Empowerment: Key to IS World-Class Quality

Teams have substantially improved customer satisfaction, service, and productivity, while staff skills have been enhanced and costs reduced, and the approach for developing and sustaining the new work system is discussed.

Abstract

Total customer satisfaction is the pre-eminent goal in Corning Incorporated's Information Services Division (ISD). ISD’s total quality management approach, characterized by a work system that embodies significant empowerment through self-managing teams, is proving to be a powerful means of delivering outstanding service that customers value, especially in a competitive services-for-sale business environment. Teams influence how ISD does business, fundamentally changing the way work is organized and how service is delivered. Teams have substantially improved customer satisfaction, service, and productivity, while staff skills have been enhanced and costs reduced. This article describes these results and then discusses the approach for developing and sustaining the new work system as well as the key factors that led to its success.