Implement Quality Assurance Process for eBusiness Solutions 3763a
 Teacher: Tony Whittingham
 National Unit: ICAITAD149A
 Unit/subject purpose: This unit defines the competency required to define and implement the processes and procedures that need to be followed to ensure that there is confidence that an ebusiness solution achieves quality performance expectations. This does not supersede ISO9000 certification.

PLAN: Introduction to Quality Assurance (QA)                                       

OVERVIEW: The term quality assurance, when applied to an ebusiness, describes the process of working to improve the processes that are used in producing and managing the ebusiness and its components, infrastructure and content. When quality assurance is well implemented, a ebusiness should see progressive improvement in terms of both lessening rate of defects and general increase in site usability and performance.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Identify and describe a minimum of six benefits from ebusiness for a web design company.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to class handouts on eBusiness Benefits

REFERENCES:

Quality assurance for websites

Example of an online quality assurance manual's procedures for an ebusiness.

http://www.altech.com.au/company/company_quality.asp

An ebusiness getting started booklet (pdf)

http://www.siu.edu/~sbdc/ebizworkbook.pdf

An Australian guide to doing business online

When reading this article substitute 'ebusiness' for 'web site'.

http://www.philosophe.com/qa/qa.html

DISCUSSION:

What advantages and disadvantages result from implementing quality assurance for an ebusiness's operations?

PLAN:  The Mission Statement                          

OVERVIEW: Broadly speaking, the term “e-business” refers to using the Internet for doing business. The term e-commerce has a narrower meaning than e-business.  It refers to using the Internet to order and pay for products or services. So e-commerce is a sub-set of e-business.  The ebusiness’s focus on quality can be demonstrated in a mission statement that articulates why the ebusiness exists and what it hopes to achieve in the future. It articulates the ebusiness's essential purpose, its values, and its commitment to quality.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

i) Describe four techniques for defining quality.

ii) Write a mission statement for your client defining its business, purpose and emphasis on quality.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to class handouts “Defining a Quality Focused eBusiness”
 

REFERENCES:

Different techniques for defining quality

http://www.philosophe.com/qa/quality.html

How to write a mission statement

http://www.tgci.com/magazine/98fall/mission.asp

Developing an ebusiness mission statement

http://myphliputil.pearsoncmg.com/student/bp_turban_introec_1/MissStmt.html

Critical success factors are the key areas of activity in which favourable results are necessary for an ebusiness to reach its goal.

http://www.e-bc.ca/_pdf/g_Critical_Success_Factors_For_eBusiness.pdf

What is important for an ebusiness website i.e. benchmarks, based on research

http://www.usability.gov/pdfs/import.html

A strategic business planning template

http://www.planware.org/strategicplanner.htm#mission

DISCUSSION:

What strategies can be adopted to ensure the achievement of an ebusiness’s mission statement?

PLAN: The Target Market

OVERVIEW: Market segmentation is one of the steps that goes into defining specific target or niche markets. It is the process of dividing a market into a distinct group of buyers that require different services and products.

A key factor to success in today's market place is finding subtle differences to give a website design ebusiness the marketing edge. An eBusinesses that targets niche markets can promote its products and services more effectively than a business aiming at all markets.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Identify a target/niche market for your client and complete a market segmentation for the target/niche market using the headings:

Behavioral segmentation based on variables such as price sensitivity, and benefits sought.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts "eBusiness Market Segmentation”

REFERENCES:

What is Market Segmentation

http://www.dssresearch.com/toolkit/resource/papers/SR01.asp

The Market Analysis

http://myphliputil.pearsoncmg.com/student/bp_turban_introec_1/MktAna.html

This guide takes you through a step-by-step process that helps you identify specific target markets within your industry and provides you with the know-how to create customer profiles to better channel your marketing efforts.

http://www.att.sbresources.com/SBR_template.cfm?docNumber=PL12_2000.htm

DISCUSSION:

What methods can be used to define the quality requirements of the target market?

PLAN: Best Practices and Benchmarking

OVERVIEW: A best practice is the process of finding and using ideas and strategies from outside your company and industry to improve performance in any given area.

Benchmarking is the process of determining who is the very best, who sets the standard, and what that standard is. Benchmarking is usually part of a Quality Improvement initiative.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Complete a benchmarking process to identify best practices and obtain information to enable the establishment of standards for the achievement of specified quality performance by your client.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “Benchmarking and Best Practices”

REFERENCES:

What is benchmarking?

http://management.about.com/cs/benchmarking/a/Benchmarking.htm

How to effectively borrow ideas, strategies and tactics:

http://sbinformation.about.com/cs/bestpractices/a/aa011903a.htm

Select the 'Best Practice Model and Tools for Business'

http://www.ecommerce.treasury.gov.au/

Process benchmarking

http://www.benchmarkingplus.com.au/process%20bmarking.htm

DISCUSSION:

How can knowledge of competitors contribute to the quality of an ebusiness’s operations?

PLAN:  SWOT Analysis

OVERVIEW: SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. It's a way to analyse an ebusiness's operations. The goal is to identify all the major factors that will affect the development of the client's quality management system (QMS). Answers are defined for the questions:
1. What are the client's strengths?
2. What are the client's weaknesses?

3. What opportunities exist for the client?

4. What threats exist for the client?

Answers to these questions are used to develop strategies to ensure that the client meets the quality expectations of customers.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Complete a SWOT analysis for your client's ebusiness.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “SWOT Analysis for Quality Performance”

REFERENCES:

To help you do a SWOT analysis, use these sample questions as a guideline:

http://www.computerworld.com/news/1999/story/0,11280,42968,00.html

SWOT Analysis in web development. Select SWOT from the menu:

http://www.sheridanc.on.ca/%7Enowell/webplans/

"Carrying out an analysis using the SWOT framework helps you to focus your activities into areas where you are strong and where the greatest opportunities lie."

http://www.mindtools.com/swot.html

DISCUSSION:

What tools and methods can be used to assist the completion of a SWOT analysis?

IMPLEMENT – The Voice of the Customer

OVERVIEW: Quality can be defined as meeting customer needs and providing superior value. Meeting customer needs requires that those needs be understood. The "voice of the customer" is the term to describe the stated and unstated customer needs or requirements. Kano, a Japanese management consultant and researcher, defined three levels of customer expectations for product and service quality that must be met for businesses to succeed – (1) Expected (stated needs),(2) Normal (stated needs), and (3) Exciting (unstated needs).

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Design a website survey, based on concepts from the Kano model, to identify customer satisfaction for your client's ebusiness website.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “Kano Defined Quality Standards”
 

REFERENCES:

Quality Websites: An Application of the Kano Model to Website Design
http://aisel.isworld.org/Publications/AMCIS/1999/314.pdf

Once a business plan is established which defines the target market and customers, the next step is to plan how to capture these customer's needs.

http://www.npd-solutions.com/voc.html

Developed in the 80's by Professor Noriaki Kano, the model is based on the concepts of customer quality and provides a simple ranking scheme which distinguishes between essential and differentiating attributes.

http://www.betterproductdesign.net/tools/definition/kano.htm

There is a wide range of case studies at this site demonstrating the role of the customer

http://www.ecommerce.vic.gov.au/  

An article on classify customers into groups to improve analysis of needs.

http://www.philosophe.com/audience/categorizing_users.html

Identifying web site requirements - note questions for the client

http://iat.ubalt.edu/courses/old/pbds756.185_Sp02/identifying_requirements.pdf

Use this site and its templates to create the survey for your class exercise.

(Register – free – and note the ‘web based companies’ survey samples)

http://www.zoomerang.com/Login/index.zgi

Guidelines for creating online surveys

http://www.perseus.com/surveytips/thw_sevensteps.html

DISCUSSION:

What are the issues in implementing unstated customer requirements in website development?

IMPLEMENT:  Process Mapping Website Development

OVERVIEW: Process maps are good for streamlining website development activities and telling new designers, as well as customers, "how we develop quality websites". They also can help in the effort to reduce cycle time, avoid rework, eliminate some inspections or quality control steps, and prevent errors. A process map (or flowchart) is literally a picture showing each step in a process, and it can take many forms under different names. Process maps probably are the most underutilised tool of quality assurance.

Interactive process maps can be developed that allow the user to click on a process symbol to obtain information about procedures to be followed to ensure quality.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Draw a process map to illustrate the steps in the development of a quality website

ACTIVITIES: Refer to this lesson's work sheet and draw a process map for your client to illustrate the steps to be followed to ensure the production of high quality websites.

REFERENCES:

An excellent article on process mapping at different levels

http://www.acig.com.au/library/process_mapping.PDF

Comprehensive article on process mapping

http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/immage/Process_mapping/Process_mapping.htm 

Explanation of process mapping symbols

http://www.fpm.iastate.edu/worldclass/process_mapping.asp

 U.K. website designer Martin Kay has taken the Harry Beck map of the London Underground and turned it into a template for process diagramming:

http://www.kaywebs.co.uk/process_maps.htm

Tube process mapping article

http://www.kaywebs.co.uk/Process_mapping_by_tube.pdf

Example of 'tube' process map for website development process

http://www.kaywebs.co.uk/progress.htm

Anther example of a 'tube' process map

http://www.kaywebs.co.uk/mapexamples.htm#map

London underground tube railway map

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/uro-neph/new-umap.gif

DISCUSSION: Who should be involved in the development of a process map?

IMPLEMENT – Development of a Quality Management System (QMS)

OVERVIEW: A QMS is a system of clearly defined organisational structures, processes, responsibilities and resources used to assure quality. The heart of an ebusiness’s QMS is a Quality Manual containing detailed procedures (user guides) that are written to explain in layman’s terms how to execute processes involved in the company’s operations. Generally, the procedures accompany other documentation, such as standards, guides and other related material.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Identify and document the processes associated with the maintenance of a ebusiness website and include this documentation together with the documentation for the processes for website development in a quality assurance manual.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “Quality Management Systems”
 

REFERENCES:

Examples of online quality assurance manuals:

http://www.altech.com.au/company/company_quality.asp
http://www.quality.co.uk/example/manual.htm#10
A flow chart tutorial
http://home.att.net/~dexter.a.hansen/flowchart/flowchart.htm

DISCUSSION:

What are the issues associated with developing a QMS for an ebusiness?

IMPLEMENT: The Quality Management System (QMS) Feasibility Study

OVERVIEW:  A feasibility report describes how practical (feasible) a proposal (in this case a quality management system) is likely to be. Preferably, more than one option is offered, in which case the report compares the various options and determines which option is best. A feasibility report provides information that includes:
Viability: Will the QMS be viable? Why? How do we know?
Technical Feasibility: Can the QMS be implemented? How easily? Does it require technology/resources that are readily available? How do we know?
Desirability: Is there a demonstrated need or demand for the QMS?

Affordability: What will the QMS cost to implement? To maintain?

Comparisons: What options exist for a QMS?
Feasibility reports need not always make recommendations. The report may only need to represent the various arguments and evidence for/against the QMS proposed and the ideas for implementation.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Write a feasibility report for your client's proposed QMS.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “Writing a Feasibility Report”
 

REFERENCES:

An excellent online hyperlink handbook on technical writing-this chapter focuses on feasibility reports.
https://mit.imoat.net/handbook/feasibil.htm

Getting the most out of your feasibility study
http://www.ag.state.co.us/mkt/brochures/feasibilitybrochure.html 

Writing feasibility reports

http://www.io.com/~hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/feas.html

Components of a design and feasibility report

http://kielikeskus.tkk.fi/itseopiskelu/kiecafe/en/dp/feasibil.html

How To Write a Winning Proposal

http://www.creativepublic.com/write_winning_proposal.php 

The Operations Section

http://myphliputil.pearsoncmg.com/student/bp_turban_introec_1/Operatns.html

DISCUSSION:

What are the opportunities and threats from ‘doing business’ online?

CONTROL:  The Quality Assurance Manual

OVERVIEW: Achievement of quality assurance and the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires the ebusiness to establish and maintain a quality manual that contains the documented procedures established for the quality management system.  Procedures are written to explain in layman’s terms how to execute a website development activity. Generally they accompany other documentation, such as flowcharts and other related material. They are generally the first ‘port of call’ when something needs to be read. People read them in a hurry, usually when they have little experience implementing the procedure. It’s important to keep this fact in mind when you write your procedure.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Describe the purposes and contents of a quality assurance manual.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “The Quality Manual”
 

REFERENCES:

As the name implies, User (Procedure) Guides are written for Users to help them understand an application or system.

http://www.klariti.com/technical-writing/User-Guides-Tutorial.shtml
Quality Assurance Workshop for Website Development - refer to the resources for the workshop's seven sessions.
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/qa-focus/presentations/ili-2004/#talk-5
Improving your website with customer feedback

http://www.busymarketing.com/customer.shtml

An online survey can save time and resources because of the ease of availability and ease of use.
A summary of the guidelines for an ebusiness online survey
Online tutorial for creating forms with FrontPage 2002
http://depts.washington.edu/trio/train/howto/page/frontpage/forms/index.shtml

A short article from Jakob Nielsen-"Keep Online Surveys Short"

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20040202.html

business analysis online questionnaire

http://www.dwassoc.com/analyzeyourbusiness.php

business analysis software..take the demo

http://www.businessinsight.org/

DISCUSSION:

Why seek feedback from customers?

CONTROL:  Control of Documents Procedure

OVERVIEW: This procedure is about control of documentation which includes documents from both internal sources, such as drawings, procedures, instructions, acceptance criteria and other reference materials, and external sources, such as statutory regulations, standards, codes and specifications. The term ‘document’ is used to cover both the information contained in the document as well as the various forms that documents might take, such as written documents, computer hard disks, diskettes or CD-ROM, video, audio tapes or graphic posters. The simplest way to control documents is to make them available on the computer network, preferably with no paper copies anywhere.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Write a procedure for the Control of Documents for the client's company

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “Quality Assurance Manual”

REFERENCES:

DISCUSSION:

CONTROL:  Control of Records and Internal Audit Procedures

OVERVIEW:
1. Control of Records. A documented procedure should be established to identify the processes used to  identify, store, protect, retrieve, retain (for how long) and dispose of records. You should decide what records are required in relation to your ebusiness. You should identify how long each type of record needs to be kept, where it will be found and how it is to be disposed of. Backup of records stored electronically is also part of record management.
2. Internal Audit.  This procedure describes the steps for gathering the information to determine whether the quality management system is effectively implemented and maintained. The information may be obtained by:

* observing processes being carried out;

* talking to the people carrying out the processes; and

* looking at records.

Internal audits can confirm that the quality management system is effective.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Write procedures for the Control of Records and carrying out an Internal Audit for the client's company

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “”

REFERENCES:

DISCUSSION:

CONTROL:  Control of Non-conforming Product Procedure

OVERVIEW: In the course of the ebusiness operations, problems will occur. You will need to decide what to do about them. This procedure will document the steps you follow to identify product and/or service problems (nonconformity), deciding what to do about them and, where possible, keeping these problems separate from acceptable product and/or service. You also need to keep records as you deal with them that show what happened along the way and any decisions made. Everybody affected by the problems needs to be kept informed of what happened. Customer complaints are the most common external indications, which will enable you to target where attention is needed.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Write a procedure for the Control of Non-conforming products for the client's company.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “”

REFERENCES:

DISCUSSION:

CONTROL:  Preventative Action Procedure

OVERVIEW: Preventive action starts with considering and analysing the data  from all the incidences of nonconformities, all the customer complaints, all the problems with suppliers as well as any other sources of problems to find out if any trends are occurring. Where this analysis shows that the potential for problems exists, preventive action then involves putting in place the necessary steps to eliminate these potential causes. This procedure will describe these steps.  

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Write a procedure for to implement preventative actions for the client's company.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “”

REFERENCES:

DISCUSSION:

CONTROL:  Corrective Action Procedure

OVERVIEW: Corrective action is concerned with finding out why the nonconformity occurred and making sure that the problem does not occur again. This procedure will describe the steps for:

a) reviewing nonconformities (including customer complaints),

b) determining the causes of nonconformities,

c) evaluating the need for action to ensure that nonconformities do not recur,

d) determining and implementing action needed,

e) records of the results of action taken , and

f) reviewing corrective action taken.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Write a corrective actions procedure for the client's company

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “”

REFERENCES:

DISCUSSION:

IMPROVE:  Continuous Improvement

OVERVIEW: Continuous improvement is a term used to describe the incremental improvements that take place over time as the results of corrective actions are fed back into the Quality System. Continuous improvement strives to reduce the recurrence of repetitive quality problems. From time to time you should review and analyse results of tests to identify areas of improvements. The review may be based on the results from all processes, or the results from one focused area.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Write a procedure for an Internal Audit of the QMS for the client's company

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “”

REFERENCES:

http://toolbox.ait.org/toolbox/iqa_respak/tocmenu/files/respak_index.htm

DISCUSSION:

IMPROVE: Customer Satisfaction

OVERVIEW: Forms are often used to request comments from customers about an ebusiness's website, submit an application, or place an order. They might also be used for an online quiz. A form is a web page that contains form fields, which are used to collect information from users. Form fields allow users to enter information in the form fields, generally by entering text in text boxes, selecting checkboxes and radio buttons, or selecting an option from a menu of choices.

OBJECTIVES: You will be able to:

Design and develop a website form to gather comments from customers on the performance standards of an ebusiness.

ACTIVITIES: Refer to the class handouts “Customer Feedback Form”

REFERENCES:

Online tutorial

http://www.toolpack.com/d/customer-surveys.html

example of website feedback form

http://www.misco.co.uk/content/forms/feedback.aspx

Online tutorial

http://www.uwec.edu/help/Fpage03/for-create.htm

substitute web design for web host

http://www.businessknowhow.com/marketing/hapcust.htm

FrontPage form tips for email returns

http://www.hostinglogin.com/help/fpforms.asp

DISCUSSION:

What are the issues in analysing applying the results of customer feedback?

Class presentation of the client's Quality Assurance Manual

Grade Code:   72 
* This is a Category D assessment.
* Student Records requires a Class Mark only.
* The Class Mark is locally set and locally marked.
* Results are reported as DISTINCTION, CREDIT, PASS, FAIL.
GRADE       CLASS MARK (%)
DISTINCTION        >= 83
CREDIT                >= 70
PASS                   >= 50
All other cases FAIL
Assessment Events:
In addition to an overall pass in the module, students must pass each assessment event where there is a "yes" in the "must pass" column.

 Assessment Events' Comments:
The aim of this assessment project is to enable you demonstrate your ability to
apply the learning outcomes for this module. The project's parts are:
i)  Develop a portfolio containing the outcomes from the processes for planning and implementing a quality management system for a hypothetical ebusiness client.
ii) Develop a quality manual for a hypothetical client's ebusiness to assist the control and improvement of quality products and services.
Your project assessment may consist of several parts such as:
    · Practical work
    · Assignments
    · Observations
    · Tests

Learning Outcome 1

On completion the learners should be able to plan quality.
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
 1.1 Quality performance expectations are enumerated as a set of measurable benchmarks and agreed by the business.
 1.2 Standards and guidelines for achieving each benchmark are developed and documented.
 1.3 Key quality responsibilities for meeting the standards and guidelines are allocated.
 1.4 Quality achievement mechanisms to be adopted are communicated to appropriate stakeholders.
 1.5 All of the above is documented into a single project wide quality plan.

Learning Outcome 2

On completion, the learner should be able to implement quality.
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
 2.1 The plan is disseminated and feedback on the appropriateness of the measures and the understanding of key role players is obtained.
 2.2 Corrective action that can be taken immediately and at the lowest level are developed, documented and disseminated.
 2.3 Ensure that allocation of key quality tasks and functions has been effectively conducted.
 2.4 A quality reporting and monitoring regime is established which clearly articulates what quality measures are to be monitored and reported.
 2.5 Skills of the staff are checked and documented to ensure that they are able to meet the quality standards required.

Learning Outcome 3

On completion, the learner should be able to control quality.
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
 3.1 Implement quality performance guidelines, procedures and processes as per the quality plan.
 3.2 Stakeholder feedback is obtained, including customer satisfaction.
 3.3 Quality performance is monitored and reported as per the quality plan.
 3.4 Immediate corrective action is taken where possible.
 3.5 When immediate corrective action cannot take place, or problems occur frequently, corrective action is initiated to improve quality.

Learning Outcome 4

On completion, the learner should be able to improve quality.
 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
 4.1 Quality performance results are collected, analysed and measured against benchmarks to determine quality standard.
 4.2 Frequency of quality shortfalls are determined in order to identify whether defects are isolated incidents or require a wider analysis to determine corrective action.
 4.3 Corrective measures to be taken are determined and responsibility for taking the action is assigned where appropriate.
 4.4 Corrective action solutions are implemented and performance is measured.
 4.5 Benchmark standards are reviewed and adjusted periodically in order to improve quality performance.
 4.6 Quality performance results are documented and disseminated as appropriate.