The Personal Data Analysis Exercise

Abstract

The topic of quality management is so expansive that it raises the issue of how to teach the subject in a way that students find engaging, meaningful, and useful. The Personal Data Analysis Exercise is designed to achieve these objectives by having students apply the quality management process to their everyday lives. In the exercise, students develop valued self-improvement goals that can be accomplished within the semester. They take actions to achieve the goals, collect data to monitor their progress, identify “defects” in their behaviors, and analyze their behaviors using quality tools to find new ways to eliminate the defects and accomplish the goals. The article explains the exercise and includes a teaching guide and instructional aids.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Brassard, M. (1989). The memory jogger plus+. Methuen, MA: GOAL/QPC.

Certo, S. M. (1998). Modern management: Diversity, quality, ethics, and the global environment. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Ivancevich, J. M. , Lorenzi, P. , Skinner, S. J. , & Crosby, P. B. (1997). Management: Quality and competitiveness. Homewood, IL: Irwin.

Kahneman, D. , Slovic, P. , & Tversky, A. (Eds.). (1982). Judgment under uncertainty: Heuristics and biases. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Locke, E. A. , & Latham, G. P. (1990). A theory of goal setting and task performance. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Ortinau, D. J. , Bush, A. J. , Bush, R. P. , & Twible, J. L. (1989). The use of importance-performance analysis for improving the quality of marketing education: Interpreting faculty-course evaluations. Journal of Marketing Education, 11, 78-86.

Roberts, H. V. (1992). Using personal checklists to facilitate total quality management. Chicago: University of Chicago.

Roberts, H. V. , & Sergesketter, B. F. (1993). Quality is personal. New York: Free Press.

Ross, J. E. (1993). Total quality management: Text, cases and readings. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press.