OZ 2010/1-2

M T 11 ORGANIZACIJA ZNANJA 2010, LETN. 15, ZV. 1 – 2 By assuring quality, business and other systems succeeded during previous decades to compensate influences (including business process rigidity) that might have compromised their outcomes. We have learned that in a perfect environment, problem solving process produces the desired situation. However, in real-life situations problem solving may be influenced by so many factors that some control is needed to assure the desired outcome. This leads to quality assurance. Problem 5.1 The reduction of the problem solving process to producing a product gives birth to a tendency to reduce quality assurance to quality of the product. This cannot only pose problems to the user of the product (e.g. undetermined replacement process) but also to persons influenced by such a solution. If a solution opens new problems, it is not a quality solution. Problem 5.2 As any other concept, the concept of quality too can be abused. Quality assurance denotes a set of well defined interrelated processes, which enable problem specification and its transformation to the desired situation. We learned that a lot of things can go wrong before the desired situation is obtained. Assuring a user that we provide quality does not mean much. The user may not have an insight into the reality of our processes, which may be far from quality processes. But the user has an understanding that quality means fulfillment of the requirements. In such a situation the concept of quality may be in support of abuse. The whole set of the interrelated processes is abstracted to "quality processes" which opens an enormous space for misunderstanding and abuse. As users we have many means to check the credibility of claims regarding quality assurance. However, we should be aware of the means and should know how to use them. Users should be involved in problem specification, problem solving and solution evaluation processes. Otherwise quality is compromised. The points of involvement should be well defined and should not compromise these processes. Problem 5.3 It seems that business processes are raising increasingly difficult ethical problems (e.g. marketing in schools). Business process should be in support of problem solving and should strive for quality solutions (e.g. providing what the users need and not what the business process wants to sell them). This situation shows that there is a relation between ethical problems and quality. 5.1 Ethical problems and quality Solutions to ethical problems are quality solutions. A solution that incorporates an ethical problem is not a quality solution. Unresolved ethical problems incorporated in a solution should then be treated in the domain of quality problems. Why? Ethical problems arise in non-quality solutions. Increasing evidence of ethical problems can merely be an indicator of failure in providing quality solutions. Relations: • an ethical problem is also a quality problem (e.g. an identity theft on the web is also a quality problem of the web – users do not want their identity to be stolen), • a quality problem is not necessarily also an ethical problem (e.g. a wrong delivery is usually considered only a quality problem), enable us to position ethical problems in regard to quality problems. Example 5.1 Spam (unsolicited bulk electronic messages) was made possible because user requirements were not considered. (Quality norms, however, are based on the consideration of user requirements.) There is a simple solution to the spam problem and does not require any advanced technology: "Do you wish to receive our advertisement messages?" (A copy of such a message can be attached). If there is no answer or the answer is no, the e-mail address is deleted from the mailing list. It is not a problem to develop a mailing system with such a capability. But what if there is no legal obligation? What mailing systems will advertisers prefer to use? When an ethical problem requires participation of more professions (e.g. ethical, legal, technological), an overall solution has to be developed (technological solution alone does solve the problem but can expose the producer to a serious business problem – unethical solutions may be sold better than the ethical solutions). Maksimiljan Gerkeš: MODELLING OF PROCESSES – TEHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT