SKEDSOFT

Total Quality Management (Tqm)

Introduction:

The process of incorporating public responsibility and citizenship is not unlike the way a company incorporates quality improvement. It begins with an understanding of customer requirements, then translates those requirements înto a vision, a mission, and goals for the company.

Concern for the Environment:

Tom Zosel, who manages the program, emphasizes how the program takes advantage of people's desire to çare for the environment. "I think the biggest hook in the entire pro­gram is giving people the opportunity to bring their environmental ac-tivism to their jobs. If you went out today and surveyed 3M employees and asked if they considered themselves environmentalists, I'd be sur-prised if you got less than a 90 percent positive response."

3M's corporate values reflect its employees' values by including a commitment to "respecting our sociai and physical environment." The goals 3M has identified to carry out this value are:

  • Complying with ali laws, and meeting or exceeding regulations.
  • Keeping customers, employees, investors, and the public informed about operations.
  • Developing products and processes that have minimal impact on the environment.
  • Staying attuned to the changing needs and preferences of customers, employees, and society.
  • Bringing uncompromising honesty and integrity to every aspect of the organization.

 

3M will continue to recognize and exercise its responsibility to:

  • Solve its own environmental pollution and conservation problems.
  • Prevent pollution at the source wherever and whenever possible.
  • Develop products that will have a minimum effect on the environment.
  • Conserve natural resources through the use of reclamation and other appropriate methods.
  • Ensure that its facilities and products meet and sustain the regulations of ali federal, state, and local environmental agencies.
  • Assist, wherever possible, governmental agencies and other official or-ganizations engaged in environmental activities.

 

Attention to Business Ethics

  • For companies like IMC and USAA, ethics is ingrained in the corporate culture.
  • At USAA, new employees are first exposed to the com­pany's position on ethics during orientation.
  • They are further exposed during training courses that have ethical considerations embedded in their curricula.
  • With employees currently receiving an average of 55 hours of formal training per year, reinforcement is frequent and consistent.

 

USAA keeps people focused on corporate responsibility and citi-zenship by making it part of the company's planning process. USAA has identified sixkey result areas (KRAs):

  1. service, (2) financial strength, (3) product value, (4) relationship building, (5) strategic assets (people and technology), and (6) public outreach.

By including public outreach as a KRA, along with other company priorities, USAA establishes its impor-tance for ali employees. By then developing five-year and annual plans to achieve its public outreach goals, USAA translates those goals into mea-surable actions and objectives—the surest way to make corporate respon­sibility and citizenship a part of the company's culture.