Free Custom «Control Systems and Quality Management» Essay Paper

Introduction

CISCO Systems is a multinational company with many outlets around the world. The company is a current employer to over 65 thousand people. I worked for the company for a number of months and was able to learn several things especially with quality management and control systems. Such practices have made the Company become a leading designer and supplier of equipments for communications and networking. The company is also involved in installation of similar networking devices. This paper will identify the functional and dysfunctional control systems within CISCO. Further, the paper will look at the control systems and quality management relate to motivation in the organization. The paper will also analyze the essentials of quality management techniques, knowledge and benchmarking techniques as they are applied in the organization.

Cisco Systems Business

Cisco Systems has been a leading company in supplying networking and communications devices. It currently employs several operations targeting many customers across the globe. One of the major business operations is the one targeting the Small Business customers. The company also has over 250 employees who monitor the operations and production of quality customer products. These operations deal with the modern Catalyst Express 500 switches and also the Internet Protocol Communications Express Solutions (Paulson, 2009). These are new but advanced integrated routers used for networking. Use of control systems and quality management practices has been seen as a useful approach towards business development. These processes have been practiced in the business for a long time. All employees are required to stick to the stated company rules and principles to make sure the needs of the clients have been met. This has been a positive approach as part of the company's control systems and quality management.

 

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Importance of Control Systems and Quality Management

At CISCO Systems, there is dynamic approach towards motivation in the organization. Managers here believe in applying quality management and control systems to boost organizational performance. It is the role of the company's management to make sure all the operations have been dedicated to its success (Jimmy, 2009). Cisco Systems has developed a stable control system consisting of corporate procedures and controls. The systems offer a set of control instructions to be applied by leaders in different departmental stores. This is done to minimize losses from things such as financial errors, technological malfunctions, or any form of non-compliance.

The application of these control systems at Cisco has made it possible to motivate the performance and responsiveness of employers and all other business partners. The control systems help in organizational motivation through other dynamic ways. For example, the main goal of the system is to help improve most of the operating systems and procedures in the organization (Groak, 2009). The systems thus make it possible for heads of departments and chiefs to determine the functional policies and guidelines to be provided to different personnel. Timely delivery of information and instructions will definitely motive the employees in the organization.

Financial reporting is also improved with control systems. Workers are informed accordingly and know whatever they have to do within the shortest time possible. This motivates even the third party players at Cisco. Compliance is also encouraged using these systems. An effective application of control systems has made it possible for seniors in this company to ensure employers and even clients stick to the provided regulations and laws. These systems monitor everything for the benefit of the company (Timothy, 2009). Therefore, control systems can be effective towards business performance. It is also necessary to employ both external and external systems to boost perform and improve the morale of the workers.

On the other hand, quality management is significant towards improving the morale of workers. This has widely been considered at Cisco Systems. Many as an important principle that makes it possible to produce quality products or services currently view quality management. The principle is used to improve performance, motivate the employees, the clients, and also improve the reputation of the business. Cisco Systems has always employed several programs to monitor the quality of its performance (Jimmy, 2009). The first program applied is known as TQM, or Total Quality Management. This is an approach applied to solve issues of quality and ensure the products meet the expected of the final consumer. The other one is the Six Sigma Theory and has also proved to be significant for the company. Quality management is therefore an important approach used by companies for a number of reasons. Cisco Systems has been using the programs to mentor employees and make sure they have been motivated. This has helped improve the company's performance in terms of sales and public reception.

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Quality management systems have always been applied in this company to make sure the major departments have worked as a team. This motivates a concept known as teamwork. At Cisco Systems, several areas have been made more reliant upon the others in order to come up with better communication and internet products that meet and even exceed the major expectations of the customers. A quality management system is therefore capable of incorporating specific measures that can have strong impacts on finance, sales, customer service, operations, and even with marketing (Timothy, 2009).

Cisco Systems Company has also been encouraging the use of balanced scorecard. This has become a convenient way for evaluating how certain departments in the company have been performing. This improves motivation and makes it possible for the company to address some of the performance issues in the company. Use of such balanced scorecards has helped examine how the workers have been dedicated to the company's performance and whether the customer targets and expectations are considered (Michael, 2001). Quality management is something important for an organization to achieve teamwork and increase its overall performance. Cisco Systems has been able to achieve the same.

It is advisable for any other big company to apply these control systems and realize its potential. The best performing businesses embrace team spirit, which is developed wherever there are quality management and control systems. All departments should be incorporated in the control processes in order to monitor the major duties and responsiveness of the employees. This will develop goals-centered performances and improve the ethicality of the business. The use of these systems and controls will help the company address the major problems it is facing thereby encouraging the workers to act diligently and competently towards the success of the business (Michael, 2001). On the other hand, a company will record poor performance when there are no appropriate quality management and control systems adopted in their practices.

Given a chance to begin my own company, definitely I will have to set up similar practices and systems as applied in the company. The idea is to influence the employers and clients regarding the worth of the business. This will motivate both workers and customers thereby increasing the rate of business growth (O'Brien, 2007). This means that control systems and adoption of quality management will definitely improve the performance of a company due to the teams encouraged in the workplace. Teamwork improved functionality in different departments, something that is reflected in the finals gains of the company.

Functional and Dysfunctional Control Systems

Most of the control systems adopted at Cisco Systems are functional thus making possible to achieve business goals and customer satisfaction. The systems have covered dynamic areas and departments in the organization. These systems have always been able to monitor organizational leadership, strategic alignments, diagnosed and addressing bad behavior and bad politics. This has made it easier to treat all challenges faced in the organization. Dysfunctional control systems are always ineffective and result in negative performances. At Cisco Company, the need has been to restore appropriate practices and monitor the performance of workers. Encouragement is also prioritized to improve worker's morale and willingness to participate in teamwork (Michael, 2001).

Many companies fail whenever there is a dysfunctional control system applied because it results in bad politics, which eventually harm the business. Whatever system applied in this company always meets the requirements of the managers, leaders and even the employees. This approach has made it possible for the company to perform better thereby becoming a leader in the business. It should be noted clearly that Cisco Company has been an outstanding example in terms of its business practices and adoption of quality management and control systems (O'Brien, 2007). This has made it possible to deliver good products to the consumers and encourage teamwork among the departments in the organization. Any other company to achieve similar goals within a short duration can borrow these functional practices. For the company to achieve its mission, it is recommendable to continue engaging similar practices and encouraging the workers frequently.

In any business organization, it is mandatory to have ways of interpreting and developing appropriate control systems. This is achieved by considering the anticipated goals. This will make sure right choices and influences have been made while determining the control systems and quality management tools and programs used. The best systems should ensure there is constant departmental participation and empowerment of employees. It is also necessary to have ways of addressing all the situations faced in the organization whenever using these control and quality management systems (O'Brien, 2007). The other thing is to evaluate the control systems. This is done using benchmarking tools and management practices to monitor their effectiveness and applicability in the given organization. Evaluation practices are used to make sure the systems are workable and also help to improve areas with certain weaknesses.

There are certain essentials of quality management and control systems as they are applied within different organizations. The most importance of quality is to motivate the workers, as it has been the case for Cisco Systems. Motivated employees are able to perform thereby making it possible to achieve better results within the shortest time possible. This management process also reduces waste products. The company to cater for the ethical and moral practices in its practices (Joseph, 2009) has applied this. This facilitates production of customer-oriented products thus increasing their confidence with the products.

The essentialities of quality management at Cisco Systems are diverse. For instance, the company has been able to increase its revenues from the quality products delivered to customers and also due to increased employee motivation. This has increased morale of the workers thus helping increase the quality and quantity of productivity therefore increasing its volume of sales (Jimmy, 2009). Quality management has also made it possible for Cisco Systems to satisfy its customers. Some of the satisfaction surveys conducted by the company have found out that there company has been performing better because of the quality products delivered to them. Quality control and management can therefore provide an insight into some of the reasons why consumers are not using the products and therefore come up with strategies of improving their quality. It also makes it possible to deal with competitors within a short duration. Basically, the quality management processes and programs applied at Cisco have provided a workable methodology for creating the best products desired by the customers.

At Cisco Systems, it has been necessary to apply benchmarking and knowledge management as important tools for monitoring quality in the organization. Benchmarking is always used to determine the practices carried in the company and how they might be improved (Jimmy, 2009). As well, the company conducts frequent studies to examine how goals can be achieved through implementation of newer ideas and concepts.

Benchmarking is also done by examining the practices of other companies including competitors. This is a source of appropriate tools and concepts towards improving business performance and motivating the employees (Jimmy, 2009). Benchmarking is applied as a defining point through which the quality management performance in the company is measured, defined and controlled.

Knowledge management is another essentiality in quality management and the reason it has been applied effectively in the company. Knowledge management is an important tool capable of improving performance and level of participation. At Cisco Systems, knowledge management is controlled by applying old techniques of operations and conducting focus groups whereby workers and the customers are allowed to offer incentives towards improvement of the company's performance. These practices have positively been applied in the company for the last six years to motivate workers and satisfy the customers (Jimmy, 2009).

Conclusion

From the above discussion, I have learned a lot of lessons which have impacted positively on my professional and personal life. I have learned several control practices that can be applied to improve the performance of an organization. In future I will adopt these practices and quality management practices to make sure my new business achieves its goals by motivating the employees. This is something significant because I am in a position to manage my own business and achieve the anticipated goals. I can as well offer professional advice to any investor from what I have learned at Cisco Systems. I have also learned the best business management practices capable of improving customer satisfaction. In conclusion, the application of quality management and control systems can play a major role towards business improvement, as it has been the case for Cisco Systems. The discussions provided in the paper can help any organization achieve its business goals by employing the right control systems and management practices. The employees and customers should also be encouraged to promote the same ideology so that better gains can be realized.