Down the Rabbit Hole or No Time! No Time!
0400 Introduction to Management
TOPIC OR UNIT OF STUDY
Quality and Strategic Management
CONTENT STANDARD(S) AND OBJECTIVE(S)
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Explain the nature of quality management
Identify quality measures/techniques
Utilize quality control methods at work
Describe crucial elements of a quality culture
Discuss the nature of continuous improvement of the quality process
Explain the nature of project management
Explain the nature of business plans
Use time-management skills
(Activity 1)
(Activity 1)
(Activity 1)
(Activity 1)
(Activity 2)
(Activity 3)
(Activity 3)
(Activity 2)
INTRODUCTION
One of the most important skills any manager needs to learn is how to meet deadlines. To this you have
to understand the importance of timing activities and meeting schedules. Project managers are most
effective when they have scheduled times realistically and planned for interruptions. In this lesson, we
will look at the quality and project management while keeping a time schedule.
ESSENTIAL QUESTION
What are the important issues for project management and how can a person be the most successful in this
career?
INTEGRATION OF ACADEMICS, TECHNOLOGY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP
To complete this project, students will use basic terms and concepts, to complete the following
academic, technology, and entrepreneurship activities:
 Academic activities –website research, critical thinking and writing skills;
 Technology activities – website research, use of MOS Word and Excel;
 Entrepreneurship activities – students will complete an activity where they evaluate their own
time-management skills.
STUDENT INVOLVEMENT IN PLANNING PROCESS
Students will decide how to create their own Excel sheets for time-management recording and
evaluation.
TASK(S)
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Apply TQM knowledge to case questions in Activity 1
Time Management project which will take place the entire 3 days in Activity 2
Team planning project manager in Activity 3
95 min
95 min
80 min
RESOURCES
Dlabay, Burrow, Eggland. Intro to Business. Thompson-Southwestern. 2006
Burrow, Kleindl, Everard. Business Principles and management. Thompson South-western. 2008.
TECHNOLOGY USE
Internet research, Computers & Word software
EVALUATION
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Activity 1 – Apply TQM knowledge to case questions
Activity 2 – Time Management project which will take place the entire 3 days
Activity 3 – Team planning project manager activity
Total Points
Authentic assessments will be evaluated with the rubrics that are located on each activity.
20 pts
35 pts
20 pts
75 pts
TIMELINE
Block scheduling-3 days, periods-6 days. This includes time for lecture, textbook readings, and
discussions. Depending on student’s ability, extended time may be needed on some projects.
Day 1
Assign activity 2 where students will keep a journal of what they do for two days.
Discuss the importance of time management.
Make a class list of the activities students do that take up their time.
Lecture on project management for Activity 1
Discuss the process students follow when completing a project in school. Activity 3
Day 2
Have students complete activity 1 on a word document
Discuss quality management and what techniques the students liked the most.
Remind Students of Activity 2 and to record their activities for two days.
Day 3
Bring out a few business plans and have students look through them.
15 min
20 min
10 min
15 min
30 min
50 min
30 min
10 min
20 min
(An idea is to have a scavenger hunt for the business plans and have students search for certain things)
Going through the parts of a business plan, relate these parts to the role of manager 30 min
Have students complete activity 2 on a word document.
30 min
CONCLUSION
At the conclusion of this unit, students will understand what the important issues for project management are and
what skills are required to be the most successful in this career.
Activity 1 – TQM Case
Explain the nature of quality management, identify measures/techniques, utilize quality control
methods at work, describe crucial elements of a quality culture
For much of the last century, the approach to business management did not change, managers believe
the best way to be successful was to operate the business as efficiently as possible. To achieve that goal,
managers tried to get more and more work out of the employees, make as few changes in products as
possible, and find ways to reduce costs, often at the expense of quality.
Dr. W. Edwards Deming developed 14 guiding principles for managers that taught them to view their
management role in a different way. He suggested that a long term commitment to quality, customers’
satisfaction, and employee morale would lead to success. His process was called total Quality
management. (TQM)
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TQM emphasizes increasing quality and developing an effective organization.
TQM is concerned with customer satisfaction and employee motivation.
TQM relies on leadership and cooperation versus the traditional management focus on closely
supervising employee behavior.
TQM businesses constantly look for new and improved ways to complete their work to increase
effectiveness and quality.
TQM encourages teamwork and employee involvement in decision making.
TQM businesses view employees as valuable contributors to success and use training to improve
employee effectiveness and motivation
A set of tolls has been developed to help businesses implement Total Quality Management. A few
examples of the tools are:
Flow Charts- These identify each step in a procedure and how the steps are related to each other. They
can be used to compare how work is being done to how it is supposed to be done in order to reduce
errors.
Cause and Effect Analysis- Employees and management teams brainstorm about problems to find
solutions. They develop a diagram that lists problems and possible causes and link them together until
they agree on the basic problem. Then they can develop solutions.
Scatter Diagrams- Data from two different factors are visually plotted on a chart and analyzed to
discover relationships. For example, the number of employee absences over a six month period is
compared to the number of product defects to see if the use of temporary employees is related to a
reduction in product quality.
Today, quality customer satisfaction, teamwork, and process improvement are making a different in
business competitiveness.
1. Why do you think managers find it so difficult to change from traditional approaches to TQM?
2. Many schools are not implementing TQM and are teaching students to use its tools. What types
of procedures in schools could benefit from TQM?
3. If a school was facing a problem with students being tardy for class, how could the school use
one of the TCM tools to help solve that problem?
4. Do schools have the crucial elements of quality culture? Explain.
Type questions and answers in a Word document. Answer each question in full paragraphs (1 paragraph
minimum). 5 pts per question if answered fully, with question & in paragraph = 20 points total
Activity 2 – Time Management
Discuss the nature of continuous improvement, use time management skills
Have students record their activities for the duration of this module. They must list what they have done
every half hour using an Excel page. (5 pts per day)
(15 pts)
At the end of the module, students will review how they spent their time. They will identify times when
they believed they used time effectively and when they did not, noted on Excel sheet.
(5 pts)
Students will then prepare a 1-page written reflection with recommendations on how they can be more
effectively managing our time.
(15 pts)
Type the one- page reflection using the grading rubric below:
Points
Description
Score
5
Paper requirements: 1 full pg, 1” margins, 12pt font, double spaced, title page with
name & date, bound with printed Excel sheets showing time recorded
5
Reflection of this 3 day activity, giving comments about how easy or difficult the
task was.
5
Reflection includes recommendations on how you could be more effect in time
management, specific examples given.
15
Excel sheets complete grade from above
5
Documentation on Excel sheet for ineffective time and most effective times from
above
35
Total points for activity
Activity 3 – Team planning
Explain the nature of project management
On the smart board or white board, create a hypothetical project/assignment, such as creating a
homecoming float. Assign a due date. Have students work and discuss as a class what they need to do to
complete the project. After they have recognized all the necessary preliminary work, students will need
to assign time limits.
Split class into small groups to create the following:
Planning list – with times
Steps in the work process – with times assigned
List of obstacles that may chew up time as scheduled
Be sure to address some of the things the students mentioned they do in the spare time.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
When will they get to work on this project?
What will have to give?
Who should make decisions?
Is it harder to have no one to take the lead, or multiple leaders on a team?
Would you want to be the project manager? Explain.
As a class review business plans in relation to project management and view some examples.
Following the group activity, students will return to individual work to type a reflection on the activity
and answer the five questions about project management.
grading rubric below:
Points Description
Score
2
Paper requirements: 1” margins, 12pt font, double spaced, name & date in header
3
Reflection covers question 1 fully
3
Reflection covers question 2 fully
3
Reflection covers question 3 fully
3
Reflection covers question 4 fully
3
Reflection covers question 4 fully
3
Reflection of personal opinions is fully developed
20
Total points for activity