Objective The project aims at identifying the critical success factors involved in introducing a Total Quality environment into fast growing IT companies. The project will use a proven European methodology such as EFQM to determine the consortium member companies' relevant status in the development of their quality improvement processes.The consortium members have been chosen for the wide-ranging skills of each organisation, and the different experiences that each has had in the history of their organisational development.The main result of the project will be that the consortium members will have defined the current state of their organisations, and will have determined a plan to move the initiative forward from Definition to Full Pilot during which the improvement actions will be put into place and documented.The approach will be to:- establish process-maturity benchmarks by using customer satisfaction surveys both within and outside the organisations, and jointly to select for improvement, key business practices and indices- evaluate reference models for self-assessment such as EFQM, by performing self-assessment and recording results using standardised TQM methodologies- develop visual process-mapping to identify business flows, and jointly select suitable electronic flow- charting tools to document/display the findings, and assist identification of inefficiencies- conduct comprehensive internal information audits; both electronic and hard-copy; analyse the data collected, and stratify, cost, and rank-order the problem areas based on information value and strategic importance- investigate internal cultures, and define methods of improving customer focus- analyse data collected and determine suitable measurement criteria for benchmarking and improvement monitoringSpecial emphasis is being placed on young, energetic IT companies and the use of electronic information management and dissemination tools, information sharing for competitive advantage and to improve customer/supplier focus, within a secure framework to maintain acceptable integrity and confidentiality.Achievements so far:The consortium meets regularly and is on target to achieve all deliverables. EFQM self-assessments are carried out within the consortium, and the results shared for analysis. Exploratory information audits are done, with the findings published and actions plans for further work set for carry-forward to the Full Pilot. Customer and staff-satisfaction surveys are done, analysed and documented, the results being assessed against published norms. Follow-on timetables are established, with improvements planned. Process mapping tools are being researched and tested on real-time business problems along with database tools that claim to manage customer-contact information.WWW http://www.arm.com Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdatabaseshumanitieshistory and archaeologyhistory Programme(s) FP4-ESPRIT 4 - Specific research and technological development programme in the field of information technologies, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 7.1 - Business Best Practice Pilots Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme CSC - Cost-sharing contracts Coordinator Advanced RISC Machines Ltd Address 90 fulbourn road cherry hinton CB1 4JN Cambridge GB See on map EU contribution € 0,00 Participants (3) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Etnoteam S.p.a. Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Via adelaide bono cairoli 34 20127 Milano See on map Links Website Opens in new window Galgano E Associati Italy EU contribution € 0,00 Address Via gustavo fara 35 20124 Milan See on map Pdv Unternehmensberatung Gmbh Germany EU contribution € 0,00 Address Dorotheenstr 64 22301 Hamburg See on map
