and non-representative sampling method, it would also be the most feasible method. The survey itself would measure importance of certain restaurant characteristics for customers, their feelings toward potential improvements, their needs, market segmentation data, and provide demographic correlations between results. We could also utilize online/social media channels to distribute surveys as well, though we would need to validate data in some way to prevent double-counting. The data would be compiled, summarized, and analyzed to generate useful information for presentation to management. This information would then guide proposed improvements, changes, and measure current customer sentiments.SERVQUAL: SERVQUAL is a widely used, off-the-shelf surveying tool that we can use regularly to measure customer expectations and customer perceptions of our restaurant. Benefits of SERVQUAL include its standardized nature, its validity in assessing service situations, its reliability, its conciseness, and its standardized analysis procedure. These can be administered regularly to measure customer changes in expectations and perceptions of our business through time.Social MediaYelp: Yelp has an extremely large influence on restaurants as a resource for customers to review restaurants. We would need to officially take control of our Yelp page to better connect with customers. We would also have access to Yelp analytics and statistics for our business. This would also make us aware of new customer feedback as soon as it is posted, and help us explore what we did wrong further by talking to negative reviewers. We would also be able figure out what people think we are doing right by reading the reviews diligently. We can learn how Yelp users perceive our business.Twitter: Twitter is a low cost method to connect easily with customers. This would allow customers to conveniently comment our pages about the service we are delivering and speak directly with us about their needs. Communication between guests and our organization would also be much easier and faster. They would be great for both passive data collection and active feedback solicitation.We could post a Tweet asking something to our customers and we would quickly get a rough response to our questions. Facebook: we would establish a Facebook page for the same reasons and benefits of a Twitter, though a Facebook page would allow us to have an actual site with a collection of photos, information, events, and other Facebook specialized features.Other: other sites that could be monitored are Flickr, Youtube, Urbanspoon, Chowhound, and other popular restaurant review sites--a weekly basis would be sufficient. Social media feedback monitoring could be automated using such free tools as socialmention.com, Google Alerts, Backtype, or a free social media dashboard such as Netvibe.Informal: We can conduct informal research by having customer-contact employees ask customers how the service and food are and if customers have any suggestions. Asking customers directly, as long as it isn't intrusive upon their dining experience, for their feedback on the food, service, and other aspects of the restaurant is a direct solicitation of the customer's voice. Employees would ask them for their opinion before they force themselves to give their opinion. Our aim is for everyone to engage with the customers, note down customer feelings and any of their suggestions, and compile these at the end of the day. Employees could then quickly debrief at the end of the day about how customers currently perceive the business, their needs, and any good ideas suggested. At the end of the week, these notes could be summarized for discussion during quality meetings.Service Transaction AnalysisService transaction analysis consists of identifying a process to study then having a mystery shopper walk through the process, noting down their impressions of each transaction (moment where the customer expects something to happen) in the process. This technique will help us understand our own processes and business from the perspective of the customer. We can learn places where we are not succeeding in meeting customer expectations. We can recruit participants for this technique and have them randomly visit the business and analyze our service. A general service transaction analysis sheet will consist of the following:Organization NameService Concept for OrganizationProcess Being AnalyzedCustomer TypeTransaction Rating Table: this will consist of the transaction description, the score on a +,0 (neutral),or - scale, and the message each transaction sends to the mystery shopperOverall Evaluation

Diagnosing PerformanceWe need the ability to measure our current levels of performance and diagnose where problems are occurring. In addition, the information gathered in the previous phase can also help us decide which areas to use these following tools. See Appendix 2 for examples and more information on these tools.Check Sheets Check sheets are data-gathering tools that can provide data to be used in many of the other quality tools. We will design and implement check sheets to gather information on problems occurring in our processes. At a very basic level, we can already use these to identify problems areas. Check sheets will be set up with the following general methodology:Identify common defects occurring in processDraw a table with common defects in the leftmost column and time period across the tops of columns to track the defectsPost the check sheet at a convenient easy-to-reach area for the employee using the sheet and ensure the check sheet is clear/easy-to-markHave the user of the check sheet place marks whenever a defect occursHistograms/Frequency ChartsThese charts are graphical representations of data gathered with the check sheets or through other data inputs. Histograms are used for continuous numerical data while frequency charts are used for categorical data. Using this graphical analysis technique, we can easily see the distribution of the data. This will help us easily understand the raw data gathered from the check sheets. We can also compute other descriptive statistics such as mean, median, mode, max, min, difference, and sum if we choose. Scatter Diagram and Correlation Analysis The scatter diagram plots every data point in a graphical x, y space. These data points can then be visually analyzed for relationships. We can obtain data from check sheets or from other data inputs such samples of measurements throughout a day. The data is easily plotted in Microsoft Excel, where a correlation analysis using build in tools can be run. For example, we can find if there is a correlation between number of guests served in an hour and the rate of mistakes in orders. The scatter plot will be set up using the following general methodology:Determine your x (independent) and y (dependent) variablesGather process data relating to the variablesPlot the data on a two-dimensional planeObserve the data to see whether a relationship exists and perform a correlation test in ExcelControl Charts We can use control charts to constantly monitor our performance in different areas. We will be able to understand whether our processes are stable, capable, and whether processes are varying due to random or nonrandom variation. These control charts will help us improve by identifying instances where investigation of either nonrandom problems or improvements is warranted. Control charts also keep employees mindful of the performance of processes, putting pressure on them to do well. We will sample on a systematic basis for ease of use. We will use either attribute or variable data based on what we decide provides the greatest benefit without excessive effort/cost. Note that control charts rely on normal distributions. The appropriate charts to use will be decided by the decision chart on page 384 of the fourth edition of Managing Quality by S. Thomas Foster. Control charts will be developed according to the following general methodology:Identify critical operation in a process where inspection might be needed. These are operations in which, if the operation is performed improperly, the product or service will be negatively affectedIdentify critical product/service characteristics. These are the aspects of the product that will result in either good or poor functioning of the productDetermine whether the critical product characteristic is a variable or an attributeSelect the appropriate process control chart from among the many types of control chartsEstablish control limits and use the chart to continually monitor and improveUpdate the limits when changes have been made to the processIshikawa Diagrams Ishikawa diagrams, also known as cause-and-effect diagrams, are used to focus on the causes of problems instead of symptoms. These diagrams appear like fish-bones--the head is the problem or situation being analyzed and the ribs of the fish form major causes of the problem. From there, we continue to ask why (with a general rule of 5 times) to keep filling out the diagram. We are trying to find the causes of causes, until we get to the root causes of problems. We can use these diagrams to focus our problem-solving efforts on the root causes of problems instead of on only the symptoms. The general methodology for developing Ishikawa diagrams will be as follows:State the problem clearly in the head of the fishDraw the backbone and ribs by identifying major causes of the problem labeled in the head of the diagram, possibly by labeling materials, machines, people, and methods as ribsContinue to fill out the fishbone diagram, asking Why? about each problem or cause of a problem until the fish is filled out, usually five timesView the diagram and identify root causesSet goals to address root causesPareto Charts Pareto charts are used to identify and prioritize problems to be solved. These charts are based on the 80/20 rule where roughly 80% of problems are created by 20% of the causes. These vital few are the problems which we should focus our problem-solving efforts on. These charts are basically frequency charts where information is classified based on types of defects, then the defects are ordered based on frequency of occurrence. This tool will allow us to maximize the return on investment of our quality efforts. Pareto charts will be developed using the following general methodology:Gather categorical data relating to quality problemsDraw a frequency chart of the dataFocus on the tallest bars in the chart first when solving problems

Engineering ImprovementThe following quality tools are used as aids in problem solving and brainstorming. More information on these tools can be found in Chapter 10 of the fourth edition of S. Thomas Fosters Managing Quality.Brainstorm MeetingsThese will be special meetings during which brainstorming techniques and tools will be used by the project team to create solutions to the problems discovered in other phases. These will include the tools detailed in this phase. The aim of these meetings is to generate numerous ideas for problem solving. Only at the end will the ideas be evaluated.Affinity DiagramThe affinity diagram helps a group converge on a set number of themes or ideas which can be addressed later. An affinity diagram creates a hierarchy of ideas by classifying/categorizing the large number of ideas generated in brainstorm sessions into logical groups. The general methodology to establish an affinity diagram is as follows:Identify the problem to be stated in a clear, concise statement understood by everyoneGive the team members a supply of note cards and a pen to write down issues that relate to the problem with very brief explanations of each on each card.Allow only 10 minutes for this writing activityPlace the written cards on a flat surface for all to seeLet everyone on the team move cards into groups with a similar theme, silently and quicklyIf there is disagreement of the proper placement of a card simply move it without saying anythingConsensus is reached when all the cards are in groups and the team members have stopped moving cardsCreate header cardsDraw and distribute the finished affinity diagram to allInterrelationship Diagram An interrelationship diagram shows the relationships between the different issues that have been discovered. The relationships between cards highlight what the core issues are. The aim of this is to understand issues better and focus on where the solution may be. Interrelationship diagrams will be developed according to the following general methodology:Construct an affinity diagram and place the cards with related issues in columns with gaps between the cardsCreate the digraph by examining each card and asking what other issues are caused or influenced by this issue, then draw one way arrows indicating cause issue and influenced issueAfter reviewing arrows and revising until satisfaction, count the number of arrows pointing to each issue card and write number on each cardIdentify the cards with most arrows as the key factors (there should be no more than 5-10); cards with the most outgoing arrows tend to be root causes while cards with the most incoming arrows tend to be performance indicatorsHighlight the key factors and brainstorm ways to fix the issueTree DiagramThe tree diagram is used to identify the steps needed to address the given problem. The tree diagram is very similar to a work breakdown structure. The following is a general methodology to develop the tree diagram:Assemble the header cards from the affinity diagram and choose the header card that represents the most important issueOnce the goal statement has been determined, ask what the required steps to resolve or achieve the major objective or goalOnce the major tasks have been identified, move to the next level under each task, and ask for each successive level What are the steps needed to resolve/achieve this goal?Continue until all ideas for steps have been exhaustedPrioritization GridA prioritization grid is used to make decisions based on multiple criteria. For example, to choose which new stove unit to use as a solution to a problem. It is simply a matrix/table that helps the user choose a decision based on weighted criteria. The following steps are a general methodology to develop a prioritization grid:Determine your goal, alternatives, and the criteria by which a decision is to be madePlace the selection criteria in order from most to least importantApply a percentage weight to each criteria for each optionAverage the individual team member rating for each criterion, then rank those average scores (1-5) to determine final importance ranking for the criteriaEach person ranks each alternative with respect to each criterion and scores are summed to determine the ranking of each alternative for each criterionMultiply the criterion ranking of each alternative by each corresponding criterion weightAdd the weighted scores for each alternativeRank each alternative according the scoresMatrix DiagramMatrix diagrams are brainstorming tools that can be used to show the relationship between ideas or issues. For example, a responsibility matrix can be used to show the relationship between the work to be done and the people who will do it with the header rows/columns and the symbols can show the amount of involvement for each. They can be used in 1-4 dimensions. The following is a general methodology for their use:Determine the number of issues or dimensions to be used in the matrixChoose the appropriate matrixDraw the matrix and label the appropriate header columns/rows with the issues/dimensionsPlace the appropriate symbols in the matrixProcess Decision Program ChartA process decision chart is a tools to help brainstorm possible contingencies or problems associated with the implementation of some program or improvement. The general methodology to develop this chart is as follows:In developing the tree diagram, place the first-level boxes in sequential orderMoving to the second level, list implementation details at a fairly high level and try to be all-inclusiveAt the third level, ask the what unexpected things could happen or what could go awry at this stageAt the fourth level of the chart, brainstorm possible countermeasures to the problems identified in the third levelEvaluate the countermeasures for feasibility

Implementing QualityRegular Quality Meetings These will be regular cross-functional quality meetings between the employees in our business. The focus of these meetings will be to evaluate the information and measurements obtained from the other phases. Another important goal is reinforcing the importance of the customer and the performance of the organization as a whole to the customers service experience. Another aim of these meetings will be collaboratively solving the problems discovered by the quality tools. Improvements and other suggestions can also be suggested and discussed during these meetings. Employees can evaluate themselves in relation to quality efforts. Progress on solutions can also be reported and analyzed. In addition, concerns and questions can be discussed during these sessions. These session also keep all employees informed of developments and progress in the different aspects of the quality management program.

These meetings will involve employees on a rotating basis. Tentative schedules are weekly meetings between one employee from each each functional area within the restaurant. A monthly meeting will be an overview of longer term initiatives and efforts and will review the previous months quality performance. This meeting will involve all employees. Fail-safing Fail-safes or poka-yokes are methods within a design of that prevent failure within the process. Processes can be designed not to fail. For example, we could design multiple fail-safes to prevent a wrong order from being placed in the kitchen. Fail-safes are creative preventive measures found through brainstorming to be used at fail-points in our service processes. Note the importance of having a process chart and understanding how our processes work. There are three different types of fail-safe device which we can use:Warning Methods: these warn about possible failuresPhysical Contact Methods: these are physical methods of preventing failure, such as requiring a credit card to be removed from a machine before a receipt can be printedVisual Contact Methods: these are visual methods of preventing failure, such as a visual inspection of elements on a plate for anything missing

Fail-safes can also be categorized based on whether they are a task which can be performed, a treatment we can give to the customer, or a tangible to a customer.StandardizationBy standardizing processes and procedures we can institute systematic improvement and equalize levels of performance. Everyone will be using the best practices for a specific process since everyone will be using standardized procedures. High performance will be encoded into the organizationProcess Procedures We need to standardize process procedures so that everyone uses the same level of qualified processes. If improvements are found to processes, these improvements can be instituted to all employees, raising everyones performance level and ensuring the everyone is equally competent.Employee Training Employee training is a key aspect of standardization of procedures and processes. We need to standardize the knowledge stored and transferred in order to train employees who use the best practices for processes. The results of solutions dounf need to be permanently ingrained in the organization, including all employees.Employee Roles and ResponsibilitiesEmployee role and responsibility standardization will help each person know exactly what they must do and what they are responsible for. They can operate more efficiently by knowing what they should focus on. Quality solution knowledge for best ways to assign responsibilities can be implemented here. Financial Analysis While not one of our immediate objectives, we still need to understand how problems and solutions affect our financial performance. Is a problem costing us a lot of money? Will an improvement save us a lot of money or will it cost a lot? We need to know these facts in order to show results, sustain the business, and keep management happy. The end-result over the long term is for quality improvement to lead to greater profits. Some possible tools to use are:Net Present ValueInternal Rate of ReturnCost AnalysisLoss Projections Due to ProblemsReward/Recognition Program Design We recognize that change is a very difficult thing for many people to do. Change, no matter how beneficial, destabilizes the balance of the work culture and people will resist change because of this destabilizing force. We will use brainstorming techniques and meetings to develop a reward and recognition program. The aim of this program is to encourage and facilitate the cultural change required for quality tools and techniques to be used optimally by employees. We want to encourage people to improve the system and recognize benefits from improvement. We want to build the connection between organizational improvement and individual benefits. The rewards must be significant to the people being rewarded, not just monetary, but meaningful. Recognition should publicly recognize excellence in employees, inspire workers to succeed, and promote quality management objectives.

Knowledge Capture We recognize the need to improve the knowledge management system and processes for our business. We need to conduct brainstorming sessions and focus problem-solving effort on creating a system for capturing the lessons learned and information gained from all the other phases of the quality management plan. Knowledge helps us learn from the past as well as keep us from repeating mistakes. It also helps us preserve quality levels and solutions to problems.

Quality AssuranceQuality Audits Quality audits will be conducted on the quality plan processes at regular intervals to closely examine, analyze, and qualify our processes in this quality management plan. We will determine whether there is a better way to do things, whether quality tools and techniques are actually being used, and if there is a better process we can use in promoting quality management and our objectives.

Process ImprovementIf we discover problems with the processes or tools and techniques in this quality plan, then we shall conduct process improvement to fix the problems with our processes. We will find solutions using the various tools outlined in the quality plan, in meetings, and through any other relevant effective tools which are discovered through research. The aim of this process is to take action in actually improving processes that are discovered to be functioning poorly.

Interpret Quality Control Measurements This QA process focuses on monitoring and analyzing the data taken from quality control measurements. We will use the data to determine whether or not extensive process improvement, quality audits, or investigations are necessary. We will infer from the data whether our processes are effective or not in achieving quality plan objectives.

Quality ControlDefine QualityQuality must first be defined before it can me measured. To do this we must determine the following:MetricsMetrics are the actual numerical data which we will measure the performance of something by. Metrics help us determine whether out plan is meeting the objectives or not. The tools in the quality plan can be used to provide us with the data for this. We will develop metrics in more detail during project team meetings. They should all measure some aspect of success in achieving our objectives. Some example measures are:Adherence rate to specific quality proceduresNumber of times check sheets are usedMeeting attendanceDetection MethodsWe also need to decide how we will be able to measure these performance numbers. We need to answer questions such as how can the adherence rate to a specific quality procedure be measured? These will be determined by project team meetings. Some of the possible measuring tools can be the following:The quality tools outlined in this planObservationSelf-reportingElectronic methods

Monitor Quality We will closely monitor measurements and metrics that we have determined as good indicators of objective achievement. Based on this data, we will determine whether processes need corrective action, fine-tuning, or escalation to QA processes.

Fine Tune Processes Processes that diverge from expectations will need attention to bring them back to satisfactory performance levels. Not all processes will require QA redesign to perform well. Minor adjustments to the program may be a better choice to bring processes to acceptable levels with minimal effort. Processes that continue to fail will be escalated to the QA process.

ClosureResults AssessmentAfter the execution of this quality management plan has been completed--after all of the quality tools and techniques have been implemented within our organization--results must be evaluated. We will evaluate the results of our efforts based on our success in achieving the stated objectives. We can measure success using the metrics and measurement methods developed in the quality control process, as well as in other outside measures such as customer satisfaction as measured by SERVQUAL.

We will evaluate whether or not our quality plan is a success, things that went well, things that went poorly, and things that can be improved if another quality effort is undertaken. The following issues should be addressed in evaluating our project:Have all the project deliverables and objectives been achieved?Is the client satisfied with the project?Have all stakeholders been apprised of the project completion?Have all support agreements been put in place?Have all remaining open items been documented and communicated?

Lessons Learned At the end of the project, we need to capture what knowledge or lessons learned we have gained from executing this project. We will conduct closeout meetings to communicate the Lessons Learned with employees and document the proceedings. We will also develop recommendations for improvement in further work and development of the future plans. These will be communicated, documented, and preserved in through the knowledge capture and management process.

Appendices

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