1. Rewrite these sentences using the passive voice. The first sentence has been done for you.

1. We will ship your order when we receive full payment. Your order will be shipped.

2. They are reviewing all their IT systems.

3. I have finished the project this month.

4. Our senior manager opened the conference.

5. The Chinese founded this company in 1978.

6. She may produce some new sales targets.

7. The supplier is shipping the goods next week.

8. Our competitors raised interest rates by 1%.

9. The technician was installing some new software on the network from 5 to 7pm.

10. Sue has made a backup copy of these files.

2. Rephrase the sentences to make them more formal according to the model.

E.g.: People say the muggers are very dangerous. It is said that muggers are very dangerous. Muggers are said to be very dangerous.

1. They announce that European stocks rose for the first time last week. It__. European stocks__.

2. The managers believe that the deal is very successful. It__. The deal__.

3. The Government states that inflation rates will decrease. It__. Inflation rates__.

4. The secretary says that the boss is negotiating contract details right now. It__. The boss __.

5. We think that our suppliers had a lot of orders and problems with the production capacity last month. It__. Our suppliers__.

Case Study

Read the case and discuss the following questions in groups:

1. How did Total Quality Management implemented in the organization help the business achieve success?

2. Which TQM key concepts did the managers use?

3. What are the advantages or disadvantages of TQM to your mind? Give examples.

The customer knows best: AtlantiCare²²

Total quality management (TQM) is not an easy management strategy to introduce into a business; in fact, many attempts tend to fall flat. More often than not, it is because firms maintain natural barriers to full involvement. Middle managers, for example, tend to complain their authority is being challenged when they are encouraged to speak up in the early stages of TQM. Yet in a culture of constant quality enhancement, the views of any given workforce are invaluable.

One firm that has proven the merit of TQM is New Jersey-based healthcare provider AtlantiCare. Managing 5,000 employees at 25 locations, AtlantiCare is a serious business that has boasted a respectable turnaround for nearly two decades. Yet in order to increase that margin further still, managers wanted to implement improvements across the board. Because patient satisfaction is the single-most important aspect of the healthcare industry, engaging in a renewed campaign of TQM proved a natural fit. The firm chose to adopt a ‘plan-do-check-act’ cycle, revealing gaps in staff communication – which subsequently meant longer patient waiting times and more complaints. To tackle this, managers explored a sideways method of internal communications. Instead of information trickling down from top-to-bottom, all of the company’s employees were given freedom to provide vital feedback at each and every level.

AtlantiCare decided to ensure all new employees understood this quality culture from the onset. At orientation, staff now receive a crash course in the company’s performance excellence framework – a management system that organizes the firm’s processes into five key areas: quality, customer service, people and workplace, growth and financial performance. As employees rise through the ranks, this emphasis on improvement follows, so managers can operate within the company’s tight-loose-tight process management style.

After creating benchmark goals for employees to achieve at all levels – including better engagement at the point of delivery, increasing clinical communication and identifying and prioritizing service opportunities – AtlantiCare was able to thrive. The number of repeat customers at the firm tripled, and its market share hit a six-year high. Profits unsurprisingly followed. The firm’s revenues shot up from $280m to $650m after implementing the quality improvement strategies, and the number of patients being serviced dwarfed state numbers.

Translation

Translate the sentences focusing on the underlined terms.

Quality

1. Quality in manufacturing is a measure of excellence or a state of being free from defects, deficiencies and significant variations.

2. Quality is brought about by strict and consistent commitment to certain standards that achieve uniformity of a product in order to satisfy specific customer or user requirements.

3. Quality assurance frameworks include (1) determination of adequate technical requirement of inputs and outputs, (2) certification and rating of suppliers, (3) testing of procured material for its conformance to established quality, performance, safety, and reliability standards, (4) proper receipt, storage, and issue of material, (5) audit of the process quality, (6) evaluation of the process to establish required corrective response, and (7) audit of the final output for conformance to (a) technical (b) reliability, (c) maintainability, and (d) performance requirements.

4. Quality plan is a detailed document that sets forth practices and sequence of activities aimed at translating an organization's quality policy into operational results, or conformance to a standard such as ISO 9000 within a specified timeframe.

5. Quality control is an aspect of the quality assurance process that consists of activities employed in detection and measurement of the variability in the characteristics of output attributable to the production system, and includes corrective responses.

Standard

1. Standard is the metric, specification, gauge, statement, category, segment, grouping, behavior, event or physical product sample against which the outputs of a process are compared and declared acceptable or unacceptable.

2. Standard work allows workers to do their jobs continuously in a set sequence, repeating the same operation over and over in the same order.

3. Standard work instructions are a lean manufacturing tool that enables operators to observe a production process with an understanding of how assembly tasks are to be performed.

4. Standard is a concept, norm, or principle established by agreement, authority, or custom, and used generally as an example or model to compare or measure the quality or performance of a practice or procedure.

5. Standards are a written definition, limit, or rule approved and monitored for compliance by an authoritative agency (or professional or recognized body) as a minimum acceptable benchmark.

Writing