Business in Hungary

1. Summary of Findings

1. Background Information

Hungary is a nation heavily influenced by the Soviet Union. With the fall of the Iron Curtain, the country was forced to adopt new reforms for the betterment of its citizens. As an independent nation, it is necessary for the government to rethink its international strategy and abandon policies used in the past era (Barta, 2005). In order to gain a significant portion of the global market, Hungary invested in total quality management to ensure the competitiveness of its products (Evans & Lindsay, 2007).

According to Asboth et al. (1990), The foundation of “the Hungarian way to total quality management” is the marriage between “state guidance and a developing entrepreneurial spirit”. The current quality management system implemented in Hungary can be attributed to the Professor Dr. Shoji Shiba. He identified three ways for the implementation to work: “nationwide quality promotion program, strong market pressure for innovation, and existence of qualified change agents”. Instead of simply implementing rules for the nation, Dr. Shiba invested his time and resources to understand the Hungarian culture. He then used this knowledge in developing key concepts and strategies for the country.

The country’s quality management is driven by three concepts: “the Hungarian way of quality promotion, capability for future development, and total societal development” (Asboth et al., 1990). First, Hungary should create their own approach towards quality building. It is not an adaptation of a ready-made process. Their culture and experiences should be taken into account for it to work. Second, the country has to focus on developing and expanding its knowledge. Third, quality management is not just about a certain sector in the economy, it is an overall strategy. For it to work, the entire nation should be able to commit to quality.

Quality is a continuous process. It is about developing a system that sees different perspective. For Hungary to continue their culture of providing quality materials, they need to strive towards improving every step of the process. This can only be done through learning and unlearning new concepts.

1. Problem Statement

Given the fact that Hungary’s economic growth during the worldwide recession has been largely attributed to quality improvement, what strategies may be taken by Burton-Apta, Westel Mobile Telecommunications Co., and Herend Porcelain Manufacturing to continuously improve total quality within their respective organizations?

1. Analysis of Alternatives

Given that there are three companies stated in the article, it is feasible to incorporate their good traits to be able to release their utmost potential. To achieve continuous improvement,  other options for self assessment should be looked into along with the possible expansion of the companies.

Self-assessment is important to each one of them, hence it is beneficial to find other assessment tools that will replace or go hand in hand with their current measures. Digital assessment tools are now available online, and in an article by The Alternative Board, data analysis tools like Google Fusion Table, OpenRefine and Tableau public could be utilized, and The Sellability Score  could rate significant portions that buyers evaluate and compares the outcome in contrast to the average of the industry. (“6 Best Business Assessment and Analysis Tools,” 2015.)